http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aGerunds+tag%3aArticlesSearch results for 'tag:Gerunds tag:Articles' matching tags 'Gerunds' and 'Articles'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/TwoQestionsAboutClauses/2/hznkq/Post.htm#613155Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:47:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:613155alpheccastars 1 quote user Eddie88 There are a series is actually the main clause is it not The prep phrase is not needed as there is a subject and verb with its complement series is this correct quote Indeed you are right that the prep phrase is not essential However the prep phrase is not a part of any other clause and all parts of a sentence must accounted for in the analysis This phrase is part of the predicate of the main clause quote user Eddie88 There is an existential there so the sentence can be re arranged to omit it is this correct quote Yes Series is the subject It is interesting in that series can be either singular or plural The spelling does not change A series of conflicts runs through 2 yes3 yes4 yes quote user Eddie88 Finally does a gerund phrase not have to begin with the gerund quote No it does not A noun phrase can begin with an article and adjectives A gerund phrase can begin with adjectives another noun phrase the subject of the gerund etc He was rudely awoken by the next door neighbor s mixed breed dog s incessant shrill and loud barking at a errant cat that had strayed into the garden http://www.englishforums.com/English/ProblemsFacedEnglishLearners-Misconceptions/hrnpz/post.htm#588664Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:27:00 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:588664avangi quote user Jackson6612 quote user Avangi either learners of the English language or English language learners quote Why is article the essential here There is only one English language e g I m learning Chinese language these days Is there any need to specify Chinese language using the The use of the is justified in sentences as in I m learning the Southern American English dialect nowadays The article is required in all of these I honestly have no idea why My guess is that language is the object of the verb to learn and would require an article if it were used without English as a modifier To qualify for standing without the article a subject of study must be one of a few very well established courses I m majoring in Romance Languages at university Here Romance Languages is the recognized name of a well established course of study as is Chinese In the case of a dialect the indefinite article would be used if there were more than one quote user Avangi lt lt One is their own misconceptions gt gt IMO there should be number agreement here Possibly One is dealing with their own misconceptions quote Yes there should be number agreement between verb and object If I followed your suggestion then the sentence would read One of many problems faced by learners of the English language is that they are dealing with their own misconceptions Is that what you suggested That would be fine I was considering that they are to be optional as the gerund dealing may serve by itself as predicate nominative following the being verb is quote user Avangi This is about learners You refer back five times with they At some point you might remind the reader who they are Eg these learners the students something else of your choosing quote Is choosing used as a present participle in the above context I d say functionally it s a gerund serving as object of the preposition of The other option choice would of course be a noun quote user Avangi lt lt During the learning process they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted gt gt As the final sentence of the first paragraph this seems enigmatic It s very well phrased but the meaning is less than obvious to me I feel like I want an additional sentence by way of as means of as a type of explanation or clarification Optionally you could make your machinery image a little easier to connect up quote How can I make the machinery image a little easier to connect up How did I know you were going to ask me that danged question During the learning process they should remind themselves that the machinery of their native tongue was a long time in the building and fine tuning and they must be willing to devote an equal effort to the new language I m not sure I have your intention right quote user Avangi In the second paragraph at first blush when first thought of or considered the antecedent a word or phrase which a pronoun refers back to of They would seem to be English speakers quote Yes you are right I will be more careful about such constructions in future quote user Avangi Have you verified that idiomaticness is a word Or is it a nonce occurring used or made only once or for a special occasion word quote It is a proper word according to the Merriam Webster s dictionary quote Congratulations on your hard work A Edit Why is the article the essential here http://www.englishforums.com/English/Form/gpknj/post.htm#577941Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:36:50 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:577941alpheccastars1 Where are you I ve been waiting for 2 hours2 I needn t have brought that milkI subjectneed have bought verb present perfect tense modal form need is the auxiliary buy is the main verb bought is the past participle not adverb that demonstrative pronoun refering to milkmilk noun object of the verb buy3 He played truantHe subjectplay verb simple past tensetruant predicate noun To be precise I would have to look in a dictionary to see if play is transitive or intransitive in this case 4 I stopped to give my friend a lift I subjectstopped verb simple pastto give my friend a lift infinitive phrase adverb modifying stop to give is the infinitive head of the phrasemy friend my is personal pronoun modifying freind friend noun indirect object of the verbal give a lift a article modifyinglift Lift is noun direct object of the verbal give 5 I stopped giving my friend a liftI subjectstopped verb simple pastgiving my friend a lift gerund phrase direct object of verb stop giving is the gerund head of the phraseThe other teachers can critique this analysis http://www.englishforums.com/English/PrepositionInfinitiveMarker/gxqwc/post.htm#574670Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:22:37 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:574670scottsoxI agree with the previous post that the original author s translation isn t precisely parallel Study may either be a noun or a verb but if you want to use exploring then you should use studying too to keep both of them as gerunds participles The Hebrew text of the verse uses a pair of infinitive constructs which if my rusty Hebrew knowledge is reliable implies the substantive use of the infinitive the process of studying and the process of seeking out Interestingly enough the Hebrew forms are prefixed with the Hebrew preposition to If Solomon wanted to emphasize the verbal aspect he could have used an intensive construction in Hebrew which literally translated in English would sound something like he studied studying and sought seeking The Septuagint text uses articular infinitives that is the infinitive with the definite article for both which would again imply the substantive nature of the infinitive rather than using the infinitive simply to complete the verb phrase Scotthttp://www.englishforums.com/English/TwoInfinitives/gxpch/post.htm#574284Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:21:34 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:574284richard_sIn that case the quote is probably To quit in space is the same as to quit in the corridor As Clive points out you need the as in the sentence always write the same as The infinitives can be used instead of the gerunds to give it more of a sense of if you do it other than that as Clive says in ordinary speech we would usually use the gerund ing form As for articles you are right they are very difficult to learn The good news is that they are not terribly important for making yourself understood If you miss a few articles or put them incorrectly most native speakers can understand what you mean On the other hand if you omit a subject in a clause or omit the verb or use the wrong form of the verb it can be really hard for a native speaker to understand A lot of students find the following process useful for understanding articles 1 Identify the noun2 decide if the noun is countable or non count 3 1 If it is countable decide if it is singular or plural 3 1 1 If it is singular you need to decide if it is general or specific3 1 1 1 If is is general use a or an3 1 1 2 if it is specific use the3 1 2 If it is plural you need to decide if it is general or specific3 1 2 1 If is is general don t use an article3 1 2 2 if it is specific use the3 2 If it is non count decide if it is general or specific3 2 1 if it is general don t use an article3 2 2 if it is specific use theIf you follow that process it will make it easier to decide if an article is needed or not then you only need to worry about exceptions idioms and all of the extra tiny rules In your case above space is general and non count http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheContinuousTense/gnljb/post.htm#568328Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:52:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:568328tanitHi quote user Anonymous Is it a rule that the auxiliary the past participle and the main verb are immediately after one another with no other words inbetween quote No such a rule does not exist quote user Anonymous For example Have you ever had the feeling that you re being followed This sentence has both have and had and two continuous verbs in it feeling and being but is it neither Present Perfect Continuous nor Past Perfect Continuous quote Your sentence is in the present perfect Have you ever had the feeling is a gerund and acts as if it were a noun it s the direct complement of have had Try and replace it with idea impression etc I m not saying they are perfect synonym for feeling it s just to demonstrate that you can have a noun there and to show you that feeling is not acting as a verb in your sentence Another clue to understand its function is that it s preceded by the article the that you re being followed this is a that clause which describes what sort of feeling we are talking about being here has to be seen together with are and followed are being followed is present continuous passive http://www.englishforums.com/English/ModifierArticleIncluded/gnglw/post.htm#566924Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:31:01 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:566924cliveHi Please tell me if these sound strange or need more explanation or perhaps are correct as they are 1 I go to a high school in Tokyo I went to two different high schools before that Fine Wltth the article you are talking about places Without it you are talking more about your level of education 2 My love is the his swimming Sounds odd Why not just say I love his swimming or I love to watch him swim Or perhaps you mean I love swimming or I love to swimMost of times I hear people say I go to school but can I say I go to a school Again yes if you want to think of the school as a building as a place I have seen such structures as I love to watch his cooking of vegetable soup Does it sound OK when a gerund has an article or possessive in front of it It s correct but it sounds somewhat formal Less formal and very common is I love to watch him cooking vegetable soup Best wishes Clivehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/ModifierArticleIncluded/gngjd/post.htmTue, 16 Sep 2008 21:45:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:566885anonymousHi Please tell me if these sound strange or need more explanation or perhaps are correct as they are 1 I go to a high school in Tokyo I went to two different high schools before that 2 My love is the his swimming Most of times I hear people say I go to school but can I say I go to a school I have seen such structures as I love to watch his cooking of vegetable soup Does it sound OK when a gerund has an article or possessive in front of it http://www.englishforums.com/English/GerundOrJustAPlainNoun/gnvjr/post.htm#566304Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:50:16 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:566304raenhmm I see your point I have thought the article the disqualified painting from being a gerund But you re right it could very well be the task of applying paint to the walls Thank you GG Raenhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/GerundVerbalNounArticle/2/gmbbv/Post.htm#560392Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:24:32 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:560392mrpedantic quote user Cool Breeze He enjoys being seen in my company I would like to see the passive forms of other nouns like a girl or courage for example quote I like that thought But devil s advocate doesn t it assume what it seeks to prove that a complete compound noun may not have a passive form For if being seen is a complete compound noun then nouns may have passive forms