prepositions with V or Ving
тест по английскому языку на тему

Preposition +Ving

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Note the use of the following prepositions + -ing: before -ing and after -ing:

by -ing (to say how something happens) The burglars got into the house by breaking a window and climbing in.
without -ing:  We ran ten kilometres without stopping

But to is also a preposition (like in/for/about/from etc.). For example: Are you looking forward to the weekend?
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If a preposition is followed by a verb, the verb ends in -ing:

 in doing about meeting without stopping

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After be/get used you cannot use the infinitive (to do / to drive etc.). We say:

• She is used to driving on the left. (not She is used to drive)

When we say 'I am used to something', to is a preposition, not a part of the infinitive.

Do not confuse I am used to doing and I used to do:

I am used to (doing) something = it isn't strange or new for me:

• I am used to the weather in this country.

I used to do something = I did it regularly in the past but no longer do it. You can use this only

for the past, not for the present.

• I used to drive to work every day, but these days I usually go by bike

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It's no use / It's no good

• There's nothing you can do about the situation, so it's no use worrying about it.

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There's no point in

• There's no point in having a car if you never use it.

But we usually say 'the point of doing something':

• What's the point of having a car if you never use it?

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It's (not) worth

• I live only a short walk from here, so it's not worth taking a taxi.

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 « Have difficulty -ing, have trouble -ing

• I had no difficulty finding a place to live, (not difficult to find)

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We use -ing after:

a waste of money / a waste of time

• It was a waste of time reading that book. It was rubbish.

• It's a waste of money buying things you don't need.

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spend/waste (time)

• He spent hours trying to repair the clock.

• I waste a lot of time day-dreaming.

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(be) busy 

• She said she couldn't see me. She was too busy doing other things.

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Go swimming / go fishing etc.

We use go -ing for a number of activities (especially sports). For example, you can say:

go swimming go sailing go fishing go climbing go skiing go jogging

Also go shopping, go sightseeing

V To+V

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We use to ... to say why somebody does something (= the purpose of an action):

O 'Why are you going out?' 'To post a letter.'

• A friend of mine phoned to invite me to a party.

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We use to ... to say why something exists (= its purpose):

• This wall is to keep people out of the garden.

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We use to ... to say what can be done or must be done with something:

• It's difficult to find a place to park in the centre. (= a place where you can park)

• Would you like something to eat?

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Also money/time/chance/opportunity/energy/courage etc. to (do something):

• They gave us some money to buy some food.

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You can use for -ing or to ... to talk about the general purpose of something, or what it is generally used for:

• Do you use this brush for washing the dishes? (or ... to wash the dishes?)

You can use What ... for? to ask about purpose:

• What is this switch for?

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Adjective+to+V

You can use the same structures with:

easy hard impossible dangerous safe expensive cheap nice good interesting exciting

• Do you think it is safe (for us) to drink this water

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(It's) nice of (you) to ...

You can say 'It's nice of somebody to do something':

• It was nice of you to take me to the airport. Thank you very much.

You can use many other adjectives in this way. For example:

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kind clever sensible mean silly stupid careless unfair considerate:

• It's silly of Mary to give up her job when she needs the money.

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I'm sorry to ... / I was surprised to ... etc.

You can use adjective + to ... to say how somebody reacts to something:

• I was sorry to hear that your father is ill.

You can use many other adjectives in this way. For example:

happy glad pleased sad disappointed surprised amazed astonished relieved

• Was Julia surprised to see you?

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The first / the next (etc.) + to ...

You can use to ... after the first/the last, the next, the only, the second (etc.):

• If I have any more news, you will be the first (person) to know.

• The next train to arrive at platform 4 will be the 10.50 to Cardiff.

• Everybody was late except me. I was the only one to arrive on time.

11You can say that something is sure/certain/likely/bound to happen:

• Carla is a very good student. She's bound to pass the exam. (= she is sure to pass)

• I'm likely to be late home this evening. (= I will probably be late home)