Archivo de categoría: A Practical English Grammar

[A] He rode away. He whistled as he went. = He rode away whistling; He holds the rope with one hand and stretches out the other to the boy in the water = Holding the rope with one hand, he stretches etc. [B] He opened the drawer and took out a revolver = Opening/having opened theSigue leyendo «Una frase de participio de presente reemplazando a una cláusula principal»

[A] They are going riding/skiing/sailing; Come dancing; I’m going shopping this afternoon. [B] He spends two hours (a day) travelling; He doesn’t spend much time preparing his lessons; We wasted a whole afternoon trying to repair the car; He spent a lot of money modernizing the house. [C] «She is/was busy packing.» [[A] go ySigue leyendo ««go,» «come,» «spend,» «waste,» «be busy»»

[A] I caught them stealing my apples, (I found them doing this); If she catches you reading her diary, she’ll be furious. I found him standing at the door = I saw him standing/He was standing at the door when I arrived; He found a tree lying accross the road. [B] I left him talkingSigue leyendo ««catch,» «find,» «leave» + objeto + participio de presente»

[A] I see him passing my house every day; Didn’t you hear the clock striking?; I felt the car skidding; She smelt something burning and saw smoke rising; I watched them rehearsing the play; I saw him changing the wheel [B] We saw him leave the house; I heard him make arrangements for his journey;Sigue leyendo «El participio de presente después de verbos de sensación»

[[A]working, loving, sitting [B1] He is working; You’ve been dreaming [B2] running water; floating wreckage; dripping taps; leaking pipes [B3] He had me swimming in a week; We have people standing on our steps all day; I won’t have him cleaning his bike in the kitchen. [B4] A map that marks/marked political boundaries = ASigue leyendo «El participio de presente (o participio activo)»

[A] He never swam far out. He was afraid of getting cramp; She avoids lonely streets. She is afraid of being mugged; She didn’t tell him because she was afraid of upsetting him. He was afraid to jump, (so he didn’t jump); She was afraid to protest, (so she kept quiet); I’m afraid (that) he’llSigue leyendo «Be afraid (of), be sorry (for), be ashamed (of)»

[A] He began by showing us where the island was and went on to tell us about its climate. «He went on talking about his accident»; «He went on to talk about his accident.»  [go on = «continue» y normalmente va seguido de gerundio. Pero se usa con un infinitivo, usualmente de un verbo comoSigue leyendo «Go on, stop, try, used (to)»

[A] When I asked them to wait, Tom agreed to wait a week but Bill refused to wait another day. He refused any reward; She accepted the post. He agreed to my leaving early on Friday. («I asked if I could leave early on Friday and he said that I could.» Lo opuesto sería: «HeSigue leyendo «Agree/agree to, mean, propose»

[A] I regret spending so much money = I’m sorry I spent so much money. («spending» es la primera acción, «regret» es la segunda); I remember reading about the earthquake in the papers. («reading» es la primera acción, «remember» es la segunda). I remember his/him telling me about it; I remember my father(‘s) telling meSigue leyendo «Regret, remember, forget»

[A] I began working./I began to work; He continued living/to live above the shop. I am beginning to understand/see/realize why she acted as she did; It ceased to matter whether or not he sold his work; She never ceased complaining/to complain about prices. [B]I can’t bear waiting/to wait. I couldn’t bear to tell him, (soSigue leyendo «Verbos que toman infinitivo o gerundio sin cambio de significado»