Your ten sentences
Read out your ten sentences. Your teacher will not correct them yet — they will just mark each one -ing, to, or bare.
Three sentences, three pattern errors.
1. I enjoy to walk in the evening.
2. I want going home.
3. You must to see it.
Fifteen verbs, three columns
Read across, then down
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy reading | want to go | should go |
| love cooking | need to leave | must go |
| hate waiting | hope to see | can go |
| don't mind waiting | would like to try | will go |
| can't stand queuing | decide to stay | would rather go |
Answer from the table.
1. Is there anything about the Group A verbs that predicts -ing?
2. What do all the Group C verbs have in common?
3. Try he shoulds and he musts. What happens?
4. So how do you learn Groups A and B?
Three groups, one family
Group C — the modal family, in full
| Modal | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
can | ability, permission, possibility | I can swim. (Unit 2) |
will | a decision made now | I will help. (Unit 7) |
should | advice | You should try it. |
must | strong obligation, or certainty | You must see it. |
would rather | preference | I would rather walk. |
Everything a modal refuses to do.
he shoulds — no third-person -sI should to go — no toI should going — no -ingDo you should go? — no do; the modal inverts on its own: Should I go?
Four refusals, one family, five verbs. This is the fourth time the rule has appeared in this course and it is the last time it will be taught rather than assumed.
The sound. Modals are unstressed in connected speech. Say these aloud and let the modal almost vanish:
you should TRY it · I would RATHER walk · you must SEE it
The stress is on the content word after it. A stressed modal means something extra — you SHOULD try it implies you have not, and you are being told off.
Write the verb in brackets in the right form. Ask which group the verb before it belongs to.
I would like (try) that place on the corner. I hate (queue), though, and apparently you cannot (book). My brother says we should (go) early. I do not mind (eat) at six if it means we avoid the queue. I would rather (do) that than (wait) an hour.
Match each verb to its group.
to + verbto + verb-ing-ing-ingAll three, at speed
Seven sentences, seven pattern errors. Rewrite each one in full.
1. I enjoy to swim in the sea.
2. She wants going home early.
3. You should to try it.
4. He musts leave at six.
5. I would rather to stay here.
6. Do you should call her?
7. I keep to forget her name.
Put the parts in order to make one would rather sentence.
Advice you did not ask for
Task card · Speaking
Your teacher has a free Saturday in your city and no idea what to do.
Two minutes of advice. At least four modals, three -ing verbs, and two would like to.
- You should… You must… You could… — and nothing between the modal and the verb.
- Say what they would enjoy and what they would hate, using the -ing family.
- Ask what they would like to do, and adjust.
- Keep the modals unstressed. If SHOULD is the loudest word, you are telling them off.
Two decisions.
1. You are advising them. Which?
2. You think they would like the activity of walking there. Which?
Which group slipped
Your teacher logged the two minutes.
1. Which group went wrong most?
2. Did you stress any modals?
3. Go back to your ten sentences from last night. How many were wrong?
Before the vocabulary
One question.
1. How do you know whether a verb takes -ing or to?
Before Lesson 4. Write down every word you cannot say in English about food, places or activities you like.
In Portuguese, or described. That list is next lesson.