Phrasal Verbs

Unit 31
Phrasal Verbs and Gerund Subjects
As we saw in 
Unit 16
, gerunds—verbs in the -ing form that function as nouns—can serve as
the objects of many phrasal verbs. But gerunds can also serve as the subject of a sentence:
Eating meat every day was something we did without.
gerund
Voting was immediately done away with by the dictatorship.
gerund
Infinitive: amount to
PRESENT TENSE
-ING FORM
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE
amount to & amounts
to
amounting to
amounted to
amounted to
1. amount to p.v. When you say that something amounts to a certain number, you mean this
is the total of other numbers added together.
All the repairs on our house after the fire amounted to nearly $35,000.
Getting my daughter’s teeth fixed amounted to $4,000.
2. amount to p.v. When you say that one thing amounts to another, you mean that they are
equivalent, even if different names are used for each.
The editor demanded so many changes in the book that it really amounted to an
entirely new book.
The king said that the long list of reforms demanded really amounted to a
revolution.
3. amount to p.v. When you say that a thing or person amounts to something, you are
making a judgment regarding that thing or person’s quality, success, intensity, or
importance.
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The weather guy was predicting a horrible storm with three meters of snow, but it
didn’t amount to anything—only seven or eight centimeters.
Jim’s son had a good education and every chance at success in life, but he never