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English Tips&Tools
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Please don't assume that passives always need "by". I know your books might tell you this,but you should know that all verbs in the passive voice are not exclusively followed by "BY".

A few examples in which agents, in Passive Voice, are positioned after some other prepositions, like about, at,–‘to’, ‘with’, etc. instead of the preposition –‘by’.
e.g.:-
Active
Passive
(i)
I know him.
He is known to me.
(ii)
He annoyed me much.
I was much annoyed with him.
(iii)
My frequent Visit annoys him.
He is annoyed at my frequent visit.
(iv)
His carelessness annoys me much.
I am annoyed about his carelessness.
(v)
The precocity of the child astonished me.
I was astonished at/by the precocity of the child.
(vi)
A large number of trees surround the village.
The village is surrounded with/by a large number of trees.
The verb 'know' in its passive voice is always followed by the preposition TO instead of BY without changing its meaning.

In passive sentences other prepositions[ of,from,at,with etc] can also be used.

EXAMPLES:
shoes are made of leather.
Bread is made from flour.
He is surprised at me
He was born in Kuwait.
The room was filled with smoke
☀️☀️'in case' and 'if'☀️☀️

We use 'in case' and 'if' to talk about precaution but
'in case' has the sense of something 'might' happen later.
'if' has the sense of something has already happened. How is that? Let me put these words into action.

-Give this to her in case she cries.
means Give this to her because she might cry later.

-Give this to her if she cries.
means I will wait and see if she cries, I'll give her this. If she doesn't cry,I won't give her anything.
—------------------
HOWEVER,
other times it doesn't work to use 'in case' and 'if' interchangeably.
-Take an umbrella in case it rains.✓
-I'll open an umbrella if it rains.✗
Hello there,

In English, the ~ing form can be either a 'gerund' or 'present participle'

Although a gerund and a present participle are both in the -ing form, there are differences between them. A GERUND is a noun derived from the verb as in (read-reading; write- writing) AND this noun can behave as the following:

1-Noun as a subject
-Reading English is important.
2-noun as an object
-I like reading English.
3-As a complement of a sentence
-The most important thing is reading.
4-Noun as an object of preposition (as usual after preposition we add v~+ing)
- I use my glasses for reading
- He is fond of reading
- He is good at reading
5-As a complement of a prepositional phrase (phrasal verbs or prepositional verb)
- I am looking forward to reading this book.
- I am addicted to reading.
- Don't give up reading

Some Gerunds which apparently do not look to be doing the preceding functions as in:
- It's no use+ v~ing
- It is no good+ v~ing
-I can't help reading

Now, If you find a verb with -ing form in other places, it must be a 'present participle.'