Unlock Your English
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Unlock Your English
Using the GERUND in English Part Three: Passives
Hello everyone!
Welcome back, and in this short lesson I cover more on the use of the gerund. This time, we take a look at starting the sentence with the gerund in passive sentences, which can be more indirect.
For example:
Smoking is not allowed Vs. You are not allowed to smoke.
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Steve: 0:00
Hi there, everyone and welcome back for another lesson to unlock your English.
Steve: 0:05
Today, we look at "passives with the gerund".
Steve: 0:09
Here is a typical mistake I hear people making:
Steve: 0:13
It is not allowed to smoke here.
Steve: 0:17
Now, this mistake, in many cases, is probably because of a direct translation from your own language, specifically if it has Latin roots. The problem here is the pronoun "it". Now, it is possible to say: You are not allowed to smoke here. You can change the pronoun for "we" are not allowed to smoke here. "She" is not allowed to smoke here. "They" are not allowed to smoke it, etc. But NOT "it"..
Steve: 0:50
And if we want to be more general about it and say the action of smoking is not allowed by anyone, we can say: "Smoking" is not allowed here.
Steve: 1:02
Here, the subject, in fact, is the activity.
Steve: 1:07
We're not saying the action by a specific person is prohibited, we're saying the action itself is prohibited.
Steve: 1:15
And because we don't mention any particular person, we understand it is prohibited to everyone.
Steve: 1:23
Okay, here's another example:
Steve: 1:26
You are no allowed to park here. Or parking is not allowed here.
Steve: 1:33
So, let me do a few more conversions for you:
Steve: 1:38
You are not permitted to camp here. Camping is not permitted here.
Steve: 1:45
You are not permitted to busk here. Busking is not permitted here.
Steve: 1:52
You're not allowed to dump your rubbish here. Dumping your rubbish is not allowed here.
Steve: 1:59
You are not permitted to take flash photography in the museum. Taking flash photography is not permitted in the museum.
Steve: 2:10
You are not recommended to re-freeze this food. Re-freezing this food is not recommended.
Steve: 2:21
You are not advised to try this at home. Trying this at home is not advised.
Steve: 2:29
You are no advised to argue with your boss. Arguing with your boss is not advised.
Steve: 2:37
You are strongly advised to wear your seat belts at all times. Wearing your seat belt at all times is strongly advised.
Steve: 2:47
And one more example:
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You are recommended to see your dentist every year. Seeing your dentist every year is recommended.
Steve: 2:58
Okay, so by putting the gerund at the beginning of the sentence in this case, the gerund is the activity,,it takes the place of the subject.
Steve: 3:08
And for your information, all of the converted sentences with the gerund at the beginning were actually in the passive tense.
Steve: 3:19
That's it for this short lesson.
Steve: 3:22
And for now, I'm going to say thanks very much for listening and go practise some English.
Steve: 3:28
See you next time.