Gerund / the -ing form

Forms of the –ing form: Present (visiting) and Perfect (having visited.)

· The present –ing form refers to the present or future.

- He hates walking to work. He hates being visited on Sundays.

· The perfect –ing form shows that the action of the – ing form happened before the action of the verb.

- He avoided answering / having answered the question.

The –ing form is used:

· as a noun: Swimming is a great way to get fit.

· after certain verbs: admit, appreciate, avoid, confess, continue, deny, discuss, enjoy, excuse, finish, forgive, go (in for activities), imagine, mind, miss, keep (continue), practice, suggest, recollect, report, understand, quit, etc. I appreciate your coming to us in time.

· after love, like, enjoy, prefer, dislike, hate to express general preference. Tom is a workaholic, He hates wasting time.

BUT: for a specific preference (would like, would prefer, would love) we use a to-infinitive.

- I’d love to go there wiith my friends.

· after expressions such as be busy, it's no use, it's (no) good, it's (not) worth, what's the use of, can't help, there's no point in, can't stand, have difficulty (in), have trouble etc. I am busy writinga report.

· after spend, waste, or lose (time, money, etc). We wasteda tot of time fixingthe computer.

· after verbs and expressions such as look forward to, be used to, in addition to, object to, prefer (doing sth to sth else). - H e isn't used to living alone.

· after prepositions. Elaine is scared of flying.

· after the verbs hear, listen to, notice, see, watch, and feel to describe an incomplete action. I heardSamantba talking on the phone. (I only heard part of the conversation).

BUT: we use the infinitive without to with hear, listen to, notice, see, watch, and feel to describe the complete action. I heard Samantha tell the story. ( I heard the whole story ).

Difference in meaning between the to-infinitive and the -ing form:

Some verbs can take either the to-infinitive or the -ing form but with a change in meaning.

forget + to-infinitive = not remember - He forgot to buy milk.

forget + -ing form = not recall - I'll never forget visiting Egypt.

remember + to-infinitive = not forget- Did you remember to call Lucy?

remember + -ing form = recall - I remember coming here before.

mean + to-infinitive = intend to - He never meant to upset her.

mean + -ing form = involve - Being a firefighter means taking risks.

regret + to-infinitive = be sorry to (normally used in the present simple with verbs such as say, tell, inform) - I regret to inform you that your phone has been cutoff.

regret + -ing form = feel sorry about - He is going to regret selling his record collection.

5. COMPARATIVE FORMS

· We use the comparative form to compare two people, things, places, etc. We usually use than with comparative adjectives.

- Mary is younger than Jane.

- Tim is much shorter than Nick.

- The plain is more expensive than the train.

· We use the superlative form to compare one person/thing/etc with more than one person/thing/etc in the same group. We use the... of/in with superlative adjectives. We use in with the superlative when we talk about places.

- It's the most expensive necklace in the shop. (NOT; of the shop)

- He is by far the most intelligent.

- He is the most intelligent of all.

- You are the best!

Spelling:

· With one-syllable adjectives ending in -e, we add -r in the comparative and -st in the superlative form

nice - nicer – the nicest

· With one-syllable adjectives ending in a stressed vowel + a consonant, we double the last consonant and add –er /est.

thin - thinner – the thinnest

· With two-syllable adjectives ending in - ly or -y, we change the -y to i and add -er/-est.

narrow – narrower – the narrowest

· Some one-syllable adjectives of abstract meaning such as: clear, safe, true, free, wise, etc and two-syllable adjectives such as: clever, common, stupid, narrow, gentle, friendly, simple, easy, etc. take either – er/-est or more/most.

friendly – more friendly than – the most friendly or

friendly – friendlier than – the friendliest

· The comparative of adjectives of three or more syllables is formed with more and the superlative with the most.

difficult – more difficult than – the most difficult

Compare regular and irregular comparatives and superlatives:

	Adjective	Comparative	Superlative		Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
Short adjectives	big small	bigger smaller	the biggest the smallest	Irregular forms	good bad little many much	better worse less more	the best the worst the least the most
- y adjectives	noisy	noisier	the noisiest
longer adjectives	beautiful	more beautiful	the most beautiful