Monday, March 7, 2011

When can we omit a relative pronoun?

The rule is  if the relative pronoun refers back to the subject or object of the relative clause, not the main clause, it may  be omitted.

Example:
The woman (that) I was describing is over there. - fine
The woman told me the story is over there. - not grammatical

practice you knowledge here:
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/509.html

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Relative clauses and Relative pronouns

Dear Pupils,

Here are some links to practice Relative pronouns:

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?02

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/234.html

http://www.eflnet.com/grammar/relpronoun.php

Enjoy.

Gerunds and Infinitives

Let's practice Gerunds and Infinitives:

http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/index.htm

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verblist.htm



Infinitives – to + V1


a. Some verbs are followed directly by an infinitive.

Ex.  The children wanted to play basketball outside.

These verbs include:

afford                   decide                   manage                   prepare        want
agree                     demand                  mean                      pretend
appear                   hope                      offer                     refuse
arrange                  learn                     plan                       seem


b. Some verbs are followed by an noun or pronoun + an infinitive.

Ex. They forced their children to listen to them.

advise                   command                invite                     remind
allow                     convince                 order                     teach
ask                        forbid                   pay                        tell
cause                     force                     permit                   urge
challenge                instruct                 program                 warn


c. Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or an infinitive without changing the meaning.

Ex.  I like to swim. = I like swimming.

These verbs include:

begin                     hate                       like              prefer
continue                 intend                    love             start



d. Some verbs can be followed by a gerund or infinitive but with a change in meaning.

forget                   remember              stop             try

Ex.  He stopped smoking cigarettes.               (He doesn’t smoke anymore.)
       He stopped to smoke a cigarette.            (He stopped doing something to
                                                                         in order to smoke a cigarette)