Wednesday, November 25, 2009

ADJECTIVES: -ing/ -ed

Generally said -ing adjectives have an active meaning, describing someone that is doing something (acting) or something that is causing something to us (making us feel in a certain way or giving us some kind of impression etc).

While adjectives ending with -ed have a passive meaning, describing someone 'receiving' some kind of action, made to feel in a certain way or given an impression.

To make it clearer, let's take a look at the following examples:

a talking clock

a singing bird

a winning team

a laughing child

They all 'do' something – the clock is talking, the bird is singing, the team is winning, the child is crying. The adjectives with 'ing, here, have an active meaning. So, 'talking', 'singing', winning' and laughing' are used to describe an action.

Now look at these examples with adjectives ending in -ed/ past participle:

a smashed window.

a painted box.

a lost child

a surprised look

These adjectives are used with a passive meaning. Something has been done to them (the window, the box) or something/someone has caused them to be in a certain state (the child, the look) or feel in a certain way. That is, the person or thing we are describing here is a 'passive participant' in the action. They are not doing anything, but they are “done” something. So the adjectives smashed, painted , lost , surprised describe states or feelings as a result of something done – the window has been smashed, the box has been painted, child has been lost, the person was surprised so he gave/had a surprised a look.

Here are some more examples:

She is annoyed.

I am interested in photography.

Everyone was excited during the game.

We all feel relaxed after the holiday we had.

The -ed ending implies a certain feeling. She is feeling annoyed, I feel interested in photography etc

Whereas the adjectives with -ing used here ...

The noise is annoying.

I find photography an interesting subject.

It was an exciting tennis match.

We're having a relaxing holiday.

... are used to describe the thing or the person that produces those feelings (the noise is making me feel annoyed, so it is annoying, photography provokes an interest in me, so it is interesting etc)

You can practice those with friends:

If you find an interest in art, art is interesting to you or you are interested in art.

If the news you heard has shocked you, then you were ... by the news you heard, or the news was ... .

If the story you have been told has amused you , the story must have been very .... .

If someone didn't show up for an appointment you had, and that was a surprise to you, then it was ... that they did not show up.

If you do not like football and you feel that it bores you, then you can say that you find football very ... . (which is not at all my case, as a matter of fact :-P)

Well, that was all for now. Hope it was helpful.

ADJECTIVES: -ing/ -ed

While adjectives ending with -ed have a passive meaning, describing someone 'receiving' some kind of action, made to feel in a certain way or given an impression.

To make it clearer, let's take a look at the following examples:

a talking clock

a singing bird

a winning team

a laughing child

Now look at these examples with adjectives ending in -ed/ past participle:

a smashed window.

a painted box.

a lost child

a surprised look

Here are some more examples:

She is annoyed.

I am interested in photography.

Everyone was excited during the game.

We all feel relaxed after the holiday we had.

The -ed ending implies a certain feeling. She is feeling annoyed, I feel interested in photography etc

Whereas the adjectives with -ing used here ...

The noise is annoying.

I find photography an interesting subject.

It was an exciting tennis match.

We're having a relaxing holiday.

You can practice those with friends:

If you find an interest in art, art is interesting to you or you are interested in art.

If the news you heard has shocked you, then you were ... by the news you heard, or the news was ... .

If the story you have been told has amused you , the story must have been very .... .

If someone didn't show up for an appointment you had, and that was a surprise to you, then it was ... that they did not show up.

If you do not like football and you feel that it bores you, then you can say that you find football very ... . (which is not at all my case, as a matter of fact :-P)

Well, that was all for now. Hope it was helpful.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

COMPARATIVE EXPRESSION

Forming Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

One-syllable adjectives.

Form the comparative and superlative forms of a one-syllable adjective by adding –er for the comparative form and –est for the superlative.

One-Syllable Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
tall	taller	tallest
old	older	oldest
long	longer	longest

Mary is taller than Max.
Mary is the tallest of all the students.
Max is older than John.
Of the three students, Max is the oldest.
My hair is longer than your hair.
Max's story is the longest story I've ever heard.

If the one-syllable adjective ends with an e, just add –r for the comparative form and –st for the superlative form.

One-Syllable Adjective with Final -e	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
large	larger	largest
wise	wiser	wisest

Mary's car is larger than Max's car.
Mary's house is the tallest of all the houses on the block.
Max is wiser than his brother.
Max is the wisest person I know.

If the one-syllable adjective ends with a single consonant with a vowel before it, double the consonant and add –er for the comparative form; and double the consonant and add –est for the superlative form.

One-Syllable Adjective Ending with a Single Consonant with a Single Vowel before It	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
big	bigger	biggest
thin	thinner	thinnest
fat	fatter	fattest

My dog is bigger than your dog.
My dog is the biggest of all the dogs in the neighborhood.
Max is thinner than John.
Of all the students in the class, Max is the thinnest.
My mother is fatter than your mother.
Mary is the fattest person I've ever seen.

Two-syllable adjectives.

With most two-syllable adjectives, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.

Two-Syllable Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
peaceful	more peaceful	most peaceful
pleasant	more pleasant	most pleasant
careful	more careful	most careful
thoughtful	more thoughtful	most thoughtful

This morning is more peaceful than yesterday morning.
Max's house in the mountains is the most peaceful in the world.
Max is more careful than Mike.
Of all the taxi drivers, Jack is the most careful.
Jill is more thoughtful than your sister.
Mary is the most thoughtful person I've ever met.

If the two-syllable adjectives ends with –y, change the y to i and add –er for the comparative form. For the superlative form change the y to i and add –est.

Two-Syllable Adjective Ending with -y	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
happy	happier	happiest
angry	angrier	angriest
busy	busier	busiest

John is happier today than he was yesterday.
John is the happiest boy in the world.
Max is angrier than Mary.
Of all of John's victims, Max is the angriest.
Mary is busier than Max.
Mary is the busiest person I've ever met.

Two-syllable adjectives ending in –er, -le, or –ow take –er and –est to form the comparative and superlative forms.

Two-Syllable Adjective Ending with -er, -le, or -ow	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
narrow	narrower	narrowest
gentle	gentler	gentlest

The roads in this town are narrower than the roads in the city.
This road is the narrowest of all the roads in California.
Big dogs are gentler than small dogs.
Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest.

Adjectives with three or more syllables.

For adjectives with three syllables or more, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.

Adjective with Three or More Syllables	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
generous	more generous	most generous
important	more important	most important
intelligent	more intelligent	most intelligent

John is more generous than Jack.
John is the most generous of all the people I know.
Health is more important than money.
Of all the people I know, Max is the most important.
Women are more intelligent than men.
Mary is the most intelligent person I've ever met.

Exceptions.

Irregular adjectives.

Irregular Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
far	farther	farthest
little	less	least
many	more	most

Italian food is better than American food.
My dog is the best dog in the world.
My mother's cooking is worse than your mother's cooking.
Of all the students in the class, Max is the worst.

Two-syllable adjectives that follow two rules. These adjectives can be used with -er and -est and with more and most.

Two-Syllable Adjective	Comparative Form	Superlative Form
clever	cleverer	cleverest
clever	more clever	most clever
gentle	gentler	gentlest
gentle	more gentle	most gentle
friendly	friendlier	friendliest
friendly	more friendly	most friendly
quiet	quieter	quietest
quiet	more quiet	most quiet
simple	simpler	simplest
simple	more simple	most simple

Big dogs are gentler than small dogs.
Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the gentlest.
Big dogs are more gentle than small dogs.
Of all the dogs in the world, English Mastiffs are the most gentle.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

We use the Past Simple to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. The actions can be short or long. There can also be a few actions happening one after another. Generally, there are two important facts to remember about this tense:

Questions and negative sentences, unlike the positive ones, preserve the base form of the verb (Did you go there?)
Irregular verbS

Copernicus was the first to be sure that the Sun, rather than the Earth, is the center of the Solar System.

Use

Events in the past that are now finished (e.g. I went to school) *
Situation in the past (they lived a normal life until they won a lottery) **
A series of actions in the past

* often referred to as short actions in the past
** often referred to as long action in the past

Irregular Verbs
I go, I went, I have gone

As an ESL student you have certainly encountered the irregular verbs more

Form

Declarative sentences:

Subject	+	Verb + ed or an irregular form
I/a dog etc.		worked/went/saw

I saw two colorful fishes in the lake yesterday (Use 1)

He enter ed a room, lit a cigarette and smiled at the guests. (Use 3)
Mary tried the soup but it was too hot to eat. (Use 1)
I lived in New York for 10 years (I don't live there anymore) (Use 2)
They saw us playing football. (Use 1)
He married a woman who lived in the same village. (Use 1)

Questions (interrogative sentences):

Auxiliary verb	+	Subject	+	Verb
did		I/a cat/me and my brother		go/take

How long did he work there? (Use 2 or Use 1)
Did the telephone ring? (Use 1)
Did you see that? (Use 1)

Note: When the subject is unknown ("who", "what") we omit "did"

Who cleaned up the mess yesterday?
What bit you?

Common time expressions (time adverbials) in the Past Simple:
yesterday, the other day, just now, the day before yesterday.

Negative sentences:

Subject	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Verb
I/a cat etc.		didn't		go/take

He didn't learn any Italian when he was in Italy two year ago. (Use 2)
I wasn't at my grandma's when you came. (Use 1)
He didn't get any good grades when he attended school. (Use 3)

I met my old friend from school yesterday and she looked really weird.

Monday, November 16, 2009

FUTURE SIMPLE

Among all future tenses, the Future Simple is the most common. It is used in many situations such as when making promises or predictions.

Here goes a list to make it more readable.

Use

Promises (Use 1)
Unplanned actions (spontaneous decisions) (Use 2)
Predictions based on experience or intuition * (Use 3)
Habits (obstinate insistence, usually habitual) (Use 4)

* Use " going to form" to express predictions based on observing the present situation.

** You probably have encountered the word "gonna", which is an informal contraction of "going to".

Keep in mind: Because "gonna" is informal you should avoid it in grammar tests, etc.!

My teacher's gonna be mad when he sees my composition!

Form

Contracted forms

WILL = 'LL

Example: She'll dance = she will dance

WILL + NOT = WON'T

Example: She won't dance = she will not dance

Important: The Future Simple appears in two forms: "will" form and "going to" form but there are not always interchangable. Therefore, a separate article about "going to" form has been written.

Declarative sentences:

Subject	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Verb
I/a dog etc.	+	will	+	go/take etc.

CAUTION

Remember, you should never use will to say what somebody has already arrange or decided to do in the future:

– Mike is moving to New Jersey next month (not "Mike will move")

I think he will regret his choice. (Use 3)
I will come back at 10 p.m. (Use 1)
If you will keep your watch half an hour slow it is hardly surprising that you are late for your appointments. (Use 4)
John will keep dropping his towel on the floor after a bath. (Use 4)

When I'm 60 years old, I will be completely bald. (Use 3)

I will visit my grandma at hospital. (Use 1 or Use 2)
Let's buy the snacks at the supermarket – they will be cheaper. (Use 3)

Questions (interrogative sentences):

Auxiliary verb	+	Subject	+	Verb
will	+	I/a dog etc.	+	go/take etc.

Remember

We often use "will" with:

probably, most likely	I'll probably drop in on uncle.
I think	This gift is great. I think we'll love it.
I'm sure	It's not going to be boring there. I'm sure there will be a lot of boys at your age
I wonder (if, what, when, etc.)	It's a bit late. I wonder if he'll come.
I expect	I haven't seen Matthew today. I expect he'll call today.

Will he be surprised when he sees me? (Use 3)
Will Mark be able to do the shopping before 10 a.m.? (Use 3)
Will there be plenty of people in church? (Use 3)
Will you study harder? (Use 1)

Negative sentences:

Subject	+	Auxiliary verb + not	+	Verb
I/a dog etc.	+	will not/won't	+	go/take etc.

I won't take any heavy equipment with me. (Use 2)
I'm sorry I won't be able to help you with your English today. (Use 2)
I expect that Sally will not clean up her room, unless you help her. (Use 3)

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Here I will not provide only such boring theories as: grammar, tenses, structures and etc. but also exercises and games to develop your English well.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Present Perfect

The Present Perfect is used to express actions that happened at an indefinite time or that began in the past and continue in the present. This tense is also used when an activity has an effect on the present moment.

Note: later in this article, Preset Perfect will be abbreviated as PP.

I have been struck by a lightning!

Use

Actions which happened at an indefinite (unknown) time before now
Actions in the past which have an effect on the present moment
Actions which began in the past and continue in the present

I've eaten 10 apples today!

Time expressions

Since and for

Since and for are very common time expressions used with the PP. We use for with a period of time, for example:

I have lived here for 20 years.

When talking about a starting point, we use since with a point in time.

I have lived here since 1960.

More about time expressions

Remember that in the Present Perfect you cannot use time expressions such as:

two months ago
one year ago
last week
yesterday
when I was five years old

If you're wondering why it's incorrect to use them, it's because they specify accurately when something happened (see: Use 1). You can, however, use time expressions such as:

already
yet
before
never
recently
at last
ever
just
lately

Oil prices have gone up recently.

The difference between the PP and the PP Continuous.

Form

The structure of PP is not very easy because it requires some pratice to get used to it. To correctly form Present Perfect sentences, you should know these:

the proper conjugation of the verb "have" (=auxiliary verb) [1]
Past Participle [2]

[1]

The conjugation of the verb "to have" is the same as in the Present Simple

	Singular	Plural
1st person	I have	We have
2nd person	You have	You have
3rd person	He/she/it has	They have

As seen in the table, only the third person singular (he/she/it has) is irregular:

She has never seen my brother
Neither of my brothers has ever driven a truck

[2]

To correctly form a sentence in the PP, we also need the past participle. In short it is the verb from that is used with the perfect tense

Same as the past form, the past participle can be either regular or irregular.

The regular verbs are typically formed by adding -ed. Read an article about regular verbs

Verb	Past Participle
talk	talked
explain	explained
use	used
deliver	delivered
include	included
achieve	achieved

The formation of the irregular verbs does not follow one rule. Therefore, they should be memorized. Read an article about the irregular verbs.

Verb	Past Participle
be	been
become	become
see	seen
go	gone
eat	eaten
grow	grown

Declarative sentences:

Subject	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Past participle
I/a dog etc.	+	has/have	+	slept/gone etc.

Examples		Use
	We have already had breakfast	(Use 1)
	I have bought new shades	(Use 2)
	I have already been to Paris	(Use 1)
	John has been a plumber for 2 years	(Use 3)
	Someone has taken my bag	(Use 1,2)
	He has been our most serious partner for so long that I can assure you he's a very decent man	(Use 3)

The PP in the reported speech Read

Questions (interrogative sentences):

Auxiliary verb	+	Subject	+	Past participle
has/have	+	I/a dog etc.	+	slept/gone etc.

Examples		Use
	Have you ever seen this program?	(Use 1)
	Where has she lived for the past 21 years?	(Use 3)
	Have you found the telephone number?	(Use 1,2)
	Have you ever been to France?	(Use 1)
	Someone has taken my bag	(Use 1,2)

In sentences with adverbials such as ever, already and yet, Americans may use the past simple rather than the Present Perfect. So an American would say:

Did you go to the post office yet?

And a British man:

Have you gone to the post office yet?

Negative sentences:

Subject	+	Auxiliary verb + not	+	Past participle
I/a dog etc.	+	hasn't/haven't	+	slept/gone etc.

Examples		Use
	They haven't contacted you, have they?	(Use 1)
	He hasn't taken any drug for two years	(Use 3)
	Jane has never been so angry	(Use 3)

ENGLISH HOTSPOT

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

ADJECTIVES: -ing/ -ed

ADJECTIVES: -ing/ -ed

Sunday, November 22, 2009

COMPARATIVE EXPRESSION

Forming Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

One-syllable adjectives.

Two-syllable adjectives.

Adjectives with three or more syllables.

Exceptions.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Monday, November 16, 2009

FUTURE SIMPLE

Contracted forms

Remember

Friday, November 13, 2009

Present Perfect

Time expressions

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