Collins Cobuild English Grammar (88 page)

using the passive

3.207
  If you do not know who the subject of the second verb is, or you do not want to mention them, you can use a passive construction.

A gardener was immediately sacked if he
was caught smoking
.
I
was asked to come
for a few days to help them.

The following verbs are not usually used in the passive when followed by an
-ing
participle:

feel

imagine

like

listen to

prevent

save

stop

want

The following verbs are not usually used in the passive when followed by a
to
-infinitive:

defy

get

like

prefer

want

USAGE NOTE

3.208
  
Hear
,
observe
, and
see
are not used with a
to
-infinitive when they are active but they can be used with either an
-ing
participle or a
to
-infinitive when they are passive.

You use them with an
-ing
participle when you want to show that the action described by the second verb took place over a period of time.

A terrorist
was seen standing
in the middle of the road.
Her companions
could be heard playing
games.

If a
to
-infinitive is used, you are implying that the action was completed.

She
could
distinctly
be seen to hesitate
.
The baby
was
seldom
heard to cry
.

See also paragraph
3.205
.

verbs followed by
for
and a
to
-infinitive

3.209
  There are some verbs used with another verb with a
to
-infinitive that are followed by the preposition
for
and its object, rather than by a direct object. The object of
for
is the performer of the second action.

They
called for action to be taken
against the unions.
I
waited for him to speak
.

Note that the
to
-infinitive is often a passive one.

Here is a list of verbs that can be used in this way:

appeal

apply

arrange

ask

call

clamour

long

opt

pay

plead

press

vote

wait

wish

yearn

transitive verbs with an infinitive without
to

3.210
  A few verbs are followed by an object and an infinitive without
to
, not an
-ing
participle or a
to
-infinitive. They are
let
,
make
, and
have
in the sense of
cause to happen
or
experience
.

Jenny
let him talk
.
My father
made me go
for the interview.
He lay in a darkened room and
had her bring
him meals on trays.

Verbs that can be used either with an infinitive without
to
or with an
-ing
participle are explained in paragraph
3.205
.

have
and
get
used for showing cause

3.211
  A special use of
have
when used with another verb is to say that the subject causes something to be dealt with by someone else. In this case,
have
is followed by an object referring to the thing dealt with, and then by the
-ed
participle of a transitive verb or of an intransitive verb followed by a preposition.

I
have my hair cut
every six weeks.

This structure is also used to say that something belonging to the subject of
have
is affected in some way.

She’d just lost her job and
had some money stolen
.

If you want to mention the performer of the second action, you use
by
followed by a noun.

He had to have his leg massaged
by his trainer
.

Get
can also be used with an object and an
-ed
participle to talk about causing something to be dealt with or affected in some way.

We must
get the car repaired
.

want
and
need
with an
-ed
participle

3.212
  
Want
is also used with an object and an
-ed
participle, to show that you would like something to be done.

I
want the whole approach changed
.
I don’t
want you hurt
.

Need
is used in a similar way, usually when the object is something that belongs to the subject.

You
need your eyes tested
.

4        Expressing time: tenses and time adverbials

Introduction

4.1
      When you are making a statement, you usually need to make it clear whether you are talking about a situation that exists now, existed in the past, or is likely to exist in the future. There are different ways of expressing time:
tense
is one; the use of
time adverbials
is another.

A tense is a verb form that indicates a particular point in time or period of time.

The form belonging to a particular tense is obtained by the addition of
inflections
to the base form of the verb. In English, time is also indicated by the inclusion of
auxiliaries
or
modals
in the verb phrase.

smile…smiled
was smiling…has been smiling…had smiled
will smile…may smile

Some verbs have irregular forms for past tenses.

fight…fought
go…went

For information about all these forms, see the Reference Section.

4.2
      Sometimes the point in time is clear from the tense of the verb, and no other time reference is required. However, if you want to draw attention to the time of the action, you use a
time adverbial
.

A time adverbial may be (i) an adverb (e.g.
afterwards
,
immediately
), (ii) a prepositional phrase (e.g.
at eight o’clock
,
on Monday
), or (iii) a noun phrase (e.g.
the next day
,
last week
).

She’s moving
tomorrow
.
He was better after undergoing surgery
on Saturday
.
Record profits were announced
last week
.

For more general information about adverbials, see the beginning of
Chapter 6
.

position of time adverbial

4.3
      Time adverbials normally come at the end of a clause, after the verb or after its object if there is one. You can put more focus on the time by placing the adverbial at the beginning of the clause.

We’re getting married
next year
.
Next year
, the museum is expecting even more visitors.
I was playing golf
yesterday
.
Yesterday
the atmosphere at the factory was tense.

If the time adverbial is an adverb, it can also come immediately after
be
or after the first auxiliary in a verb phrase.

She
is now
pretty well-known in this country.
Cooper
had originally
been due to retire last week.
Public advertisements for the post
will soon
appear in the national press.

duration and frequency

4.4
      Some verb forms are used to say that an event takes place continuously over a period of time, or is repeated several times. You may also want to say how long something lasts, or how often it happens. To do this,
adverbials of duration
(e.g.
for a long time
) and
adverbials of frequency
(e.g.
often
,
every year
) are used.

America has
always
been highly influential.
People are
sometimes
scared to say what they really think.
Hundreds of people are killed
every year
in fires.
They would go on talking
for hours
.

Adverbials of frequency are explained and listed in paragraphs
4.114
to
4.122
. Adverbials of duration are explained and listed in paragraphs
4.123
to
4.144
.

4.5
      The following paragraphs describe the ways in which you can talk about the present, the past, and the future. After each of these, there is a section on the ways in which you use time adverbials with each tense.

There are some time adverbials that are used mainly with the past tenses. These are explained in paragraph
4.41
. Time adverbials that are used with future forms can be found in paragraphs
4.60
to
4.62
.