English_Grammar_in_Use

U NIT

61 Prefer and would rather

II Prefer to do and prefer doing

You can use "prefer to do" or "prefer doing" to say what you prefer in general.

• I don't like cities. I prefer to live (or I prefer living) in the country. Study the difference in structure:

	I prefer	(doing)	something	to (doing)	something else
but:	I prefer	to do	something	rather than (do)	something else

•I prefer tea to coffee.

•Tom prefers driving to traveling by train.

but: Tom prefers to drive rather than travel by train.

• I prefer to live in the country rather than (live) in a city.

Use would prefer to say what someone wants (to do) in a particular situation. You can say would prefer to (do) or would prefer (do)ing:

•"Would you prefer tea or coffee?" "Coffee, please."

•"Should we go by train?" "Well, I'd prefer to go by car." or

"Well, I'd prefer going by car."

II Would rather (do) = would prefer to do. After would rather we use the base form. Compare:

Well, I'd prefer to go by car.

Should we go by train? { Well, I'd rather go by car. (not to go)

•"Would you rather have tea or coffee?" "Coffee, please."

•I'm tired. I'd rather not go out this evening, if you don't mind.

•"Do you want to go out this evening?" "I'd rather not."

Note the structure:

I'd rather do something than (do) something else

• I'd rather stay at home than go to the movies.

a Would rather someone did something

When you want someone else to do something, you can say I'd rather you did ... /I'd rather he did ... , etc. We use the past in this structure, but the meaning is present or future, not past. Compare:

I'd rather cook dinner now.

I'd rather you cooked dinner now. (not I'd rather you cook)

•"Shall I stay here?" "Well, I'd rather you came with us."

•I'd rather you didn't tell anyone what I said.

•"Do you mind if I smoke?" "I'd rather you didn't."

122

UNIT 61 Exercises

Make sentences using "I prefer (something) to (something else)."

Example: (driving / traveling by train) 1'p'I":QfI:.r.:dr.ill.l.'ng. .t.a.t.r.iJJlell.'nj .P.JI. tra/n.•. ....

1.	(San Francisco / Los Angeles)		I prefer San Francisco	.
2.	(calling people / writing letters)		I prefer	.
3. (going to the movies / watching movies on TV)
	I			.
Now rewrite sentences 2 and 3 using the structure "I prefer to do (something)				"
Example: .z.pr.efer...t.Q.dr.iJl.e.r.a.the.r.:..t,h.aJJ..t.Y.'#.v.e.-I.b.jI..t.Y.'.ain.~				.
4.	(2)	I prefer to call		..
5.	(3)	I		.

Answer these questions using I'd rather . ... Use the words in parentheses ( ... ) for your answers.

Example: Would you like to walk? (go by car)			,[~d.r.tJ.(.he.r..g.Q..P.y.e8.J(:,		.
1.	Would you like to play tennis? (go for a swim)			I'd	..
2.	Do you want to watch television? (read a book)			I	..
3.	Shall we leave now? (wait for a few minutes)				..
4.	Would you like to go to a restaurant? (eat at home)				.
5.	Should we decide now? (think about it for a while)				..
Now make sentences using I'd rather . ..		than . ..	(see section b).
Example: (walk / go by car) I'd rather		.w:a.Ifl... t.haKl.gp..by.~~r..~			..
6.	(go for a swim / play tennis) I'd rather				..
7.	(read a book / watch television) I				.
8.	(wait for a few minutes / leave now)				.
9.	(eat at home / go to a restaurant)				.
10.	(think about it for a while / decide now)				.

Use "I'd rather you (did something)." You are talking to afriend. You say you'll do something, but really you want your friend to do it.

Example: I'll cook the dinner if you really want me to, but		.J:'d.rii.th.e.r.y'(J.(,{..coo.k.e.d.it..~
1.	I'll call Tom if you really want me to, but I'd rather	..
2.	I'll do the dishes if you really want me to, but	..
3.	I'll go to the bank if you really want me to, but	.
4.	I'll tell Ann what happened if you really want me to, but	.

123

		Had better do something
		It'stime someone did something
II
	Had better do something
	The meaning of had better (I'd better) is similar to should. "I'd better do something"
	I should do something or it is advisable for me to do something; if I don't do this, something
	bad might happen:

•I have to meet Tom in ten minutes. I'd better go now or I'll be late.

•"Should I take an umbrella?" "Yes, you'd better. It might rain."

•We've almost run out of gas. We'd better stop at the next gas station to fill up.

The negative form is had better not ('d better not):

•You don't look very well. You'd better not go to work today.

•"Are you going out tonight?" "I'd better not. I've got a lot of work to do."

The form is always "had better" (usually 'd better in spoken English). We say had but the meaning is present or future, not past:

• I'd better go to the bank this afternoon. Remember that had better is followed by the base form (not to ... ):

• It might rain. We'd better take an umbrella. (not better to take)

II It's time ...

You can say "it's time (for someone) to do something":

•It's time to go home.

•It's time for us to go home.

There is another structure: It's time someone did something:

• It's nearly midnight. It's time we went home.

We use the past (went) after It's time someone ... , but the meaning is present or future, not past:

• Why are you still in bed? It's time you got up. (not time you get up)

We use the structure It's time someone did something especially when we are complaining or criticizing, or when we think someone should have already done something:

•It's time the children were in bed. It's long past their bedtime.

•You've been wearing the same clothes for ages. Isn't it time you bought some new ones?

•I think it's time the government did something about pollution.

"It's high time	}
We also say { "It's about time	someone did something."

This makes the complaint or criticism stronger:

•You're very selfish. It's high time you realized that you're not the most important person in the world.

•It's about time Jack did some studying for his exams.

124

UNIT 62 Exercises

Read each situation and write a sentence with had better.

Examples: You're going out for a walk with Tom. You think you should take an umbrella because-it might rain. What do you say to Tom? We.'4.Il.e.t,t.l:r...'t-akt::.iJ.Y.l.«mDr..ella.

Tom doesn't look very well. You don't think he should go to work today. What

do you say to Tom? Y(J.u.~a..l:>.ett.e.r..n.Q.t.9o..t.o..W:Qr..k.:t,..(/,tX8Y.''''''''''''''''''''

1.	Mary suddenly begins to feel sick. You think she should sit down. What do you say to
	her?	.
2.	You and Tom are going to the theater. You've just missed the bus. You think you should
	take a taxi. What do you say to Tom? We	..
3.	Ann wants to play the piano late at night. You know that she'll wake up the people next
	door. What do you say to Ann?	.

4.You and Sue are going to a restaurant for a meal. You think you should make a reservation because the restaurant might be crowded. What do you say to Sue?

5.Joe has just cut himself. You think he should put a Band-Aid on the cut. What do you say

to him?	.
6. You are going to take your car on your vacation. You think you should have the oil
changed before you go. What do you say (to yourself)?	..

7.You are by a river. It's a hot day and your friend suggests going for a swim. You don't think you should because the river looks dirty. What do you say?

Write sentences with It's time someone did something.

Examples: You think the children should be in bed. It's already 11:00.

	.It.~s..t.ime..th.e..chjktr.:en..wer.:e.iY.J..l:1.e.tt. (p.r...wen.~..t.Q.l~R4.).	.
	You think something should be done about the traffic problem downtown .
	.It.7,s.filb()<<tUime.st1met.hing.yya8.dQ.ne..ab.(J.u.~.t.he.tr.iJ.I'6c.,P.I:QI?.I(?m.dllwntowl'J.
1.	You think you should take a vacation because you haven't taken one in a very long time.
	It's time I	..
2.	You think Tom should write to his parents. He hasn't written to them for ages.
	It's time	.
3.	This room should be redecorated. It looks awful.
	It's	.

4.You're waiting for Ann. She is late. She should be here by now.

5.You're sitting on a plane waiting for it to take off. It's already five minutes late.

6.You feel very strongly that the government should stop spending money on weapons and should concentrate on raising the standard of living.

7. You think you should start getting dinner ready. It's nearly dinnertime already. 8. You haven't been to the dentist in almost a year. You should go every six months.

125

U NIT

63 See someone do and see someone doing

•	Study this example.situation:
	Tom got into his car and drove away. You saw this. You can say:
	_ I saw Tom get into his car and drive away.
	In this structure we use the base form (get, drive, etc.):
	Someone did something.		H
				I saw someone do something.	I
	I saw this.
	Remember that we use the base form (not to):
	_ I saw her go out. (not to go out)

II Now study this example situation:

Yesterday you saw Ann. She was waiting for a bus. You can say: _ I saw Ann waiting for a bus.

In this structure we use -ing (waiting):

Someone was doing something. H

I saw someone doing something. I

I saw this.

II Now study the difference in meaning between the two structures:

"I saw him do something" = he did something (simple past) and I saw this. I saw the complete action from beginning to end:

_ He fell to the ground. I saw this. ~ I saw him fall to the ground.

_ The accident happened. We saw this. ~ We saw the accident happen.

"I saw her doing something" = she was doing something (past continuous) and I saw this. I saw her when she was in the middle of doing something. This does not mean that I saw the complete action:

_ She was walking along the street. I saw this when I drove past in my car. ~ I saw her walking along the street.

	The difference is not always important. Sometimes you can use either form:
II	_	I've never seen Tom dance. or	I've never seen Tom dancing.
	We use these structures especially with see and hear, and also with watch, listen to, feel,
	and notice:	.
	-	I didn't hear you come in.	-	I could hear it raining.
	-	He suddenly felt someone touch	-	The missing girls were last seen
		him on the shoulder.		playing near the river.
	-	Did you notice anyone go out?	-	Listen to the birds singing!
	After smell and find you can use the -ing structure only:
	_	Can you smell something burning?
	_	She found him reading her letters.

126

UNIT 63 Exercises

Answer these questions, beginning in the way shown.
Examples: "Does Tom ever dance?"			"I've never seen him.d7.J1r;e.-ler.MI1c.ing)..		"
	"How do you know I came in late?"			"I heard ..!J.t1!-l-. ..(!,~.I'!/e...JI'). A..t~	"
1.	"Does Liz ever smoke?"	"I've never seen			"
2.	"How do you know the man took the money?"			"I saw	"
3.	"Did Jack lock the door?"	"Yes, I heard			"
4.	"Did the bell ring?" "I'm not sure. I didn't hear				"
5.	"How do you know Ann can play the piano?"			"I've heard	"
6.	"Did Bill trip over the dog?" "Yes, I saw				"
7.	"Did the girl fall into the river?"		"I didn't see		"

In each of these situations you and a friend saw, heard, or smelled something. This is what you said at the time:

1. Look! There's Ann! She's waiting for a bus.
2.	Look! There's Sue! She's playing tennis.
3.	Look! There's Tom! He's eating in that restaurant.
4.	Listen! That's Bill. He's playing the guitar.
5.	I can smell something! Dinner's burning!
6.	Look! There's Dave! He's talking to Chuck.
Later you tell someone what you saw, heard, or smelled.
1.	We'. SB:tr: .linn. walt.il1g. mJ;..a.I:?~~.,		.
2.	Wesaw		.
3.	.		in a restaurant.
4			.
5			.
6			.

Complete these sentences. Use one ofthe following verbs in the correct form.

run	explode	)nIr:i( slam	cry	~ sit	collide	open
tell	crawl	climb
1.	Can you smell something. pf,,(t:'l1.ing			?
2.	I saw the accident .hBppen		.
3.	We listened to the old woman			her story from beginning to end.
4.	Listen! Can you hear a child			?
5.	Did anybody see the two cars			?
6.	We watched the two men			across the garden,		a
	window, and		through it into the house.
7.	Everybody heard the bomb			It was a tremendous noise.
8.	Oh! I can feel something			up my leg! It must be an insect.
9.	I heard someone		the door in the middle of the night. It woke me up.
10.	We couldn't find Tom at first. Finally we found him					in the garden.

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-ing clauses - "Feeling tired, I went to bed early."

II A clause is a part of a sentence. Some sentences have two clauses:

• Feeling tired, I went to bed early.

In this sentence, "I went to bed early" is the main clause. Feeling tired is the -ing clause.

II When two things happen at the same time, you can use -ing for one of the verbs. The main clause usually comes first:

•She was sitting in an armchair reading a book. (= she was sitting, and she was reading)

•I ran out of the house shouting. (= I was shouting when I ran out of the house)

We also use -ing when one action happens during another. Use -ing for the longer action. The longer action is the second part of the sentence.

•Jim hurt his arm playing tennis. ( = while he was playing)

•I cut myself shaving. ( = while I was shaving)

You can also use -ing after while or when:

• Jim hurt his arm while playing tennis. ( = while he was playing)

• Be careful when crossing the street. (= when you are crossing)

a When one action happens before another action, you can use having (done) for the first action:

•Having found a hotel, they looked for somewhere to have dinner.

•Having finished our work, we went home.

You could also say After -ing:

• After finishing our work, we went home.

If the second action happens immediately after the first, you can use the simple -ing form (doing instead of having done):

• Taking a key out of his pocket, he opened the door. These structures are used mainly in written English.

II You can also use an -ing clause to explain something or to say why someone did something. The -ing clause usually comes first:

•Feeling tired, I went to bed early. (= because I felt tired)

•Being unemployed, she doesn't have much money. (= because she is unemployed)

•Not having a car, she finds it difficult to get around. (= because she doesn't have·a car)

•Having already seen the film twice, I didn't want to go to the movies. ( = because I had already seen it twice)

These structures are used more in written than in spoken English.

128

UNIT 64 Exercises

• ~ From each pair ofsentences make one sentence using an -ing clause.

Example: She was sitting in an armchair. She was reading a book.

She..was..s;t.ting.in..an.ar..m.cha.ir..r..e.adin.9·a.i::UlfJA •........ .....................

1.	Jill was lying on the bed. She was crying. Jill was	..
2.	I got home. I was feeling very tired. I got	..
3.	The old man was walking along the street. He was talking to himself.
	The old man	.

In these sentences one thing happens during another.

Example: Jim was playing tennis. He hurt his arm. ..				..
4.		Ann was watching television. She fell asleep.	Ann	.
5.		The man slipped. He was getting off the bus.	The man	.
6.		The girl was crossing the street. She was run over.
		The girl		.
7.		The fire fighter was overcome by smoke. He was trying to put out the fire.
		The fire fighter		.
• ~		This time make sentences beginning Having ....

Example: We finished our work. We went home. JlaJl.ingf'inishedp'uY.'.wPy.k.,.w:e..went;.home.

1.We bought our tickets. Then we went into the theater.

2.They had dinner. Then they continued on their trip.

3.Sue did all her shopping. Then she went for a cup of coffee.

•~ Now make sentences beginning -ing or Not -ing (as in section d).

Example: I felt tired. So I went to bed early. Fe~/in9.tir.e.d.,.1.weY.lt..t.()!l.eti.ejJ.r.Iy....

1.	I thought they might be hungry. So I offered them something to eat.
	Thinking	.
2.	She is a foreigner. So she needs a visa to stay in this country.
3.	I didn't know his a,ddress. So I couldn't contact him.
	Not	.
4.	The man wasn't able to understand English. So he didn't know what I said.
5. She has traveled a lot. So she knows a lot about other countries.
	Having	.
6. We had spent nearly all our money. So we couldn't afford to stay in a hotel.

129

Uncountable nouns (gold, music, advice, etc.)

Nouns can be countable or uncountable. For countable nouns see Unit 66.

II Uncountable nouns are, for example:

gold

music

blood

excitement

Uncountable nouns are things we cannot count. They have no plural. You cannot say "musics," "bloods," or "excitements."

II	Before uncountable nouns you can say the/some/any/much/this/his, etc.:
	the music	some gold	much excitement	his blood

But you cannot use alan before an uncountable noun. So you cannot say "a music," "an excitement," or "a blood."

You can also use uncountable nouns alone, with no article (see Unit 70):

_	This ring is made of gold.	_ Blood is red.
a Many nouns can be used as countable or as uncountable nouns. Usually there is a difference
in meaning. For example:
paper	I bought a paper. (= a newspaper - countable)
	I bought some paper. (= material for writing on -		uncountable)
hair	There's a hair in my soup! (= one single hair - countable)
	She has beautiful hair. (= hair on her head - uncountable)
experience	We had many interesting experiences on our vacation. (= things that
	happened to us - countable)
	You need experience for this job. (= knowledge of something because
	you have done it before -	uncountable)	.

Some nouns are usually uncountable in English but often countable in other languages. Here are the most important of these:

advice	bread	information	permission	traffic	weather
baggage	chaos	luggage	progress	travel	work
behavior	furniture	news	scenery	trouble

These nouns ar~ uncountable, so (i) you cannot use a/an before them; and (ii) they cannot

be plural:	-	Tom gave me some good advice. (not some good advices)
	_	Where are you going to put all your furniture? (not furnitures)
	_	We don't have much luggage to carry. (not many luggages)
	_	I'm afraid I have some bad news. (not a bad news)
Remember that news is not plural:
	_	The news is very depressing today. (not The news are ... )
Do not use travel to mean trip/journey:
	_	We had a good trip. (not a good travel)
Note these pairs of countable (C) and uncountable (UNC) nouns:
	-	I'm looking for ajob. (C)	but	I'm looking for work. (UNC)
	-	What a beautiful view! (C)	but	What beautiful scenery! (UNC)

130

UNIT 65 Exercises

Which of the underlined parts of these sentences is right?

Example: Sue was very helpful. She gave me some good advice/~s.("advice" is right)

1.Margaret has very long black hair / hairs.

2.We had a very good weather / very good weather when we were on vacation.

3.Can I help you with your luggage / luggages?

4.I want something to read. I'm going to buy a / some paper.

5.I want to write some letters. I need a / some writing paper.

6.It's very difficult to find a work / job at the moment.

7.Bad news don't / doesn't make people happy.

8.Our travel/trip from Paris to Frankfurt by train was very interesting.

9.The apartment is empty. We don't have any furnitures / furniture yet.

10.When the fire alarm rang, there was a complete chaos / complete chaos.

11.Can I talk to you? I need an / some advice.

12.Do you have any experience / experiences in sales?

Complete these sentences using these words:

progress	advice	hair	work	experience	information	paper
permission

Example: The room was very crowded. We had to open the windows for (s~m~.).air..~.......

1.		I don't think Ann will get the job. She hasn't got	.
2.		They'll tell you all you want to know. They'll give you plenty of	.
3.		You'll recognize Alan easily. He's got green	..
4.		Carla's English has improved. She has made	..
5.		I want to write down your address. Do you have	?
6.		If you want to leave early, you have to ask for	..
7.		George is unemployed at the moment. He is looking for	..
8.		I didn't know what to do. So I asked Jack for	..
		Write what you would say in these situations. Each time begin in the way shown and use one
		of the words in section d of this unit.
Example: Your friends have just arrived at the station. You can't see any suitcases or bags.
		You say: Do you have .anY.lwg,9iJge	?
1. You go into the tourist office. You want to know about places to see in the town. You
		say: I'd like	.
2.		The weather is beautiful. You say: What	!

3. You are a student. You want your teacher to advise you about which exams to take. You
say: Can you give me	?

4. You want to watch the news on television, but you don't know what time it is on. You ask

your friend: What time	?
5. You are standing at the top of a mountain. You can see a very long way. It is beautiful.
You say: What	!

131