The Oblique Moods

The Formation of the Oblique Moods

Subjunctive I

	Synthetical form (1)	Analytical form
Present	I (he, she, we, you, they) be, have, speak	I (he, she, we, you, they) should be, should have, should speak.
Past	---	I (he, she, we, you, they) should have been, should have had, should have spoken.

(1) The form of Subjunctive I in Modern British English is mostly used in poetry and official documents. In colloquial speech the analytical form of Subjunctive I prevails.
In American English the synthetical form of Subjunctive I is colloquial.

Gerund - Grammar Exercises

Grammar exercises and activities for teaching the Gerund to English language learners. Some exercises include answer keys.

I. Define the forms of the gerund .

1. Skiing is my favourite sport. 
2. I remember his telling me about his coat. 
3. I remember having seen this match. 
4. Before taking up swimming she had been very fond of playing basketball. 
5. The football player was punished for having pushed the centre forward. 
6. The young high jumper was very proud of being praised. 
7. I did not know you had stopped rooting for our team. 
8. I remember having been told about this match.

Participle Examples in Proverbs and Quotations

1. Point out participle I and participle II in the following proverbs.

1. United we stand, divided we fall.
2. Better untaught than ill taught.
3. One volunteer is worth two pressed men.
4. Fear the Greeks bearing gifts.
5. Stolen sweets are sweetest.
6. Forbidden fruit is sweetest.
7. A forced kindness deserves no thanks.
8. The rotten apple injures its neighbours.
9. The beaten road is the safest.
10. A watched pot never boils.

Nominative Absolute Participle Construction

The Nominative Absolute Construction is a construction in which the participle  stands in predicative relation to a noun in the Common Case or a pronoun in the Nominative Case; the noun or pronoun is not the subject of the sentence.

Key example: 

• The wind blowing hard, the man turned up his collar. 

The Participle as the Part of a Complex Object or a Complex Subject

Similar to the Infinitive Participle I may form part of a Complex Object or Subject when combined with a noun (pronoun) to which it stands in predicate relation.

Compare:

• I saw him run along the street. (Infinitive Complex Object) – He was seen run along the street. (Infinitive Complex Subject)
• I saw him running along the street. (Participle Complex Object) – He was seen running along the street. (Participle Complex Subject)

Such complexes occur after verbs denoting physical perceptions – 'to see', 'to hear', 'to feel', 'to watch', 'to find', 'to catch'.

The Participle

The Forms of the Participle

	Active	Passive
Indefinite	writing	being written
Perfect	having written	having been written

Note : - Those are the forms of Participle I which is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the stem of the verb (to go - going, to read - reading, etc.). Participle II has only one form (asked, came. spoken, cut, etc.).

Indefinite Participle denotes an action simultaneous with what expressed by the finite verb.
Perfect Participle denotes an action prior to that expressed by the finite verb.

Gerund examples in literature, proverbs and quotations

Proverbs and Sayings 

1. Comment on the use of the gerund in the following proverbs and sayings. Memorize them.

1. Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing him. 
2. He who likes borrowing dislikes paying. 
3. By doing nothing we learn to do ill. 
4. In doing we learn. 
5. Learn to swim by swimming. 
6. Think twice before speaking. 
7. Saying and doing are two things (Saying is one thing and doing another.) 
8. Doing is better than saying. 
9. The word spoken is past recalling. 
10. Seeing is believing.