veRbs as compLements (part_2)

adJectives, Nouns, and pRonouns

Adjectives + prepositions followed by the gerund

Accustomed to, afraid of, capable of, fond of,

Intent on, interested in, successful in, tired of.

- Jean is not capable of understanding the predicament.

- Alvaro is intent on finishing school next year.

- Craig is fond of dancing.

Nouns + prepositions followed by the gerund

choice of , excuse for, intention of, method for,

possibility of, reason for, (method of),

- George has no excuse for dropping out of school.

- There is no reason for leaving this early.

- Connie has developed a method for evaluating this problem.

Any time a preposition is followed directly by a verb, the verb will be in the gerund form.

- After leaving the party. Ali drove home.

- He should have stayed in New York instead of moving to Maine.

Adjective followed by the infinitive

anxious, boring, dangerous, hard,

eager, easy, good, strange,

pleased, prepared, ready, able*,

usual, common, difficult.

*able means the same as capable in many instance, but the grammar is very different. While able is followed by the infinitive, capable is followed by of + [verb + ing].

- These students are not yet able to handle such difficult problems\

- These students are not yet capable of handling such difficult problem.

Examples of adjectives followed by infinitive

- Muhammad is anxious to see his family.

- We are ready to leave now.

- It is difficult to pass this test.

Some verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or gerund, but the meaning changes.

stop, remember, forget.

- John stopped studying. {John is not going to study anymore}

- John stopped to study. {John stopped doing something in order to study}

Pronouns before the gerund or infinitive:

allow, ask, beg, convince, expect, instruct,

invite, order, permit, persuade, prepare, promise, remind, urge, want.

Subject + verb + complement form {pronoun / noun} + [to + verb]. . .

- Joe asked Marry to call him when she woke up.

- We ordered him to appear in count.

- You should prepare your son to take this examination.

However, before the gerund, a noun or pronoun must appear in the possessive form.

Subject + verb + possessive form {noun / pronoun} + [verb + ing]. . .

- We understand your not being able to stay longer.

- He regrets her leaving.

- We object to their calling at this hour.

Pronouns

Subject : a, you, she, he, it, we, you, they.

Complement : me, you, her, him, it, us, you, them.

Passive Adjective : my, your, her, his, its, our, your, their.

Possesive : mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours, yours, theirs.

Reflective : myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

veRbs as compLements

Verbs as Complements

Verbs that are always followed by the infinitive.

Some verbs can take another verb as the complement instead of a noun. Sometimes the verbs functioning as the complement mustbe in the infinitive (to + verb) and sometimes it must be in the gerund ( verb + ing) form.The following verbs are always followed by the infinitive if the complement is a verb.

agree, attempt, claim, decide, demand,

desire, fail, forget, hesitate, hope,

intend, learn, need, offer, plan,

prepare, pretend, refuse, seem, strive

ten, try, want, wish.

- The president will attempt to reduce inflation in the next four years.

- The soldiers are preparing to attack the village.

- Cinthya has agreed to act as a liason between the two countries.

Verbs that are always followed by the gerund.

Other verbs must alwaysbe followed by the gerund. These verbs include:

admit, appreciate, avoid, can’t help, consider,

delay, deny, enjoy, finish, mind,

miss, postpone, practice, quit, recall,

regret, report, resent, resist, resume,

risk, suggest,

- John admitted stealing the jewels.

- Would you mind not smoking in this office?

- Michael was considering that building in its present condition.

Note : These sentences are made negative by adding the negative particle not before the infinitive or gerund.

- John decided not to buy the car.

- We regretted not going to the party last night.

The following verbs can be followed by either the infinitiveor the gerund with no change in meaning.

begin, can’t stand, continue, dread, hate,

like, love, prefer, start.

- He started to study after dinner, OR, He started studying after dinner.

- Joan hates to ride her bicycle to school, OR, Joan hates riding her bicycle to school.

Verbs + prepositions followed by the gerund

approve of , be better of, count on, depend on,

give up, insist on, keep on, put off,

rely on, succeed in, think about, think of,

worry about.

The following expressions contain the preposition to. The word to in these expressions must not be confused with the to in the infinitive. These verb + preposition expressions must also be followed by the gerund.

object to, look forward to, confess to.

- Marry insisted on taking the bus instead of the plane.

- Fred confessed to stealing the jewels.

- Henry is thinking of going to France in August.

otheR, anotheR, tHe otheR

otheR, anoTher, tHe oTher

Other : The use of the word other is often a cause of confusesion for foreign students. The formulas:

- An + other + singular noun(one more)

Another pencil {one more pencil}

- The other + singular noun (last of the set)

The other book {the last book present}

- Other + plural noun(more of the set)

Other pens {some more pens}

- Other + non-count nouns (more of the set)

Other water {some more water}

- The other + plural noun (the rest of the set)

The other pens {all remaining pens)

- The other + noun-count noun (all the rest)

The other water {the remaining water)

Note : Another and Other are nonspecific while the other is specific. If the subject is understood, one can omit the noun and keep the determiner and other, so that other functions as a pronoun. If it is plural count noun that is omitted, other becomes others. The word other can NEVER be plural if it’s followed by a noun.

- I don’t want this cake. Please give me another.

(another – any other book – not specific)

- I don’t want this cake. Please give me the other.

(the other – the other cake – specific)

- This chemical is poisonous. Others are poisonous too.

(others – other chemicals – not specific )

- I don’t want these cakes. Please give me the others.

(the others – the other cakes – specific)

Note : Another way of substituting for the noun is to use other + one or ones.

- I don’t want this cake. Please give me another one.

- I don’t want this cake. Please give me the other one.

- This chemical is poisonous. Other ones are poisonous too.

- I don’t want these cakes. Please give me the other one.

aRticLes

ARTICLES

The

The word the is the only definite article in the English language, and the most frequently used word in English. The article "the" is used with singular and plural, and countable and uncountable nouns when both the speaker and listener would know the thing or idea already. The article the is often used as the very first part of a noun phrase in English. For example:
The end of time begins next Tuesday, at a quarter past four, just after fish and chips.
Here, "the end of time" is a noun phrase. The use of the signals that the reference is to a specific and unique instance of the concept (such as person, object, or idea) expressed in the noun phrase. Here, the implication is that there may be but are not multiple 'ends of time'; which 'end of time' it is that is being referred to is not ambiguous, because time can (supposedly) only end once.

'The’ also used to indicate something that we already know about or something that is common knowledge.
Examples :
- The girl that wearing pink shirt is my friend
(the speaker and the listener know which girl)
- The earth is round.
(there’s only one earth)

With non-count nouns, one uses the article the if speaking in specific terms, but uses no article if speaking in general.
Examples :
- Sugar is sweet. (general-all sugar)
- The sugar on the table is from Sumatra.(specific-the sugar that is on table)

A and An can precade oonly singular count nouns, They mean one.

They ‘an’ be used in a general statement or to introduce a subject which has not been previously mentioned.
Examples :
- a baseball is round (general-means all baseballs)
- I saw a boy in the street (we don’t know which boy)

‘An’ is used before words that begin with a vowel sound.
‘A’ is used before words that begin with a consonant sound.
Examples :
a book an apple

The following words begin with consonant sound and thus must always be preceded by ‘a’.
Examples :
house, home, heavy, half, uniform,university, universal, union.

He following words begin with a vowel sound and thus must always be preceded by ‘an’.
Examples :
uncle, umbrella, hour, heir.

The initial sound of the word that immediately follows the indefinite article will determiner weather it should be ‘a’ or ‘an’.
Examples :
an umbrella, an hour, a white umbrella, a whole hour.