Summary of Unit 10

Second conditional

1. When we want to talk about imaginary actions and their consequences, we use the second conditional.
2. The second conditional has two clauses; 'if + the past tense' to introduce the hypothetical situation and 'would/could/might+verb' to talk about the imaginary result.
If I had more time, I would learn the guitar.
3. The clauses can be put the other way around. In this case we don't use a comma.
She would be the best student if she worked harder.
4. Other ways of saying if in a second conditional include what if, suppose, imagine and say
What if you won the lottery? Would you be happy?
Suppose you could live forever. What would you want to do?
Imagine you knew your brother was a burglar. Would you tell the police?
Say you could live anywhere. Where would you choose?

I wish/ If only +past simple
1. When we want to talk about how we would like our present life to be different, we can use wish or if only+past simple.
2. Although we are talking about our present situation, wish/if only are followed by the past tense.
I wish I didn't have so much homework.
Dave wishes he had a girlfriend.
3. We use wish/ if only+could when we want to talk about having the ability or permission to do something.
I wish I could play the guitar.
Sally wishes she could go to the party.

Summary of Unit 9

Verbs with gerunds; and infinitives

1. When a verb is followed by another verb, the second verb is either in the gerund (-ing) or infinitive form. The form of the second verb depends on the first verb.
2. Some verbs (e.g. enjoy, detest, (don't) mind, imagine, feel like, suggest, practise, miss) are followed by a verb in the gerund form.
I don't enjoy living in the city very much.
She doesn't feel like going out tonight.
3. Other verbs (e.g. hope, promise, ask, learn, expect, decide, afford, offer, choose) are followed by a verb in the infinitive form.
We can't afford to go on holiday this year.
I promise to pay you on Monday

Verbs with gerunds and infinitives
1. Some verbs (e.g. remember, stop, try) can be followed by a second verb in either the gerund or infinitive form. The form of the second verb depends on the meaning of the sentence.

Remember
I remember going to my first football match with my dad. (=I remember the occasion.)
I remembered to go to the stadium and buy the tickets. (=I promised my son I would buy the tickets and I didn't forget to do this.)
Stop
I stopped to watch the news headlines. (=I was doing something (my homework/talking to my parents) when the news started. I stopped the first activity because I wanted to watch the headlines.)
I stopped watching TV and went to bed. (=I was watching TV. I was tired so I turned off the TV and went to bed.)

2. Some verbs (e.g. like, love, hate, prefer, begin, start) can be followed by gerund or infinitive with no difference in meaning.
We began to run when it started raining.
We began running when it started to rain.

May 1, 2009

7A and 7C
finishing unit check 9, workbook