Unit 1

1.      Some common conversational English dealing with daily activities

Asking Daily Activities	Responding
What time do you get up?	I get up about six fifteen
What time is breakfast at your house?	Breakfast is always at a quarter to eight
What do you usually do in the afternoon?	I usually study or read
Do you ever go to museum?	I go every now and then
Do you watching television very often?	I like the eleven o clock theater best of all

1.      Some common conversational English dealing with hobbies and interest

Asking Hobbies and Interest:

• What is your hobby?
• Do you like playing chess?
• What is your favorite book to read?
• Do you delight in hiking?

Hobbies are closely related to positive feelings and are expressed through verbs and phrases:

• I enjoy hiking
• I love gardening
• I am thrilled about collecting sweet wrapper
• I relax with a book whenever I find time

1.      Some common conversational English in handling guest, mainly, in front desk or lobby area

• Good morning/afternoon/evening, sir/madam. Welcome to our hotel.
• How may I help you?
• May I have your name please? How do you spell that?

To response, we may use these following expressions:

• Good morning/afternoon/evening
• Yes of course
• Thank you in advance
• No, thanks

1.      Gerund

In English grammar, the gerund is a verb form in -ing when used to make a verb phrase that can serve in place of a noun phrase (thus being similar in function to the Latin gerund). The same -ingform also serves as the English present participle (which has an adjectival or adverbial function), and as a verbal noun.

In relation to certain other languages, the term gerund may be applied to a form which has noun-like uses like the Latin and English gerunds, or in some cases to various other non-finite verb forms, such as verbal adverbs (also called adverbial participles).

In English, the gerund is identical in form to the present participle (ending in -ing) and can behave as a verb within a clause (so that it may be modified by an adverb or have an object), but the clause as a whole (sometimes consisting of only one word, the gerund itself) acts as a noun within the larger sentence. For example: Eating this cake is easy.

In "Eating this cake is easy," "eating this cake," although traditionally known as a phrase, is referred to as a non-finite clause in modern linguistics. "Eating" is the verb in the clause, while "this cake" is the object of the verb. "Eating this cake" acts as a noun phrase within the sentence as a whole, though; the subject of the sentence is the non-finite clause, specifically eating.

Other examples of the gerund:

• I like swimming. (direct object)
• Swimming is fun. (subject)
• I never gave swimming all that much effort. (indirect object)

            Gerund clauses:

• She is considering having a holiday.
• Do you feel like going out?
• I can't help falling in love with you.
• I can't stand not seeing you.

Not all nouns that are identical in form to the present participle are gerunds.The formal distinction is that a gerund is a verbal noun – a noun derived from a verb that retains verb characteristics, that functions simultaneously as a noun and a verb, while other nouns in the form of the present participle (ending in -ing) are deverbal nouns, which function as common nouns, not as verbs at all. Compare:

• I like fencing. (gerund, an activity, could be replaced with "to fence")
• The white fencing adds to the character of the neighborhood. (deverbal, could be replaced with an object such as "bench")

As the result of its origin and development, the gerund has nominal and verbal properties. The nominal characteristics of the gerund are as follows:

1.      The gerund can perform the function of subject, object and predicative:

• Smoking endangers your health. (subject)
• I like making people happy. (object)

2.      The gerund can be preceded by a preposition:

•  I'm tired of arguing.

3.      Like a noun the gerund can be modified by a noun in the possessive case, a possessive adjective, or an adjective:

• I wonder at John's keeping calm.
• Is there any objection to my seeing her?
• Brisk walking relieves stress.

The verbal characteristics of the gerund include the following:

1.      The gerund of transitive verbs can take a direct object:

• I've made good progress in speaking Basque.

2.      The gerund can be modified by an adverb:

• Breathing deeply helps you to calm down.

3.      The gerund has the distinctions of aspect and voice.

• Having read the book once before makes me more prepared.
• Being deceived can make someone feel angry.

Verb patterns with the gerund

Verbs that are often followed by a gerund include admit, adore, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, carry on, consider, contemplate, delay, deny, describe, detest, dislike, enjoy, escape, fancy, feel, finish, give, hear, imagine, include, justify, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice, observe, perceive, postpone, practice, quit, recall, report, resent, resume, risk, see, sense, sleep, stop, suggest, tolerate and watch. Additionally, prepositions are often followed by a gerund.

For example:

• I will never quit smoking.
• We postponed making any decision.
• After two years of analyzing, we finally made a decision.
• We heard whispering.
• They denied having avoided me.
• He talked me into coming to the party.
• They frightened her out of voicing her opinion.

Verbs followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive

With little change in meaning

advise, recommend and forbid:

These are followed by a to-infinitive when there is an object as well, but by a gerund otherwise.

• The police advised us not to enter the building, for a murder had occurred. (Us is the object of advised.)
• The police advised against our entering the building. (Our is used for the gerund entering.)

consider, contemplate and recommend:

These verbs are followed by a to-infinitive only in the passive or with an object pronoun.

• People consider her to be the best. – She is considered to be the best.
• I am considering sleeping over, if you do not mind.

begin, continue, start; hate, like, love, prefer

With would, the verbs hate, like, love, and prefer are usually followed by the to-infinitive.

• I would like to work there. (more usual than working)

When talking about sports, there is usually a difference in meaning between the infinitive and gerund (see the next section).

With a change in meaning

like, love, prefer

In some contexts, following these verbs with a to-infinitive when the subject of the first verb is the subject of the second verb provides more clarity than a gerund.

• I like to box. (I enjoy doing it myself.)
• I like boxing. (Either I enjoy watching it, I enjoy doing it myself, or the idea of boxing is otherwise appealing.)
• I do not like gambling, but I do like to gamble."
• dread, hate and cannot bear:

These verbs are followed by a to-infinitive when talking subjunctively (often when using to think), but by a gerund when talking about general dislikes.

• I dread / hate to think what she will do.
• I dread / hate seeing him.
• I cannot bear to see you suffer like this. (You are suffering now.)
• I cannot bear being pushed around in crowds. (I never like that.)

forget and remember:

When these have meanings that are used to talk about the future from the given time, the to-infinitive is used, but when looking back in time, the gerund.

• She forgot to tell me her plans. (She did not tell me, although she should have.)
• She forgot telling me her plans. (She told me, but then forgot having done so.)
• I remembered to go to work. (I remembered that I needed to go to work.)
• I remembered going to work. (I remembered that I went to work.)

go on:

• After winning the semi-finals, he went on to play in the finals. (He completed the semi-finals and later played in the finals.)
• He went on giggling, not having noticed the teacher enter. (He continued doing so.)

mean:

• I did not mean to scare you off. (I did not intend to scare you off.)
• Taking a new job in the city meant leaving behind her familiar surroundings. (If she took the job, she would have to leave behind her familiar surroundings.)

regret:

• We regret to inform you that you have failed your exam. (polite or formal form of apology)
• I very much regret saying what I said. (I wish that I had not said that.)

try:

When a to-infinitive is used, the subject is shown to make an effort at something, attempt or endeavor to do something. If a gerund is used, the subject is shown to attempt to do something in testing to see what might happen.

• Please try to remember to post my letter.
• I have tried being stern, but to no avail.

stop, quit:

When the infinitive is used after 'stop' or 'quit', it means that the subject stops one activity and starts the activity indicated by the infinitive. If the gerund is used, it means that the subject stops the activity indicated by the gerund.

• She stopped to smell the flowers.
• She stopped smelling the flowers.

Or more concisely:

• She stopped walking to smell the flowers.
• He quit working there to travel abroad.

Gerunds preceded by a genitive

Because of its noun properties, the genitive (possessive) case is preferred for a noun or pronoun preceding a gerund, which is functioning as the subject of the gerund's verbal element.

• We enjoyed their [genitive] singing.

This use is preferred in formal writing or speaking. In casual speech, the objective case is sometimes used in place of the possessive:

• I do not see it making any difference. (I do not see its making any difference is correct.)

Using the possessive case with the gerund is applicable in all situations, for instance:

• He affected my going there.
• He affected your going there.
• He affected his/her/its going there.
• He affected our going there.
• He affected their going there.
• He affected Mary's going there.

The verbal action of the gerund belongs, in effect, to the subject practising it; thus, the possessive is required to clearly demonstrate that relationship.

In some situations, either the possessive or the nominative case may be logical, but with slightly different meanings; but when the nominative case is used the verbal element is a participle, not a gerund:

• The teacher's shouting startled the student. (Shouting is a gerund, and teacher's is a possessive noun indicating whose shouting is being talked about; but shouting is the subject of the sentence.)
• The teacher shouting startled the student. (Shouting is a participle describing the teacher. This sentence means The teacher who was shouting startled the student. In this sentence, the subject is the teacher herself. A clearer way to write this sentence might be The teacher, shouting, startled the student.)

Either of these sentences means that the student was startled because the teacher was shouting, but the first places greater emphasis on the shouting by making it the subject of the sentence, while the second places greater emphasis on the teacher and is not using a gerund.

Despite such examples of a similar construction that uses a participle instead of a gerund, using a noun or pronoun in anything except the possessive case as the subject of a gerund (He affected me going there) is incorrect in formal writing.

Gerunds and present participles

Insofar as there is a distinction between gerunds and present participles, it is generally fairly clear which is which. The subject or object of a preposition is a gerund. If, on the other hand, the word modifies a noun attributively or absolutely, it is a participle. The main source of confusion is when the word follows a verb, in which case it may be a predicate adjective and hence a participle, or a direct object or predicate nominative and hence a gerund. In this case, a few transformations can help distinguish the cases. In the table that follows, ungrammatical sentences are marked with asterisks, per common linguistic practice; it should be noted that the transformations all produce grammatical sentences with similar meanings when applied to sentences with gerunds but either ungrammatical sentences, or sentences with completely different meanings, when applied to sentences with participles.

English gerund-like words in other languages

English words ending in -ing are often transformed into pseudo-anglicisms in other languages, where their use is somewhat different from in English itself. In many of these cases, the loanword has functionally become a noun rather than a gerund. For instance, camping is a campsite in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish; in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Polish, and Russian parking is a car park; lifting is a facelift in Bulgarian, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Hebrew, and Spanish. The French word for shampoo is (le) shampooing.

In popular culture

In the Molesworth books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, Searle included a series of cartoons on the "private life of the gerund",intended to parody the linguistic snobbery of Latin teachers' striving after strict grammatical correctness and the difficulty experienced by students in comprehending the construction.

Owen Johnson's "Lawrenceville Stories" feature a Latin teacher who constantly demands that his students determine whether a given word is a gerund or a gerundive.

In an episode of Dan Vs., "The Ninja", after Dan's milk carton exploded from the ninja's shuriken, a teenager said to Dan "Drinking problem much?" and Dan complained that the sentence had no verb, just a gerund.

5. Interogative Sentences

If you listen to an everyday conversation, you’ll notice the exchange isn’t simply statements of facts or ideas.   Of course, these types of statements (called declarative sentences) are part of the dialogue, but unless the conversation is entirely one-way, chances are you’ll also hear requests or commands (imperative sentences), exclamations (exclamatory sentences) or questions (interrogative sentences).  That’s how normal dialogue occurs and in order for your writing to be engaging and interesting, you need to do what comes naturally in every day language.

Sentences that ask a question are called interrogative sentences.  They’re easy to spot -they always end with a question mark (?).  But it’s not quite as simple as that.  All interrogative sentences are not the same.

There are 3 types of Interrogative sentences.

1. Yes/No interrogatives
2. Wh-interrogatives
3. Tag questions.

A. Yes/no interrogatives

Yes No Question are questions that can be answered with a yes or a no response. You probably ask or are asked these questions every day.

Here are some examples of yes/no interrogative sentences:

• Mister, can you spare a dime?
• Did you take your vitamin this morning?
• Do you have your homework ready?
• Are you ready to go?
• Did you go to the game Friday night?

For each of the above questions, the answer will be either a yes or no answer.

Alternative interrogatives are questions that provide for two or more alternative answers.  In other words, you’re providing a choice.

Examples of alternative interrogative sentences:

• Would you prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream?
• Should I call or email you?
• Do you want coffee, tea, or soda?

B. Pronominal Question (WH Question)

Question words are also called wh questions because they include the letters 'W' and 'H'

Asking questions

1.If you ask about the subject of the sentence, simply add the question word at the beginning:

Example:
James writes good poems. — Who writes good pems?

2.If you ask about the predicate of the sentence (the part of a sentence which contains the verb and 

gives information about the subject), there are three options:

• If there is a helping (auxilary) verb that precedes the main verb ( foe example, can, is, are, was, were, will, would...), add the question word and invert the subject and the helping (auxilary) verb.
  Examples:
  He can speak Chinese. — What can he speak?
  They are leaving tonight. — When are they leaving?
• If you ask about the predicate and there is no helping (auxilary) verb and the verb is "to be", simply add the question verb and invert the subject and the verb.
  Example:
  The play was interesting. — How was the play?
• If there is no helping (auxilary) verb in the the predicate and the main verb is not "to be", add the auxilary "do" in the appropriate form.
  Examples:
  They go to the movies every Saturday. — Where do they go to the movies?
  He wakes up early. — When does he wake up?
  They sent a letter. — What did they send?

C. Question Tag

Tag questions are questions attached or tagged onto the ending of a declarative statement.  They transform a declarative sentence into an interrogative sentence.

Examples:

• You live in the city, don’t you?
• We need to get going now, don’t we?
• There’s a game on today, isn’t there?
• You’re coming to the party, aren’t you?

Sometimes interrogative sentences are actually declarative sentences that have a question mark at the end.  If you ask this type of question, the last syllable of the final word in the sentence is spoken with a rising intonation.  Here are a few examples.

• The bus has already left?
• The Saints won the Super Bowl?
• It’s snowing in Florida?
• You’ve lost 15 pounds already?
• The Subject of Interrogative Sentences

The subject of interrogative sentences may not be obvious.  Typically, you can spot them right after the verb.  But there’s a way to make the subject easier to spot.  Simply rewrite the question into a statement and then the subject is then easy to find.

Here are some examples below.  First you’ll find an interrogative sentence.  Immediately following is the declarative form of the sentence with the subject underlined.

• Did you clean up your room? You cleaned up your room.
• Has Jack come to visit? Jack has come to visit.
• Is this Jill’s wallet?  This is Jill’s wallet.

Interrogative sentences are the most simple to identify.  They always ask a question or request information.  Simply look for the question mark at the end and you’ll have no problem finding or understanding the function of interrogative sentences.

6.      Too – Enough

Form

too + adjective or adverb
too much/many + noun
too much/many + of + pronoun/determiner

adjective or adverb + enough
enough + noun
enough + of + pronoun/determiner

Meaning

1.      We use too to mean more than sufficient or more/less than necessary.

·         It's too late to stop him.

·         Jerry was too young to watch the movie.

·         There are too many people on this train, there's nowhere to sit.

·         You have too much money, give some to me.

·         You've eaten too many of those cakes.

2.      We use enough to mean sufficient.

·         Your clothes are big enough to fit me.

·         You've done enough work. You can stop now.

·         Have you got enough money to buy me a drink?

3.      We use enough in negative sentences to mean less than sufficient or less than necessary.

·         You're not working fast enough, you won't finish on time.

·         Sorry, I haven't got enough food for everyone.

·         Not enough of my friends are coming to the party.

Additional points

1.      We can use enough without a noun if the meaning is clear.

·         There's a lot of food but not enough for everyone.

2.      We can replace enough with the before a noun.

·         I don't have the money to go on holiday.

·         His company doesn't have the resources to do the job.

3.      We can use time or room alone to mean enough timeorenough room.

·         Is there room in your car for one more person?

·         Do we have time for a coffee?

Too and Enough are used with adjectives and indicate degree. Too means more than necessary, and it precedes the adjective. Enough means sufficient and usually follows the adjective.

He is too old to ride the Merry-Go-Round. She has too much money. Tony was tall enough to play on the basketball team. They were smart enough to pass the test.

(NOT: enough tall) (NOT: enough smart)

Enough can also be used with nouns. In such cases, enough usually precedes the word it modifies.

I have enough money for the CD player.

I don't have enough (money) for the computer.

There aren't enough people to make a team.

In some cases, enough can stand alone.

I have had enough of this nonsense.

Enough is enough!

Common problems include using very in place of too or enough.

She is very young to drink alcohol. She is too young to drink alcohol. He is not very tough to play football. He is not tough enough to play football.

(Wrong) (Correct) (Wrong) (Correct)