Past simple or continuous?

FORM

Most verbs form the past simple by adding the suffix -ed to the infinitive or root. However, there is an important group of verbs that do no follow the rule, therefore they are irregular and we must learn them by heart. Here is a quite complete list of over 200 irregular verbs, and here is a list of irregular verbs with their tanslation in Spanish.

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In the following presentation you can see how the simple past of regular verbs is formed, as well as the negative and interrogative forms of both regular and irregular verbs:



The past continuous is formed with the verb to be in the past and the -ing form of the verb we want to use. Let's see the forms in this presentation:



USAGE

The past simple is used to express completed actions in the past: We met our friends in the park.
The past simple is also used for actions that happened one after the other in the past: He came in, took off his coat and sat down.
The past continuous is used to express an action that was in progress at a certain time in tha past: She was having breakfast at 8 o'clock.
The past continuous is used to express two actions that were happening at the same time: Mary was cooking dinner while John was washing the dishes.Note that we use while to connect the two simultaneous actions.
Sometimes a longer action, expressed in past continuous, is interrupted by a shorter action, expressed in the past simple: I was having a bath when somebody knocked on the door.
The past continuous is used in stories to set the background: It was a lovely night. The stars were shining and they were walking hand ind hand when suddenly he kissed her.

In the following song by The Krystals we can hear many verbs in the past simple and some in the past continuous:


EXERCISES
Finally let's do some exercises to practise what we have learnt:

• Several exercises with the simple past.
• Two exercises with the past continuous
• Past simple or continuous?

Word formation: adverbs

In most languages new words can be created by adding suffixes and /or prefixes. This is called morphological derivation and it can help create new words of the same or different categories. For example, if you add the suffix -ly to an adjective you get an adverb: quick --> quickly.

Cheetahs run very quickly
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Today we are going to have a look at the affixes (suffixes or prefixes) that create adverbs.

The most productive suffix for adverbs is -ly, but there are others: -wards, -wise and -ways. Besides, there are also adverbs starting with the prefix: a- :

-ly
-ly is added to adjectives to create adverbs. Most adverbs just take ly, but there are certain spelling rules:

• The -y ending after a consonant usually changes to i before the suffix: happy--> happily, easy-- easily. Exceptions are one-syllabled: shy--> shyly, sly-->slyly. Dry can have two spellings: dryly and drily.
• The adjectives true, due and whole drop the final e: truly, duly, wholly.
• Adjectives ending in -ple, -ble, -dle, -tle drop the silent e and take a y: simple--> simply, probable--> probably, idle--> idly, gentle--> gently.
• Adjectives ending in -ic add -al before -ly: fantastic--> fantastically. Exception: public--> publicly.
• Adjectives already ending in -ly such as lovely, friendly, silly, lively, jolly, heavenly, leisurely... do not take the -ly sufix. In fact, they do not change into adverbs, but an adverbial phrase is used instead: He greeted me in a friendly manner. He is behaving in a silly way.

Adverb Wordle
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Same form as adjectives

• Some adjectives are used as adverbs with no change of spelling: fast, straight, hard...: That´s a fast car (adjective). He drives very fast (adverb). It's hard work (adjective). He works hard (adverb).
• Some adjectives ending in -ly that are related to time are also used as adverbs: weekly, hourly, daily, monthly... remain unchanged: A daily newspaper (adjective) He comes here daily (adverb).
• A few adjectives ending in -ly remain the same as adverbs: deathly, only, bodily, masterly. He is an only child (adjective). I've seen him only once (adverb).

-wards or -ward

• This suffix can end in s or not. Generally, -wards is used in British English, while -ward is preferred in America. However, some of these words ending in this suffix can also act like adjectives, in which case, they always end in -ward: Let's go forward(s) (adverb). The forward movement of History (adjective). When forward is used in phrasal verbs, it never ends in s: I look forward to hearing from you. The meeting has been brought forward to this Friday.
• -wards is usually added to prepositions or nouns to give the idea of direction: upwards, downwards, forwards, backwards, inwards, onwards, outwards, eastwards,southwards, seawards... The back garden faces seawards so you can always have a pleasant view. 

Onwards and upwards by Eugene Summerfield
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-wise

• The suffix -wise is usually added to nouns to form adverbs and adjectives. It gives the meaning of "in the manner of" or "in the direction of": clockwise, anticlockwise = counterclockwise, likewise, lengthwise, crabwise, contrariwise, otherwise,... It can also mean "concerning": Things aren't too good businesswise (i.e. concerning the business)

-ways

• This suffix also means "in the direction of": edgeways, sideways, lengthways, breadthways...  Do not confuse it with the compounds of the noun way (meaning "road"), such as carriageway, causeway, highway, railway... When in doubt, bear in mind that such compounds can be used in the singular as well as the plural, whereas the adverbs always end in s.

a-

• We shouldn't confuse this prefix with the prefix a- of Greek origin that means "not", as in apolitical, amoral, asexual.... In this case, the prefix a- which forms adverbs comes from Old or Middle English and is no longer productive, so no more words are being created with it. Usually added to addjectives or nouns, it gives the meaning of location: "on", "in"; afoot, abed, abroad, along, aloud, around, ahead... Sometimes it means "of": anew, akin. 

Compound adverbs
There are quite a few adverbs that are formed by combining here, there and where with various prepositions, all of which are old-fashioned and mainly used in formal language. Here are some of them:

• Here- compounds: hereabout, hereafter, hereby, herein, hreof, hereto, herewith, etc.
• There- compounds: thereabout, thereafter, thereby, therefrom, therein, thereupon, therefore, etc. The latter is the only one of these which is still widely used.
• Where- compounds: whereat, whereby, wherefore, whereof, whereon, whereupon, wherewith, etc.

Exercises:

• Which adverbs correspond to these words?
• Complete the sentences with the correct adverb
• Find the adverb in each sentence
• Compound adverbs

For more information on adverbs and their position in the sentence, visit Lola Dominguez's blog.

The logical song by Supertramp is full of adjectives, but among them are a few adverbs. Can you spot them?

I wish / If only

We use wish and if only to express how we would like things to be different if we had the power to change them. They both have the same meaning, but if only is more emphatic.
They can be followed by another clause using the following tenses:

• Past simple. It's used to express things you would like to be different in the present, but which you deem impossible or unlikely: I wish I were taller. As in conditional sentences, we use the subjunctive (were) for all the grammatical persons. However, was is also possible in a less formal context: I wish he was my friend.

I wish I were taller
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• Past perfect. It's used to express regret or criticism about things that happened or didn't happen in the past. I wish I had studied harder for the exam. (Now it's too late. I can only regret I didn't study more). I wish you had told me the truth.

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• Would + infinitive. It's used to:
•  Complain about things that you find annoying. I wish you would stop making so much noise. If only this wind would stop. In these sentences, the subject of the subordinate clause must be different from that of the main clause. 
•  Express wishes for the future when we think the action will probably not happen  (could can be used instead of would) I wish I could go on holday with you, (but I know I can't). If there is a stronger possibility that the action will happen, we use hope: I hope I can go on holiday with you. (I don't know if I can or not). 

          We can find another example of wish + would in this song by Phil Collins:

There are many songs in which you can find examples of  wish or if only. Here are a few:

• I wish I were blind, by Bruce Springsteen.
• I wish you were here, by Pink Floyd
• I wish you would, by Taylor Swift. (It's a cover)
• If only you knew, by Patty Labelle

Finally, let's do some exercises to see how much we have learnt:

• Choose the correct answer
• Rewrite the sentences
• Put the verbs in brackets in the right tense
• Drag the answers 

          

The verbs of the senses

A typical mistake my students make:
*You look well.
*I feel well.
The use of "well" in these sentences is incorrect because look and feel, as verbs of the senses, should be followed by adjectives, not by adverbs. Instead, the sentences should be: You look good / I feel fine. Let's see how these verbs work.

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We have five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. (Some people talk about a sixth sense, which is in fact extrasensory perception). But today we are going to deal with the verbs of the senses. Here are the most important:

sense	verb
sight	see, look
hearing	hear, listen, sound
taste	taste
touch	feel
smell	smell

Are these verbs followed by adjectives or by adverbs?
Some of these verbs can be used either as action verbs or stative verbs. In the former case, they are followed by adverbs, but in the latter case, they are followed by adjectives, because we are describing the subject rather than the action of the verb. Compare these sentences:
- She looked at him angrily.
- She looked angry.
In the first sentence, look is an action verb, so, it is complemented by an adverb: "angrily" describes the way that she looked at him. However, in the second sentence look is a stative (or state) verb meaning "seem" or "appear", and the adjective "angry" does not refer to the verb but to the subject. It is similar to saying that "she is angry". As you can see, the second sentence does not describe an action but a state. Going back to the sentences at the beginning, do the verbs show action or state? That's right! There's no action implied, so, they must be followed by adjectives.
In this page you can see many examples of state vs. action verbs.

She looks angry
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Can they be put in continuous (progressive) tenses?
Sense verbs can involve involuntary perception like hear or see, or voluntary perception, like look or listen.
Involuntary perception verbs cannot be put in continuous tenses: *I'm seeing the ocean from my window. Instead, we use can or could with them: I can see the ocean from my window.
On the other hand, voluntary perception verbs can be used in continuous tenses: What are you listening to?
However, see and hear can also be action verbs and can have different meanings to that of perception, in which case they can be put in continuous tenses: see can mean "meet someone": I'm seeing Mary for lunch. Hear can also mean "to listen to and judge a case in court": The judge will be hearing the evidence today.
Feel, taste and smell do not have different forms for voluntary or involuntary perception, so, they can only be put in continuous tenses when they are voluntary:
- What are you smelling?
- The cook is tasting the soup.
- I'm feeling the material to see if it is soft enough.
Whereas for involuntary actions, they can never be used in continuous tenses:
- This smells awful.
- My mum's food tastes delicious.
- This blanket feels so soft!

The cook is tasting the soup
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The verbs of the senses can be used with like, as if and as though.
She looks like her mum. (noun)
She looks as if / as though she is tired. (clause)
To see the difference and more examples have a look at this entry.
In the following video you can hear the great James Brown giving us some examples of feel followed by adjectives (I feel good / I feel nice) and also by like + noun  (I feel like sugar and spice)



See and hear can be followed by verbs in gerund or infinitive with a slight change in meaning, as we saw in this blogpost.

Finally, let's check what we have learnt by doing this exercise.

In, on or at the corner?

According to the dictionary, a corner is "a point where two converging lines meet, forming an angle, either external or internal". (In Spanish we have two words for this: the internal angle is called rincón, whereas the external one is esquina).

Which preposition goes with corner: in, on or at? The answer is the three o them can precede this word. However, the three expressions have different meanings:

• When corner means an interior angle formed by two meeting walls, we use the preposition in. A piano was in the corner of the room. 

Hover your cursor over the Image

In the corner

• On the corner means "occupying the surface". For example, the shop in the picture is on the corner of the street. You can also say that a person is standing on the corner because they are occupying a space.

Image by Jackie Bird 
On the corner

• At the corner means near or adjacent to a corner.  For example, you can say "Let's meet at the corner of my street". But you can also say that the shop is at the corner of High Street and Station Road, that is, when you give the name of the two streets that intersect each other, at is used instead of on because you don't refer to the surface but the point of intersection.

Here's a tip that can help you remember this: in is used with the idea of being inside a volume; on when there is an idea of surface, and at when we just mean a point or being near something.

Another preposition that can be used with corner is around.  He went around the corner, which literally means that he turned around the corner. However, this can  also have an idiomatic meaning (see below).

Other expressions with corner:

• Out of the corner of the eye: you see something but not clearly, because you see it sideways rather than directly. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye.
• Blind corner: a street corner that you cannot see around as you are driving. Never overtake on a blind corner!
• Corner shop: small local store. I'll pop in the corner shop to get some milk.
• Just / right around the corner: very near either in space or in time: Exams are just around the corner. My boyfriend lives just around the corner.
• The four corners of the earth /world: many different parts of the world. People from the four corners of the world gathered for the event.
• A tight corner: a dangerous or awkward position from which escape is difficult: His lying got him into a tight corner.

Spring is just around the corner!
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How about an exercise to see how much you can remember?

Corner

In the following song by "The Script", a man is waiting for his lover on the corner of a street. He says he's not moving, he's going to stand his ground until she realizes that she is missing him and so goes to the corner where they first met. Isn't it romantic? 

Reporting verbs

Apart from say and tell, there are other verbs that can introduce sentences in reported speech, as we saw in another blog entry. These reporting verbs are more specific: they tell us more about the intention of the speaker. Let's see an example:
Bart said: "I won't do it again, dad".
This sentence can be reported as:
1. Bart told his dad that he wouldn't do it again.
2. Bart promised his dad not to do it again.
Both reported speech sentences are correct, but the second one is better because the verb "promise" tells us a lot about the intention of the speaker, whereas "tell" is more neutral.

Bart promised his dad not to do it again.

There are many reporting verbs, which are difficult to master even for native speakers, but when used, they undoubtedly give a greater quality to their writing.
In order to make them easier to learn for foreign speakers of English, we are going to classify them in five different groups according to the structure or pattern they follow. Bear in mind that some of them can be found in two or even three groups:

Verb + to-infinitive
"I'll bring some refreshments", she said.
She offered to bring some refreshments.
These are some of the verbs that have this pattern

agree	decide	offer
promise	refuse	threaten
claim	swear	demand

Verb + object + to-infinitive
"Please, stay!", she said.
She begged me to stay. Note that there is no need to repeat the word "please", because its meaning is given by the reporting verb "beg".
Some verbs that follow this pattern are:

advise	ask	convince
encourage	invite	beg
forbid	instruct	order
request	remind	urge
persuade	warn

Verb + V-ing / noun
"I didn't steal the money", he said
He denied stealing the money.
Some verbs that require a gerund are:

admit	confess	acknowledge
advise	deny	recommend
regret	suggest

Verb + Preposition + V-ing / noun
Prepositions are always followed by nouns or gerunds, so it's easy to remember that these verbs with prepositions will be followed by the -ing form. Note that you can have an object either between verb and preposition or right after the preposition.
"Yes, you stole the money" she said.
She accused him of stealing the money.
"I'm sorry I'm late!", she said.
She apologised for being late.

Verb + Prep. + V-ing	Verb + Object + Prep. + V-ing
apologise for	accuse s.o. of
insist on	blame s.o. for
confess to	congratulate s.o. on
complain about	forgive s.o. for
	warn s.o. against / about
	disuade s.o. from

Verb + that + Subject + Verb
This structure is more formal, so it is more commonly used in written English. The verb in the subordinate clause is in the subjunctive, but in British English it is more usual to use should and the infinitive instead of the subjunctive. Examples:
"Let's go shopping", he said.
He suggested that they go shopping.
He suggested that they should go shopping
He suggested going shopping. (This is less formal, as we have already seen, but much more common.)
These are some of the reporting verbs followed by a subordinate clause:

agree	ask	claim
demand	decide	guarantee
promise	propose	recommend
request	swear	suggest

One example of one of the above patterns can be found in the following song by KWS, in which we can hear the expression "I'm begging you to stay", which is another way of saying "Please, don't go". Enjoy!

Exercises:

Choose the correct reporting verb 1

Choose the correct reporting verb 2

Choose the correct reporting verb 3

As, like, as if, as though

Let's compare these two sentences:
Helen works as a teacher in a local school.
Helen works like a dog all day.
The first sentence tells us that Mary is a teacher. The second one compares her to a dog, but she is not a dog! So, we use as to say what the job, function or role of a person is, whereas like is used for comparison.

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As can also be used for comparison, but it must be followed by:

• A clause (Subject+Verb): She makes the cakes as her mother used to make them.
• A prepositional phrase: In London, as in New York, there is too much traffic.

Like is used for comparison but it's always followed by a noun or noun phrase, not by a clause. However, in colloquial English you can hear it in cases in which as should be used. Although not considered correct, it seems that this trend is getting more and more common these days, and might become the rule in the future. Who knows?
This usage of like is very common in songs, which use colloquial expressions and even slang. This song by RIO titled "Like I love you" is a good example.

As must be used after the expressions the same and such:
When I arrived at the party, another woman was wearing the same dress as me!
We can do many things to help the environment, such as recycling, saving energy and using public transport.

As is also used in expressions such as as expected, as requested, as you know, as we agreed, as suggested,... Again, like can be heard in some of these expressions, but bear in mind that it's colloquial English.
Finally, as is used in the comparative of equality, as we saw in a previous blog post. Let's remember some of the idioms we saw in this presentation:


With the verbs of the senses (look, feel, taste, smell and sound) we can use like and as if or as though. (The last two are the same). You only have to take into account that like is followed by a noun or noun phrase and as if, as though are followed by a clause.

• Your brother looks like a rugby player. (noun phrase)
• You look as if you haven't slept for ages! (clause: Subject + Verb)
• You are so pale! You look as though you had seen a ghost! (clause: Subject + Verb).

When the verb in the clause is in the past, the comparison is unreal or improbable. In the last example above, it's clear that the person has not seen a ghost, it's just a comparison. However, in the second sentence (with a present tense verb) there's a strong probability that the person has not slept for a very long time. 

Please, note that the verbs of the senses can also be followed directly by an adjective:

These shoes feel comfortable.

What are you cooking? It smells delicious!

You look tired.
It sounds familiar to me.

It smells delicious!
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And now, some exercises:
As or like?
As, like or as if / as though?

Gerund or infinitive?

When a verb is complemented by another verb, the second one can be:

•  a gerund (as we saw in a previous post): I enjoy listening to classical music.
•  a to-infinitive: He wants to stay, but I want him to go.
•  a bare infinitive (that is, without to): Let me go. 

In order to know which verbs are followed by a gerund or an infinitive (with or without to) you have to learn the lists of verbs by heart. However, there is something that can be of help: most verbs are followed by the to-infinitive, so if you learn the verbs followed by the gerund and those followed by the infinitive without to (which are just a few), you can be pretty sure that the rest of the verbs will be followed by a to-infinitive.

Gerund or infinitive? That is the question!

To make matters more complicated, there is a small group of verbs that can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive. Some of them show a change of meaning when taking one or the other, while others don't change their meanings at all. Let's see them:

Same meaning: attempt, can't bear, begin, continue, intend, propose, start. Examples: We start working at 8 in the morning. We start to work at 8 in the morning.

Love, hate and prefer are followed by the to-infinitive or the gerund without much difference in meaning. However, the infinitive is preferably used when we refer to one particular occasion. When would precedes these verbs, the to-infinitive is always used: I'd love to go, but unfortunately I can't.

Love and hate
Image by Alex Hillman

Same meaning but different use:

• Allow, advise, forbid and permit are followed by a gerund when there is no personal object. Otherwise, they are followed by a to-infinitive: I advised seeing a doctor. I advised him to see a doctor.

Different meaning:

• With remember and forget, the gerund refers to things that happened earlier, whereas the infinitive refers to what must be done: I remember posting the letter (that is, "I can remember that I have posted the letter") Please, remember to post the letter (that is, "you have to post the letter") 
• Stop + gerund means "to stop the activity you are doing" or "to break a habit": She stopped eating chocolate last year. Stop + to-infinitive  means "to make a pause in order to do something else": She stopped to eat some chocolate. (meaning that she stopped what she was doing in order to do something else).
• Regret + gerund means "to be sorry for what has happened": I regret telling her my secret. Regret + to-infinitive means "to be sorry for what is going to be said": I regret to tell you that we have offered the job to somebody else.
• Like + gerund means "to enjoy". I like reading adventure books. Like + to-infinitive means "to have a preference for" I like to know the facts before forming an opinion, or even "want" I didn't like to say no. Please, note that the infinitive must be used after would like: I'd like to tell you that...
• Try + gerund means "to make an experiment": I tried using the new method, but it didn't work. Try + to-infinitive means "to make an effort": He tried to pass his university entry exam.
• Go on + gerund means "to continue with the same action": Mary went on reading the letter. Go on + to-infinitive means "to start something new". He first talked about the problem, then went on to discuss the solution".
• See, watch and hear followed by the gerund imply that we observe part of the action, but when they are followed by the bare infinitive they suggest that the action is observed completely, from beginning to end: When I looked out of the window I saw him crossing the street. I saw him get out of the car, cross the street and go into the supermarket. Notice that in the second example we mean that the actions that are seen are complete.

I saw the Simpsons crossing the street.
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Now you can try to do this exercise:


Fancy another exercise? Try this one.

Still not tired? You can practise with this gap-fill exercise. Yet more?

Predicative adjectives

Most adjectives can have two positions in the sentence:

• Before the noun they qualify: a pretty woman. In this case the adjective is in attributive position.
• After a few verbs called linking verbs (be, seem, look, become...): Julia is pretty. In this case, the adjective is in predicative position.

Pretty Woman
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However, there are a few adjectives that can only happen in one of these positions. Today, we are going to see those adjectives that can only be predicative.

Predicative adjectives

Most of the adjectives only used in predicative position begin with the prefix a-.

(This prefix comes from the Old English "an", meaning on, which helped form adjectives and adverbs from nouns, or the prefix ge- that used to go before participles. It doesn't have anything to do with the negative prefix a-, which comes from Latin and Greek, and is thus used in words coming from these languages).

Some examples are: ablaze, afraid, aghast, ajar, alive, alike, alone, ashamed, asleep, awake, aware...

You can say He is alive, but *An alive man is not possible. However, most of these adjectives have an equivalent attributive adjective. Let's see a few:

Predicative	Attributive
afraid	frightened
aghast	terrified
ajar	slightly open / half-open
agog	eager
alight	lighted
alike	similar
alive	live / living
alone	lone /lonely /solitary
ashamed	embarrassed
asleep	sleeping
awake	waking

So, you can say: The boy is afraid,  or a frightened boy. But *An afraid boy, is not possible.

Apart from these adjectives beginning with a-, there are other predicative adjectives:

• Poorly (attributive: ailing) Mary is very poorly today.
• Well (attributive: healthy) She was well yesterday. 
• Ill (attributive: sick) when it means "unhealthy": He is ill, he is a sick man. However, ill can also be attributive when it means "bad", instead of "unhealthy": Ill fame, ill luck, or in the expression It's an ill wind that blows nobody good.
• Sorry is predicative when used for apologies: I am sorry, but when used attributively, it means "sad" or "unhappy": a sorry sight.

I'm sorry!
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Very is not used with some predicative adjectives. So, we say wide awake, fast asleep...

In the following exercise we can practise the use of predicative adjectives.

Compound adjectives

English is a very creative language in the sense that new words are invented every day, and one easy way to create a new term is to make compound nouns or adjectives. Thus, an animal with cold blood is a cold-blooded animal. Cold-blooded is a compound adjective made up of an adjective and a noun, to which the suffix-ed has been added. This word ending in -ed may look like a participle but in fact it is not, because in order to be a participle, the root has to be a verb, not a noun.
A few more examples:
A man with dark hair and blue eyes is a dark-haired, blue-eyed man.
A person with long legs is a long-legged person.
As you can see, all these examples are formed by adding -ed to an adjective-noun combination. But this is by no means the only one possible. Keep reading to find others.

Frogs are cold-blooded animals
Image by Drriss

A compound adjective is a combination of two or more words that works as an adjective. These words can be adjectives, nouns, adverbs or participles, and they can be hyphenated or not. A hyphen is a punctuation mark in the form of a short line (-) that is put between two words to join them.

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These compounds can be written as one word (waterproof), two separate words (brick red) or they can be hyphenated (snow-white). The compounds that are used more often tend to appear in one word. Those that combine occasionally but keep their individual meaning tend to use a hyphen. And those that come in two words keep their independent identity. But British and American English don't always use the hyphens in the same word combinations, so, when in doubt, check a good dictionary!

Sometimes, more than two words can be found forming a compound (up-to-date, state-of-the-art,..) These expressions are only found hyphenated when they precede the noun they qualify, but not when they follow linking verbs. Examples:
If you are a fashion lover, read these tips to stay up to date.
I like to follow the latest up-to-date trends.
His house is state of the art. It is full of the latest gadgets.
I love state-of-the-art technology.

State-of-the-art technology
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Let's have a look at the different combinations that we can find:
Noun + adjective
Trustworthy, blameworthy, duty-free, tax-free, seasick, watertight, waterproof, colour-blind, worldwide, knee-deep, self-conscious, and other compounds that are equivalent to the construction "as...as..." : brick red (as red as brick), stone-cold (as cold as a stone), paper-thin (as thin as paper)
Adjective+adjective

• A combination of two qualities: bitter-sweet, deaf-mute.
• A combination in which the first element takes the suffix -o: socio-economic, Anglo-Saxon, Franco-German, Anglo-American. In this case, all the combinations are hyphenated.
• A combination in which the first adjective qualifies the second adjective: dark-blue, red-hot, Roman-Catholic.

Adverb+adjective
Evergreen, oversensitive, all-American
Noun+present participle
Self-defeating, self-denying, heart-breaking, breath-taking, law-abiding, 
Noun+past participle
Self-taught, hand-made, thunderstruck, home-brewed, heart-felt, brightly-lit, open-minded, well-behaved
Adjective or adverb+present participle
Forthcoming, everlasting, neverending, easygoing, good-looking
Adjective or adverb+past participle
Far-fetched, well-meant, widespread, new-laid, long-awaited
Number+ noun
Second-hand, first-rate. Notice that adjectives using numbers, like any other adjectives, are not found in the plural. Thus, a boy who is twelve years old is a twelve-year-old boy, or a tree which measures three metres is a three-metre-tall tree. These expressions with numbers are always hyphenated.
Adjective+ noun
Apart from the common formation that we have seen at the beginning of this post, in which the noun takes the suffix -ed, there are other possibilities such as last-minute, deep-sea, ...
Noun+noun
Part-time
Verb+adjective or adverb
Feel-good, buy-now, pay-later

And remember that new combinations are always possible. You can create your own adjective!

Let's watch this video about two beautiful brown-eyed girls. Notice that the song by Van Morrison is called "Brown Eyed girl". Why doesn't it have a hyphen? Because you don't need it in titles! Enjoy!

Exercises:
Choose the correct  adjective from the ones given
Complete the sentences with a compound adjective
Choose the appropriate compound adjective
For advanced students
Match the compound adjectives with their definitions

The gerund

The gerund is a nonfinite verb form that is made by adding the suffix -ing to the root of the verb. The spelling rules are the usual when a suffix is added:

• Most verbs just add -ing: learn=> learning
• Verbs ending in silent -e, drop it and then add the suffix: live=> living
• When the last three letters of a verb are consonant-vowel-consonant and the vowel carries the stress of the word (which always happens in monosyllables), we need to double the last consonant: get=> getting, prefer=> preferring.
• Verbs ending in -ie drop both letters and add -ying: die=> dying

Although it's a verbal form, the gerund works like a noun, so it can do all the functions that nouns do. In the sentence, the gerund can work as:

• Subject: Smoking is bad for your health.
• Object of a preposition: when a verb is placed after a preposition, the gerund form must be used. Paul is interested in collecting stamps.

Stamp collecting by KLMircea

• Noun modifier. They can modify other nouns, thus forming compound nouns: I've bought new running shoes. 
• Complement of certain expressions such as  it's no use, it's (not) worth, there's no point in, it's a waste of money/time, to be used to, to get used to. (For the last two expressions see a previous post) Examples: There was no point in waiting, so we left. It's a waste of time watching that film. That car isn't worth repairing. It's no use repairing that car.

It's not worth repairing that car.
Image by Dr. Keats

• Complement of certain verbs: when one verb is followed by another, the second verb can be an infinitive or a gerund, and that choice depends on the first verb. In this entry, we are going to see a list of the most common verbs followed by the gerund, leaving the ones followed by the infinitive for a future entry. Let's see an example: He suggested going out for dinner. Notice that *He suggested to go out for dinner is not possible. Here is the list of the most common verbs always followed y the gerund:

admit	endure	can't help	put off
appreciate	enjoy	imagine	resent
avoid	escape	involve	resist
consider	excuse	leave off	risk
contemplate	fancy	mention	can't stand
delay	feel like	mind	suggest
deny	finish	miss	understand
detest	forgive	postpone
dislike	give up	practise

After the verbs need, require, want, and deserve, the gerund is used with a passive meaning: Your work needs correcting  (to be corrected). My shoes want mending (to be mended).

After certain verbs it's also possible to find a possessive adjective followed by the gerund, in which case the possessive is like the subject of the gerund. Compare:
My dad dislikes working late.
My dad dislikes my working late.
In the first sentence, both verbs refer to "my dad", but in the second sentence, the gerund refers to "me", not "my dad"; what he dislikes is that I work late, not him.
In informal English an object pronoun is used instead of the possessive adjective. So, the example above could be My dad dislikes me working late in a more colloquial style.
A noun in the possessive case, or just a noun in an informal style, is also possible in between verb and gerund: I don't mind Mary's coming with us, or I don't mind Mary coming with us.
This structure is quite similar to that of Verb+Object +Infinitive, in which the object of the verb acts as the subject of the infinitive.

Running out of ideas
Image

Note that not all verbs ending in -ing are gerunds. They can also be present participles, which are more related to adjectives than to nouns. If you want to know more about adjectives ending in -ing and their -ed counterparts, have a look at this blog entry.

Now is the time for you to check what you have learnt by doing these exercises:

• Complete the sentences with the gerund.
• Complete the sentences with the gerund (2).
• Gerund after prepositions.
• Correct the sentences.

Used to, would and be used to

It's important not to get confused with these three expressions:
Used to + infinitive
Used to is a modal verb that shows a habit in the past. It shares some characteristics with other modal verbs:

• It does not have an infinitive form and, instead of being preceded by to, it is followed by it.
• It has only one form for all the persons: I used to smoke / He used to smoke.
• It cannot be used in all tenses: *I use to smoke (not possible). Used to is always in the past. In order to express a habit in the present, the present simple tense is used together with adverbs of frequency (usually or generally): He usually smokes twenty cigarettes a day.
• It is always followed by another verb: We used to study hard when we were at university.
• It doesn't need an auxiliary verb for questions and negative sentences. Used he to smoke? He used not to smoke, but now he does. However, that form is considered very formal and it is more common to use the auxiliary did in these cases: Did he use to smoke? He didn't use to smoke, but now he does. Please, notice that after the auxiliary verb did, it drops the final d.

He used to smoke
Image: Homer's first smoke, by Kevron

The verb used to followed by a verb in the infinitive can express:

• A habit in the past.  I used to smoke, but now I don't smoke at all.
• A repeated past action. In this case, would can also be used: When I was a child, my mum used to / would tell me fairy tales every night before going to bed.
• A state which no longer exists: I used to have a motorbike, but I sold it.

Be used to + gerund / noun

It means that something is familiar and you are accustomed to it. It can be used in all tenses, as the main verb is to be and used is an adjective not a verb. Please, notice that this structure is followed by a noun: I am used to the traffic because I live in a big city. or a gerund (-ing): He has lived in Britain for a long time, so he is used to driving on the left.

Get / become used to + gerund / noun
It expresses the process of something becoming familiar to us. It can also be used in all tenses for the same reason. You will get used to cooking in your microwave soon. I have become used to doing all my work on the computer.

Driving on the left
Image

In these three structures, used to is pronounced [juːst to] and shouldn't be confused with the verb use [juːz], meaning "employ", "utilize", or its participle used [juːzd].
These exercises will help you check what you have learnt:

Need more exercises?:
Complete the sentences.
Mix and match
Used to or would

Now you can watch this video of a song titled "Somebody that I used to know" by Gotye.

English verb tenses

One of the things language students fear most is learning the verbal forms, as they can be really complex. Just have a look at the conjugation of verbs in French and Spanish: there are so many different moods, tenses... and you also have to learn the different endings of the persons! That can be complicated and time-consuming! However, English verbs are so simple to learn compared with the verbal forms in those languages that I always tell my students they are lucky to be learning English and not Spanish.

Studying
Image by Paalia

In English there are three verbal moods or modes: indicative, subjunctive and imperative. The most widely used is the indicative, as the subjunctive has almost disappeared from the language and is only used in certain types of sentences like the conditionals; and the imperative has only one form, which is the same as the infinitive.
So, today, we are only going to deal with the indicative mood in the active voice, and we will just see the form and not the uses of the tenses, which have been dealt with in previous posts.

Apart from the tenses, there are other verbal forms that do not change:

• the present participle or gerund, also called “the -ing form”. (working)
• the past participle, which ends in -ed for regular verbs (worked), while for the irregular verbs, it’s the third column (break, broke, broken)

Both these forms help us construct the tenses as we are going to see right now.

All the tenses express either the present, the past or the future and they all follow the same pattern, so it’s really easy to learn them:

• Simple
• Continuous
• Perfect:
• simple
• continuous

Image

The simple tenses use the infinitive or root of the verb:

• In the present they do not add any suffixes to the root, except for the -s in the third person.
• In the past they add the suffix -ed to the root (only in regular verbs, of course).
• In the future they go with the verb will and do not add any suffixes.

The continuous tenses need the auxiliary verb to be:

• In the present the verb to be is in the present: am / is / are.
• In the past the verb to be is in the past: was / were.
• In the future the verb to be follows the auxiliary will.

The perfect tenses need the auxiliary have:

• In the present, have is in the present: have / has.
• In the past have is in the past: had.
• In the future, have follows the auxiliary verb will.

Notice that the perfect tenses can either be simple or continuous. In the latter case, apart from the auxiliary have, they also need the verb to be. Besides, the auxiliary have is always followed by a past participle, while the auxiliary to be is always followed by the -ing form.

Let’s have a look at this table to see the conjugation of the verb to work. Please, note that I have left out the pronouns when there is no difference in inflexion.

	PRESENT	PAST	FUTURE
SIMPLE	I work /he works	worked	will work
CONTINUOUS	I am /you are /he is working	I was /you were working	will be working
PERFECT SIMPLE	I have / he has worked	had worked	will have worked
PERFECT CONT.	I have / he has been working	had been working	will have been working

Now, do you agree with me that learning the English tenses is as easy as ABC?
If you want to check that you can remember the names of the tenses, do this exercise: