Now if I look up "are," the dictionary tells me that it is the present plural of "be." But what I would expect is that it would tell me that it is the present plural of "am" or "is" because those are the

I was discussing the following sentence with my English teacher: Perhaps most difficult of all is estimating distance and speed when you are passing a car going in the same direction. She says that 'estimating' is not a gerund but is

Hello, my name is Rhina Franco and I am a teacher. We are studying gerunds and infinitives. According to the books I have read, infinitives do not follow preposition; however, there is an exception to this rule as I have read. In the case of the

Hi, You don't think the English say things like this? I hate cooking Dancing is fun Drinking and driving is stupid Best wishes, Clive

It seems that the gerund isn't taught in schools in America anymore; young people don't know what it is while older people and the better educated do. What I find curious is that the English now never use a gerund. It's a very useful

I´m afraid it IS wrong. "Spend time" can only be used in verb + gerund constructions or with further adverbial phrases. It´s a rule (it may change in the future, but for the moment, it sounds very wrong to a native ear any other way). It

to is not a preposition if it is followed by the dictionary form (base form) of a verb. It's part of an infinitive; it's an 'infinitive particle' or 'infinitive marker'. So your examples along the lines of want to play are

"Being male is not (so) easy," is grammatical in my opinion. It's not missing anything, while "Nice meeting you" lacks a subject and a verb. Both the versions you quote are often used with the same intention. I think

The gerund is commonly used after try when something is suggested as a solution to a minor or major problem: If you don't like the climate in England, try leav ing the country! CB

Many learners have asked the same question and as much as I hate to disappoint you, there are grammar rule that don't fully explain the "whys" in English. The verb "try" is one of those exceptions that can either take an