"I enjoy watching t.v." The word watching is used as a subject noun (i.e. a gerund) and the word t.v. is what? watching is not a subject noun, no. The underlying structure is I enjoy . The bracketed part is the object of the verb enjoy .

I have noticed that my way of analyzing English differs to an extent from what is taught in the Anglo-Saxon countries. This is how I see your examples: There was never any stopping it. Stopping is a gerund. It is used (without a verb immediately

This knife is used to cut bread. This knife is used for cutting bread. Maverick, both "to cut" and "for cutting" function as adverbs of purpose (e.g., Why is the knife used? What's its purpose?). They just express it in a different way.

Dear CalifJim, I'd like to clarify one point in your answer. You told me that in the PAST TENSE an adverbial of DURATION works more with the SIMPLE form of the verb, whether in the PRESENT TENSE it works better with the PROGRESSIVE form of the

The most natural are 1a, 2a, 3b, 4a, 5a. 2b is incorrect. An adverbial indicating a point in time ("when I was cutting onions") is incompatible with the perfect aspect. With the past tense ( Example 1 ) adverbials of duration (all night, all

It would be impossible to write everything there is to know about "voice" in English in just one post, but I hope the following will help. In English, a transitive verb can be used either in the 'active' or the 'passive' voice. If the person