DAILY GRAMMAR (DG) 12-06-2018
1a. Lara enjoys to swim. (No)
Lara enjoys swimming. (Yes)
1b. Zainab wants swimming now. (No)
Zainab wants to swim now. (Yes)
(Gerunds and the infinitive forms are often interchangeable as subjects but not usually as complements. “Enjoy” requires a gerund, “want” requires an infinitive structure.)
2a. I am rich, amn’t I? (No)
I am rich, aren’t I? (Yes)
I am rich, am I not? (Yes)
2b. I am not rich, are I? (No)
I am not rich, am I? (Yes)
(“Aren’t” is a contraction of “are” and “not”. Though informal, “aren’t” is commonly used and acceptable in both informal and formal contexts as exemplified above. “Am I not?” is grammatical but extremely formal. On many occasions, “aren’t I?” is the preferred choice. There is no “amn’t” in English; so it is not “amn’t I?”. Nevertheless, in an academic paper, it is better to avoid structures that would make you use both.)
3a. He likes watching football, does he? (No)
He likes watching football, doesn’t he? (Yes)
3b. We don’t want corruption, are we? (No)
We don’t want corruption, do we? (Yes)
(In question tags that require “yes” or “no” answers, basically, when the declarative part is positive, the interrogative part is negative. Also, when the declarative part is negative, the interrogative part is positive. Usually, the verb that introduces the question derives from, or is the verb earlier used in the first part of the sentence.)
Did You Know?
Shaking hands with someone in agreement is called “famgrasping”.
Who are the two leaders famgrasping today in Singapore?