WISHING

As these days we make a lot of wishes, we devote this post to explain how to express wishes in English depending on if they are wishes/regrets about a present, past situation or wishes for the future. 

BASIC PAST IRREGULAR VERB CHART (ORDERED IN GROUPS-2)

Here are other basic past irregular verb chart subdivided in clear groups:

GROUP 1- Irregular verbs which have all the same three forms.

GROUP 2- Irregular verbs which have the same past and past participle forms, in three subgroups:

a) ending in -D

b) ending in -GHT

c) ending in -T

GROUP 3- Irregular verbs which have three different forms for present, past and past participle, in another three subgroups:

a) ending in -EN

b) having the series E/-WN

c) having the vowel series I/A/U (begin/began/begun)

Video on the same topic:

For a more complete chart, link to previous post 

MAKING ENGLISH IRREGULAR VERBS EASY (Ordered in groups-1)

GRAMMATICAL WORDS

USE OF ARTICLE 'THE'

Here's a chart with the always confusing uses of article 'THE', which don't always coincide with Spanish. Remember that there's also the ZERO article possibility, already seen in a previous post HERE.

PARTS OF SPEECH

To start with a poem and some basic charts explaining the different parts of speech and their functions in English.

INFINITIVE OR GERUND PRACTICE

SUMMARY
REMEMBER ALWAYS

• “TO” INFINITIVE:

after ADJECTIVES It's difficult to understand

after QUESTION WORDS I don't know how to do it

to express PURPOSE Use a knife to cut it

• INFINITIVE “without TO”:

after MODAL VERBS You must practice more

• “-ING” GERUND:

after PREPOSTIONS I left the party without seeing you

used as a noun Smoking is bad for your health

Here are exercises to practice the use of the infinitive or gerund forms after different verbs or in different expressions. If you want to check on the basic rules click HERE

Link to more here.

More exercises here.

INFINITIVE OR GERUND?, GERUND OR INFINITIVE?

Sometimes we need to decide whether to use a verb in its: -ing form, gerund (doing, singing) or infinitive form (to do, to sing). For example, only one of the following sentences is correct. Which one?

We decided to take a taxi OR We decided taking a taxi

A) WHEN TO USE AN INFINITIVE:
1-always used AFTER ADJECTIVES, for example: disappointed, glad, happy, pleased, relieved, sad, surprised...

I was happy to help them. She will be delighted to see you.

- Including TOO+ADJECTIVE: The water was too cold to swim in.

Is your coffee too hot to drink?

- It is used after ADJECTIVE+ENOUGH: He was strong enough to lift it.

She is rich enough to buy two.

2- It's used to express PURPOSE*: He phoned to invite me to a party

*For+somebody+TO DO+something: This bench is for us to sit on /

*For+ing: A knife is used for cutting

3- It's always used after QUESTION WORDS+ a verb:

I don't know how to do it. He didn't say when to call him.

4- The infinitive form is used after certain verbs:- agree, allow, can/can't afford, choose, decide, encourage, expect, forget, help, hope, learn, manage, mean, offer, plan, pretend, promise, recommend, refuse, teach, train, want...

I forgot to close the window. We can't afford to take a long holiday.

5- With other verbs the structure is: VERB+(obj)+TO* infinitive: -allow, ask, expect,

help, invite, mean, order, recommend, remind, teach, tell, want, warn...The police ordered the people to leave.

He wanted me to go with him. I warned him not to come back late.

!!*- make & let: verb+obj.+infinitive without to. Let me do it.

6- Always with MODAL VERBS+infinitive without to: - can/could, may/might, must, need, shall/should, will/would. (Except: ought to).

She can swim very well. I'll see you tomorrow. You mustn't do that.

You should go to the doctor. / You ought to go to the doctor.

B) WHEN TO USE A GERUND (-ing):1- The -ing form is used as a noun and is the subject of a sentence or clause:

Swimming is good exercise. Doctors say that smoking is bad for you.

2- The -ing form is ALWAYS used after a PREPOSITION:
They left without saying "goodbye".

or a VERB+PREPOSITION*: - succeed in, insist on, think of...

He insisted on taking me home.

or EXPRESSIONS*: - it's no good/use, have difficulty, go+-ing...

It's no use in complaining He goes swimming every Tuesday.

!!* Watch out with:

- USED TO+infinitive: He used to wear glasses.

- BE/GET USED TO+ing: He's used to getting up early.

- LOOK FORWARD TO+ing: They are looking forward to visiting us this summer.

3- The -ing form is used after certain verbs: avoid, can/can't stand, carry on, dislike, enjoy, fancy, finish, give up, imagine, keep on, mind/not mind, miss, practise
I dislike getting up early. Would you mind opening the window?

C) Some verbs can be followed by the -ing form or the infinitive:
1) Without a big change in meaning: begin, continue, hate, intend, like*, love, prefer*, propose, start.
It started to rain. (common) - It started raining.
I like to play tennis. (it's good, right) - I like playing tennis. (I enjoy it).
!!*would like to+infinitive: I would like to live here.

!!*prefer +ing to +ing: I prefer driving to travelling by train.

prefer to infinitive rather than...: I prefer to drive rather than to travel by train.

would prefer to infinitive rather than...: I'd prefer to stay (rather than leave).

2) Others have a change of meaning depending on which is used:
- FORGET 
I forgot to tell him the news. (fail to do something)
I forget telling him the news but perhaps I did. do something and not remember)
-  REGRET 
I regret to inform you have to leave the country. (be sorry to+unpleasant info)
I regret settling in Britain. (a mistake in the past)
- REMEMBER 

I remember posting the letter. (= He remembers having done it. After)
Remember to post the letter when you go out. (Before doing it, remind you to do it.)
- NEED

I need to do more exercise. (It's necessary for me. You have to do it).
The batteries need changing. (Need as a modal verb. It needs to be done. Impersonal sentence).
- STOP

I stopped to talk to him. (It tells the reason for stopping).
He stopped walking. (It tells the action which stopped).
- TRY

I tried to keep my eyes open. (Effort, attempt).
Try pressing this button. (Experiment, test).

Summary verb chart:

Video GERUND / TO+infinitive:

Here are links to practice and test yourself on Gerunds & Infinitives:
On this blog.

English study quiz (1)
English study Quiz (2)

Test your English
Using English
ESL about
+ info: British Council

WORKING WITH VERBS IN ENGLISH

Working with English verbs. Here are two links where you can check all the different possibilities of a verb in English.

- ENGLISH VERB CONJUGATOR

- ENGLISH VERB FLOWCHART.

CONFUSING 'LIKE" (VERB vs PREPOSITION) & AS

Here's a chart and an explanation of the confusing uses of LIKE, as a verb or a prepostion. Study the examples.

Would like vs. (Do) like

What kind of food do you like? (Facts, personal preferences)

I  like your new car.

I like ice cream, bananas. 

I like Chinese food.

What kind of food would you like? (If you could choose)

I would like Italian food.

I' d like another glass of wine, please.

---

Be like vs. Look like

What does John like? (What are his personal preferences?)

He likes horror movies, basketball, chocolate ice cream...

What does John look like? (Physical description)

He is tall, dark and handsome.
He has black hair and wears glasses.

What is John like? (Description of personality)

He is a nice guy. He is very kind and friendly.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Confusing Like vs. As

The World is Your Oyster
As and Like in this post. Let’s take a look at these at times confusing words.

 LIKE = similar to, the same as. You cannot use as in this way

• You have a huge house! It’s like a palace (not as a palace)
• You love romantic films, like me (not as me)
• I love eating in the garden. It’s like being on holiday. (not as being)
• It’s raining again! I hate weather like this (not as this)

In these sentences, like is a preposition, so it is followed by a noun ( like a palace), a pronoun (like me/this) or -ing ( like being)

Sometimes we can use like = for example

• Some people, like my dentist, run half marathons once a week.

Note: We can also use such as = for example

• Some people, such as my dentist, run half marathons once a week

AS = in the same way as, or in the same condition as. We use as before the subject + verb

• As I said at the meeting last week, I think we should revise our sales forecasts.
• If you had done as I said, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

Note: we can use Like in the above examples in informal spoken English, NOT written English.

• Like I said at the meeting last week, I think we should revise our sales forecasts.

Compare as and like in these sentences:

• You should have done it as I showed you (or like I showed you – spoken)
• You should have done it like this. (not as this)

As can also be a preposition, but the meaning is different to like. Let’s take a look:

• As an English Language Trainer, I have many lessons to prepare. (As a trainer =in my position as a trainer)
• Like my teaching colleagues, I have many lessons to prepare. ( Like my teaching colleagues = the same as my colleagues)

As (preposition) = in the position of, in the form of

• A few years ago I worked as a financial adviser.
• We haven’t got a separate office, so we use the fourth bedroom as an office.
• London is wonderful as a city to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.

LINK TO EXERCISE: AS OR LIKE?

ZERO ARTICLE

We say ZERO ARTICLE when no article is needed. Many mistakes are made using the article when it's not needed, Below when we don't need one:

Below a chart where you can see examples of when ZERO ARTICLE is used:

Compare in the chart below when to use ZERO ARTICLE and ARTICLE THE:

COMPARATIVES & SUPERLATIVES

Here's a chart to understand how to make the comparatives and superlatives of adjectives in English. At the end, below there's a game.

The game:

PASSIVE WITH MODALS

This post is to check on how to make the passive when using modal verbs. Always follow this pattern:

MODAL VERB + BE + past participle

You can see examples in the charts above and below.

More posts about PASSIVE: HERE.

"USED TO" FOR PAST HABITS (+TWO SONGS: "YESTERDAY" & "S.O.S.")

Here two songs to check the use of 'USED TO' to express past habits which no longer happen in the present.

Audio "Yesterday", The Beatles+lyrics:

 Audio "SOS", Abba+lyrics: