GRAMMAR AND

CONVERSATION II

INFINITIVES
After certain adjectives and certain nouns

Grammar rules
Which adjectives will be followed by an infinitive?
Adjectives that describe a feeling about the action.
adjective

infinitive

They were eager to try.

I am happy to see you.

He was glad to hear about you.

Which adjectives will be followed by an

infinitive?
Adjecives that describe praise or blame.
adjective

infinitive

I was wrong to leave

They were sorry to see him that way.

We are corageous enough to continue

Which adjectives will be followed by an

infinitive?

Adjectives that show the order of actions.

adjective

infinitive

I am the first to tell you

You were last to marry

Its easy for us to understand!

Its Smart of you to make that choice

Its weird for her to pray before eating
Its better for you to stay

Use its + adjective + of/for + noun/pronoun + infinitive

to make general observations.

Use its + adjective + infinitive to make general

observations.

Its difficult to study french and english at the same

time

Noun + Infinitive
When is the infinitive preceded by a noun?
To express advisability or necessity.
I have many chapters to read for my biology class
The principal is the person to ask about admissions
Some other nouns are popular for preciding the
infinitive.
Time, right, decision, Price, permission.

INFINITIVES
With Too and enough

Too+ adjective/adverb +infinitive

Adjective/adverb + enough + infinitive
Use this structures to give a reason.
NOTE:
Im too busy to help you
Now
its too
late to
to study
Ifthe
context
is clear
youtry
wont
need the infinitive.

I cant drive a car because of my age, I am too

Young/I am not old enough
She isnt old enough to drive
He didnt ran fast enough to scape

For + noun/object pronoun + infinitive

That is too difficult for my students to

understand.

That is too difficult for them to understand.

INFINITIVES
Of Purpuse

INFINITIVE TO EXPLAIN PURPOSE.

Use infinitive to explain the purpose of an action, to
answer the question why?
Why are you studying english?
I am studying english to pass the TOEFL test.
You can also answer with an incomplete sentence.
Why are you studying english?
To pass the TOEFL test.

In order + infinitive

A more formal way of explaining purpose is using

in order to.

I am studying english in order to pass the TOEFL

test.

It is more common to use only the infinitive when

we are talking on an informal not written way.
Ill run everyday to get a healthier body.

NOT Ill run everyday in order to get a healthier

body.

How to use in order to to say

something negative.

I will use my dictionary in order not to make

mistakes.

clean the house in order not to find a mess when

Im back.

Add noun/ pronoun before the infinitive

to express the purpose of an object.

I really like your new binder

Thanks, I bought it to organize my documents.

Your tennis are not very pretty.

I know, but I use them to walk very long

distances.

REVIEW

Geround.

As subject.
Smoking is not good for you.

*** The verb in geround becomes a noun, use it always in third

person.
Smoking makes you sick

As object. (Acting as a noun affected by the verb).

Ill try to quit smoking

As the name of an activity. Go + geround.

I go swimming every Thursday
He went shopping.

Geround.

As a noun following a preposition.

Im afraid of losing you
I was not counting on finding him

***Identify when to is a preposition or part of the

infinitive, because if its a preposition it will be correct to
find to before a geround.
I am accostumed to eating pizza every day.

REMEMBER TO LEARN THE MOST POPULAR EXPRESSIONS VERB+

PREPOSITION AND ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITION.

INFINITIVE

Verb + infinitive. (Some verbs are usually followed by the

infinitive)
I want to get married

Verb + object + infinitive. (some verbs always need an

object before an infinitive)
I encouraged her to study

Some verbs work with or without an object before the

infinitive, but the meaning changes.

He needs to stay
He needs me to stay

Be careful with negatives, decide whether to change the

main verb or the one on infinitive, because the meaning
changes.
She begged me not to leave
She didnt beg me to leave

INFINITIVE

Adjective + infinitive. Some adjectives can be followed by

the infinitive.

** Many of these adjectives describe a feeling about the

verb in infinitive.

He was happy to see him

**The adjective might exprees praise or blame.
They were corageous to tell the truth

** The adjective might express the order of actions.

She was last to finish

INFINITIVE

Its + adjective + infinitive. This structure is to give

general observations, there isnt an explicit subject.
Its great to take care of your health

NOUN + infinitive.
Its a high price to pay

*** its common to find noun+ infinitive to express

advisability or necessity.
Dont bother me, I have a problem to solve

INFINITIVES

To give a reason.
Its late to start my homework

** Exagerate the reason with too or enough, remember that

too goes before the adjective or adverb and enough goes
after.
Its too late to start my homework
It isnt early enough to start my homework
** Use of or for + object in the middle of the adjective/adverb
and the infinitive, to be more specific.
Its too early for them to wake up, but not for me

INFINITIVES.

To answer the question Why?

I went to the pet store to buy some food for my dog.
*** Make your language more formal by using in order to.

I went to the pet store in order to buy some food for my

dog.

Also use infinitive to explain the function of something.

I need a TV to watch my favorite movies

Infinitives and gerounds.

Sometimes it is correct to use geround or infinitive and

get the same meaning.
She loves meeting new people
She loves to meet new people

But sometimes the meaning changes.

Martha stopped to eat ice cream.
Martha stopped eating ice cream

*** You may get a clue if yout think of the verbs in infinitive
as tasks, and gerounds as regular activities.
He forgot mailing Richard
He forgot to mail Richard

BASE FORM OF THE VERB

Make
Have
momLethad
Help**

object

Verb in base
complement
form
pay for
the cars damages

My
my brother
after he crashed it. (causes after suggestion or advice)
Its not very common tu use the verb in base form, but use it to talk
My mom
brother
to paypermits
for theorcars
damages.
about things
thatgot
onemy
person
requires,
causes
to another
person
(persuades or convince)
My grandmother makes me take a healthy breakfast. (Requirement,
obligation)
Both expressions are similar, be careful and use
She has me think about
the importance
of eating healthy. (causes
infinitive
with got.
after a suggestion or advice.)
I think its unfair because she lets my brother eat whatever he
wants. (gives permission)
He helped me understand the homework/ He helped me to
understand.

2nd test

QUANTIFIERS

Expressions of quantity

Use them before a noun. (or use them alone if you have
previously talked about the noun.)
A:We used a lot of wter last summer.
B: Yes, I couldnt believe it, it was really a lot!

Use some, enough, a lot of and any for count and non
count nouns.
I have some strawberries and some milk in the fridge.
I have enough rice for everybody, but not enough tortillas.

I have a lot of cups and a lot of coffee for all the guests.
I dont have any apples or any sugar for the pie you want.

few, several and many

Use this expressions only with count nouns and with
affirmative sentences.
A few friends of mine are coming.
a

Little, a great deal of and much with non

count nouns and with affirmative sentences.
A great deal of love must be involved to donate
one of your body organs.
There was a little sand on her shoes.

Much vs a lot of vs many.

They have a similar meaning.

A lot of for count and noun counts, many only for

count nouns, and much only for non count nouns.

Use much when you need to talk really formaly, and

remember that many is more formal than a lot of.

He paid a lot of money for my college, mom.

He paid much money for my college, mr President.

I have a lot of ideas for our next trip.

I have many ideas for my next project, teacher.

Few and Little vs a few and a Little.

Few means not enough, a few means not a lot, but

probably enough. (Count nouns)

Little means not enough, a Little means not a lot, but

probably enough. (Non count nouns)

I know a few things about you, your name, favorite color

and favorite artist.

I know few things about you, I need to know your better.

I had a Little faith on you, I lost it when you dropped

school.

I had Little faith on you, so dont worry you didnt

dissapoint me.

Many, any and much for questions and

negative sentences.
For

negative sentences: Many and much = a

lot. Any= cero.

How
I

didnt see many. / I didnt see any.

How
I

many people did you see?

much oil do you need for that dish?

dont need any /I dont need much.

Use some to make offers

Would you like some water?

Articles: Indefinite and definite

You will use an indefinite article before an indefinite

noun, and a definite article before a definite noun.

INDEFINITE NOUN: When you donttalk about an

specific noun, you dont have a particular person or
thing on mind.

DEFINITE: You talk about a specific noun, you know

the person, thing or place or you previously mention
it.

Im gonna buy a house next year

Im gonna buy the house that belonged to my parents

 A/AN

For indefinite count, singular nouns.

I saw a shooting star
I want a can of coke with no sugar please.
I think I need to buy a car.

Remember that a preceeds consonant sounds, and

an vowel sounds.

A universe, a hostess, an honest person

For indefinite plural count nouns use some or no

article.

I saw some lions at the zoo/ I saw lions at the zoo

He bought some balloons for the party

THE

For count and non count, singular and plural nouns that
are definite.

When something is mentioned for the second time:

I bought an apple and a sandwich, the apple was really
good but the sandwich was disgusting.

When you specify wich noun:

The girl with the blue dress is my sister.

When there is only one of its kind:

The president, the sun, the moon.

The context makes clear the noun you are

refering:

Could you please turn on the light?

When you use and adjective to specify wich:

The first car I had

the best chicken Ive ever tried

Use no article to define things and to give

general statements.

What are these?

Theyre tickets for the game
Elephants are big animals

Singular count nouns cannot be alone. Be sure to

write an article, a pronoun, one or this, that,
etc.

Can I have that ball please?

I need to buy a ball.
I need just one ball.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS AND

RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS:

Use them when the subject and object of a sentence refer

to the same people or things.

Sara looked at herself in the mirror (Sara looked at Sara

at the mirror).

Remember that yourself is for singular, and yourselves is

for more tan one person.

You cant see yourselves with clarity, girls

You cant see yourself with clarity, Ana

Use a reflexive pronoun to emphasize a noun. Place it

directly next to the noun.

Ana organized a party and it was a disaster, Ana herself was

bored

By + reflexive pronoun means alone or without help.

She lives by herself

I fixed my car by myself
Be + reflexive pronoun means act in the usual way.
He wasnt himself after his mothers dead
Just be yourlsef and he will love you

RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS:
EACH OTHER/ ONE ANOTHER

The subject and the object of the sentence refer to the same
people, and these people have a two-way relationship.
Ana and Pedro fight sometimes, but they love each other
(Ana loves Pedro, Pedro loves Ana)

****Use each other if your subject is 2 people.

We all said our names to each other
We all said our names to one another
(each person gave its name to every other person)
****Use each other or one another if the subject is more tan 2
people.

Reciprocal pronouns and prlural reflexive pronouns

have different meanings.

Fred and Jane talked to each other.

Fred and Jane talked to themselves.

There are possessive forms for reciprocal pronouns.

Emma and Pablo took each others hands