FINITE VERBS

The Bold type that Keke said is a Non-Finite form. And the bold type that Rijal said is a Finite form.

Finite Verbs

A finite verb (sometimes called main verbs) is a verb that has a subject, this means that it can be the main verb in a sentence. It shows tense (past / present etc) or number (singular / plural).

For example:-

I live in Germay. (I is the subject - live describes what the subject does - live is a finite verb).

Only verbs that are in certain moods are finite

1. Indicative mood (expressing a state of affairs). Example: The coffee is hot.
2. Imperative mood (giving a command). Example: Make the coffee hot.
3. Subjunctive mood (expressing something that might or might not be the state of affairs, depending on some other part of the sentence). Example: If the coffee was hot, I would drink it.

The following are NOT finite verbs

• infinitive verbs
• past participle
• present participle
• gerund

Example of Finite Verbs

1. I go to the store.
2. She goes to the store.
3. They went to the store.
4. You play football.
5. I read a book.
6. She walks home.
7. He drinks beer.
8. They watch the game.
9. I ride a bike.
10. She brushes her hair.

Non-Finite Verbs

A non-finite verb has no subject, tense or number. The only non-finite verb forms are the infinitive (indicated by to), the gerund or the participle.

For example:-

I travelled to Germany to improve my German. (To improve is in the infinitive form).

1.      Participle – this includes the past and present participles of verbs, which function as adjectives (the dying man, the sleeping giant, etc).

2.      Gerund – this refers to verbs (in their –ing form) that function as nouns (the writing on the wall, exercising is a necessary activity for continued good health).

3.      Infinitive – the verb in its basic form, often but not necessarily preceded by ‘to’, functioning as noun (to finish the task without any more hitches was his goal), adjective (I’m sorry, I have much work to do at the moment), or adverb (he called to discuss the matter).

Examples of Non-Finite Verbs

1. The Running of the Bulls
2. She came over to talk
3. A betting man
4. The dying man
5. The sleeping giant
6. He called to discuss the matter

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-finite_verb#Examples

http://funeasyenglish.com/american-english-grammar-finite-verb.htm

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/verbfinitenon.htm

http://www.englishleap.com/grammar/finite-and-non-finite-verbs

PREPOSITION IN, ON, and AT

Did you see that picture? what is the word in the bold type? Yap, that is The preposition On. Let's learn together about the Preposition In, On, and At.

The prepositions in, on, and at can be used to indicate time and place.

Preposition		Time		Place
In		Year, Month, In 1999, In December		Country, State, City In Japan, In Utah, InTaipei
On		Day, Date On Saturday, On May 1		Street On Main Street, On 1st Ave.
At		Time At 8:00, At 7:30		Address At 815 East Main Street

Preposition of Time: In, On, and At We use: at for a PRECISE TIME in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS on for DAYS and DATES

at	in	on
PRECISE TIME	MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS	DAYS and DATES
at 3 o'clock	in May	on Sunday
at 10.30am	in summer	on Tuesdays
at noon	in the summer	on 6 March
at dinnertime	in 1990	on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtime	in the 1990s	on Christmas Day
at sunrise	in the next century	on Independence Day
at sunset	in the Ice Age	on my birthday
at the moment	in the past/future	on New Year's Eve

 Look at these examples:

• I have a meeting at 9am.
• The shop closes at midnight.
• Jane went home at lunchtime.
• In England, it often snows in December.
• Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
• There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
• Do you work on Mondays?
• Her birthday is on 20 November.
• Where will you be on New Year's Day?

Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

Expression	Example
at night	The stars shine at night.
at the weekend*	I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas*/Easter	I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time	We finished the test at the same time.
at present	He's not home at present. Try later.

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:

in	on
in the morning	on Tuesday morning
in the mornings	on Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)	on Sunday afternoons
in the evening(s)	on Monday evening

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.

• I went to London last June. (not in last June)
• He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
• I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
• We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)

Preposition of Place: In, On, and At

In general, we use:

• at for a POINT
• in for an ENCLOSED SPACE
• on for a SURFACE

at	in	on
POINT	ENCLOSED SPACE	SURFACE
at the corner	in the garden	on the wall
at the bus stop	in London	on the ceiling
at the door	in France	on the door
at the top of the page	in a box	on the cover
at the end of the road	in my pocket	on the floor
at the entrance	in my wallet	on the carpet
at the crossroads	in a building	on the menu
at the front desk	in a car	on a page

Look at these examples:

• Jane is waiting for you at the bus stop.
• The shop is at the end of the street.
• My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi and arrived in Bangkok two hours late.
• When will you arrive at the office?
• Do you work in an office?
• I have a meeting in New York.
• Do you live in Japan?
• Jupiter is in the Solar System.
• The author's name is on the cover of the book.
• There are no prices on this menu.
• You are standing on my foot.
• There was a "no smoking" sign on the wall.
• I live on the 7th floor at 21 Oxford Street in London.

Notice the use of the prepositions of place at, in and on in these standard expressions:

at	in	on
at home	in a car	on a bus
at work	in a taxi	on a train
at school	in a helicopter	on a plane
at university	in a boat	on a ship
at college	in a lift (elevator)	on a bicycle, on a motorbike
at the top	in the newspaper	on a horse, on an elephant
at the bottom	in the sky	on the radio, on television
at the side	in a row	on the left, on the right
at reception	in Oxford Street	on the way

Sources:

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-at-in-on-place.htm

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-at-in-on-time.htm

http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/in_on_at.html

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Mmmm, according to you, how to talk to someone that we just know? I think, we can use to talk about something in general. Likes, how's the weather? Or talk about something that he/she like. In order to do this, you can use Direct Speech and Indirect Speech. And let's learn about that.

Direct Speech / Quoted Speech

Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech)

Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word.

For example:

She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."

or

"Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.

Indirect Speech / Reported Speech

Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word.

When reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.

For example:

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"I'm going to the cinema", he said.	He said he was going to the cinema.

Tense change

As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense: (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right):

Direct speech		Indirect speech
Present simple  She said, "It's cold."	›	Past simple  She said it was cold.
Present continuous  She said, "I'm teaching English online."	›	Past continuous  She said she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple  She said, "I've been on the web since 1999."	›	Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999.
Present perfect continuous  She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years."	›	Past perfect continuous  She said she had been teaching English for seven years.
Past simple  She said, "I taught online yesterday."	›	Past perfect  She said she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous  She said, "I was teaching earlier."	›	Past perfect continuous  She said she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect  She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived."	›	Past perfect  NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.
Past perfect continuous She said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes."	›	Past perfect continuous  NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes.

Modal verb forms also sometimes change:

Direct speech		Indirect speech
will She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow."	›	would She said she would teach English online tomorrow.
can She said, "I can teach English online."	›	could She said she could teach English online.
must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online."	›	had to  She said she had to have a computer to teach English online.
shall She said, "What shall we learn today?"	›	should She asked what we should learn today.
may She said, "May I open a new browser?"	›	might She asked if she might open a new browser.

*Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"I might go to the cinema", he said.	He said he might go to the cinema.

You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true i.e. my name has always been and will always be Lynne so:-

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"My name is Lynne", she said.	She said her name was Lynne. or She said her name is Lynne.

You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event.

Direct speech (exact quote)	Indirect speech (not exact)
"Next week's lesson is on reported speech ", she said.	She said next week's lesson is on reported speech.

Time change

If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time of reporting.

For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings at the time and place of reporting.

Today	+ 24 hours - Indirect speech
"Today's lesson is on presentations."	She said yesterday's lesson was on presentations.

Expressions of time if reported on a different day
this (evening)	›	that (evening)
today	›	yesterday ...
these (days)	›	those (days)
now	›	then
(a week) ago	›	(a week) before
last weekend	›	the weekend before last / the previous weekend
here	›	there
next (week)	›	the following (week)
tomorrow	›	the next/following day

In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it you must change the place (here) to the place (there).

For example:

At work	At home
"How long have you worked here?"	She asked me how long I'd worked there.

Pronoun change

In reported speech, the pronoun often changes.

For example:

Me	You
"I teach English online."	She said she teaches English online.

Reporting Verbs

Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in indirect speech.

We use asked to report questions:-

For example: I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.

We use told with an object.

For example: Lynne told me she felt tired.

*Note - Here me is the object.

We usually use said without an object.

For example: Lynne said she was going to teach online.

If said is used with an object we must include to ;

For example: Lynne said to me that she'd never been to China.

*Note - We usually use told.

For example: Lynne told me that she'd never been to China.

There are many other verbs we can use apart from said, told and asked.

These include:-

accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised, begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained, implied, invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested and thought.

Using them properly can make what you say much more interesting and informative.

For example:

He asked me to come to the party:-

He invited me to the party.

He begged me to come to the party.

He ordered me to come to the party.

He advised me to come to the party.

He suggested I should come to the party.

Use of 'That' in reported speech

In reported speech, the word that is often used.

For example: He told me that he lived in Greenwich.

However, that is optional.

For example: He told me he lived in Greenwich.

*Note - That is never used in questions, instead we often use if.

For example: He asked me if I would come to the party.

Photo:

 

Source:

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.htm