The Infinitive form

FUNCTION

The most common uses of the infinitive are:

To indicate the purpose or intention of an action (where the 'to' has the same meaning as 'in order to' or 'so as to'):

• She's gone to collect her pay cheque.
• The three bears went into the forest to find firewood.

As the subject of the sentence:

• To be or not to be, that is the question.
• To know her is to love her.
  (Note: this is more common in written English than spoken)

With nouns or pronouns, to indicate what something can be used for, or what is to be done with it:

• Would you like something to drink?
• I haven't anything to wear.
• The children need a garden to play in.

After adjectives in these patterns:

• It is + adjective +to-infinitiveIt is good to talk
• It is + adjective + infinitive + for someone + to-infinitive.It is hard for elephants to see mice
• It is + adjective + infintive + of someone + to-infinitive.
  It is unkind of her to say that.

After an adjective + noun when a comment or judgement is being made:

• It was a stupid place to park the car.
• This is the right thing to do.
• It was an astonishing way to behave.

With too and enough in these patterns:

too much/many (+ noun) + to-infinitive

• There's too much sugar to put in this bowl.
• I had too many books to carry.

too + adjective + to-infinitive

• This soup is too hot to eat.
• She was too tired to work.

too + adverb + to-infinitive

• He arrived too late to see the actors.

enough (+ noun) + to-infinitive

• I've had enough (food) to eat.

adjective + enough + to-infinitive

• She's old enough to make up her own mind.

not enough (+noun) + to-infinitive

• There isn't enough snow to ski on.

not + adjective + enough + to-infinitive

• You're not old enough to have grand-children!

Gerund or Progressive?

The present progressive (also called present continuous) is a tense. For example, the sentence “I am running” is in the present-progressive tense. The verb is in a so-called finite form

The present participle is not a tense, but a form of the verb. For example, just the word “running” is the present-participle form of the verb “to run”, which is here in a non-finite form.

A verb in a finite form has the mood, tense, and person clearly defined. For example, in the sentence “I am running”, the verb is conjugated in the indicative mood, present (continuous) tense and first person singular. OTOH, a non-finite form of a verb is independent of mood, tense and person.

Finally, a gerund is a noun formed by using the present-participle form of a verb. For example, in “the running was done by me”, the word “running” is a gerund.

Both forms end in -ing. Nevertheless it is easy to find out whether it is a Gerund or a Progressive form.

Progressive tenses

These tenses are formed with von to be and the infinitive + - ing.

sentences	tense
He is reading a book.	Present Progressive
He was reading a book.	Past Progressive
He has been reading a book for three hours.	Present Perfect Progressive
He had been reading a book before Mary came in.	Past Perfect Progressive
He will be reading a book when I get home.	will-future Progressive
He will have been reading a book.	Future Perfect Progressive
He would be reading a book if he had time.	Conditional Progressive
He would have been reading a book if he had had time.	Conditional Perfect Progressive
A book is being read.	Present Progressive - Passive
A book was being read.	Past Progressive - Passive

Gerund

The Gerund is formed only with infinitive + - ing.

sentence
Reading books is great fun.
He likes reading books.
He is looking forward to reading books at the weekend.
He is keen on reading books.
He is used to reading books.
What about reading books?
He likes the idea of reading books.
After reading the book, he went to bed.
I remember having read this book. - Passive

NON-Progressive Verbs

NON-Progressive Verbs 

Non-Progressive Verbs  The verbs below are called non-action verbs.   They are NOT normally used in progressive tenses. The senses Emotional  Mental Possession Existence feel*  hear  see*  smell*  taste*  know amaze  appreciate  astonish  care*  dislike  envy  fear  hate  like  love  mind  need  please  prefer  surprise  want* believe  desire  doubt*  feel*  forget*  imagine*  know  mean*  realize  recognize  remember*  suppose  think*  understand  want* belong  have*  own  possess appear*  be*  consist of  contain  cost*  exist  include*  look*  matter  owe  resemble  seem  sound  weigh* Verbs with a * can sometimes be used, but it has a special meaning.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:

The nurse hears his heart beating.  not: The nurse is hearing his heart beating. His heart sounds good.  not: His heart is sounding good. She knows how to be a good nurse.  not: She is knowing how to be a good nurse.

 

Articles A/AN

When to Say "a" or "an"

The indefinite article is a or an. But how do we know when to say a and when to say an?

The rule is really very simple. It depends on the sound at the start of the following word. (It does not depend on the way we write the following word, it depends on the way we say it.)

A + consonant sound

If the following word starts with a consonant sound, then we say a.

a cat

a game of golf

a human emotion

a Peruvian

a very fat woman

AN + vowel sound

If the following word starts with a vowel sound, then we say an.

an apple

an extremely easy job

an interesting film

an old man

an umbrella

The importance of sound

Normally, we pronounce consonant letters with a consonant sound, and vowel letters with a vowel sound. But there are some exceptions. The rule about a or an is still the same. You just need to think about the sound, not the writing. Look at these examples:

consonant letter with vowel sound
an honest man	on-est
an hour	our
an FBI agent	eff-bee-eye

vowel letter with consonant sound
a European country	you-ro-pe-an
a one-day conference	won-day
a university	you-ni-ver-si-ty

See also Linking

What's Energy??

What is Energy?

In Layman terms, Energy is the amount of force or power when applied can move one object from one position to another or Energy defines the capacity of a system to do work. Energy exists in everybody whether they are human beings or animals or non living things for eg: Jet, Light, Machines etc..

Energy can have many forms: kinetic, potential, light, sound, gravitational, elastic, electromagnetic or nuclear. According to the law of conservation of energy, any form of energy can be converted into another form and the total energy will remain the same. For eg: a laborer when pushes the pile of bags, his potential energy stored inside him is converted into the kinetic energy from the movement of matter or when you burn the wood it's chemical energy is converted into the heat energy or when you charge your mobile phone the electrical energy is converted into the chemical energy which gets stored inside the battery's molecules.

The many different natural and renewable energy technologies highlighted throughout the website are by no means breakthrough. Many of the renewable energy technologies have been around for years, and as time goes by, are increasing in efficiency.

What are the sources of energy?

Energy are broadly classified into two main groups: renewable and Non-renewable.

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy which is generated from natural sources i.e. sun, wind, rain, tides and can be generated again and again as and when required. They are available in plenty and by far most the cleanest sources of energy available on this planet. For eg: Energy that we receive from the sun can be used to generate electricity. Similarly, energy from wind, geothermal, biomass from plants, tides can be used this form of energy to another form.

Here are some of the pros and cons of using renewable sources of energy:-

Pros

• The sun, wind, geothermal, ocean energy are available in the abundant quantity and free to use.
• The non-renewable sources of energy that we are using are limited and are bound to expire one day.
• Renewable sources have low carbon emissions, therefore they are considered as green and environment friendly.
• Renewable helps in stimulating the economy and creating job opportunities. The money that is used to build these plants can provide jobs to thousands of people.
• You don't have to rely on any third country for the supply of renewable sources as in case of non-renewable sources.
• Renewable sources can cost less than consuming the local electrical supply. In the long run, the prices of electricity are expected to soar since they are based on the prices of crude oil, so renewable sources can cut your electricity bills.
• Various tax incentives in the form of tax waivers, credit deductions are available for individuals and businesses who want to go green.

Cons

• It is not easy to set up a plant as the initial costs are quite steep.
• Solar energy can be used during the day time and not during night or rainy season.
• Geothermal energy which can be used to generate electricity has side effects too. It can bring toxic chemicals beneath the earth surface onto the top and can create environmental changes.
• Hydroelectric provide pure form of energy but building dams across the river which is quite expensive can affect natural flow and affect wildlife.
• To use wind energy, you have to rely on strong winds therefore you have to choose suitable site to operate them. Also, they can affect bird population as they are quite high.

Non-Renewable Energy

Non-Renewable energy is energy which is taken from the sources that are available on the earth in limited quantity and will vanish fifty-sixty years from now. Non-renewable sources are not environmental friendly and can have serious affect on our health. They are called non-renewable because they can be re-generated within a short span of time. Non-renewable sources exist in the form of fossil fuels, natural gas, oil and coal.

Here are some of the pros and cons of using non-renewable sources of energy:-

Pros

• Non-renewable sources are cheap and easy to use. You can easily fill up your car tank and power your motor vehicle.
• You can use small amount of nuclear energy to produce large amount of power.
• Non-renewable have little or no competition at all. For eg: if you are driving a battery driven car your battery gets discharged then you won't be able to charge it in the middle if the road rather it is easy to find a gas pumping station.
• They are considered as cheap when converting from one type of energy to another.

Cons

• Non-renewable sources will expire some day and we have to use our endangered resources to create more non-renewable sources of energy.
• The speed at which such resources are being utilized can have serious environmental changes.
• Non-renewable sources release toxic gases in the air when burnt which are the major cause for global warming.
• Since these sources are going to expire soon, prices of these sources are soaring day by day.

Why should we conserve energy?

Energy needs to be conserved to protect our environment from drastic changes, to save the depleting resources for our future generations. The rate at which the energy is being produced and consumed can damage our world in many ways. In other words, it helps us to save the environment. We can reduce those impacts by consuming less energy. The cost of energy is rising every year. It is important for us to realize how energy is useful to us and how can we avoid it getting wasted.

To start saving energy is not a big thing at all. We can start saving the energy from our home itself, just by turning off the lights during day hours, washing clothes in cold water or using public transport instead of using our own vehicle and later can implement these things on much wider scale at society level, then at city level then district level and finally at country level. You might notice a small change in your monthly bills by implementing these changes as they would be getting decreased more and more. With so many alternatives and so many techniques about there, if millions of people like us start doing these things, it will help us to save much more money and also help the environment.

Pronouns: Possessive Forms

Pronouns: Possessive Forms

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Distinguish between the adjective form of the possessive pronoun and the form used alone.

Examples

The large room on the right is her office. [Her is an adjective.] The office is hers. [Hers is the possessive form, standing alone.] The little room on the left is mine. [Mine is the possessive form, standing alone.]

Note that mine does not follow the spelling pattern of hers, theirs, yours, and ours. The form mines is not standard English.

When a possessive form functions as a subject, its antecedent determines singular or plural agreement for the verb.

Examples

My shirt is cotton; hers is silk. [Singular verb] My gloves are black; hers are yellow. [Plural verb]

Possessive Pronoun Before an -ing Form

Generally, use a possessive pronoun before an -ing verb form used as a noun (a gerund):

Examples

We would appreciate your participating in the auction. Their winning the marathon surprised us all.

Sometimes the -ing form is not used as a noun. In that case, the pronoun preceding the -ing form should usually be the object form.

Example

We saw them giving the runners foil wraps.

No Apostrophe with Possessive Pronouns

Even though possessive in meaning, the pronouns yours, ours, theirs, his, and hers should never be used with an apostrophe. Use an apostrophe only with the possessive form of a noun.

Examples

That coat is Maria's. That is her coat. That coat is hers. These books are the twins'. These are their books. These books are theirs.

No Apostrophe with its as a Possessive Pronoun

It's is the contraction of it is or it has. The apostrophe is never used with a possessive form of the pronoun used before a noun:

Examples

The paint has lost its gloss. It's [It is] not as glossy as it used to be.

Comparisons Using Possessive Forms

Note how using them in place of theirs in the following sentence would change the meaning by comparing suitcases to roommates, not suitcases to suitcases.

Example

It's really hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs.

 
Forgetting to use the possessive form in the next example, too, could create a misunderstanding: are you comparing a house to a person, or his house to her house?

Example

I like his house more than I like hers.

Either/or and neither/nor

1.Either / or - used in a sentence in the affirmative sense when referring to a choice between two possibilities

We can either eat now or after the show - it's up to you.

2. Neither / nor - used in a sentence in the negative sense when you want to say that two or more things are not true

Neither my mother nor my father went to university.

Singular or plural

When using either/or and neither/nor, note the following rules:

1. If both elements are singular, then the verb is singular too.

·         Either the father or the mother has to attend the meeting. (father and mother are singular; so the verb has is singular too)

·         Neither Leila nor Nancy is going to write the report. (Leila and Nancy are singular; so the verb is is singular too)

2. However, if one of the elements is plural, then use a plural verb.

·         Either Sue or the girls are going to prepare dinner tonight. (the girls is plural; so the verb are is plural too)

·         Neither the teacher nor the students were in the classroom this morning. (the students is plural; so the verb were is plural too)