Category: Mind maps

The TO-INFINITIVE and -ING (part 1)

Published on by Anna4 Comments

When one verb is followed by another, we use the -ing form or the infinitive (with or without to. The form of the second verb depends on the first verb ;-).

Let’s learn them!

I hope this post helps you :-). 

verb + to infinitive English Grammar femfy Free English Materials For You.png

PDF version: verb+ to infinitive

I suggest that you take a look at Biggerplate.com for other amazing and informative mind maps!

VERB + TO INFINITIVE

  • (CAN/CAN’T) AFFORD
  • AGREE*
  • AIM
  • APPEAR
  • ARRANGE*
  • ATTEMPT
  • CHOOSE
  • DECIDE*
  • DEMAND*
  • DESERVE
  • FAIL
  • HOPE*
  • LEARN
  • MANAGE
  • NEGLECT
  • OFFER
  • OMIT
  • PLAN
  • PREPARE
  • PRETEND*
  • REFUSE
  • SEEM
  • TEND
  • THREATEN
  • (CAN’T) WAIT
  • WISH

Examples:

  • She can’t afford to lose that vote.
  • They agree to leave at 10:30 am.
  • * They agree (that) they would leave at 10:30 am.
  • We aim to launch next year.
  • Keep me posted on what you decide to do.
  • Your actions threaten to destroy everything we’ve worked for.

verb + object + to infinitive english grammar learning femfy.png

PDF version: verb + object + to infinitive

VERB + OBJECT + TO INFINITIVE

  • ADVISE *
  • ALLOW
  • ENCOURAGE
  • FORBID
  • FORCE
  • INVITE
  • ORDER 
  • PERMIT
  • PERSUADE*
  • REMIND*
  • TEACH*
  • TELL*
  • WARN*

Examples:

  • We would advise you to follow the same path.
  • The Administrative Board invites observers to attend its meetings.
  • We were trying to persuade the witness to testify.

Advise, allow, encourage, forbid and permit can be followed by -ING too when there is no object.

  • I would advise following the same path.
  • We do not allow smoking.

verb + (object) + to infinitive.png

PDF version: verbs + (object) + to infinitive

VERB + (OBJECT) + TO INFINITIVE

  • ASK
  • BEG
  • EXPECT*
  • HELP
  • INTEND
  • PROMISE
  • WANT

Examples:

  • I didn’t ask to work here.
  • I didn’t ask you to work here.
  • She begged him to read the story again.
  • We expect the economy to improve.
  • * We expect (that) the economy will improve.

verb + infinitive (without to)

PDF version: verb + infinitive (without to)

VERB + INFINITIVE (without to)

  • MODAL VERBS: can, could, may, might, must, needn’t, shall, should, will, would.
  • HELP (can be followed by the infinitive with or without to).
  • MAKE and LET (+ OBJECT) are always followed by the infinitive without TO.

Examples:

  • You can borrow my shirt.
  • She might go to Paris.
  • She helped (to) organise the party.
  • Don’t make me add this to the list.
  • After you finish, let the students copy it.

 

 

Irregular verbs

Published on by Anna1 Comment

It’s since a while that I am not uploading posts on grammar. In my opinion, for a beginner is not so easy to memorize irregular verbs, that’s why I decided to make mind maps and other resources on this topic. I hope you’ll find it useful.
Irregular verbs in English - mind map

You can download this mind map on Biggerplate (imx file). If you don’t have the possibility to open this kind of file, just download the image from Free English Materials’ Facebook Page (Album: Mind maps)

Since there are a lot of irregular verbs I decided to make smaller mind maps for each single group. In this way, it will be easier for you to read them.

Group one - one word

GROUP 1 – ONE WORD

  • cut
  • cost
  • hit
  • hurt
  • let
  • put
  • shut

Group two- two words

GROUP 2 – TWO WORDS

  • WITH ‘T’

    – build/built
    – dream/dreamt
    – get/got
    – keep/kept
    – lend/lent
    – shoot/shot
    – send/sent
    – sit/sat
    – sleep/slept
    – spell/spelt
    – spend/spent

  • WITH ‘GHT’

    – bring/brought
    – buy/bought
    – catch/caught
    – fight/fought
    – teach/taught
    – think/thought

  • WITH ‘D’

    – find/found
    – have/had
    – hear/heard
    – hold/held
    – make/made
    – pay/paid
    – read/read
    – say/said
    – stand/stood
    – tell/ told

  • SAME FORM FOR INFINITIVE AND PAST PARTICIPLE

    – become/became
    – come/came
    – run/ran

English Irregular Verbs - Group 3.png
GROUP 3 – THREE WORDS

  • WITH ‘EN’

    – be/was-were/been
    – beat/beat/beaten
    – bite/bit/bitten
    – break/broke/broken
    – choose/chose/chosen
    – drive/drove/driven
    – eat/ate/eaten
    – forget/forgot/forgotten
    – give/gave/given
    – hide/hid/hidden
    – ride/rode/ridden
    – rise/rose/risen
    – see/saw/seen
    – speak/spoke/spoken
    – steal/stole/stolen
    – take/took/taken
    – wake/woke/woken
    – write/wrote/written 
  • WITH ‘E’ – ‘WN’

    – blow/blew/blown
    – draw/drew/drawn
    – fly/flew/flown
    – grow/grew/grown
    – know/knew/known
    – show/showed/shown
    – throw/threw/thrown 
  • WITH ‘I’- ‘A’- ‘U’

    – begin/began/begun
    – drink/drank/drunk
    – ring/rang/rung
    – sing/sang/sung
    – swim/swam/swum

I’ll upload soon some quizzes on this topic. 😉

Difference between SUIT and FIT

Published on by AnnaLeave a comment

30-11-2015-09-20-05

 

You can download this mind map (IMX file) here: Biggerplate

I don’t know why but I couldn’t upload the image like I usually do. That’s why it results so small and you can’t get the full-size version by clicking on it :-(. I’ll upload it on Facebook, so if you want to take a look, click on this link: Mind Maps .

Collocations with ‘journey’

Published on by AnnaLeave a comment

I made this mind map because students often confuse these collocations. In this way, I hope it will be easier for you to remember the most common verbs you can use with this word.

Collocations with 'journey'

Download the pdf version of this mind map: Verbs + journey or the imx file available on Biggerplate.

These are the most common collocations with ‘journey’ + adjective or adjective + ‘journey’:

collocations with journey 2

You can download this mind map (imx file) on Biggerplate.

Example sentences from the web with some of these collocations:

  • The train journey, which I’ve taken from Pyongyang to the border, takes about five hours.
  • In the evening, five days after leaving Irkutsk, the train arrived in the Russian-administered city of Harbin. Here my grandfather decided to end his long railway journey.
  • Rebecca was exhausted, jet-lagged, hot, still shaking from the hour-long bumper car journey from the airport.
  • The Yellow River’s epic journey across northern China is a prism through which to see the country’s unfolding water crisis.
  • I traded in my luxury car and briefcase for a pair of walking shoes and a backpack and started a cross-country journey from Times Square.
  • It was the worst possible scenario on the best of all trips: a sentimental journey into the finest elk country in the West.
  • I chose not to call him to wish him a safe journey.
  • In a long, hazardous journey west, G. reached Portugal in mid-1941, and later went to London.
  • Achieving a representative form of government has been a long and tortuous journey, and the search for equity and justice has been an ongoing attempt to find or fashion a world that recognizes and respects all of those who live in it.

Do you know the difference between “to shout to somebody” and “to shout at somebody”?

Published on by AnnaLeave a comment

Difference_between_shout_to_and_shout_at
TO SHOUT AT (somebody) => When you are angry.
TO SHOUT TO (somebody) => When you want  people to hear you.

Example sentences:

  • Look, I am not some college student you can shout at.
  • He shouted to me from the other side of the street.

If you want you can download this mind map as imx file here: Biggerplate.

Different ways of saying “I like it”

Published on by Anna2 Comments
  • Different_ways_of_saying__I_like_it_I’m really into it.
    This means you’re interested in an activity or a subject.
    Ex. I’m really into gardening, but these squirrels keep messing with my tomatoes.
  • I’m fond of it.
    This means you have liked something for a long time or may have an emotional attachment with something.
    Ex. He is fond of this kind of music.
  • I’m keen on it.
    This just means that you’re interested in something and you want to learn more about it.
    Ex. I’m keen on learning English.
  • I’m mad about it.
    I love doing something and I do it a lot.
    Ex. It’s a real tragedy, I love this woman, I’m mad about her.
  • I’m crazy about it.
    This is the same as “I’m mad about it”.
    Ex. Finnish women are crazy about cars.
  • I can’t get enough of …
    This means that I love doing it and I don’t want to stop.
    Ex. Yeah, I can’t get enough of new wave.
  • I have got a soft spot for …
    You like someone a little more than other people.
    Ex. No, don’t tell me you’ve got a soft spot for this guy.
  • I fancy him/her
    You think that he/she is attractive, good looking.
    Ex. I mean, she may fancy him, but she’d never act on it.
  • It appeals to me.
    It sounds/ looks great. I like the idea of it.
    Ex. In his report, Mr Szejna has opted for a wide approach, which appeals to me.
  • It goes down well. (With people)
    This means that other people like something that you do.
    Ex. The presentation went down really well with the class.
  • It’s to my liking.
    A very formal way to sai “I like it”.
    Ex. The colour of the paint is just to my liking!
  • I’m partial to it.
    It means that I like to eat or drink something, maybe too much.
    Ex. I like all the food here, but I’m particularly partial to the fried chicken.
  • I’m attached to it/you/him/her/them.
    I like it a lot, and if I lost it, I would be sad.
    Ex. Giovanna, I admit that I’m very attached to you.
  • I’m addicted to …
    It means that I like it so much that I can’t stop doing it.
    She looks nice enough, but she lies on her taxes and she’s addicted to painkillers.
  • I have grown to like …
    I didn’t like it at first, but now I do.
    Ex. I’ve grown to like the music of Radiohead.
  • I am passionate about it.
    This means I’m really interested and excited about it.
    Ex. Julia runs the selection committee, and she’s very passionate about the candidates.

You can download this mind map on Biggerplate.

Ways of saying “goodbye” in English

Published on by Anna3 Comments

Informal_goodbyes

INFORMAL GOODBYES

  • Bye! => very common way to say goodbye.
  • Bye bye! => it sounds very kiddish (more for kids).
  • Later! => Very friendly and casual way, more for men. Ex. “Later bro!”, “Later man”.
  • See you later / soon => Very casual and relaxed goodbye. It can be used to indicate that you want to or plan to meet with the person again soon. If you use “ya” instead of “you”, this become even more casual.
  • Talk to you later
  • I’ve got to get going / I must be going => This is used in casual situations when you want to escape the conversation quickly and you don’t want to go through a longer or more sentimental goodbye.
  • Take it easy => It’s now less used than in the past. It is casual and it means “take care”.
  • I’m off
  • Have a good one => Similar to “have a nice / good day”, but it sounds really casual.
  • So long! => It’s used in some news headlines, but not so common between people.
  • Alright => Very casual way.

Formal_and_business_goodbyes

FORMAL AND BUSINESS GOODBYES

  • Goodbye!
  • Have a nice day / have a good day! => For example, you buy something in a shop after you have paid the cashier would tell you “Have a nice day”.
  • I look forward to our next meeting
  • Take care! => it is a little formal and you use it with your close relatives and other people you are close too. You might use this in an email or written letter.
  • It was nice to see you again / It was nice seeing you.
  • Good night!  => Notice that “good afternoon”, “good morning” and “good evening” are greeting expressions and you can’t use them to say “goodbye”).
  • Farewell => it is more like a final goodbye. For example, someone is moving abroad and you are not going to see this person again. In this situation, you can use “farewell”.  It is the type of thing that two lovers in a movie might say if they’re never going to see each other again. So, you probably won’t use it often in daily life.

Slang_ways_of_saying_goodbye

SLANG WAYS OF SAYING “GOODBYE”

  • Later / laters / catch you later
  • Peace / peace out => it comes from the hip-hop music culture. It’s more of a hand gesture. It is a very casual way and it means that you wish the other person well.
  • I’m out / I’m out of here => You are really happy about going.
  • I gotta jet / I gotta take off / I gotta hit the road / I gotta head out => these are slang versions of “I have got to get going”. “Gotta” is an abbreviation of “got to”.
  • Catch ya later! => Variation for “See you later”. This is used very casually between friends or acquaintances.
  • Smell you later! => This is something you’ll hear kids say far more than adults! But grown-ups might occasionally be overheard saying this to a friend as a joke too. 

This is a video on this topic:

Mind maps download (imx file) available on Biggerplate.

Do you know the difference between “in time” and “on time”?

Published on by Anna1 Comment

On_time_vs_in_timeExample sentences from the web:

  • ON TIME
    – Today’s flight is on time. Departure is 10:30 am. (=the flight will leave on time, it’s on schedule to leave at 10:30 am)
    – Remember to be on time for work tomorrow or I will fire you! (=do not be late)
    – He starts a new job at the railway station tomorrow and he wants to be on time for work.     (= he doesn’t want to be late)
  • IN TIME
    – Will you be home in time for lunch? (= soon enough for lunch)
    – He was just in time for the last train. (= he was almost too late)
    – The plot to assassinate the president was discovered just in time.     (= they could find the hit man before it was too late, otherwise, the president would have been murdered)

Video on this topic:

Now you are ready to test your knowledge on this topic :-).

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