Top Tips Grammar: ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives

Main points

*Many adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ describe the effect that something has on someone’s feelings.
*Some adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ describe a process or state that continues over a period of time.
*Many adjectives ending in ‘-ed’ describe people’s feelings.

 

a) You use many ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe the effect that something has on your feelings, or on the feelings of people in general. For example, if you talk about a’a surprising nuber’, you mean that the number surprises you.

alarming	charming	embarrassing	surprising
amazing	confusing	exciting	terrifying
annoying	convincing	frightening	tiring
astonishing	depresing	interesting	worrying
boring	disappointing	shocking	welcoming

- He lives in a charming house just outside the town.
- She always has a warm welcoming smile.

Most ‘-ing’ adjectives have a related transitive verbs

 

b) You use some ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe something that continues over a period of time.

ageing	decreasing	existing	living
booming	dying	increasing	remaining

- Britain is an ageing society.
- Increasing prices are making food very expensive.

These adjectives have related intransitive verbs.

 

c) Many ‘-ed’ adjectives describe people’s feelings. They have the same form as the past participle of a transitive verb and have a passive meaning. For example, ‘a frightened person’ is a person who has been frightened by something.

alarmed	delighted	frightened	surprised
amused	depressed	interested	tired
astonished	disappointed	satisfied	worried
bored	excited	shocked

- She looks alarmed about something.
- A bored student complained to his teacher.
- She had big blue frightened eyes.

Note that the past participles of irregular verbs do not end in ‘-ed’, but can be used as adjectives.

- The bird had a broken wing.
- His coat was dirty and torn.

 

d) Like other adjectives, ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives can be:

*used in front of a noun

- They still show amazing loyalty to their parents.
- This is the most terrifying tale ever written.
- I was thanked by the satisfied customer.
- The worried authorities cancelled the match.

*used after link verbs

- It’s amazing what they can do.
- The present situation is terrifying.
- He felt satisfied with all the work he had done.
- My husband was worried.

*modified by adverbials such as ‘quite’, ‘really’, and ‘very’

- The film was quite boring.
- There is nothing very surprising in this.
- She was quite astonished at his behaviour.
- He was a very disappointed young man.

*used in the comparative and superlative

- His argument was more convincing than mine.
- He became even more depressed after she died.
- This is one of the most boring books I’ve ever read.
- She was the most interested in going to the cinema.

 

e) A small number of ‘-ed’ adjectives are normally only used after link verbs such as ‘be’, ‘become’, or ‘feel’. They are related to transitive verbs, and are often followed by a prepositional phrase, a ‘to’- infinitive clause, or a ‘that’- clause.

convinced	interested	prepared	tired
delighted	involved	scared	touched
finished	pleased	thrilled

- The Brazilians are pleased with the results.
- He was always prepared to account for his actions.
- She was scared that they would find her.

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
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See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Verbs with ‘-ing’ clauses

Main points

*Many verbs are followed by an ‘-ing’ clause.
*Some verbs are followed by an object and an ‘-ing’ clause that describes what the object is doing.

 

a) Many verbs are followed by an ‘-ing’ clause. The subject of the verb is also the subject of the ‘-ing’ clause. the ‘-ing’ clause begins with an ‘-ing’ form. The most common of these verbs are:

*verbs of saying and thinking

admit	deny	imagine	recall
consider	describe	mention	suggest

- He denied taking drugs.
- I suggested meeting her for a coffee.

Note that all of these verbs except for ‘describe’ can also be followed by ‘that’- clause.

- He denied that he was involved

*verbs of linking and disliking.

adore	dread	like	resent
detest	enjoy	love
dislike	fancy	mind

- Will they enjoy using it?
- I don’t mind telling you.

‘Like’ and ‘love’ can also be followed by a ‘to’- infinitive clause.

 

*other common verbs

avoid	finish	miss	resist
commence	involve	postpone	risk
delay	keep	practice	stop

- I’ve just finished reading that book.
- Avoid giving any unnecessary information.

*common phrasal verbs

burst out	end up	go round	put off
carry on	give up	keep on	set about

- She carried on reading.
- They kept on walking for a while.

Note that some common phrases van be followed by an ‘-ing’ clause.

can't help

can't stand

feel like

- I can’t help worrying.

 

b) After the verbs and phrases mentioned before, you can also use ‘being’ followed by a past participle.

- They enjoy being praised.
- I dislike being interrupted.

After some verbs of saying and thinking, you can use ‘having’ followed by a past participle.

admit

deny

mention

recall

- Michael denied having seen him.

 

c) ‘Come’ and ‘go’ are used with ‘-ing’ clauses to describe the way that  person or ting moves.

- They both came running out.
- It went sliding across the road out of control.

‘Go’ and ‘come’ are also used with ‘-ing’ nouns to talk about sports and outdoor activities.

- Did you say they might go camping?

 

d) Some verbs can be followed by an object and an ‘-ing’ clause. the object of the verb is the subject of the ‘-ing’ clause.

catch	imagine	prevent	watch
find	leave	stop

- It is hard to imagine him existing without it.
- He felt them making their calculations.

Note that ‘prevent’ and ‘stop’ are often used with ‘from’ in front of the ‘-ing’ clause.

- I wanted to prevent him from seeing that.

Most verbs of perception can be followed by an object and an ‘-ing’ clause or a base form.

- I saw him riding a bicycle.
- I saw a policeman walk over to one of them.

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Verbs with ‘to’ infinitive, -ing clauses

Main points

*Some verbs take a ‘to’- infinitive clause or an ‘-ing’ clause with little difference in meaning. Others take a ‘to’- infinitive or ‘-ing’ clause, but the meaning is different.

 

a) The following verbs can be following by a ‘to’- infinitive clause or an ‘-ing’ clause, with little difference in meaning.

attempt	continue	love	try
begin	fear	prefer
bother	hate	start

- It started raining.
- A very cold wind had started to blow.
- The captain didn’t bother answering.
- I didn’t bother to answer.

Note that if these verbs are used in a continuous tense, they are followed by a ‘to’- infinitive clause.

- The company is beginning to export to the West.
- We are continuing to make good progress.

After ‘begin’, ‘continue’, and ‘start’, you use a ‘to’- infinitive clause with the verbs ‘understand’, ‘know’, and realize’.

- I began to understand her a bit bitter.

 

b) You can often use ‘like’ with a ‘to’- infinitive clause with little difference in meaning.

- I like to fish.
- I like fishing.

However, there is sometimes a difference. You can use ‘like’ followed by a ‘to’- infinitive clause to say that you think something is a good idea, or the right thing to do.

You cannot use an ‘-ing’ clause with this meaning.

- They like to interview you first.
- I didn’t like to ask him.

 

c) After ‘remember’, ‘forget’, and ‘regret’, you use an ‘-ing’ clause if you are referring to an event after it has happened.

- I remember discussing it once before.
- I’ll never forget going out with my old aunt.
- She did not regret accepting his offer.

You use a ‘to’- infinitive clause after ‘remember’ and ‘forget’ if you are referring to an event before it happens.

- I must remember to send a gift for her child.
- Don’t forget to send in your entries.

After ‘regret’, in formal English, you use a ‘to’- infinitive clause with these verbs to say that you are sorry about what you are saying or doing now:

announce	learn	see
inform	say	tell

- I regret to say that it was all burned up.

 

d) If you ‘try to do’ something, you make an effort to do it. If you ‘try doing’ something, you do it as an experiment, for example to see if you like it or if it effective.

- I tried to explain.
- Have you tried painting it?

 

e) If you ‘go on doing’ something, you continue to do it. If you ‘go on to do’ something, you do it after you have finished doing something else.

- I went on writing.
- He later went on to form a computer company.

 

f) If you ‘are used to doing’ something, you are accustomed to doing it. If you ‘used to do’ something, you did it regularly in the past, but you no longer do it now.

- We are used to working together.
- I used to live in this street.

 

g) After ‘need’, you use a ‘to’- infinitive clause if the subject of ‘need’ is also the subject of the ‘to’- infinitive clause. You use an ‘-ing’ form if the subject of ‘need’ is the object of the ‘-ing’ clause.

- We need to ask certain question.
- It needs cutting.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.