Present tense/story

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Present tense/story
Message from san99 posted on 24-06-2012 at 23:14:10 (D | E | F)
Hello,
Here is my short story with present, present perfect, and present continuous tense. Would you please check my story and point out my mistakes.
Thank you for being helpful to me.

It is 9:00 A.M. in the morning and the first thing I am going to do is to knock on my door of my mother’s room. She always sleeps till late. Today, she shouldn’t sleep much as a special guest is coming to meet us in the evening and for she must get up.

I normally wake-up at 7:00 A.M and then watch the morning show. After it I take shower and eat my breakfast. I don’t like eating omelets in the breakfast, I prefer taking two slices of Dawn bread, one glass of milk, and one table spoon of peanut instead. It keeps me healthy, active, and smart.

My sister has been sitting at the table for fifteen and waiting for me to make her breakfast, but I can’t do it. I am not in the mood of doing anything for her. My sister has never prepared breakfast for herself; and I do not like it. She must know her responsibility and stop being dependent on me, because she is growing up now and she needs to learn how to do small things like this.

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Edited by lucile83 on 24-06-2012 23:56

Re: Present tense/story from gerondif, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:16:57 (D | E)
Hello,

It is 9:00 A.M. in the morning and the first thing I am going to do is to knock on my door of my mother’s room. She always sleeps (till) late. Today, she shouldn’t sleep so much (so long) as a special guest is coming to meet us in the evening and for she must get up.

I normally wake up at 7:00 A.M and then watch the morning show. After it /After that/ I take a shower and eat(have) my breakfast. I don’t like eating omelets in the breakfast, I prefer taking (to take/to have) two slices of Dawn bread, one glass of milk, and one table spoon of peanut (butter?) instead. It keeps me healthy, active, and smart.

My sister has been sitting at the table for fifteen( minutes?) and waiting for me to make her breakfast, but I can’t do it. I am not in the mood of doing anything for her. My sister has never prepared breakfast for herself; and I do not like it. She must know her responsibility and stop being dependent on me, because she is growing up now and she needs to learn how to do small things like this.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:27:10 (D | E)
Hello,

It is 9:00 A.M. in the morning and the first thing I am going to do is to knock on my door of my mother’s room. She always sleeps (till) late. Today, she shouldn’t sleep so much (so long) as a special guest is coming to meet us in the evening, so she must get up.

I normally wake up at 7:00 A.M and then watch the morning show. After it /After that/ I take a shower and have my breakfast. I don’t like eating omelets in the breakfast, I prefer taking (to take/to have) two slices of Dawn bread, one glass of milk, and one table spoon of peanut (butter?) instead. It keeps me healthy, active, and smart.

My sister has been sitting at the table for fifteen( minutes?) and waiting for me to make her breakfast, but I can’t do it. I am not in the mood of doing anything for her. My sister has never prepared breakfast for herself; and I do not like it. She must know her responsibility and stop being dependent on me, because she is growing up now and she needs to learn how to do small things like this.
I am asking these questions to Gerondif, my teacher!
Question: why can I not use taking with prefer? I have studied that it can be either gerund or infinitive.. for instance;

I prefer buying a blue jacket than a red one.
I prefer to take everything into account before I make any decision.
I prefer taking everything into account before making any decision.
Yes, it’s fifteen minutes.
What to use with the mood? Is it mood for?? I don’t have a mood for coffee now??
Yes, it’s peanut butter

Re: Present tense/story from gerondif, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:37:13 (D | E)
Hello,
yes, you can use ing after prefer,I didn't cross it out, you use it when you have already done it and it is a general habit:

I prefer cycling to walking.
I like cycling better than walking.

(your sentence: "I prefer buying a blue jacket than a red one". could be considered wrong:
I prefer buying a blue jacket to buying a red one.)

In your example, it is a precise moment in the morning, and it comes as a choice against omelets, so I would prefer to use an infinitive ....

"I don’t like eating omelets in the breakfast, I prefer to have two slices of Dawn bread." I feel here I am indicating a decision, a choice, something precise, so I use the infinitive.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:40:30 (D | E)
Right. to is used with inferior, superior, prefer, and many other words of same type. thanks..... you didn't tell me that which prepositions compliment the verb mood...

Re: Present tense/story from gerondif, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:42:55 (D | E)
Well,
I guess I wasn't in the mood for answering !
Mood is a noun, not a verb!

noun + y = adjective: I am moody.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:44:22 (D | E)
Ah, Clever!!! Thanks.. but I always have a mood for learning more things from you.

Re: Present tense/story from gerondif, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:50:37 (D | E)
Hello,
Are you sure you can use "to have" a mood for ?

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:51:44 (D | E)
Yes, we can. Dead sure, teacher.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 25-06-2012 at 19:53:43 (D | E)
I am moody.
She wasn't in the mood for ordering a cocktail.
She didn't have a mood for eating grilled chicken.

Re: Present tense/story from notrepere, posted on 25-06-2012 at 22:01:34 (D | E)
Hello

Here are some additional suggestions:

It is 9:00 A.M. in the morning and the first thing I am going to do is to knock on ~~my door of~~ my mother’s ~~room~~bedroom door. She always sleeps ~~till~~ late. Today, she shouldn’t sleep too late ~~much~~ (as) because a special guest is coming to meet us in the evening and ~~for~~ so she must get up.

I normally wake-up at 7:00 ~~A.M~~a.m. and then watch the morning show. After it that I take a shower and eat my breakfast. I don’t like eating omelets ~~in the~~for breakfast, I prefer ~~taking~~ two slices of Dawn bread, one glass of milk, and one tablespoon of peanut butter instead. It keeps me healthy, active, and smart.

My sister has been sitting at the table for fifteen minutes~~and~~ waiting for me to make her breakfast, but I ~~can’t~~ won't do it. I am not in the mood ~~of doing~~ to do anything for her. My sister has never prepared breakfast for herself; and I do not like it. She must ~~know her responsibility~~ learn to be responsible and stop being dependent on me, because she is growing up now and she needs to learn how to do small things like this.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 25-06-2012 at 22:28:41 (D | E)
Noterepere is the strictest teacher I have ever met in my life. Ok I will rewrite these sentences again.

Re: Present tense/story from lucile83, posted on 26-06-2012 at 00:16:02 (D | E)
Hello,

I didn't find "to have a mood for" in a dictionary.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 26-06-2012 at 01:11:20 (D | E)
Well Lucile, this noun really exists and for is the appropriate preposition to use with it.
If you doubt my word, you should go to Google and write " Mood for love." or " Mood for noodles." But when we use it with have we use "to" to complement the noun in the sentence, for example
Rosy : I have the mood to eat pizza today.

John : What are you waiting for? Let’s go and have some fun.

Re: Present tense/story from notrepere, posted on 26-06-2012 at 04:48:31 (D | E)
Hello

Lucile is right. We say "I'm in the mood for..." love, pizza, Chinese, etc
We never say "I have a mood for..."
We do say: I have a hankering for (something). Which is another way to say "I'm in the mood for..."

I find "hankering" in the British dictionary too: Link

Re: Present tense/story from lucile83, posted on 26-06-2012 at 08:51:31 (D | E)
Hello san,

I know the noun 'mood' exists. The expression 'have a mood for' does not exist.
You have to be precise with words.

Re: Present tense/story from gerondif, posted on 26-06-2012 at 10:45:35 (D | E)
Hello,
that's what I meant: I am in the mood for.....
I crave for....
I have a longing for....

see also:
I am very fond of.......
I am interested in......
I am very keen on.......
I am crazy about.........
(colloquial) I am nuts about......

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 27-06-2012 at 23:51:57 (D | E)
Exactly. I tried to find "have mood for," but I didn't find anything. This noun is used with two propositions which are "to", and "for".
I have a mood to drink mango shakes.
I am in the mood for movies.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 27-06-2012 at 23:57:38 (D | E)
To noterepere,
First paragraph.

it is 9:00 A.M. in the morning and the first thing I am going to do is to knock on my door of my mother’s roombedroom door. She always sleeps till late. Today, she shouldn’t sleep too late much (as) because a special guest is coming to meet us in the evening and for so she must get up.

My corrections;
It is 9:00 a.m. in the morning, and the sky is clear. Now the first thing I am going to do is to knock the door of my mother’s bedroom. I am pretty sure she is sleeping at this time. She wakes at night and watch movies; and she sleeps till afternoon. But today, she shouldn’t sleep too late, because a special guest is coming to meet us in the evening, so she must get up before his arrival or before he arrives.

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 28-06-2012 at 00:00:46 (D | E)
Second one:
I normally wake-up at 7:00 A.Ma.m. and then watch the morning show. After it that I take a shower and eat my breakfast. I don’t like eating omelets in thefor breakfast, I prefer taking two slices of Dawn bread, one glass of milk, and one tablespoon of peanut butter instead. It keeps me healthy, active, and smart.

I normally wake-up at sharp 7:00 a.m., and then I watch my favourite morning show that’s “Breakfast with Sofia.” After that I take a warm shower and eat/take my breakfast. I don’t like eating omelets (why for and why not in?) for breakfast, so I prefer to eat two slices of Dawn bread, one glass of milk, and three tablespoons of peanut butter instead. It keeps me healthy, active, and smart.

Re: Present tense/story from gerondif, posted on 28-06-2012 at 10:49:41 (D | E)
Hello,

What Lucile and I meant is that in our dictionaries, mood doesn't go with "have" either with to or with for.

This is what my "Standard Harraps" in four big volumes says:
to be in a good/bad mood.
He is in one of his good/bad/moods.
To be in a generous mood.
to be in the mood to write.
to be in the mood for reading.
to feel/to be/ in no mood for laughing.
to fall in with the prevailing mood.
to put somebody in the right mood for something.
to be in the mood to refuse point blank
plural: to have moods: to become suddenly bad tempered for no reason.

Maybe in your part of the world, "He has a mood to eat pizza" is common. After all, expressions live and have to appear one day or another....

I steal two mistakes out of notrepere's future post.....

My corrections;
It is 9:00 a.m. in the morning, and the sky is clear. Now the first thing I am going to do is to knock the door of my mother’s bedroom. I am pretty sure she is sleeping at this time. She wakes at night and watch (third person present tense) movies; and she sleeps till *** afternoon. But today, she shouldn’t sleep too late, because a special guest is coming to meet us in the evening, so she must get up before his arrival or before he arrives.

I normally wake-up at 7:00 a.m.sharp, and then I watch my favourite morning show(a comma should be welcome here, to separate show from that) that’s “Breakfast with Sofia.” After that(comma) I take a warm shower and eat/take my breakfast. I don’t like eating omelets (why for and why not in? because that's the expression: what did you have for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner? You can be in a room but not "in" breakfast) for breakfast, so I prefer to eat two slices of Dawn bread, one glass of milk, and three tablespoons of peanut butter instead. It keeps me healthy, active, and smart. (they say a brain in full action requires the energy of half a peanut a day ! You must be pretty smart!!! )

Re: Present tense/story from san99, posted on 01-07-2012 at 19:58:28 (D | E)
Hello,
She wakes at night and spends most of her time watching movies...and she sleeps till the afternoon??? Hahaha, I just wrote that I ate three tablespoons of peanut butter, but in fact I don't even eat one tablespoon of peanut butter....
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Edited by san99 on 01-07-2012 20:11

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Edited by lucile83 on 02-07-2012 00:54

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