Search results for 'tag:Plurals tag:Verbs' matching tags 'Plurals' and 'Verbs'

Re: Enjoy+v-ing /noun and Like+v-ing/noun

CalifJim — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:51:57 GMT

With Do you like ...? you are normally asking about a habitual activity. A plural object is commonly used if the object is countable. You can usually add from time to time or a similar adverbial phrase without contradicting the meaning or changing the meaning significantly. With activities the infinitive and the gerund have the same meaning, but with the infinitive the focus includes making the effort to undertake the activity while with the gerund the focus is almost entirely on participating in the activity.

Do you like to read mystery stories? Do you like to watch birds? Do you like to make cakes?

Do you like [reading mystery stories / watching birds / making cakes]? (Same meanings as above.)

Do you like [to read / reading] mystery stories from time to time? (Same meaning as above.)

Do you like [to watch / watching] birds once in a while? (Same meaning as above.)

Do you like [to make / making] cakes occasionally? (Same meaning as above.)

_____

Do you like [to win / winning] the prize? doesn't seem appropriate whereas Do you like [to win / winning] prizes? does.

With intransitive verbs:

Do you like [to go / going] to the library? = Do you like [to go / going] to the library from time to time?

Do you like [to walk / walking] in the park? = Do you like [to walk / walking] in the park occasionally?

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The slight difference in focus is as follows:

Do you like to read mystery stories? ~ Do you like to try to find mystery stories to buy or borrow, to buy them, or to borrow them, and to read them?

Do you like reading mystery stories? ~ Do you like sitting in a chair with a mystery story in your hand, turning the pages, and reading it?

Do you like to walk in the park? ~ Do you like to check the weather to see if it's suitable for walking in the park, to get dressed in suitable clothes for walking in the park, to drive to the park, and to do the walk and return home?

Do you like walking in the park? ~ Do you like being in the park, moving your legs, getting the exercise, enjoying the trees, flowers, and birds, seeing others walking as you walk in the park?

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If you're not describing an activity, the infinitive might not be so appropriate.

Do you like to study in the USA? ~ You go to the USA from time to time in order to study. Do you like that?

Do you like studying in the USA? ~ You are currently studying in the USA or you have spent time studying in the USA. Do you like that?

To my ear, the second is the more natural question for this situation.

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In general, when the situation described cannot or is not normally done "from time to time", but only once, or only a limited number of times, Do you like ...? doesn't work, and the infinitive is especially inappropriate. For example, it is not appropriate to ask Do you like to get married? (And it would be unusual to ask Do you like getting married? as well.)

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When in doubt, use the -ing form. It is generally more suitable for a larger number of situations.

Re: grammar question?

CalifJim — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:19:37 GMT

(1) In 1978, a year or so before The Wall was released, Gilmour filed his first solo project, appropriately titled David Gilmour. While the songs don't approach the sublime heights of his best 1970s work, the album does have enjoyable moments, like the rockin' "Cry from the Street" and the poignant "So Far Away,"one of his best vocal turns.

Should it be didn't? Please clarify. No. It should be don't. When speaking of the contents of an artistic work which is currently available to all for examination use the present tense. It doesn't matter when the work was first created.

The plot of the play, written in 1598, is complex.

The songs, released five years ago, are not very melodic.

(2) Twisted Sister join Metallica for their second European tour which started on June 6 and lasted until June 10th. It was soon after this tour that Metallica had their first meeting with future manager and future record label Chris Burnstein from Q Prime, this happened on August 1, 1984. Metallica let the old manager Jon Zazula go on the August 2.

Should it be "joined" or "joins"? Is go okay? Please check in the above sentence. Twisted Sister is a group, so the notional plural join is used. go is OK. The grammar of let is as follows:

let [object] [base form of verb] Let my people go. We let the boys play until 5:30. Don't let them see us.

(3) This is unfortunate, and almost guarantee that the disagreements and accusations will persist among Jimi and the various factions of the Hendrix family.

Should it guarantees? Yes. But maybe two or more things are mentioned in the preceding text which are being referenced here.

(4) Hendrix returned to New York City for more club gigs. In July he saw Fank Zappa, whose band the Mothers of Invention were playing at an adjacent club.

Should it be was? Again the notional plural is used.

(5) He did this by melting plastic bottles into a ball and then using a soldering iron to make holes for his fingers. He fit his fingers into the plastic was it was still pliable enough to be shaped.

Does the bold phrase make sense? Please rephrase for clarity of thought. Typo. It should be while it was still pliable.

(6) Not since Eddie Van Halen has a guitar player been as influential to the prevailing sound of rock music.

Should it be as? No. a guitar player has (not) been as influential is the normal order. The inversion is required after the initial negative not since....

Re: usgae of "was"..correct??..pls explain?

Grammar Geek — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:02:17 GMT

This American would opt for "were." If there were 400 people, "a great part of those people" would still refer to multiple people. The immigants (I'd use "im" since they have come to New York) are not a unit, functioning together, the way "a jury" or "a team" would - they are a great mass of people, so the plural verb makes far more sense.

Re: usgae of "was"..correct??..pls explain?

Sausages — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:56:52 GMT

The plural verb is apparently a feature of British English, where American English users opt for using chiefly the singular.

But, being native to neither language, I guess my hands are free :)

I have a theory, that if I were to speak this sentence, I would use 'were', whereas if I were to write it, I'd use the singular 'was'. Does that make sense?

Re: usgae of "was"..correct??..pls explain?

Huevos — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:09:13 GMT

The subject of "was" is "a great part of the passengers". Yes, it is singular in theory but few natives would feel it to be, so they would normal choose the plural form of the verb.

Re: gerund or verbal noun with an article?

Cool Breeze — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:32:42 GMT

Anonymous

Why do you think RayH seemed to have said this has to be "the fearful wailing"?

1)He heard a fearful wailing of a dog

I think he said it has to be:
2)He heard the fearful wailing of a dog

I think RayH is correct but I also think no. 1 can be correct under a right situation. I think it would have been better if the sentence had a plural noun after "of" like this:
He heard a fearful wailing of dogs

You'll have to wait for RayH's explanation for his preferences. He heard a fearful wailing of a dog is fine grammatically but it does suggest that you may hear different kinds of wailings of a dog and therefore the sentence may sound odd to some. The plural dogs simply indicates that there were at least two dogs, nothing else. No grammatical difference, really.

Grammatical terms cause confusion even among experts, so you have nothing to worry about! This is because not all grammarians and usage experts use them in the same way. There are people who don't use the term "verbal noun" at all. They regard what I consider a verbal noun as a gerund. Examples:

The speaking of English is easy. (A verbal noun and because speaking is a noun, the is posible before it. Even an adjectival attribute can be used: The correct speaking of English is easy.)

Speaking English is easy. (A gerund, which to my mind is neither a verb nor a noun but a little bit of both. The is not possible before a gerund, nor is an adjectival attribute and these two things are a clear sign (to me) that a gerund is not a noun: Correct speaking English is easy. (WRONG!!!)

Because there are hardly any inflections in English, there is bound to be occasional confusion as to the exact meaning of every word ending in ing as your example (beginning) in another post shows.

I can't remember what I have written about these things before but if you are interested, you may wish to read these posts that deal with the gerund, verbal nouns and participles and their differences:

subject of gerund gerund v present participle gerund v verbal noun

Re: pulleth

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:10:11 GMT

gah...if you're gonna try to use archaic forms like that, get it right >>
the -th ending is only for the third person singular

here is an example using the verb "to pull"
1st sing: "I pull"
2nd sing: "thou pullest"
3rd sing: "he/she/it pulleth"
1st plural: "we pull"
2nd plural: "you pull"
3rd plural "they pull"

it sounds** when people try to just that the "-th" onto the end of every other wording or something like that

Edited by Mod in the interests of politeness.

subject verb agreement 2 ^^

dave_amateur — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:36:25 GMT

Hi i got this example from my grammar book.

e.g. There is a subject which the student likes best. (this is the singular form)
There are some subjects which the student like best. (this is the plural form)

My question is, the verb "like/likes" follow the subject/some subjects? so it has nothing to do with the student when it comes to subject verb agreement?

if the examples above are grammatically correct.

then can i say, There is a movie which Jane likes most.
There are some movies which Jane like most.

thanks for the help and effort!!
=]

Re: subject verb agreement ^^

Kooyeen — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:34:28 GMT

Hi,
The news is encouraging. She brings it. The news she brings is encouraging.
The laptops are stylish. She brings them. The laptops she brings are very stylish.

I hope that will help you understand which subject goes with which verb.
As for the other questions, they might be a little tricky. I can only tell you what I would say, but consider I am not a native speaker.

His pair of spectacles is broken. His pair of shorts is torn. ("pair" is singular)
His spectacles are broken. His shorts are torn. (They are plural, and this is the common way to say it. You really don't need to add "a pair")

Music and writing is where her talent lies (But I wouldn't be surprised to hear "are" instead, or even find myself saying it, although I think I would add "...are the places/areas where...").

Now you need to see if the native speakers agree, but remember sometimes subject-verb agreement can be tricky to native speakers too.

subject verb agreement ^^

dave_amateur — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:07:58 GMT

Please help to clarify. thanks alot peeps =]

1a) The good news she brings is encouraging. Yes, I am sure because news is always used with singular verbs.
      The good news they brings/bring is/are encouraging.

1b) The laptops she bring/brings is/are very stylish.
     The latptops they bring/brings is/are very stylish.

in the above, how do we determine whether the subjects are both news and laptops or 3rd persons (she and they)? or vice versa?
i believe they are both news and laptops?

2a) His spectacles are broken. Yes, i am sure because spectacles is always used with plural verbs.
      His pair of spectacles is/are broken.

2b) His shorts is/are torn?
      His pairs of shorts is/are torn?

Is both the pairs of short & spectacles considered as one noun or still plural.

3a) Music is where her talent lies. Yes i am sure this is correct.

3b) Music and writing is/are where her talent/talents lie/lies.

appreciate the help and clarification. thanks!
overall, is there any rude to abide in the abovementioned case? how to look out for subjects, so that my verbs are grammatically correct.
thanks for taking the time and effort!