Search results for 'tag:Prepositions tag:Gerunds' matching tags 'Prepositions' and 'Gerunds'

Re: One of many problems faced by English learners is their own misconceptions.

Avangi — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:27:00 GMT

Jackson6612

Avangi
either "learners of the English language," or "English language learners."
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. Avangi
<<One - - is their own misconceptions.>> IMO there should be number agreement here. Possibly, "One - - - is dealing with their own misconceptions."
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." 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.
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.
Avangi
<<During the learning process, they should stop taking the machinery of their native tongue for granted.>> 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.
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.)
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."
Yes, you are right. I will be more careful about such constructions in future.
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"?
It is a proper word according to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

Congratulations on your hard work. - A.

Edit. "Why is the article "the" essential here?"

Re: Pronoun question

CalifJim — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:16:27 GMT

Eddie88
Why is the rule that one is to use the possessive pronoun with a gerund?

Why is the rule that one is to use "am" with "I", and "are" with "you"? Why is the rule to use "this" with singular nouns and "these" with plural nouns? The rules are an attempt to summarize usage. There is no reason why. They're just rules.

And anyway, you don't always have to use a possessive pronoun with a gerund.

Helen is annoyed by all that paper being on the kitchen table. (Few would write paper's.)

Paul agrees to there being a policy established to control the price of coal. (Certainly not there's)

And you can use a pronoun in the objective case if you want to be less formal.

Tina appreciated him/his helping her with the repairs.

Eddie88
And can someone please explain when it is the objective case when there is preposition in the sentence.

I'm not sure what you're asking, but the objective case is used after a preposition.

with me; for him; without her; from me; to him; etc.

Eddie88
For example one is to use WHOM (the objective case) when a preosition is in the sentence.

As above,

with whom, for whom; without whom, from whom, etc.

These would be used in questions and in relative clauses.

With whom did you attend the play?

For whom are you waiting?

From whom did you receive that letter?

The man of whom I spoke yesterday has arrived.

Miss Thomas was the woman with whom Mr. Sparks was dancing.

___

Constructions with whom are all rather formal.

Pronoun question

Eddie88 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:13:56 GMT

Why is the rule that one is to use the possessive pronoun with a gerund?

And can someone please explain when it is the objective case when there is preposition in the sentence.

For example one is to use WHOM (the objective case) when a preosition is in the sentence... Can someone clear this up for me, please- Is it if it refers to the preposition or what?

Re: Types of phrases

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:54:02 GMT

infinitive phrases always begin with to and a verb.
prepositional phrases begin with a preposition and has a direct object at the end.
gerund phrases end in -ing
participial phrases end in -ed or -ing
appositive phrases are always in commas and give information about the subject most likely.

Re: grammar check!

AlpheccaStars — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:03:57 GMT

Ellisa:

This is a very long passage, and your other post seems to be even longer.

The editor at this web site makes it difficult to make corrections to long passages. Also, many teachers do not want to devote a long time working on a single post. If you post only one paragraph at a time, then different teachers can work on them and you will get your corrections faster.

Ellisa

Hello teachers!
I'm summarising a book which is about teaching methods.
I guess there are millions of errors.
Please ~~check those to right one~~ suggest corrections to my sentences.!
Thanks in advance!

13. Teaching grammar

There are two main ways to teach~~ing~~ grammar.(or you can say "ways of teaching grammar". The word "teaching" is a gerund, and must be used as a noun. In this example, it is object of the preposition "of")
One way is ~~both~~ planning grammar teaching in advance and relying on the coursebooks which can help us teach grammar. The other way is teaching grammar as a result of other work. In other words, it is ~~has~~ done as a peripheral activity. In this chapter, we will look at the various different ways to teach grammar. We will look at the range of activities which satisfy not merely efficiency but also ~~appropriacy~~ (not a word; you can use the adjective forms - a range of activities which are efficient as well as appropriate). . Lastly, we will discuss grammar books and their usages.

(You need to be consistent in using imperative versus declarative sentences)

A. Introducing grammar

The following ~~1 to 4~~ examples (, numbered 1 to 4,) are activities which represent a range of possibilities for introducing new grammar.

Ex1) It's making sentences using the present simple in the third singular. First, the teacher holds up a number of flashcards which are about a specific job. Then (? subject - the students )make sentences in ~~contained~~ present simple tense for ~~the~~ each pictures. It consists (or The exercise consists of) of three affirmative and three negative sentences. Then (? subject - the teacher )makes the students guess what kind of job it is. Once students are confident in ~~with~~ these sentences, the teacher asks them to think of one profession and make 6 sentences. Now, they can do activities guessing what profession is being described.

Ex2) It's using texts which contained (present tense) what the students are being taught (past simple irregular verbs). While the students read the text, they come across blanks that they must fill in with the past tense form of certain verbs. Then, (? subject - the teacher )makes them write these past tense verb forms down in the blanks and also write them phonetically using ~~which are shown~~ ~~their~~ phonemic symbols.

Ex3) This is aimed to show the differences between ~~reporting~~ direct speech and reporting things that were said in the past. The teacher draws ~~Draw~~ two people on the board. One, whose name is Jack, is holding a phone and smiling ~~whose name is Jack~~. The other is just standing. The teacher gives the ~~Give~~ students the information that Jack is talking to a girl who he met in the school canteen. Then, the teacher asks the students what Jack tells his friend while taking on the phone. The answers might be in the present form such as ' She says I'm really nice'. In this process, the teacher makes sure that the students understand how 'you' changes to 'I'. The teacher now tells the students that Jack is back home and he was spurned by the girl. He is telling to his mother that 'She said I was really nice' which is past form. The teacher can write both past and present forms on the board to help students.

Ex4) Here, the language which the students are ~~were~~ going to study is ~~was~~ embedded in the texts which they read. The teacher makes the students read the story first. After confirming that they ~~are~~ fully understanood the story by asking comprehension questions, the teacher asks them to make bad or insensible statements using the story. Then, the ~~get~~ students to come up to the board and write the sentences. ~~so that T~~he sentences have to use the modal auxillary "should," such as ~~ncluding~~ 'Should have p.p.' or' Shouldn't have p.p'.(especially here.)

Re: guidance for....

CalifJim — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:23:15 GMT

Musicgold
The company provided guidance for 2009 revenue being in the $30-40 million range.

It is grammatically somewhat on the border of being correct.

You've put being in boldface font, so I suppose you are mostly interested in that.

2009 revenue being in the $30-40 million range

is a gerund clause. These are often used after prepositions, but they can be used anywhere you would use a noun. (The subject is 2009 revenue, the verb is being (the gerund form of be).) As such it is correct, but it would not normally be used in the context you have in this sentence. It's the guidance for that's bothersome.

Better:

The company's guidance [was / stated / assured] that 2009 revenue would be in the $30-40 million range.

If you must have a gerund clause, you could write, with a different meaning,

The company has hopes of 2009 revenue being in the $30-40 million range.

Re: intricate

AlpheccaStars — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:01:37 GMT

Neither of your answers fit, but here is a correctly finished sentence with most of the phrases and words:

.Despite his fondness for writing involved stories in which dying women are threatening evil villans, his appealing children's stories are his staples.

Despite his fondness for writing (gerund, object of preposition "for") involved (past participle, adjective) stories in which dying (present participle, adjective) women (here you need a verb, because you have started a depedent clause "in which") are threatening evil villains, his appealing (present participle, adjective) children's stories are his staples.

Despite his fondness for writing involved stories in which dying women are threatening evil villans, his appealing children's stories are his staples.

2. The decline in science education during the period had two causes: less funding for scientific research with a decrease in jobs related to space and defense.
The italics is related to, but why it is not "relating to"? >> "Relating to" could also be used in this particular situation

Participles as adjectives:

The present participle has the sense of present continuous time and active mood,. i.e - the crying baby, the dying woman, the coming elections, the leaning wall, the breaking news, the approaching train,the running motor, the rushing river, the looming disaster, the threatening clouds, the jumping dog

The past participle is completed time and passive mood: the closed door, the completed project, the finished sentence, the painted wall, the chanted verse, the haunted house, the written word.

Re: grammar error

AlpheccaStars — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:53:23 GMT

CalifJim
I don't even know the "traditional" term for the structure we're discussing here (with making ...) except that it involves a present participle.

CJ:

In the "classical" grammar I learned soon after the emergence of modern English , "making workers feel undervalued" would be analyzed as a participial phrase.

Most of the English grammar reference web sites I have used still keep to the "classical" grammar terminology. That is, a clause is defined as a group of words having both a subject and a (full, complete) verb. Groups of words which do not include both subject and verb are called phrases (not clauses).

If the phrase is headed by a present participle and acts grammatically in context as an adjective, it is called a participial phrase. If it acts grammatically as a noun, it is a gerund phrase.

Prepositional phrases are headed by a preposition, noun phrases by a noun, verb phrases by a verb, etc, etc,

I guess I'm just old-fashioned, but it all makes sense to me..

Re: ..running thereof...

Avangi — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:59:22 GMT

This is a gerund acting as object of the preposition. "The running thereof" = "the operation of the courts." A lot of money was spent in preparation for the running of the World's Fair. Rules were made in relation to the running of the beauty pagent. Rules were made by the American [Baseball] League in relation to the running thereof.

Re: A preposition or an infinitive marker?

Scottsox — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:22:37 GMT

I 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.

Scott