All blog posts
Write an article - Today's articles - Main Page
Imperatives, inflections, declensions and the simple complexity of the English language (grammar) [901 words]
(created by Bromley on 2022 Oct 25 Tue 17:39:38 GMT)
A Reddit users asked what is the grammatical form of the word "stop" in the sentence, ""Stop peeling the potatoes": The rule here is that the "imperative" form a verb to express a command, as in "Stop peeling the potatoes" drops the subject, "you", which is implied in the command "stop" (i.e., "You stop!") But it's a good opportunity to build a greater command of English with a deeper look. read more
Infinitives as nouns, adjectives and adverbs (grammar) [682 words]
(created by Bromley on 2022 Oct 25 Tue 17:36:14 GMT)
Infinitives are the "to" form a verb, such as "to do" or "to play". The "to" is called a particle, and it serves to show a verb in the infinitive form. Here's the thing: the infinitive is a verb, but it is not an action verb (known as a "finite" verb). However, it still maintains a "sense" or implication of its verb. Try to think of infinitives, adjective participles and gerunds as "verby." Even if the verb form is acting as another part of speech, it retains its verb-origin quality of action or state of being. We see this use of verbs in "gerunds" and "participle adjectives", which are easier to conceptualize than infinitives. For example, read more