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Modals expressing present and future permission / prohibition
To express permission and prohibition, the following structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition."s are used.
Revision questions: modals
- What is the past form of the following sentence? He must go home. (1) He had to go home or (2) He must have gone home?
- How can the same modal appear in both clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb.s of the following second conditional sentence?
IT'S (HIGH) TIME
It's (high) time you left. You will miss the bus.
This sentence refers to present time and it implies that perhaps it is already too late. We can use this structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition." in the past tenseA grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. To express when an event or action happens in time or when a state exists, we use tenses. too, however, the unrealA tense that expresses a hypothetical situation. E.g.: I wish you were here. tense in the second clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb. will not change.
It was time I left.
Compare with this structure:
Verbs followed by the gerund
admit, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, delay, deny, discuss, enjoy, escape, fancy, finish, forgive, give up, involve, keep, mention, mind, miss, postpone, practise, prevent, put off, quit, recall, recollect, report, resent, resist, risk, save, stand, suggest, tolerate, understand etc.
Present perfect with FOR and SINCE
The prepositions for and since are often used with the present perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. tenseA grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. To express when an event or action happens in time or when a state exists, we use tenses.. For is used with an incomplete period of timeA period of time that includes the time of speaking. E.g.: I have known him for two years. ("for two years"), while since with a point of timeA particular moment in time. E.g.: She came home at six. ("six") I was born in 1980. ("1980") .
FEEL, HEAR, SEE, WATCH, LISTEN, NOTICE + somebody / something + infinitive
I saw him climb over the fence. (= I saw that he climbed…)
I have never heard this group perform this song. (= I have never heard this song performed by this group.)
After these verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis.s the infinitive expresses a completeA concept, related to the perfect aspect, expressing that an action has finished. E.g.: He’s finished university.d actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something. If we mean an action in progressAn action is in progress when it is happening. E.g.: When I arrived he was surfing. ("he was surfing"), a present participle is used:
The present participle in certain phrases
I’m busy refurnishing my room, don’t call me this weekend.
It’s no use crying over spilt milk.
It’s no good calling him, he’s abroad.
I had trouble starting my car this morning.
I had a hard time understanding what he was saying.
Inversion in conditional sentences
If + subjectThe person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. E.g.: Andy has never been to Brunei. ("Andy") + auxiliaryA helping verb used with main verbs to express mood, voice and tense. E.g.: I can't stand when I am disturbed. ("can", "am") can be replaced in formalNot belonging to colloquial or everyday speech; official. E.g.: I demand that Mr Smith call the person on whom the committee has decided. English, or for dramatic effect, by the inversionA structure in which a verb or an auxiliary precedes the subject. E.g.: "Here comes the sun." of the auxiliary and the subject, with the if omitted.
GET + somebody + TO + infinitive
This structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition." implies that the other person did not want to do something, but we managed to convince them.
Finally we got the mechanic to repair the elevator.
I couldn’t get her to understand the problem.