The ESL HELP! Desk

Welcome to Our Online English Grammar HELP! Student Handbook!

In this lesson we continue our unit on gerunds and infinitive phrases.

What's wrong with this sentence?

Problem:   My parents made me to practice the piano every day.

Before you begin the activities, we suggest that you read, listen to, and study the podcast and grammar lesson, What Is a Gerund? What Is an Infinitive Phrase?

 

Pattern 5: make, have, let + Object + [Base Form of the Verb]

 

Use this pattern when the head verb is make, have (as a transitive verb meaning "require"), or let.

             My parents made me practice the piano every day. 
                             made + object + base form        
                              

    Many learners of English find it difficult to learn this pattern.  

 

Examples

 

• They made her open her suitcase.
          make  object  [base form]

• The officers had me open my suitecase, too.

• The color green makes me feel refreshed, calm, and young.

• I try to make myself believe that this new day will be better than yesterday.

 

In Our Next Lesson...

In our next lesson, we explore the pattern SPEND TIME + gerund.

So from the ESL Help Desk, thanks for dropping by this week and remember to email us your questions about English grammar by sending us your comments through our blog.

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