Infinitive

When do you use the INFINITIVE? ( ex : to do)

Source : http://www.learn-english-today.com/lessons/lesson_contents/gerund-infinitive.html

1. After verbs that express likes/dislikes : like, love, enjoy dislike, hate don't mind, can't stand ..... doing
2. After certain other verbs, such as : admit imagine appreciate involve avoid keep (on) consider mention delay miss deny postpone finish suggest ........ doing
3. After prepositions : interested in ... instead of ... good at ... before ... after ................................... doing
4. After certain expressions : it's no use ... it's no good ... there's no point in .............. doing
5. After verbs that refer to a future event : want, hope, intend would like, promise ......... to do
6. After certain other verbs, such as : afford help agree learn arrange manage choose offer fail refuse happen seem .............. to do
7. After adjectives : glad (ex : glad to know...) pleased (ex : pleased to meet you...) disappointed (ex : disappointed to hear...)
8. After "too" & "enough": too difficult easy enough ..................... to do
   
   The verbs : begin/start/continue can be followed by the gerund or the infinitive with little or no change in meaning.
   The verbs : stop/try/remember can also take both, but the meaning changes.

Exerise:

Source from: http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz97mkm.htm

Quiz Results for: Gerund or Infinitive (Kaye Mastin Mallory)
Quiz Score: 87% (13 / 15) Remaining: 0 Correct: 13 Wrong: 2Game Points: 220 (out of a possible 300)Total Time: 78 seconds.

Reporting verbs

Reporting verbs

In Grammar definitions, you will find a summary of basic reported speech. This most commonly involves using the verbs say, tell and ask, as well as changes of verb tenses, times, places and pronouns:
"I am going to the shop."
He said (that) he was going to the shop.
"Sit down and open your books."
She told us to sit down and open our books.
"Will you come with us tomorrow?"
He asked me if I would go with them the following day.
A native speaker of English, however, will often use reporting verbs other than just say, tell and ask. Compare the following:
"I didn't do it!"
He said that he hadn't done it.
He denied that he had done it OR He denied doing it.
"I'll bring the book back tomorrow."
She said that she would bring the book back the following day.
She promised to bring the book back the following day.
"Please will you think about it some more?"
He asked me if I would think about it some more.
He begged me to think about it some more.
"First you should put the money in the slot and then you should press the button."
She said that I should first put the money in the slot and then press the button.
She explained what I should do.
Notice that different reporting verbs are followed by different structures, i.e.
deny + that-clause OR
deny + -ing form
promise + infinitive
beg + object + infinitive


For a list of different reporting verbs and their accompanying structures, see:
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rep7.cfm
For more information on reporting verbs, see:
http://langues.cmaisonneuve.qc.ca/sbeller/quizzes/Grammar_Goblins/GGReportedSpeech.htm
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rep5.cfm
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/rep6.cfm
To see many examples of the use of reporting verbs, see the Web Concordancer:
http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk/scripts/concordance/WWWConcappE.htm
Type the past tense of the verb into the "search string" field, select any corpus and then click on the "search for concordances" button.

Source: http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/reportingverbs01.html

Marketing planning

Marketing planning.

I have read the article on marketing planning. I have found it interesting. Source from:
http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_marketing_plan.htm

Marketing plans are vital to marketing success. They help to focus the mind of companies and marketing teams on the process of marketing i.e. what is going to be achieved and how we intend to do it. There are many approaches to marketing plans. Marketing Teacher has focussed upon the key stages of the plan. It is contained under the popular acronym AOSTC.
ANALYSIS.
OBJECTIVES.
STRATEGIES.
TACTICS.
CONTROLS.
Stage One - Situation Analysis (and Marketing Audit).
Marketing environment.
Laws and regulations.
Politics.
The current state of technology.
Economic conditions.
Sociocultural aspects.
Demand trends.
Media availability.
Stakeholder interests.
Marketing plans and campaigns of competitors.
Internal factors such as your own experience and resource availability.
Also see tools for internal/external audit:
SWOT.
PEST.
Porter's Five Forces.
Marketing Environment.
Stage Two - Set marketing objectives.
SMART objectives.
Specific - Be precise about what you are going to achieve.
Measurable - Quantify you objectives.
Achievable - Are you attempting too much?
Realistic - Do you have the resource to make the objective happen (men, money, machines, materials, minutes)?
Timed - State when you will achieve the objective (within a month? By February 2010?).
If you don't make your objective SMART, it will be too vague and will not be realized. Remember that the rest of the plan hinges on the objective. If it is not correct, the plan may fail.
Stage Three - Describe your target market
Which segment? How will we target the segment? How should we position within the segment?
Why this segment and not a different one? (This will focus the mind).
Define the segment in terms of demographics and lifestyle. Show how you intend to 'position' your product or service within that segment. Use other tools to assist in strategic marketing decisions such as Boston Matrix , Ansoff's Matrix , Bowmans Strategy Clock, Porter's Competitive Strategies, etc.
Stage Four - Marketing Tactics.
Convert the strategy into the marketing mix (also known as the 4Ps). These are your marketing tactics.
Price Will you cost plus, skim, match the competition or penetrate the market?
Place Will you market direct, use agents or distributors, etc?
Product Sold individually, as part of a bundle, in bulk, etc?
Promotion Which media will you use? e.g sponsorship, radio advertising, sales force, point-of-sale, etc? Think of the mix elements as the ingredients of a 'cake mix'. You have eggs, milk, butter, and flour. However, if you alter the amount of each ingredient, you will influence the type of cake that you finish with.
Stage Five - Marketing Controls.
Remember that there is no planning without control. Control is vital.
Start-up costs.
Monthly budgets.
Sales figure.
Market share data.
Consider the cycle of control.

Marketing research

Marketing research

Market research and marketing research are often confused. 'Market' research is simply research into a specific market. It is a very narrow concept. 'Marketing' research is much broader. It not only includes 'market' research, but also areas such as research into new products, or modes of distribution such as via the Internet. Here are a couple of definitions:
"Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information - information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications."
American Marketing association - Official Definition of Marketing Research
Obviously, this is a very long and involved definition of marketing research.
"Marketing research is about researching the whole of a company's marketing process."
Palmer (2000).
This explanation is far more straightforward i.e. marketing research into the elements of the marketing mix, competitors, markets, and everything to do with the customers.
The Marketing research Process.
Marketing research is gathered using a systematic approach. An example of one follows:
1. Define the problem. Never conduct research for things that you would 'like' to know. Make sure that you really 'need' to know something. The problem then becomes the focus of the research. For example, why are sales falling in New Zealand?
2. How will you collect the data that you will analyze to solve your problem? Do we conduct a telephone survey, or do we arrange a focus group? The methods of data collection will be discussed in more detail later.
3. Select a sampling method. Do we us a random sample, stratified sample, or cluster sample?
4. How will we analyze any data collected? What software will we use? What degree of accuracy is required?
5. Decide upon a budget and a timeframe.
6. Go back and speak to the managers or clients requesting the research. Make sure that you agree on the problem! If you gain approval, then move on to step seven. 7. Go ahead and collect the data.
8. Conduct the analysis of the data.
9. Check for errors. It is not uncommon to find errors in sampling, data collection method, or analytic mistakes.
10. Write your final report. This will contain charts, tables, and diagrams that will communicate the results of the research, and hopefully lead to a solution to your problem. Watch out for errors in interpretation.
Sources of Data - Primary and Secondary
There are two main sources of data - primary and secondary. Primary research is conducted from scratch. It is original and collected to solve the problem in hand. Secondary research, also known as desk research, already exists since it has been collected for other purposes.


Source from : http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_marketing_research.htm

TENSE EXERCISES

EXERCISES ON TENSES :

Source : www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs2.htm

EXERCISE 1.
Your score is 72%.Some of your answers are incorrect. Incorrect answers have been left in place for you to change.

1.Every Monday, Sally (drive) drives her kids to football practice.
2. Usually, I (work) work as a secretary at ABT, but this summer I (study) French at a language school in Paris. That is why I am in Paris.
3. Shhhhh! Be quiet! John (sleep) is sleeping.
4. Don't forget to take your umbrella. It (rain) is raining.
5. I hate living in Seattle because it (rain, always) is always raining.
6. I'm sorry I can't hear what you (say) are saying because everybody (talk) is talking so loudly. 7. Justin (write, currently) writes about his adventures in Tibet. I hope he can find a good publisher when he is finished.
8. Jim: Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?Denise: Oh, I'm sorry, I can't. I (go) am going to a movie tonight with some friends.
9. The business cards (be, normally ) are normally printed by a company in New York. Their prices (be) are inexpensive, yet the quality of their work is quite good.
10. This delicious chocolate (be) was made small chocolatier in Zurich, Switzerland.


EXERCISE 2.
Your score is 78%.Some of your answers are incorrect. Incorrect answers have been left in place for you to change.

1. A: What (you, do) were you doing when the accident occurred?
B: I (try) was trying to change a light bulb that had burnt out.
2. After I (find) found the wallet full of money, I (go, immediately) went the police and (turn) turned it in.
3. The doctor (say) said that Tom (be) was too sick to go to work and that he (need) needed to stay at home for a couple of days.
4. Sebastian (arrive) arrived at Susan's house a little before 9:00 PM, but she (be, not) was not there. She (study, at the library) was studying at the library for her final examination in French. 5. Sandy is in the living room watching television. At this time yesterday, she (watch, also) was also watching television. That's all she ever does!
6. A: I (call) called you last night after dinner, but you (be, not) were not there. Where were you? B: I (work) was working out at the fitness center.
7. When I (walk) walked into the busy office, the secretary (talk) was talking on the phone with a customer, several clerks (work, busily) were busily working at their desks, and two managers (discuss, quietly) were quietly discussing methods to improve customer service.
8. I (watch) was watching a mystery movie on TV when the electricity went out. Now I am never going to find out how the movie ends.
9. Sharon (be) was in the room when John told me what happened, but she didn't hear anything because she (listen, not) was not listening.
10. It's strange that you (call) called because I (think, just) was just thinking about you.
11. The Titanic (cross) was crossing the Atlantic when it (strike) an iceberg.
12. When I entered the bazaar, a couple of merchants (bargain, busily) were busily bargaining and (try) trying to sell their goods to naive tourists who (hunt) were hunting for souvenirs. Some young boys (lead) were leading their donkeys through the narrow streets on their way home. A couple of men (argue) were arguing over the price of a leather belt. I (walk) walked over to a man who (sell) was selling fruit and (buy) bought a banana.
13. The firemen (rescue) rescued the old woman who (be) was trapped on the third floor of the burning building.
14. She was so annoying! She (leave, always) her dirty dishes in the sink. I think she (expect, actually) actually expected me to do them for her.
15. Samantha (live) lived in Berlin for more than two years. In fact, she (live) was living there when the Berlin Wall came down.

Gerunds

I have found those exercises interesting. Source:
http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/index.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/627/01/#resourcenav
Gerunds
A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. The term verbal indicates that a gerund, like the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. However, since a gerund functions as a noun, it occupies some positions in a sentence that a noun ordinarily would, for example: subject, direct object, subject complement, and object of preposition.
Gerund as subject:
Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences. (Traveling is the gerund.)
The study abroad program might satisfy your desire for new experiences. (The gerund has been removed.)
Gerund as direct object:
They do not appreciate my singing. (The gerund is singing.)
They do not appreciate my assistance. (The gerund has been removed)
Gerund as subject complement:
My cat's favorite activity is sleeping. (The gerund is sleeping.)
My cat's favorite food is salmon. (The gerund has been removed.)
Gerund as object of preposition:
The police arrested him for speeding. (The gerund is speeding.)
The police arrested him for criminal activity. (The gerund has been removed.)

A Gerund Phrase is a group of words consisting of a gerund and the modifier(s) and/or (pro)noun(s) or noun phrase(s) that function as the direct object(s), indirect object(s), or complement(s) of the action or state expressed in the gerund, such as:
The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence.
Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than what we're trying to do.
Finding (gerund)a needle (direct object of action expressed in gerund)in a haystack (prepositional phrase as adverb)
The gerund phrase functions as the direct object of the verb appreciate.
I hope that you appreciate my offering you this opportunity.
my (possessive pronoun adjective form, modifying the gerund)offering (gerund)you (indirect object of action expressed in gerund)this opportunity (direct object of action expressed in gerund)
The gerund phrase functions as the subject complement.
Newt's favorite tactic has been lying to his constituents.
lying to (gerund)his constituents (direct object of action expressed in gerund)
The gerund phrase functions as the object of the preposition for.
You might get in trouble for faking an illness to avoid work.
faking (gerund)an illness (direct object of action expressed in gerund)to avoid work (infinitive phrase as adverb)
The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence.
Being the boss made Jeff feel uneasy.
Being (gerund)the boss (subject complement for Jeff, via state of being expressed in gerund)
Punctuation
A gerund virtually never requires any punctuation with it.

A gerund is a verbal ending in -ing that is used as a noun.
A gerund phrase consists of a gerund plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).
Gerunds and gerund phrases virtually never require punctuation.

EXERCISES:
1.
Your score is 80%.Some of your answers are incorrect. Incorrect answers have been left in place for you to change
1.Dan enjoys reading science fiction.
2. Cheryl suggested to see a movie after work.
3. I miss working in the travel industry. Maybe I can get my old job back.
4. Where did you learn to speak Spanish? Was it in Spain or in Latin America?
5. Do you mind helping me translate this letter?
6. He asked to talk to the store manager.
7. You've never mentioned living in Japan before. How long did you live there?
8. If he keeps coming to work late, he's going to get fired!
9. Debbie plans to study abroad next year.10. I agreed to helphelping Jack wash his car.

2.
Correct! Well done.Your score is 100%.
1. I hope to graduate from college next June.
2. The models practiced walking with a book balanced on their heads.
3. Mandy has promised to take care of our dog while we are on vacation.
4. Mr. Edwards chose to accept the management position in Chicago rather than the position in Miami.
5. I don't know what she wants to do tonight. Why don't you ask her?
6. Frank offered to help us paint the house.
7. Sandra decided to study economics in London.
8. Witnesses reported seeing the bank robber as he was climbing out of the second-story window.
9. Stephanie dislikes working in front of a computer all day.
10. Mrs. Naidoo appears to be the most qualified person for the job.

Academic Word list

I have done these Vocabulary exercises on Academic Word list

Exercise 1:
Source: http://web.uvic.ca/~gluton/awl/AWLSublist01-Ex1a.htm
Correct! Well done.Your score is 100%.


1. He did an _______________ of the way children learn language for his Master's thesis.
analysis

2. He was arrested for drunk driving because he had drunk more than the _______________ limit of alcohol.
legal

3. The culture of the United States is quite _______________ to that of Canada.
similar

4. The Canadian _______________ is largely based on natural resources.
economy

5. Environmental pollution seems to be an important _______________ in the increase in cancers all over the world.
factor

6.The apartment will be _______________ on June first.
available

7. The young popstar became famous while still in high school after winning a _______________ with a major record label.
contract

8. Your continued lateness for class _______________ to me that you are not really a very serious student.
indicates

9. Living in Berlin during the _______________ when the Berlin Wall was torn down was an unforgettable experience.
period

10. Some _______________ into second language learning suggests that oral fluency may increase with moderate amounts of alcohol.
research

Exercise 2:

Correct! Well done.Your score is 100%.

1. One of the _______________ of studying English in Victoria is that you have the opportunity to speak English outside of class.
benefits

2. The cat slowly _______________ the bush where the mouse was hiding.
approached

3. A department store spokesman says that their new outlet will _______________ more than 75 permanent jobs in the city.
create

4. The government recently passed _______________ which prohibits tobacco advertising at sporting events.
legislation

5. There are many things you can do in your everyday life to help protect the _______________, such as recycling or riding a bicycle.
environment

6. The _______________ of the river is somewhere in the mountains.
source

7. You must _______________ to our offer within 30 days or it will be withdrawn.
respond

8. The government has announced a special program to help _______________ new small businesses.
finance

9. It is the _______________ of our government that no one should be without food or shelter.
policy

10. The oldest _______________ to win a medal in the Olympics was Oscar Swahn, who won a silver medal in shooting at the age of 72.
individual