Transcript The verb
Bonjour ! Bienvenu ! Common mistakes in SE In Chinese: • The word order differs from that in English. E: How are you? C: You good? • Time and place adverbs usually come before the verb. E: I will go to Taipei tomorrow. C: Tomorrow I go to Taipei. • There are few or no articles. E: He is a clever boy. C: He is clever boy. • The verb doesn’t change tense. E: I saw a movie last night. C: I see a movie last night. • The verb “be” is dropped. E: She is five years old. C: She five years old. • The infinitive “to” is dropped. E: I love to swim. C: I love swim. • The pronoun “that” is dropped. E: That the earth is round is known to everyone. C: The earth is round is known to everyone. Special Problems with Verbs • Passive Voice – Passive voice of the verb is used when the subject receives that action instead of doing it. • This book is not written by Dr. Lee. • Mary was born on the fourth of July, 2000. • The letter has been received by the King. • They were served by that waiter. – Be careful when using passive voice. • Transitive & Intransitive Verbs – Transitive verbs require an object. • You must answer me when I ask you a question. – Intransitive verbs do not have an object. • Let’s talk in English. – Intransitive verbs (occur, happen, sleep) cannot be used to form the passive voice. • The earthquake [was] occurred at 11PM. • The tragedy [was] happened last night. • The students [were] slept until noon. • Verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives – A gerund ends in –ing and is used as noun. • I love swimming • I enjoy watching cartoons. – An infinitive is the base form of a verb and is preceded by to. • She wants to eat ice-cream • He plans to visit France next year. – Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive: • begin, continue, like start, hate, love, etc. – Verbs followed with a gerund only: • admit, appreciate, avoid, discuss, enjoy, finish, imagine, miss, practice, quit, risk, suggest, etc. – Verbs followed with an infinitive only: • agree, ask, beg, decide, expect, have, hope, manage, mean, offer, plan, pretend, want, etc. Exercise 1: Correct the sentences • He keeps swim every day. • He likes play violin. • He can swimming. • Sam does not goes to work. • They will start test the specimens this afternoon. • This letter has never finished. • The tsunami was occurred in South Asia. • This house is built in 1913. Subject-Verb Agreement • Neither the lab assistant nor the students were able to download the program. • Either a driver’s license or a credit card is required. • Either a driver’s license or two credit cards are required. • There are surprisingly few children in this school. • At the back of the room are a testing machine and a balance. Exercise 2: Select the correct verb • Neither the professor nor his assistant (was/were) able to solve the mystery. • Each of the speakers (was/were) given twenty minutes. • No one who has ever seen the northern lights (has/have) forgotten them. • Thirty percent of the testing (is/are) completed. • Thirty percent of the tests (is/are) completed. Conditional Sentences • Factual conditional sentences are used to express: – Scientific truth, in which case both verbs are present tense. • If water cools to 0°C, it freezes. – A relationship that is habitually true, in which case both verbs are the same tense. • Whenever the coach needed help, I volunteered. • Predictive conditional sentences – Predict a future possibility as a consequence of a present action. • If you practice regularly, your English will improve. • Unless you study carefully, you will receive a poor grade. • Speculative conditional sentences – Express an unlikely possibility, describe events that did not happen, or refer to conditions contrary to fact. • If I had the money, I would travel to France. (I don’t have money now.) • If you had studied harder, you would have received a higher grade. (You did not study hard.) • If I were President, I would reduce taxes. Exercise 3: Correct the sentences • If I live in northern Alaska, I would need to buy a winter coat. • If my father is here now, he would tell me what to do. • We will miss our class unless we could hurry to school. • I don’t think you will believe me even if I told you the truth. • If the sun is to rise in the west, I will change my mind. Au revoir