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Below you will find special areas of grammar that I have written about for ESL students. I have placed them in the order I feel they should be studied.

* The Parts of Speech
* Types of Sentences
* The Three Part Sentence
* Phrases and Clauses
* The 12 Tenses
* Adverb Chart
* Common Mistakes
* Important Words
 
* Mark's ESL World Grammar Help Forum
* Mark's Grammar Tid-Bits
 

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  Use a gerund or an infinitive?
Gerunds and infinitives are not always interchangeable.  The main verb of the sentence determines whether or not you should use a gerund or infinitive.
 
 
  These verbs can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive:
begin, can't bear, can't stand, continue, hate, hesitate, intend, like, love, prefer, pretend, start
 
These verbs can only take a Gerund

admit (I admit stealing your purse)
adore (I adore listening to classical music.)
appreciate
avoid
consider
deny
detest
discuss
dislike
enjoy
escape
finish
imagine
keep
mind
miss
postpone
practice
put off
quit
recall
recollect
resent
resist
risk
suggest
tolerate
understand
  These verbs can only take an Infinitive
.
agree (I agree to work for you)
ask (He asked to mow my lawn.)
assent
beg
claim
decide
expect
have
hope
manage
mean
offer
plan
pretend
promise
refuse
say
wait
want
wish
   
  Complete meaning change:

forget, remember, stop, try

He stopped to eat.
He stopped eating.

He remembered to eat.
He remembered eating.


 


 

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