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PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVES
Participial adjectives function like an adjective but look like a verb!
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They describe people, places, things, experiences
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Form
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Verb + present participle of the verb (-ing)
past participle of the verb (-ed)
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to be confused/confusing
to feel excited/exciting
to seem perplexed/perplexing
to look frightened/frightening
to appear shocked/shocking
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As we know, adjectives describe a noun.
If the noun is the cause of the feeling, use the -ING ending of the verb
If the noun is the receiver of the feeling, use -ED
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That was such a boring dinner - I couldn't wait to leave
This new research is a really exciting development in the search for a cure
These results are a bit confusing, I think I'll speak to the consultant on call
It was a shocking revelation and I think it will take Janet some time to get used to it
Scientists have discovered a surprising link between people called Rachel and incredibly high IQ scores
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The teenager felt bored and said he couldn't find anything to do
The scientist was so excited she couldn't wait to publish her results
The pharmacology lecture left the student feeling very confused
The 48 year old woman was extremely shocked by her positive pregnancy result
The husband appeared to be delighted by the news!
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Some explanations:
The story was depressing - I'm depressed now I've read it!
The story is the cause of the feeling - I'm the receiver of the feeling
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She's a very interesting woman - this is describing HER, SHE is the focus - the thing that creates the feeling - it's about HER. Whereas,
She was very interested in what you had to say - it's how SHE feels - SHE is the receiver of the feeling
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In other words, if the adjective does something to something/someone else, use -ING - the dinner bores, the research excites, the results confuse, the revelation shocks, the results surprise BUT the teenager IS bored, the scientist IS excited, the student IS confused, etc. - they are the 'receivers'.
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You can modify the adjective with very, extremely, less, more, most, least, so:
It was a very boring lecture and I was extremely tired by the end of it. In fact, I was SO tired I went to bed at 8 o'clock!
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Some common errors:
I want to go home, I am very boring
I am very interesting in pituitary research
He is very exciting to begin his new job
It was a very interested book
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Here's a website with a long list of English participial adjectives:
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/support-files/participle_adjectives_long_list.pdf​
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Pronunciation
It's important to understand the rules for pronunciation of the adjectives with -ED endings as it's a very common mistake to OVER-pronounce the -ED. The pronunciation depends on which letter precedes the -ED ending:
If the preceding letter is a 'd' or a 't', pronounce the -ED as '-ID' and as an extra syllable (but not necessarily a stressed syllable):
excited, exhausted, frustrated, humiliated, interested
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If the preceding letter is not a 'd' or a 't', pronunciation depends on whether or not it is a voiced or an unvoiced consonant (see below). This pronunciation type is not so important as people will still understand you, whereas mispronunciation of the -ED ending with a syllable sound can cause confusion.
If the preceding letter is a voiced consonant, -ED is pronounced as a 'd' with NO EXTRA SYLLABLE!
alarmed, bored, frightened, intrigued
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If the preceding letter is an unvoiced consonant, -ED is pronounced as a 't' with NO EXTRA SYLLABLE!
depressed, shocked (NB, this also applies to other -ED pronunciation with the past participle - talked, kissed, parked, helped).
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Remember: don't worry too much about whether the last sound is a 'd' or a 't', just ensure you only pronounce the extra syllable when required!
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Voiced and unvoiced consonants
Voiced consonants can be felt in your throat as you pronounce the sound, and unvoiced consonants make the sound using only the movement of air through the tongue, teeth or lips. In English, the voiced consonants are: b, d, ʤ (as in June), g, v, ð (this), z, Ê’ (television), m, n, Å‹ (sing), l, r, w, j. Place your fingers at the bottom of your throat and you can feel a vibration when you pronounce the letters.
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The unvoiced consonants are: p, t, ʧ (cheese), k, f, θ (think), s, ʃ (shall), h. You can't feel a vibration in your throat when you pronounce them.
PASSIVE VOICE
In English all sentences are either in the Active or Passive voice, e.g:
Active: Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin in 1928
Passive: Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928
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In an Active sentence, the person/thing responsible for the action comes first (I'm interested in Alexander Fleming)
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In a Passive sentence, the person/thing acted on comes first - the person/thing responsible is added to the end and introduced with the preposition 'by', or sometimes omitted completely: Penicillin was discovered in 1928 (I'm more interested in the topic of penicillin than I am in the topic of Alexander Fleming.)
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When do we use the Passive?
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When the actor is unknown
The Bulls of Guisando were sculpted in the 2nd century BC
The house was built in 1654
My car has been stolen
All the biscuits have been eaten!
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When the actor is irrelevant
The road is being repaired
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You want to be vague about whoever is responsible
Mistakes were made (be careful not to be too vague and cause confusion)
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You're talking about a general truth
Rules are made to be broken
They are made for each other
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You want to emphasise the person/thing acted on
Thyroxine was synthesised in 1927 (by British chemists Harrington and Barger)
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Traditionally used in scientific writing because the passive voice puts the emphasis on the experiment rather than the researcher. However, in recent years this has begun to change and the active voice is more common as it can make the writing clearer and easier to understand. If you write, "It is believed that..." the reader might think, "Is it really? Who by? Where's your evidence?" However, "The sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water..." DOES put the emphasis on the experiment and NOT on the researcher. It's also worth remembering that passive sentences can be longer (taking up more of your word count!) and more laborious for the reader! Active sentences are often stronger, shorter and more precise.
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How to form the Passive
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To be + past participle
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The hospital ward is cleaned every day
The hospital ward was cleaned this morning
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We use 'by' when we want to say who performed the action but it's actually easier to switch to the active voice:
'Help!' was written by the Beatles - The Beatles wrote 'Help!'
The film 'ET' was directed by Steven Spielberg - Steven Spielberg directed 'ET'
All the trouble was caused by your mother - Your mother caused all the trouble
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Tenses
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Future = will be + past participle (pp)
You'll be told soon enough
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Future perfect = will have been + pp
Everything will have been done by Tuesday
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Simple present = am/are/is + pp
English is spoken here
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Present continuous = am/are/is being + pp
Excuse the mess, the house is being painted
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Present perfect = have/has been + pp
Has the patient been told the results?
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Past simple = was/were being + pp
I wasn't invited, but I went anyway
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Past continuous = was/were being + pp
I felt as if I was being watched
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Past perfect = had been + pp
I knew why I had been chosen
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A final note, to be born is passive:
I was born in 1973
Where were you born?
Around 100 babies are born here every week
We don't know exactly on which day the baby will be born
PAST PERFECT
Forms
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had + past participle
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Regular verbs form a past participle with -ed ending
Irregular verbs often add -en - eaten, fallen
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Don't forget that this form can be contracted to 'd
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I had walked/I'd walked
I had run/I'd run
Had you walked?
Hadn't you walked?
I hadn't walked
I went home after the lecture had finished
What had happened? He'd fallen off the roof and broken his leg
Why were you late for work? I'd forgotten my purse and had to go back home for it
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Meaning
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The past perfect is used for actions that happened before a past event. These are events that took place in the past, ONE BEFORE THE OTHER, not simultaneously, so they/it had already finished before another action happened. It does suggest a relationship between two events.
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When I got home last night my husband had already cooked dinner
I didn't want to go to the pictures because I'd seen the film already
My friend offered me a sandwich but I wasn't hungry because I had just eaten
I arrived late at the party. All my friends had already gone
As soon as she had washed the dishes she went straight to bed
I was very tired as I hadn't slept well for several days
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Words like just, already and never are often used with the past perfect:
I'd just finished showering when the phone rang
I loved the trip - I'd never been to Valencia before
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Reported speech also uses it a lot:
John said that he had never eaten sushi before
She told me that she had finished it but I knew she hadn't
She wondered why he had been so unkind to her
He told me he hadn't done his homework but he was hoping to finish it on the bus
I thought I'd sent her a birthday card but I was wrong
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3rd conditional sentences:
If I'd woken up earlier I wouldn't have missed the train
If I'd known you were in Frankfurt I would have called you
If I had had more money I would have got you a better present
I would have been very angry if you'd laughed
She wouldn't have been able to finish if you hadn't helped her
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
She had been working there for ten years
I’d already been waiting for him for twenty minutes
It had been raining quite heavily so the traffic was very slow
I hadn’t been walking for long when I bumped into Maria
Had you been sleeping long when they called you?
Form
Subject + had + been xxxx-ing
Negative form:
Subject + had not been xxxx-ing
Question form:
Had + you been xxxx-ing?
Meaning
This tense is used in relation to another past tense and often explains the action of the other tense:
I could understand him because I’d been going to Italian classes for two years
She went to the doctor because she’d been feeling unwell for two weeks
It also conveys the continuous nature of an action that led to the past tense verb:
I’d been looking for my passport for ten minutes before I remembered I’d left it at my mother’s house
He’d only been playing for half an hour when the game was stopped due to the rain
In reported speech we use the past perfect continuous when the original speech was in the present perfect tense:
I’ve been going there regularly - He said that he had been going there regularly
Have you been enjoying this wonderful weather? - She asked me if I had been enjoying the wonderful weather
With verbs of thinking or feeling the past perfect continuous can suggest a discarded idea that we initially thought about repeatedly (but didn’t act on):
I’d been thinking about moving to Spain but in the end I decided I couldn’t leave my family
She’d been hoping he’d ring but eventually it became obvious he never would
phrasal verbs
These are SO common in English! They are a verb that has an adverb or a preposition joined to it and you often can’t tell what they mean just by knowing the words (eg, if a couple breaks up it means the relationship has ended, not that they have literally physically broken into tiny pieces!)
If the phrasal verb doesn’t have an object (known as an ‘intransitive verb’), you never separate it:
The car broke down on the high street (you can never say ‘the car broke on the high street down’)
I checked in at reception and went straight to my room
I ate out on Friday because I couldn’t be bothered to cook
He passed out on the pavement and someone called an ambulance
Why don’t you come over and we can work on it at my house?
If the phrasal verb does have an object (a ‘transitive verb’) you can separate its parts sometimes, it depends on the verb*. If the direct object is a noun you can either keep the separable phrasal verb together or place the object in between:
Separable (two choices)
Will you please turn the radio on? Will you please turn on the radio?
I threw my old shoes away. I threw away my old shoes
You need to cross all those mistakes out. You need to cross out all those mistakes.
Inseparable (only one choice)
You walk too fast - I can’t keep up with you!
I couldn’t put up with it any longer so I decided to leave my job
We need more information about this - will you look into it?
Unfortunately, there are no rules for which phrasal verbs are separable or inseparable - you just have to learn them with lots of examples. *A good dictionary will also tell you which word orders are appropriate for each verb.
If the direct object is a pronoun (it, him, her, them) the object always comes between the two parts of a separable phrasal verb:
I had to give it back
Turn it on!
I threw them away
Cross it out
POSSESSIVE NOUNS ('S, of)
In English, an apostrophe (') is added to the end of a singular noun, followed by an 's', to show possession:
David's new car
Alicia and Andy's wedding
Julie's baby
John is Charlie's dad
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You can use 's without a following noun if it's obvious which noun is missing:
Bill's car is a Mazda, Jane's is a Ford
Whose jacket is this? It's Bobby's
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If we want to show possession with a plural noun that already ends in 's', we add an apostrophe after the 's':
The students' results are excellent this year
The boys' parents will be arriving soon
The doctors' car park is always full
(The doctor's office is empty = one doctor)
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For nouns with irregular plural endings, e.g., women, men, children, we add 's:
The women's changing room
The children's hospital
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We generally use 's for a person, animal, country, organisation or group of living creatures:
Yuri's cat
France's general election results
The company's annual leave policy
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We also use 's for how long things last:
He won a year's worth of groceries
It's a day's journey to get to Montevideo by train
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We use 's for expressions of time:
That's yesterday's news!
Did you see last Saturday's game?
What time is next week's meeting?
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We use 'of' when the possessing expression is very long:
My neighbour's son v
The son of the neighbour we lived next door to in Liverpool
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It's more usual to use 'of' if the noun isn't the name of a person, animal or country, and with the top, the bottom,
the beginning, the end, the middle, the centre:
I can't open the front door of the house
How do you pronounce that word at the top of the page?
The juke box is against the wall at the back of the bar
What's the name of the street where that really good florist is?
I'll see you at the beginning of the week
The end of the film was really sad
PREPOSITIONS
Most English prepositions have several different functions and often you can't guess the correct one! It's best just to learn the expression as a whole, as you would with phrasal verbs.
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Common prepositions:
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Time: after, around, at, before, between, during, from, on, until, in, since, for, within
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Place: above, across, against, along, among, around, at, behind, below, beneath, beside, between,
beyond, by, down, in, inside, into, near, off, on, opposite, out, over, past, through, to, toward,
under, underneath
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Direction/
Movement: at, for, on, to, in, into, onto, between, over, under
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Manner: by, on, in, like, with
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Others: by, with, of, for, like, as, from
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Some clues!
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in, at, on with time
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We use at with exact or specific times of the day:
I always like to have my evening meal at 6 o'clock
Let's meet in the pub at 8
Don't be late. The meeting starts at 3pm
We'll talk about it at teatime
I don't like going out alone at night
It's forecast rain at the weekend
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We use on with days of the week and dates:
He has tennis practice on Tuesday
Our weekly meeting is on Monday at 8am
Christmas day is on the 25th December
My birthday is on the 2nd August
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We use in with longer periods of time like months, seasons, years, centuries:
My son starts school in September
I think everyone will have a driverless car in the 21st century
It's always packed on the coast in June, July and August
The ice rink is only open in the winter
I always take the dog for a walk in the morning
My grandma always used to listen to the radio in the evening
I'm free in the afternoon if you want to meet up
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in, at, on with place
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We use in for a continent, a country, a city/town; a room, an area in the room, other areas:
I live in Europe
Glasgow is in Scotland
There are lots of great restaurants in Paris
My daughter is in her bedroom
There is an old chair in the corner of the room
There is a barn in the field
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We use at for a building, the number of a house or flat, places where people do things:
I'm at the supermarket
He lives at number 14 Acacia Avenue
She is eating lunch at her desk
I'm at work
He's at the office
They're at the restaurant
We're at the (football) game/match
The last time I saw Dave we were at a party
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We use on for a street, an outdoor corner, a floor or level, an outside area, something you sit on, surfaces, a large vehicle:
When I was a child I used to live on that street over there
Unusually, our living room is on the second floor
They are smoking out on the balcony
Who painted that picture on your wall?
I'm on the plane now, we should be departing soon
Who is that man over there, on that horse?
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Prepositions at the end of clauses:
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Wh- questions - when a question word (who, what, where, which, when) is the object of a preposition, the preposition usually comes at the end of the clause, especially in informal English. DON'T WORRY if you were always taught that you can NEVER put a preposition at the end of a clause - this is old fashioned and very formal English but until quite recently students were told that this is a grammar error - NOT TRUE! (Apparently it's the rule in Latin, which has carried over into English...)
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Who's the letter for?
What are you looking at?
Who did he travel with?
Where did you get it from?
Which bus will he be on?
What type of music are you interested in?
What have you come for? - if you see "For what have you come?", you're probably reading a 19th century novel!
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A final point - we normally use the -ING form of the verb after a preposition:
I'm thinking about going for a walk
There's got to be a balance between working hard and enjoying your leisure time
He thought he would change my mind by telling me how difficult it would be
It was such a strange experience it was almost like being in a dream
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
I am sitting at the computer
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Form
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'to be' + -ing form of the verb
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Remember the conjugation of 'to be':
I am
You are
He/She/It is
We are
You (plural) are
They are
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I am studying English in the evenings
You are reading the paper
He is running in the park
She is teaching students at the moment
It is raining outside
You are all laughing at me!
They are driving to the concert
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ALWAYS REMEMBER BOTH PARTS of the tense - constructions such as I am go or I going are very common errors.
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To use the Present Continuous in a negative sentence, we insert 'not' in between 'be' and the -ing form of the verb:
I'm not studying English any more
I'm not reading the paper now
He's not running in the park
She's not teaching at the moment
It's not raining any more
You're not laughing at me
They're not driving to the concert
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As you can see, contracted forms are very common: I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're.
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NB: in the Present Simple tense we make questions by using 'do' before the subject. In the Present Continuous, we still use 'be' but we invert it with the subject. Look at these differences:
Are you studying English these days? Do you study English at school?
Are you reading the paper right now? Do you read the paper every day?
Is he running in the park now? Does he run in the park regularly?
Is she teaching at the moment? Does she teach on Mondays?
Are you all laughing at me? Do they laugh at me behind my back?
Are they driving to the concert? Do they always drive to the concerts?
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Uses
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The Present Continuous is usually used when we are talking about ACTIONS THAT ARE HAPPENING NOW:
These actions are often temporary and may be short lasting:
"What are you doing?" "I'm watching TV."
"Where are you?" "I'm just driving to the supermarket."
"Who are you talking to?" "My dad."
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Some actions may last longer but are still temporary or involve periods around now:
At the moment I'm living in Liverpool but it won't be for long
I'm currently working in Sales but hoping for a career change
I'm travelling to work by bus until my car is fixed
We're not eating meat this week
The baby is starting to crawl
The weather is getting warmer
I'm still reading "War and Peace" - it's taking me ages!
I'm studying Spanish and learning three new words a day.
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FUTURE PLANS:
If we want to describe present intentions that were held before the time of speaking and are expected to continue after it, in other words things that are already planned and decided, we use the Present Continuous. It's very common in speech and informal English.
I'm leaving for the airport at 6am
Peter's playing golf tomorrow
I'm taking the exam on Tuesday
Jane's meeting me after work
I'm going to the pictures tonight
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(Please see the Grammar Rays notes on Future Tenses for more information on the Present Continuous Future.)
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A final point - some verbs that describe a temporary 'state' not an 'action' aren't used in the Present Continuous (see list below.)
I want a cup of tea not I am wanting a cup of tea
I don't believe you not I'm not believing you
That pen belongs to me not that pen is belonging to me
That carton of milk costs 49p not that carton of milk is costing 49p
agree, believe, belong, care, contain, cost, doubt, desire, dislike, equal, envy, fear, feel, forget, guess, hate, hear, imagine, know, like, love, matter, mean, need, owe, own, prefer, possess, realise, recognise, remember, resemble, see, seem, smell, sound, suppose, surprise, taste, think, understand, want, weigh, wish.
PRESENT PERFECT
Form
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have/has + past participle
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Don't forget that we contract this form a lot so it becomes I've, you've, he's....
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I have walked/I've walked/I have not walked/I haven't walked
You have walked/you've walked
We have walked/we've walked
They have walked/they've walked
He has walked/he's walked/he has not walked/he hasn't walked
She has walked/she's walked
It has walked/it's walked
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Questions
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Have you walked?
Has he walked?
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Regular verbs add -ed but there are no easy rules to form the past participle of irregular verbs - you just need to learn them!
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Use
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The present perfect tense shows the present situation in relation to past action, i.e HOW THE PAST IS RELEVANT NOW.
My mother has always played tennis (and she still does)
London has stood beside the Thames for hundreds of years (and still does)
I've read a book this morning (it's still morning)
I've spilt the milk (it's still on the floor, I haven't cleaned it up yet)
What has happened? I've won the lottery (action in the past but the results ARE STILL PRESENT)
I've studied Spanish (implies that I remember it. 'I studied Spanish' only tells you I studied it, not that I remember any of it...)
Have you eaten? (enquires about present hunger)
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The present perfect can also be used as a future time marker:
I'll come when I've written this letter
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Compare with the past simple tense:
My mother played tennis when she was younger (she doesn't now)
The city of Troy stood near the Dardanelles (it doesn't now)
The cat spilt the milk and I had to clean it up (it's cleaned up now)
What happened? He won the lottery (when is not important)
When I was at school I studied Spanish but I don't remember it now (within a time period in the past)
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Useful examples with small talk:
I've heard so much about you!
I've been here since 8 this morning
Have you been to France before?
Have you given your presentation yet?
We'd better sit down, it looks like he's started
Have you worked there long?
present perfect continuous
Form
Subject + have + been + verb -ing
I have been studying / I’ve been studying
He has been studying / He’s been studying
She has not been studying / She’s not been studying / She hasn’t been studying
Have you been studying?
Has she been studying?
Haven’t you been studying?
Hasn’t he been studying?
Meaning
Like the Present Perfect, this tense is used to describe something that happened in the past but is relevant to the present. It describes a continuous or repeated activity that is temporary. It often describes an action that has filled up a period of time or focuses on an activity that is unfinished. We also use it to describe new medical symptoms, and we use it a lot with for, since and how long?
I’ve been trying to find that book you lent me but I’m afraid it might be lost!
I didn’t manage to collect your parcel from the post office - I’ve been rushing around finishing my project and writing emails - I haven’t stopped for a moment!
Where were you? I’ve been waiting for over twenty minutes!
I’ve been learning English for three years
What have you been doing this week?
I’ve been doing a lot of studying because I’ve got an exam next week
I’ve been getting a lot of headaches in the past couple of months
I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!
Why are you so sweaty? - I’ve just been running!
Sorry I’m so late! I’ve been trying to find a parking place!
He’s a good driver. He’s been driving for over thirty years.
How long have you been living here?
We've been living here since 1990
This tense is more common in British English than in American English and is generally used informally. You can often substitute it for the Present Perfect tense. However, be aware that a subtle difference can remain between the two tenses. For example, if I say:
I’ve been reading Pushkin in the original Russian, this means I’ve just stopped reading (temporarily) and it may account for why I am carrying a Russian dictionary or looking exhausted!! If I say I’ve read Pushkin in the original Russian it means I read all his work at some point in the past, I speak Russian and I’m capable of talking to you about these works now (and possibly that I’m a pompous show-off!)
If I use the Present Perfect and say I’ve tried to find that book you lent me… at some point I have tried looking for it. If I say, I’ve been trying to find that book I mean I’ve been looking until very recently and I’m giving you the idea that I will continue to look for it. This is a very subtle difference.
However, I would argue that there is no difference between I’ve been doing a lot of studying this week and I’ve studied a lot this week, He’s been driving for over thirty years and He’s driven for over thirty years, and How long have you lived here? and How long have you been living here?
Whenever you read any English try to notice when the writer has used the Present Perfect tense or the Present Perfect Continuous and think about what their reasons for their choices might have been.
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