Verbs
Questa sezione presenta anzitutto i verbi più comuni regolari ed irregolari. Poi prosegue esaminando alcune forme verbali importanti, le costruzioni più complesse, e numerosi verbi che hanno un comportamento un po’ particolare.
► Verbi più comuni
- cento utili verbi inglesi di base
- principali verbi irregolari (alfabetico)
- principali verbi irregolari (assonanza)
- principali verbi irregolari (esercizio)
- verbi che non ammettono la forma progressiva
- scheda completa dei verbi inglesi più comuni (ordine alfabetico italiano)
► Gli ausiliari: be e have
► Verbi modali
- can / may: chiedere e dare permesso
- must / have to: dovere (obbligo e divieto)
- could: capacità (come passato di “can”)
- need: avere bisogno di, servire, occorrere
- verbi modali nel passato (must have seen, can’t have done ecc.)
► Participio presente, gerundio e infinito
- differenza tra participio presente e gerundio
- usi diversi per l’infinito e per il gerundio
- quando ‘to’ richiede il gerundio e non l’infinito
- un uso particolare del gerundio
- uso del gerundio del verbo ‘to be’
- gerundio vs infinito: funzione e funzionalità
- gerundio come aggettivo – elementary
- gerundio come aggettivo – intermediate
► Costruzioni più complesse
- verbi preposizionali: guida completa
- costruzione oggettiva con want, expect, prefer, like, love, e hate
- periodo ipotetico
- forma passiva
- discorso indiretto
- futuro nel passato – would
- futuro nel passato – going to
- proposizioni temporali al futuro
- come esprimere far fare
- verbi ditransitivi – to give something to somebody
- question tags: vero, non è vero
- uso e significato di used to
- uso e significato di to be used to / to get used to
- uso del verbo take con espressioni di tempo
- inversione tra soggetto e ausiliare: al di là della forma interrogativa
- obbligare o convincere qualcuno a fare qualcosa: make / get
- phrasal verbs
- dove inserire l’elemento negativo nella frase
- doppio negazione – come evitarlo
- verbi con la preposizione about
- la versatilità del verbo ‘get’
- adore / love / like / hate / don’t mind / can’t stand
- wear / put on / get dressed / dress
- to be willing / to be prepared
- remember / remind
- walk / drive / fly
- bring / take / carry
- see / look / watch
- seem / look / sound
- say / tell
- make / do
- lend / borrow
- let / leave
- go / play / do
- rent / hire
- sit / stand
- choose / prefer
- agree (elementary)
- agree (intermediate)
- bother
- care (couldn’t care less)
- depend
- do
- enjoy
- explain
- fancy
- get (le basi)
- get (con aggettivo o participio passato)
- like
- mind
- pay
- seem
- spend
- stop (con infinito o con gerundio)
- suppose
- think
- throw
- wait
- wish
- wonder
- work out
Hi prof, good afternoon
According to the continuous form I know it is impossible to use the present perfect continuous with the adverb of time “always”, but it’s required the present perfect simple. I’d like to ask you if this Is true for other adverbs of time such as “ever, never, already, just”, and so on.
Many many thanks and best regards
“Always” is an adverb of frequency and they don’t really work with the present perfect continuous, although it might be possible to find some exceptions! So we’re talking about always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never and so on.
“Already” and “just” (come “semplicemente” non come “appena”) are okay though:
“Bob has already been working for ten hours!”
“I’ve just been phoning people all morning.”
Hi prof, I’d like to ask you the sentence below. Is the translation right?
“Voglio che tu non aspetti di dare l’esame dopo l’estate. Non sopporto che tu attenda così tanto tempo inutilmente. Non vedo l’ora che tu lo dia al più presto.”
“I don’t want you to wait to do the exam after (the) summer. I can’t stand you waiting so long uselessely. I’m looking forward to you doing it (I can’t wait you to do it) sooner.”
Sandro. All your sentences are okay but they don’t have a very natural English sound to them. I think this is partly because you’re using expressions like “looking forward to” and “can’t wait to” in a context where they aren’t perhaps the best forms to use.
This would be my version:
“I don’t want you to wait until after the summer before you do your exam. I can’t stand the idea of you waiting so long for no reason. I would much prefer you to do it sooner.”
I think we tend to use “looking forward to” and “can’t wait” for something really exciting and really positive and not simply for taking an exam.
Does that help?
P.S. “I can’t wait FOR you to do it sooner.” (eventualmente).
Hi prof,
First of all many thanks for your kind and prompt answer. You’re right when you say that my version doesn’t have a natural English sound in this context. But what I wanted to emphasize was only the correct use of the grammatical construction about “looking forward to” and “can’t wait”.
About your “P.S.” it was an oversight to omit “for” after “wait”. I perfectly know that “for” must always be put after “wait” if there’s a direct object.
OK. In fact I said at the beginning of my last comment that “all your sentences are okay” – the constructs are fine. 😀
Hi prof, could you make a lesson about collective nouns, like “advice, knowledge, information” and so on? We have got a doubt when we have to use them in singular form. Is in this case necessay to use a “piece of”or other alternatives form? For example:
Ti voglio dare un consiglio (informatione)
I want you to give an advice (information) or I want you to give a “piece of” advice (information)
I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks
The “we” is referred to me and my friend Bernardino with whom I’m attending your English course
You can’t use uncountable nouns the same way that you use a singular noun. So your “I want to give you an advice” is incorrect. The indeterminate articles (a, an) can only be used with singular countable nouns. With uncountable nouns you should either treat them as quantity: “I want to give you some/a little advice” or you must make them “countable” with expressions like (as you mention) “a bit of, a piece of”. Uncountable nouns like advice, information, furniture, always create greater problems because they are countable in Italian.