The "-ing form"

To have been going

Forms of the – ing form
	Active	Passive
Simple	losing	being lost
Perfect	having lost	having been lost

The simple -ing form refers to the present or future. The perfect -ing form shows that the action of the -ing form happened before the action of the verb. We can use the simple -ing form instead of the perfect -ing form with no difference in meaning.

– He admitted having stolen / stealing the car.
would rather / would prefer / would sooner
We use would rather (= would prefer to) to express preference.
– George would rather become a teacher than become a doctor.
– I'd rather have a beer.
– Which would you sooner do - go swimming or play tennis?
– Wouldn't you rather finish it tomorrow?
– 5 –
When the subject of would rather is also the subject of the following verb, we use the following constructions:
a) would rather + bare infinitive
– I'd rather stay at home tonight. (present or future)
– I'd rather do my shopping tomorrow.

b) would rather + bare infinitive

– I'd rather have gone to France last winter. (past)
– I'd rather not have gone to the party last night. (past)

When the subject of would rather is different from the subject of the following verb, we use the following constructions:

a) would rather + past tense
– I'd rather Tony did the shopping today. (present or future)
– I'd rather John stayed with us tonight.
– I would rather Helen went to the bazaar.

b) would rather + past perfect

– I'd rather Mustafa hadn't spent so much money yesterday. (past)
– I'd rather Don hadn't taken his father's car yesterday.


Would prefer
Study the ways in which we can express preference:
a) prefer + gerund + to + gerund (general preference)
– I prefer jogging to cycling.
– I prefer playing tennis to playing squash.


b) prefer + full infinitive + rather than + bare infinitive (general preference)
– I prefer to go out rather than stay at home.
– I prefer to eat fish rather than (eat) meat.


c) prefer + noun + to + noun (general preference)
– She prefers orange juice to apple juice.
– I prefer coffee to tea.
– He prefers basketball to football.


d) would prefer + full infinitive + rather than + (bare infinitive) (specific preference)
– I'd prefer to pay in cash rather than (pay) by credit card.
e) would rather + bare infinitive + than (+ bare infinitive)
– She'd rather have a salad than (have) a steak.
– I'd rather watch a comedy than (watch) a thriller.

■ be sure to / be certain to / be bound to + infinitive (to express certainty about the future)

– This plan is sure to / is bound to succeed. – Knowing Dave, he is bound to be late.
– The Republicans are bound to get in at the next elections.


There are 17 teams competing in the competition.
There are a few people coming to visit us tonight.
There is the most amazing looking scenery outside.
There were names written on the walls.
There were several concerts held around the world on 2^nd July 2005.
There's someone moving about downstairs. We’d better call the police, quickly.


Thursday, January 22, 2015 10:07:29 PM
The infinitive is the root form of the verb. There are two kinds of infinitive:
a) the to-infinitive which is the root form of the verb with to.  to go to drink to ride to speak
b) the bare infinitive which is the root form of the verb without to.  go drink ride speak

We use to-infinitive:

● after verbs such as: want, agree, ask, help, hope, tell, decide, manage, offer, invite, promise,
try, refuse, pretend, appear, expect, seem, afford, plan etc.
– I want to see a film tonight. – He refused to speak to me.

● after be + adjective + to-infinitive such as, glad, happy, nice, sorry, ashamed, afraid, willing,

etc.
– It's nice to meet you! – He'll be glad to see you.
– I'm perfectly willing to discuss the problem.

● after some verbs such as know, learn, find out, wonder, explain, remember, ask, want to

know, decide, etc. when there is a question word (who, what, where, how, etc.) after them.
– I don't know where to go. – I don't know how to tell her the truth.
– He explained how to operate this machine.

● Too + adjective/adverb is followed by to - Infinitive. Too goes before adjectives or adverbs. It

shows that something is more than enough/necessary or wanted. It has a negative implication.
too … + for smb/smth + to do
– He is too young to work abroad.
– It's too cold to go out. – My son is too young to go to school.
– He's too young to go out alone. – English is too difficult for me to learn.
– He was too late to catch the train. – She's too shy to speak to the teacher.
– The house is too expensive for me to buy.

● Enough goes before nouns but after adjectives or adverbs. It shows that there is as much of

something as is wanted. That is, the right amount.
It has a positive implication and is followed by to-infinitive.

– We've got enough money to travel abroad. – He isn't old enough to work abroad.

– He's strong enough to lift the suitcase. – He's clever enough to solve the problem.

● after it + be + adjective + of (noun / pronoun)

– It was nice of them to invite us. – It was really kind of you to help me.
– It was clever of you not to believe them.

● after it + be + adjective/noun

– It's important to get there in time.
– It's my ambition to have my own house.

● after be + the first / the second / next / last / best, etc.

– She was the first to arrive.

● after certain nouns or pronouns such as something, somewhere, anyone, nothing, etc. usually

to show that something is necessary or possible.
– My eagerness to learn French is great!
– My habit to eat?
– I've got lots of things to do.
– Take something to drink on the train.
● to express purpose.
– I eat an apple a day to be healthy. – I get up very early to do physical jerks.

● would like / would love / would prefer / would care + to-Infinitive = I want to do something.

– I would like to travel to Paris one day. (= I want to travel to China one day.)
– I would prefer to learn a foreign language.
SUBJECT INFINITIVE
When the subject of the main verb and the subject of the infinitive is the same, then the subject of the
infinitive is omitted.
– I would like to stay here. (The subject of the main verb and the infinitive is I.)

When the subject of the infinitive is different from the subject of the main verb, then the subject of the

infinitive is not omitted. The subject of the infinitive can be a name (Mary), a noun (the boys) or an
object pronoun (me, you, them, etc.) and goes before the infinitive.
– I would like the girls / her / Lucy to stay here.


The subject of the -ing form can be an object pronouns, a possessive adjective, a name or a possessive case.
– I can't imagine him / his / Victor / Victor's winning the competition.

We use bare infinitive:

● after modal verbs (can, could, must, needn't, shall, will, may, etc).
– He can't swim.

● after the verbs let and make.

– My parents don't let me go to parties.
– Mother made me wash my clothes yesterday.
– They made me repeat the whole story.

● We can use the bare infinitive or the-ing form after the verbs see, hear, feel, listen to,

notice, glimpse and watch.
Note the difference in meaning, however.
a) I saw Peter cross the street.
(I saw the whole action - by the time I left. Peter was on the other side of the street.)
b) I saw Peter crossing the street.
(I only saw part of the action I don't know if Peter got to the other side of the street by the
time I left.)


BUT!!! be made / be heard / be seen + to-infinitive (passive)
– He was seen to enter the building about the time the crime was committed.
– He was made to pay for the damage.
– She must be made to comply with the rules.

When see, hear and watch are followed by an -ing form, there is no change in the passive.

– I saw her getting into a taxi.
– She was seen getting into a taxi.


can/could + see/hear + -ing form.
– We could see smoke coming out of the building. (NOT: We could see smoke come ...)

● after had better and would rather, would sooner.

– You had better go to the doctor about your cough.
– We'd better leave now or we'll miss the bus.
– I would rather go home now.
– I would rather die than give a speech.
– Would you rather walk or take the bus.


NOTE:
1. Help is followed by either the to-infinitive or the bare infinitive.
– She helped me (to) fix the tap.


BUT! We usually use to-infinitive in negative sentences with the verb 'to help'
– How can I help my children not to worry about their exams.


2. If two infinitives are joined by and, the to of the second infinitive can be omitted.
– He decided to go to university and study biology.
– He agreed to come and support me.
– I wanted to go to university and to become a teacher.
3. We form the negative infinitive with not.
– He decided not to accept the job. – She may not come.