Intermediate Grammar Project: UCI

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Past Participle

The form of a verb, typically ending in -ed in English, which is used in forming perfect and passive tenses and sometimes as an adjective, e.g. looked in "have you looked"?, lost in "lost property".

For regular verbs, we normally add "ed" to form its past participle. Unfortunately for irregular verbs there are no rules and it is just a matter of practice.

List of common irregular verbs:

Verb	Past Participle
be	been
beat	beaten
become	become
begin	begun
bet	bet
blow	blown
break	broken
bring	brought
build	built
burst	burst
buy	bought
catch	caught
choose	chosen
come	come
cost	cost
cut	cut
deal	dealt
do	done
draw	drawn
drink	drunk
drive	driven
eat	eaten
fall	fallen
feed	fed
feel	felt
fight	fought
find	found
fly	flown
forget	forgotten
freeze	frozen
get	got, gotten
give	given
go	gone
grow	grown
hang	hung
have	had
hear	heard
hide	hidden
hit	hit
hold	held
hurt	hurt
keep	kept
know	known
lay	laid
lead	led
leave	left
lend	lent
let	let
lie	lain
light	lit
lose	lost
make	made
mean	meant
meet	met
pay	paid
put	put
read	read
ride	ridden
ring	rung
rise	risen
run	run
say	said
see	seen
sell	sold
send	sent
set	set
shake	shaken
steal	stolen
shine	shone
shoot	shot
show	shown
shut	shut
sing	sung
sink	sunk
sit	sat
sleep	slept
slide	slid
speak	spoken
spend	spent
spring	sprung
stand	stood
stick	stuck
swear	sworn
sweep	swept
swim	swum
swing	swung
take	taken
teach	taught
tear	torn
tell	told
think	thought
throw	thrown
understand	understood
wake	woken
wear	worn
weave	woven
win	won
write	written

Present Perfect

This tense is formed by have/has + the past participle.

The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the action is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the result than in the action itself.

Some examples extracted from ef website:

• Actions started in the past and continuing in the present:

1. They haven't lived here for years.
2. She has worked in the bank for five years.
3. We have had the same car for ten years.
4. Have you played the piano since you were a child?

• When the time period referred to has not finished:

1. I have worked hard this week.
2. It has rained a lot this year.
3. We haven't seen her today.

• Actions repeated in an unspecified period between the past and now:

1. They have seen that film six times
2. It has happened several times already.
3. She has visited them frequently.
4. We have eaten at that restaurant many times.

• Actions completed in the very recent past (with just):

1. Have you just finished work?
2. I have just eaten.
3. We have just seen her.
4. Has he just left?

• When the precise time of the action is not important or not know:

1. Someone has eaten my soup!
2. Have you seen 'Gone with the Wind'?
3. She's studied Japanese, Russian, and English.

Present Perfect Progressive

The present perfect continuous tense (also known as the present perfect progressive tense) shows that something started in the past and is continuing at the present time. The present perfect continuous is formed using the construction has/have been + the present participle (root + -ing).

Example: I’ve been decorating the house this summer. The focus is on the action – decorating – and the action is unfinished.

Adverbs for Present Perfect

The present perfect tense is commonly used with the indefinite time adverbs never, ever, before, yet, already.

• Have you ever been to the USA?
• I have never seen a kangaroo.
• I have seen her before.
• They have already arrived.
• She has not received the parcel yet.

Stative Verbs

A stative verb is a verb used primarily to describe a state or situation as opposed to an action or process. Common examples include be, have, like, seem, prefer, understand, doubt, and know. Also known as a stative, state verb, or static verb. Contrast this with a dynamic verb. Stative verbs usually don't occur in the progressive aspect or the imperative mood.

List of stative verbs:

• agree
• appear
• astonish
• be
• believe
• belong
• concern
• consist
• contain
• deny
• depend
• deserve
• disagree
• dislike
• doubt
• feel (=have an opinion)
• fit
• hate
• have
• hear
• imagine
• impress
• include
• involve
• know
• lack
• like
• look (=seem)
• love
• matter
• mean
• measure (=have length etc)
• mind
• need
• owe
• own
• please
• possess
• prefer
• promise
• realise
• recognise
• remember
• satisfy
• see
• seem
• smell
• sound
• suppose
• surprise
• taste
• think (=have an opinion)
• understand
• want
• weigh (=have weight)
• wish

Some verbs can be both stative and dynamic:

• be
• think
• have
• see
• taste

Examples of stative sentence:

1. This soup tastes great
2. The coffee tastes really bitter

Example of non-stative sentence (dynamic sentence):

1. The chef is tasting the soup

Past Perfect

The past perfect, also called the pluperfect, is a verb tense used to talk about actions that were completed before some point in the past.

We use the verb had and the past participle for the past perfect.

Examples:

1. John had gone out when I arrived in the office.
2. I had saved my document before the computer crashed.
3. When they arrived we had already started cooking.
4. He was very tired because he hadn't slept well.

In the examples above, it doesn't matter which event is mentioned first, the tense makes it clear which one happened first.

Modals

Modal verbs are helping/auxiliary verbs that express ideas like ability, permission, possibility, and necessity. One of the most important things to remember is that modal verbs are always combined with other verbs to show complete meanings, but combining correctly is often a challenge for English learners. This is because we have single-word modals (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and phrasal modals (be able to, be going to, be supposed to, had better, have to, have got to, ought to, used to).

Phrasal Modals

Modal phrases (or semi-modals) are used to express the same things as modals, but are a combination of auxiliary verbs and the preposition to.

1. I have to go.
2. Maybe we ought to explore the mountain a little,' said Ginger to Steve
3. He is not able to be with us
4. It was supposed to last for a year and actually lasted eight.
5. He used to help us
6. He's got to help us
7. He's going to help us
8. He's able to help us
9. He had better help us

Ability Modals

We use can, be able to and could to show that someone has (or doesn’t have) an ability to do something:

Present/future ability	Negative
Alan can swim well.	Jackie cannot play piano.
I can meet you after school.	We can’t visit Vancouver this weekend.
I am able to speak two languages.	I am not able to speak Arabic.
Brenda is able to run quickly.	Stacey isn’t able to finish a marathon.
You are able to program a computer.	We aren’t able to make a reservation tonight.

Modals of Possibility

We use the modals could, might and may to show that something is possible in the future, but not certain:

1. They might come later. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come later.)
2. They may come by car. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come by car.)
3. If we don’t hurry we could be late. (= Perhaps/Maybe we will be late)

We use could have, might have and may have to show that something was possible now or at some time in the past:

1. It’s ten o’clock. They might have arrived now.
2. They could have arrived hours ago.

Advice Modals

Modal Verbs are used to give advice or suggestions. There are two modal verbs for advice: should and would:

Subject + Should + Base Verb: Should is used for advice in the present:

1. You should eat healthy food.
2. You should exercise every day.

Should + Have + Past Participle: Should is used for advice in the past:

1. You should have gone to the party.
2. She should have studied more often.

The modal verb "would" is used to give advice. In this situation, the speaker is giving hypothetical advice as if he/she were the listener:

1. If I were you, I would return the book.
2. If I were you, I would not wear that jacket.

Preference Modals

Would rather:

1. I would rather stay home.
2. I would rather play tennis.

Would rather + than:

1. I would rather go to the beach than study on such a nice day.
2. I would rather be rich than poor.

Prefer:

1. I prefer hot chocolate to tea.
2. I prefer drinking hot chocolate to drinking tea.
3. I prefer to drink hot chocolate rather than drink tea.

Would prefer:

1. Would you prefer spaghetti or fish for dinner?
2. Would you prefer to catch a bus or take a taxi home after the party?

Modals of Impossibility

We use the negative can’t or cannot to show that something is impossible:

1. That can’t be true.
2. You cannot be serious.

We use couldn’t/could not to talk about the past:

1. We knew it could not be true.
2. He was obviously joking. He could not be serious.

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven.

1. They have a beautiful house.
2. The unhappiest, richest man.
3. A red apple.

Adjective Participles

Some participles can be used as adjectives in either the present or past form. Present Participle (-ing) is used to describe something or someone. Past Participle (-ed) is used to describe how people feel about something or someone:

1. I watched an interesting TV about American history last night.
2. This film is boring. Let's stop watching it.
3. I'm interested in American history.
4. I'm bored of my job. I want to find another one.
5. I'm bored of my job. I want to find another one.
6. I was really bored during the flight.
7. She's interested in history.
8. John's frightened of spiders.
9. It was such a long, boring flight.
10. I read a really interesting book about history.
11. Many people find spiders frightening.

Adjective Clauses

Adjectives are not always single words. Sometimes they are clauses. For example:

• Students who are intelligent understand adjectives.

Adjective clauses begin with words such as that, when, where, who, whom, whose, which, and why.

Examples of adjective clauses:

1. Pizza, which most people love, is not very healthy.
2. The people whose names are on the list will go to camp.
3. Grandpa remembers the old days when there was no television.
4. Fruit that is grown organically is expensive.
5. Eco-friendly cars that run on electricity save gas.
6. I know someone whose father served in World War II.
7. Making noise when he eats is the main reason why Sue does not like to eat with her brother.
8. The kids who were called first will have the best chance of getting a seat.
9. I enjoy telling people about Janet Evanovich whose latest book was fantastic.
10. The people waiting all night outside the Apple store are trying to purchase a new iPhone.
11. "He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead." - Albert Einstein
12. "Those who do not complain are never pitied." - Jane Austen
13. "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid." - Søren Kierkegaard
14. "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." - Erma Bombeck

Adjective Clauses with Subject Pronouns

This sentences are made with the use of subject pronouns and subject relative pronouns.

Here is a list of subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.

And here is a list of subject relative pronouns:

Relative pronoun	Used for people	Used for things
who	yes	no
that	yes	yes
which	no	yes

To understand how this kind of adjective clause is formed take a look at these two sentences:

1. The woman is in my class.
2. She likes tennis.

In the sentences above we have the subject she. Using the relative pronoun who or that we can make an adjective clause with subject pronoun:

1. The woman who likes tennis is in my class.
2. The woman that likes tennis is in my class.

Adjective Clauses with Object Pronouns

This sentences are made with the use of object pronouns and object relative pronouns.

Here is a list of object pronouns: Me, you, him, her, it, us, them.

Here is a list of object relative pronouns:

Relative pronoun	Used for people	Used for things
who/whom	yes	no
that	yes	yes
nothing	yes	yes
which	no	yes

To understand how it works, look at the following sentences:

1. The woman is in my class.
2. I like her.

These can be reduced to one of the following adjective clauses with object pronoun:

1. The woman whom I like is in my class.
2. The woman who I like is in my class.
3. The woman that I like is in my class.

Adjective Clauses with the Possessive

In addition to subject- and object-pattern adjective clauses, there are also adjective clauses with whose. In clauses of this type, whose shows possession. It is always combined with a noun or noun phrase. For example, consider these two sentences:

1. The people will be glad to help you.
2. The people's names are on this list.

These can be rewritten using possessive adjective clause:

1. The people whose names are on this list will be glad to help you.

Whose can be used for people and things.

Adjective Clauses with Prepositions

Many common verbs are followed by prepositions before their object. A partial list includes verbs such as:

1. think about
2. work with
3. go to
4. speak with
5. look for
6. ride on
7. pay for
8. worry about
9. live with
10. care about
11. write about
12. look at

Given that, consider the following sentences:

1. I am looking at a woman.
2. She is looking at the water.

If you want to turn it to adjective clauses, the preposition must be kept:

1. The woman at whom I am looking is sitting near the ocean.
2. The water at which she is looking is blue.

The sentences can also be written in these less formal ways:

1. The woman who I am looking at is sitting near the ocean.
2. The woman that I am looking at is sitting near the ocean.
3. The woman I am looking at is sitting near the ocean.
4. The water which she is looking at is blue.
5. The water that she is looking at is blue.
6. The water she is looking at is blue.

Adjective Clauses with Where

Adjective clauses beginning with where add information about a place. Consider these two sentences:

1. The building is on Central Avenue.
2. Lena works in the building.

Rewriting as an adjective clause with where:

1. The building where Lena works is on Central Avenue.

Adjective Clauses with When

Adjective clauses beginning with when add information about a time. Consider these two sentences:

1. I'll always remember the day.
2. We met on the day.

Rewriting as an adjective clause with when:

1. I'll always remember the day when we met.

Reduced Adjective Clauses

You may remove the relative pronoun and reduce your sentence in certain conditions:

1. The man who wants to talk to you is waiting for you.
2. The man wanting to talk to you is waiting for you.

Reduction to Participle

a) Present participle (simultaneous)

1. We stood on the bridge which connects the two halves of the city.
2. We stood on the bridge connecting the two halves of the city.

b) Past participle (passive simultaneous)

1. The boy who was attacked by a dog was taken to hospital.
2. The boy attacked by a dog was taken to hospital.

c) Perfect participle (explaining sth. happened before the others)

1. Jenna, who has lived in Florida for 20 years, has gone through several hurricanes.
2. Jenna, having lived in Florida for 20 years, has gone through several hurricanes.

d) Perfect Passive Participle (explaining sth. happened before the others)

1. Usain Bolt, who had been disqualified from the men’s 100m final after a false start, made no such mistake in the 200m.
2. Usain Bolt, having been disqualified from the men’s 100m final after a false start, made no such mistake in the 200m.

Reduction to Preposition

Adjective clauses can often be reduced to phrases, but the relative pronoun must be the subject of the verb in the adjective clause.

Example 1:

1. Did you see the book that is on the table?
2. Did you see the book on the table?

Example 2:

1. She hasn't finished her paragraph which is about her best friend yet.
2. She hasn't finished her paragraph about her best friend yet.

Reduction to Appositive

Example 1:

1. You who are students should plan about your future jobs.
2. You students should plan about your future jobs.

Example 2:

1. Piseth, who is a curriculum developer, has been working very hard.
2. Piseth, a curriculum developer, has been working very hard.

Reduction by omitting Relative Pronoun

Example 1:

1. I will talk to a consultant whom I met at the party.
2. I will talk to a consultant I met at the party.

Example 2:

1. We will start our project which we finalized it last week soon.
2. We will start our project we finalized it last week soon.

Reduction by omitting Relative Pronoun + To be

Example 1:

1. The car which is parked next to mine is very expensive.
2. The car parked next to mine is very expensive.

Example 2:

1. Hamlet, which was written by Shakespeare sometime in the early 1600s, is among the classics.
2. Hamlet, written by Shakespeare sometime in the early 1600s, is among the classics.

Reduction to With or Without

When the verb “have” meaning possession, we can omit relative pronoun and “have” and use with(+) or without(-):

Example 1:

1. Students who have enough math and English skills will be admitted.
2. Students with enough math and English skills will be admitted.

Example 2:

1. People who don’t have their ID cards can not get in.
2. People without their ID cards can not get in.

Appositives

Appositives are two words or word groups which mean the same thing and are placed together. Appositives identify or explain the nouns or pronouns which they modify:

1. Our teacher, Professor Lamanna, loves grammar.

We can say that "Professor Lamanna" is an appositive or is in apposition to "our teacher." "Professor Lamanna" identifies or explains "teacher.'

Appositives can be essential or nonessential. If the appositive is necessary for the meaning of the sentence, then it is essential. This means that it cannot be left out. If the appositive is not essential for the meaning of the sentence, and it could be left out, then it is nonessential. Nonessential appositives should be set apart from the sentence with commas. Essential appositives are not set off with commas.

Examples:

1. The long-time U.S. senator Ted Kennedy was known for his oratorical skills and his charisma.
2. Ted Kennedy, a long-time U.S. senator, was known for his oratorical skills and his charisma.
3. The novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was a great read.
4. Starbucks, one of the best places for coffee in town, is always busy.
5. The Great Depression, a time of great strife for many Americans, one of the nation’s toughest non-military challenges, affected many of those who lived through it for the rest of their lives.

An appositive identifies, defines or renames a noun or pronoun. This is the main difference between appositive and adjective clause.

Comparatives and Superlatives

Comparative adjectives

Commonly, adjectives that contain only one syllable or end in 'y' use 'er' to form comparatives and 'est' to form superlatives. For adjectives ending in y, change the 'y' to 'i' before adding the 'er' or 'est'. Adjectives with two or more syllables do not change but instead add more to form comparatives and most to form superlatives:

1. old – older – oldest
2. young – younger – youngest
3. pretty – prettier – prettiest
4. long – longer – longest
5. short – shorter – shortest
6. bright – brighter – brightest
7. close – closer – closest
8. happy – happier - happiest
9. respectable – more respectable – most respectable
10. beautiful – more beautiful – most beautiful
11. preferable – more preferable – most preferable
12. hardworking – more hardworking – most hardworking

We use comparative adjectives to describe people and things:

1. This car is certainly better but it’s much more expensive.
2. I’m feeling happier now.
3. We need a bigger garden

Comparative with than

We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:

1. She is two years older than me.
2. New York is much bigger than Boston.
3. He is a better player than Ronaldo.
4. France is a bigger country than Britain.

Comparative with as

We use as + adjective/adverb + as to make comparisons when the things we are comparing are equal in some way:

1. The world’s biggest bull is as big as a small elephant.
2. The weather this summer is as bad as last year. It hasn’t stopped raining for weeks.
3. You have to unwrap it as carefully as you can. It’s quite fragile.

Superlative

In the superlative you talk about one thing only and how it is the best, worst, etc. You do not compare two things:

1. My sister is the tallest in our family.
2. Yesterday was the coldest day of the year so far.
3. The richest people are not always the happiest.
4. Which do you think is the easiest language to learn?
5. She's the luckiest person I know.
6. The most boring thing about ESL class is doing grammar exercises.
7. My sister is the most careful person I know.
8. Albert Einstein was the most intelligent person in history.
9. You are the most irritating person I have ever met!

Countable and Uncountable nouns

A count noun is one that can be expressed in plural form, usually with an "s." For example, "cat—cats," "season—seasons," "student—students."

A noncount noun is one that usually cannot be expressed in a plural form. For example, "milk," "water," "air," "money," "food." Usually, you can't say, "He had many moneys."

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are adjectives and adjectival phrases that give approximate or specific answers to the questions "How much?" and "How many?"

Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

With Uncountable Nouns

• much
• a little/little/very little *
• a bit (of)
• a great deal of
• a large amount of
• a large quantity of

With Both

• all
• enough
• more/most
• less/least
• no/none
• not any
• some
• any
• a lot of
• lots of
• plenty of

With Countable Nouns

• many
• a few/few/very few **
• a number (of)
• several
• a large number of
• a great number of
• a majority of

Examples:

1. There are many people living in the many houses on that street
2. Because there was so little fire, people noticed little smoke.
3. He put lots of chocolate chips and lots of sugar into the cookie dough.
4. If you put a little bit more effort into this, I’m sure you can have a little bit more success.
5. They put plenty of thought into their plans, and were able to think of plenty of ideas.

Definite and Indefinite Articles

The definite article the is used to indicate a noun that is definite or has been previously specified in the context:

1. Please close the door.
2. I like the clothes you gave me.

The indefinite articles a and an are used before singular nouns that are unspecified and also before number collectives and some numbers:

1. a pencil
2. an orange
3. a dozen
4. a gallon