Gerund and Infinitive forms

Gerunds and infinitives are sometimes referred to as verb

complements. They may function as subjects or objects in a sentence.
A gerund is a verb in the present participle (-ing form) that functions
as a noun that names an activity rather than a person or thing.

The gerund (-ing) form is used:

• As noun (the subject of the sentence).
E.g. a. Fishing is an excellent activity to do on Sundays.
b. Studying a new language can be challenging.
c. Jogging is very good for your health.

• After certain verbs: admit, appreciate, avoid, consider,

continue, deny, fancy, go (for activities), imagine, mind, miss,
quit, save, suggest, practice, prevent.
E.g. a. Allie will go skiing next winter to Alaska.
b. Can you imagine being free and going out whenever you want?
c. They will consider granting you money.

• After verbs love, hate, like, enjoy, prefer, dislike to express a

general preference.
E.g. a. I love being here, having a picnic with you.
b. Julie loves dancing with her partner, Camilo.
c. Alice likes watching old films on TV.
 • After expressions such as be busy, it’s not used, it’s not good,
it’s (not) worth, what's the use of, can’t help, there’s no point
(in), can’t stand, have difficulty (in), have trouble, etc.
E.g. a. But I can’t help falling in love with you.
b. Ellie has trouble understanding the past perfect structure.
c. Our father is busy repairing the car.

• After spend, waste or lose (time, money, etc).

E.g. a. He spent a lot of money buying a bunch of unnecessary things.
b. We waste a lot of time thinking about our past.
c. She lost a lot of time overthinking about her present

• After the preposition to with verbs and expressions such as look

forward to, be used to, in addition to, object to, prefer (doing
something to something else).
E.g. a. I prefer eating hamburgers to hot dogs.
b. I look forward to seeing you after this quarantine.
c. I am used to working late.

• After other prepositions

E.g. a. We should be interested in hearing your comments.
b. Would you like to walk instead of taking the bus?
c. Can you touch our toes without bending your knees?

• After the verbs hear, listen to, notice, see, watch, and feel to
describe an incomplete action.
E.g. a. I heard you talking to Louise from the other room.
b. I noticed Emily using your t-shirt. Looks adorable!
c. I saw them kissing in the park.
An infinitive is a verb form that acts as other parts of speech in a
sentence. It is formed with to + base form of the verb. E.g.: to buy, to
work.
The infinitive (to + infinitive) form is used:
• To express purpose
E.g. a. I want to visit my grandmother to know she is doing fine.
b. Adrian and Lynn will enroll in an online course this week to
have a certificate.
c. She went to the nearest shop to buy a new dress for the
reception.

• After certain verbs that refer to the future (agree, appear,

decide, expect, hope, plan, promise, refuse, etc.)
E.g. a. We did agree to choose Claudia as the new manager of the
company.
b. They are planning to go on vacation in Summer 2021.
c. They refused to cooperate any longer.

• After adjectives which describe feelings/emotions (happy, glad,

sad, etc.), express willingness/unwillingness (eager, reluctant,
willing, etc.) or refer to a person’s character (clever, kind,
etc.), and the adjectives lucky and fortunate.
E.g. a. I was very glad to hear that Liz got married.
b. Iron Man was willing to sacrifice himself to save the
world.
c. The way things are going now, I'm lucky to save ten
dollars a week.
 • After would like, would prefer, would love
E.g. a. I would like to travel to the US when everything is back to
normal.
b. We rather prefer to go out for 2 hours than staying in for 2
weeks.
c. I would prefer to stay at home tonight.

• After too/enough
E.g. a. It is too cloudy to have a picnic outdoors.
b. Your love would be enough to get me out of the darkness.
c. It isn’t warm enough to go out without a coat.

• To talk about an unexpected event (usually with only)

E.g. a. I arrived at work earlier than never only to find out that today
was Sunday.
b. You were scared to look under your bed only to discover that
Danny was teasing you.
c. I finally arrived home only to find that I had left my keys at
the office.

• With it + be + adjective/noun
E.g. a. It is amazing to teach English to a group like you!
b. It is great to be learning German, even though I don't
understand most of it.
c. It was easy to find the house after all.
 • After be + first/second/next/last/etc.
E.g. a. Pastor Maldonado was the last to the finish line in that race.
b. My mom is always the first person to wish me a happy
birthday.
c. She was the first person to congratulate me on my
promotion.

• After verbs and expressions such as ask, decide, explain, find

out, learn, want, want to know, etc., when they are followed
by a question word.
E.g. a. I want to break free!
b. I asked him to stop complaining about us.
c. Their Maths teacher explained how to solve the problem.

NOTE: why is followed by subject + verb, NOT an infinitive.

E.g. I wonder why she didn’t let us know about it.

• In the expressions to tell you the truth, to be honest, to sum

up, to begin with
E.g. a. To be honest, I don't think this quarantine will end quickly.
b. To tell you the truth, I have been rather embarrassed over
the past few weeks about the attitude of Mr. Geller.
c. To begin with, she is too young for that kind of job.

NOTE: if two to-infinitives are linked by and or or, the to of the

second is omitted.
E.g. a. I would like to go and visit Kate at the weekend.
b. I expect to swim and surf in Hawaii.
c. I would like you to tidy the houseand wash the
dishesbefore I get home.
The infinitive without to (also called bare infinitive) is used:
• After modal verbs.
E.g. a. Carol can speak Italian and French.
b. You must finish your ownwork before you go out.
c. It will be hot and sunny today so you should put on plenty
of sunscreen.

• After the verbs let, make, see, hear, and feel.

E.g. a. They made her fill out a lot of forms.
b. I can't let you go to bedhungry.
c. I saw him pour the medicinedown the loo and I heard him
laugh to himself.

• After had better and would rather.

E.g. a. We had better avoid the town center because the traffic
is very heavy at the moment.
b. I'd rather swim in the pool than go down to the beach.
c. She’d better get here soon.
 SPECIFIC AND GENERAL PREFERENCES
To express general preference we use:

To express specific preference we use:

The Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous
The present perfect is formed by using the present tense of the
verb have and the past participle of a verb.
As you can notice in the image above, there are several aspects you
have to pay attention to, in order to build this type of sentence.
Each subject has a conjugation for HAVE depending on the type of
pronoun, singular or plural.
Singular: I, you, she, he, It.
Plural: we, you, they.

Pronoun verb HAVE

I have
you have
she has
he has
It has
we have
you have
they have
REMEMBER! The third person singular (represented by she,he, & It)
has a different conjugation. HAVE is always conjugated in present
simple.

HAVE works as an auxiliary verb and not as the main verb of the
sentence. That means that we do not have to use DO, DOES, or DID
as auxiliary verbs.
The verb that comes next (past participle) is the main verb and the
one in charge to indicate the action or state. This verb can be
regular or irregular.

It is possible to contract the subject and verb:

I HAVE I´VE
YOU HAVE YOU´VE
SHE HAS SHE´S
HE HAS HE´S
IT HAS IT´S
WE HAVE WE´VE
THEY HAVE THEY´VE
• They´ve been here for hours.
• She´s traveled to many places around th world.

If we are going to make negative sentences or questions, we have to

do as follows:

• For a negative structure, we have to add the negative particle

NOT after the verb HAVE.
she has NOT prepared our food.
We have NOT eaten healthy food during our entire life.

• We can contract the verb HAVE and the particle NOT.

have not= haven´t
has not= hasn´t
 • Whe making a question, we only need to move the auxiliary
verb HAVE to the beginning of the sentence and add a
question mark at the end of it.
Sentence: Some thieves HAVE stolen my car.
Question: HAVE some thieves stolen my car?

• If you are concerned about answering a question. Here you

have the way to do it.
Maria: Has your father worked as a police officer all his life?
Sophia: Yes, he has. / No, he hasn´t.

1. When do we use the present perfect?

• For an activity or situation that started in the past and continues

up to the present.
E.g. a. They have studied English for nearly 3 years.
b. I have lived in Venezuela all my life.
c. We have listened to the same 10 songs all day.

• When we are talking about our experiences up to the present.

E.g. a. I have watched that movie before.
b. J.K. Rowling has written 119 books and she is working on many
more.
c. Ellie has played the piano since she was a little girl.

• For something that happened in the past but is important in the

present.
E.g. a. I can't get into the house. I have lost my keys.
b. Teresa isn't at home. I think she has gone shopping.

IMPORTANT: We often use the adverb ever to talk about experiences

up to the present and we use never for the negative form.
E.g. a. Have you ever traveled abroad?
b. Yesterday was the worst day I have ever had.
c. Julie has never gone to a rock music festival.
d. They have never talked to Lucy.
2. Present perfect with adverbs of time
We often use the present perfect with adverbials that refer to the
recent past or adverbials which include the present, also with
adverbials that refer to a time which is not yet finished.
recently just only
just
so far until now up
to now

ever (in questions)

yet (in questions and negatives)

Examples: I have just had dinner.

I have read two chapters of the novel so far.
Have you ever watched Grease?
Have you finished your homework yet? / No, until now I've only done
my history.

now that I am
this week/month/year
today 18
E.g. Have you seen her today?
E.g. We have bought a new car this week.
 The present perfect continuous/progressive is formed with
have/has been and the -ing form of the verb.
As you could notice, this tense is almost the same concerning
structure. The difference remains on the fact that we always need to
use the verb BE in its past participle form after HAVE. Furthermore, it
is necessary to have another verb in -ING form that will work as the
main verb.
In order to write proper affirmative & negative sentences, or even
questions. You should follow the same patterns that were mentioned
before.
If we are going to make negative sentences or questions, we have to do
as follows:
• For a negative strucuture, we have to add the negative particle
NOT after the verb HAVE.
she has NOT been studying her lessons.
We have NOT been watching a lot of TV.

• We can contract verb HAVE and the particle NOT.

have not= haven´t
has not= hasn´t

• Whe making a question, we only need to move the auxiliary verb

HAVE to the beginning of the sentence and add a question mark
at the end of it.
Sentence: Some people HAVE been helping the homeless.
Question: HAVE some people been helping the homeless?

• If you are concerned about answering a question. Here you have

the way to do it.
Maria: Has your father been working as a police officer all his life?
Sophia: Yes, he has. / No, he hasn´t.

1. When do we use the present perfect continuous/progressive?

• To emphasize that something is continuing in the present.
E.g. a. We have been studying during this quarantine.
b. My mom has been sleeping in my aunt's house for over a week. She
is coming back home next Tuesday.
c. It has been raining cats and dogs for hours.
We do not normally use the present perfect continuous with stative
verbs (be, like, love, hate, etc.), instead, we use the present perfect.
E.g. a. I've always been liking Andrew. --> I've always liked
Andrew.
b. Sara has been loving her husband since the day they met. -->
Sara has loved her husband since the day they met.
In fact, when deciding which one of them we have to usem we can
take into account the next:

Examples:
FOR SINCE
She has not visited her parents for more I have worked for Banesco as an
than 5 years. Accountant since 2011.
 Summary and comparison...

Music Preferences
For many of us, our taste in music is an integral part of our identity –
so as to say that, what we listen to is who we are. The songs of our
youth, heard a thousand times, fill our headspace with stray lyrics and
infectious grooves, creating a filter for the way we see, hear, and
understand the world from then on.
According to the researcher, Adrian North people do define themselves
through music and use it as a means for relating to other people.
Types of personality according to people's music
tastes:
Your music taste is far more than just songs you enjoy listening to, it is
an in-depth look as to who you are. Music taste can affect one’s style,
attitude, personality, and culture. We can predict people’s
personalities from their musical preferences.

Does the music you like reflect who you are?

However, music can also affect our current mood. People tend to
prefer sad music when they are experiencing a deep interpersonal loss,
thus, sad music can cause negative feelings of profound grief. On the
other hand, people who listen to upbeat music could improve their
moods and boost their happiness quickly. And a happier mood brings
benefits beyond feeling good!

Words related to music!

Here you'll find a list of words that involve music and rhythm. Most of them are
nouns.
• Beat: rhythm.
E.g. There are driving beats and tunes of some songs that bring back good
memories.
• Lyrics: the words of a song.
E.g. The lyrics of Queen clutched at her heart.
• Melody: chant/harmony.
E.g. The melody grew and passed from one instrument to another in the
concert.
• Tune: chorus.
E.g. Even at this hour, a piano was pounding out a raucous tune in one of the
three saloons.
• Voice: tune/vocals.
E.g. Her voice has an aspirate quality; there seems always to be too much
breath for the amount of tone.
• Sound: noise.
E.g. Oh, what a pretty sound the violin made!
• Rhythm: cadence.
E.g. Trumpet answered trumpet above the steady beat of drums and the
rhythm of marching feet.
• Harmony: musical accordance.
E.g. The harmony between the violins, cellos, and basses was marvelous.
• Orchestra: ensemble/sinfonietta.
E.g. The conductor of the Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela is Gustavo
Dudamel.
 LANGUAGE BUILDING
Present perfect structure

REMEMBER!
If we are going to make negative sentences or questions, we have to do as follows:
• For a negative strucuture, we have to add the negative particle NOT after
the verb HAVE.
she has NOT prepared our food.
We have NOT eaten healthy food during our entire life.
• We can contract verb HAVE and the particle NOT.
have not= haven´t
has not= hasn´t
• Whe making a question, we only need to move the auxiliary verb HAVE to
the beginning of the sentence and add a question mark at the end of it.
Sentence: Some thieves HAVE stolen my car.
Question: HAVE some thieves stolen my car?
• If you are concerned about answering a question. Here you have the way to
do it.
Maria: Has your father worked as a police officer all his life?

Sophia: Yes, he has. / No, he hasn´t.

Present perfect for past events related to present
1) The present perfect tense is used for past events that have a result, or an
effect on the present moment:
E.g.: Someone has opened the window (The window is open, and it is cold inside).
Tom has broken his leg (His leg is broken, and he can´t walk).
Look at the image so you can vosualize the idea:

2) If there is no connection between the action and the present moment, the
past simple is used:
E.g.: Someone opened the window to let in some fresh air. (The window is now
closed, or we do not know whether it is closed or not).
On the day before the match, Tom broke his leg (His leg is not broken
anymore).
3) Although the present perfect expresses a past event or state, it is used to
convey information that has relevance to the present. The specific moment
when you did it does not have relevance:
E.g.: I love animals and the outdoors, so I have decided to become a naturalist (it
is not important when I decided it).
 4) The following adverbs and expressions are often used with the present
perfect: ever, never, already, yet, so far, still (with the negative), once,
twice, three times:
E.g.: Have you ever thought about a career in law?
We have never considered that course of action.
She has already decided on a career in business.
I still have not made up my mind about what I will do after school.
He has been rejected by the medical school three times.
I have not finished my career yet.
Have you learned English yet?
5) The adverbs just, recently, and lately describe past events that have
occurred in recent a moment:
E.g.: She has just been accepted to a top business school.
They have recently made plans to get married.
Have you made any progress with your job search lately?
NOTE: the adverb lately is rarely used in affirmative statements in the present
perfect.
REMEMBER! Use the simple past, not the present perfect, to talk about a specific
time in the past. Example:
Correct: She applied for the position at the Science Institute last week.
Incorrect: She has applied for the position at the Science Institute last week.
 WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
Expressions to describe life choices or plans

Please, read the definition of the following expressions and pay special
attention to each one of the examples.

a.- Take up: cuando una persona se interesa por algo.

• I was so inspired by your demonstration that I have decided to take up
Karate lessons.

b.- Decide on: elegir algo después de pensar en las opciones posibles.
• She decided on Translation as her professional career.

c.- Apply for: cuando una persona solicita ser aceptado como estudiante en un
colegio o universidad llenando y enviando solicitudes.
• My father applied for a job as an English teacher.

d.- Be accepted to/into: cuando ganes la oportunidad de ingresar a una escuela o

programa.
• Thank God, I was accepted to the UCV.

e.- Be rejected by: when you are not given the opportunity to enter a school or
program.

• I am very sad! I was rejected by the police force.

f.- Sign up for: cuando una persona se une a un grupo u organización.

• One year ago, I signed for a French course.

g.- Enroll in: cuando te pones a ti mismo o a alguien más en la lista oficial de
miembros de un curso, universidad o grupo.
• I could not enroll in the UCV because I felt sick and could not go the due
date.
h.- Switch to: cuando una persona cambia o adopta una cosa en lugar de otra.
• I had to switch to English because German is very difficult.

Summarizing...

WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

Vocabulary for dreams and goals
Collocations with Have

Ways to become qualified for a job

Examples:

• In order to be a cop, you need to get experience doing martial arts.

• If you want to work as a Community Manager, you need to learn how to
deal with people first.
• I got my degree in Chemical Engineering 2 years ago.
• Maria is a competent employee. She got certified in business
management and information technology.