Verbs: Participles

 

A Participle is a form of a verb that can function as part of a verb phase, or independently as an adjective or an adverb.

• working man (adjective)
• broken heart (verb)
• asking me (adverb)

 

    1. Present Participles are forms of verbs that express a non-completed or continuing action. They are used with auxiliary verbs ‘be’ and ‘have’ to make continuous tenses, such as Present Continuous, Present Perfect Continuous, etc.

• It is raining all day long.
• The choir was singing beautiful chants.
• Cindy and Shaun have been spending their vacation at the sea.

 

Note: When -ing forms are used as verbs, adjectives or adverbs, they are called Present Participles. They can refer to present, past or future. When -ing forms are used like nouns, they are called gerunds.

 

To form the Present Participle we add ‘-ing’ to the base form of the verb:

• to play → playing
• to hide → hiding
• to swim → swimming

 

Note: Spelling of some verb base forms changes a bit when adding ‘-ing’. For spelling rules, see Present Continuous: statements in the Pre-intermediate course.

 

2. Past Participles are forms of verbs that express a completed action. They are used with auxiliary verb ‘have’ to form perfect tenses such as Present Perfect, Past Perfect, etc., and Passive voice.

• I have passed the exam and I am very happy.
• Jane had planned to take the kids to the beach, but the weather changed.
• We have finished our work for today.

 

In most cases (for regular verbs), to form the Past Participle we add ‘-ed’ to the base form of the verb:

• to listen → listened
• to like → liked
• to drop → dropped

 

Note: spelling of some verb base forms changes a bit when adding ‘-ed’. For spelling rules, see Past Simple: statements in the Beginner course.

 

Some common verbs in English have irregular Past Participle forms:

• I don’t feel (base form) quite well today.
• I haven’t felt (past participle form) very well for over a week now.
• Helen has gone to Madrid. She will be back next Sunday.
• Mary has done her homework perfectly, her mam’s glad.
• The police have found the suspect within three hours.

 

Note: for the list of Past Simple and Past Participle forms of irregular verbs see Verbs: irregular in the Pre-Intermediate course.

 

Verb patterns: Used to / Be used to / Get used to / Would

Verb patterns are one or two verbs followed by preposition. Some verb patterns may look similar but have very different meanings.

 

Consider the following examples:

• I used to drive on the left when I lived in the UK.
• I would drive to my mother’s house when I lived closer to her.
• When I came to the UK, I had to get used to driving on the left.
• I am used to driving on the left since I’ve lived in the UK for a long time.

 

Used to + infinitive

 

We use ‘used to + infinitive’ to talk about things that happened often in the past, but no longer happen.

This pattern can also be used for things that were true in the past, but are not true anymore:

• I used to play football a lot, but I don’t play much now.
• Ben used to drink a lot of beer when he was student. These days he doesn’t drink at all.
• This building used to be a shoe factory, but now it is a museum.

 

Would

 

We also use ‘would’ for things that were true in the past, but are not true anymore. It usually denotes habitual actions in the past but not past states:

• When I was a child, I would watch TV every Saturday morning.
• Every weekend I would go on a long bike ride.

Note: For many situations, both ‘used to’ and ‘would’ can be used. However, for past states, only ‘used to’ can be used. We used to live in London when I was a child. ‘Would’ is not used with stative verbs (have, be, live, love, smell, feel, know, etc.). She used to have a house in the country. NOT: She would have a house in the country.

 

Be used to + object

 

We use ‘be used to + object (gerund/noun/pronoun)’ to talk about something that has been done for a long time and is normal and familiar.

• Can I have some pepper, please? I’m used to more spicy food.
• Katrin was used to her classmates, so she missed them after moving to another town.
• Jack is used to working alone; he never asks for any help.
• My dogs are used to playing with other pets when outdoors.

 

Get used to + object

 

We use ‘get used to + object (gerund/noun/pronoun)’ to describe situations when we learn something new or adapt to new conditions:

• Tom got used to new weather conditions within a couple of days.
• It didn’t take much time for the students to get used to their new teacher.
• When I travel, I get used to sleeping in a plane quite easily.
• He got used to hearing the noise from the street.

 

Verb patterns: ‘Verb+Gerund’ vs ‘Verb+Infinitive’

 

Using gerunds and infinitives with other verbs in English is a tricky thing, because some verbs are followed only by infinitives and other verbs — only by gerunds, while certain verbs may be followed by either one.

 

Furthermore, use of infinitive or gerund after a certain verb may totally change the meaning of a sentence.

 

— Some verbs can be followed only by a ‘to’-infinitive:

agree, afford, appear, choose, decide, expect, fail, hope, learn, manage, promise, refuse, seem, wait, want

• We agreed to go to the cinema together with Ann.
• Steffany decided to take a taxi, because it was late.
• I promise to follow your piece of advice.
• Last year Jack learned to play table tennis.
• She feels offended and she doesn’t want to see him.

 

— Some verbs can be followed only by a gerund:

admit, advise, avoid, consider, deny, discuss, dislike, enjoy, fancy, finish, imagine, keep (on), mind, practice, postpone, risk, recommend, stop, suggest

• I enjoy drinking my coffee in the morning.
• Yesterday we discussed going to Italy on vacation.
• Your drawings are quite good, keep on practicing.
• Peter tried to avoid answering his father’s questions.
• Have you ever considered crossing that beautiful lake on a raft? 

 

Note: Here are some tips to remember.   1. Gerunds are mostly used when actions are real, fixed, or completed. Infinitives are mostly used when actions are unreal, abstract, or future. I enjoy cooking. He wants to swim. 2. After a preposition, you almost always will find a gerund. She is afraid of flying. 3. When you are talking about an activity, you usually use a gerund. I quit smoking. Let’s go shopping.

 

— Some verbs (e.g. mind, imagine, can’t stand, dislike, involve, miss, put off and risk) can be used with a subject before the gerund. If the subject is a pronoun, it is in the object form (me, him, her, us, them):

• We just couldn’t imagine Robert making a speech.
• Do you mind me sitting here while you’re working?
• I don’t want to risk her losing her job.

 

— Some verbs can be followed either by the infinitive or the gerund without any change in meaning:

begin, bother, continue, hate, intend, like, love, prefer, start

• Suddenly it started raining. = Suddenly it started to rain.
• Michael intends buying a bicycle.  = Michael intends to buy a bicycle.
• The boy continued playing with his dog. = The boy continued to play with his dog.
• Margaret prefers meeting with her friends in a mall. = Margaret prefers to meet with her friends in a mall.

 

— ‘Hate‘, ‘like‘, ‘love‘ and ‘prefer‘ can be followed either by ‘-ing’ or a ‘to’-infinitive. The difference in meaning is often small. The ‘-ing‘ form emphasizes the verb itself. The ‘to‘-infinitive puts the emphasis more on the preference for or the result of the action.

 

Compare:

Gerund	Infinitive
I love cooking Italian food. (emphasis on the process itself and enjoyment of it)	I like to drink coffee in the morning, and tea in the evening. (emphasis more on the preference or habit)
She hates washing the dishes. (emphasis on the process and no enjoyment of it)	I hate to be the only person to attend. (emphasis on the result: I would prefer not to be in that situation)

 

Note: When ‘hate’, ‘like’, ‘love’ and ‘prefer’ are used with would or should, only the ‘to’-infinitive is used:

• He’d love to find some quiet place to live. NOT: He’d love finding some quiet place to live.
• Would you like to go to the party on Saturday?

 

— But some verbs can be followed either by the infinitive or the gerund with a certain change in meaning:

forget, regret, remember, stop, try, need, go on

 

Compare:

Gerund	Infinitive
Mike regrets saying what he said to his teacher. (he did that and now he’s sorry about it)	We regret to inform you that the train will be 2 hours late. (we are sorry that we have to say that)
I know Jane, I remember talking to her yesterday. (I talked to Jane and now I remember that fact)	Yesterday I met Jane and I remembered to talk to her. (I’d planned to talk to Jane, so I did not forget to do that when I met her)

 

— Some verbs connected with feeling, hearing and seeing can be used with gerund or with an infinitive without to:

feel, notice, see, hear, watch

 

When used with gerund, these verbs emphasize the action in progress. When they are used with an infinitive without to, they emphasize the action as a whole, or as completed.

 

Compare:

Gerund	Infinitive
She heard people shouting in the street. (emphasizes the continued or repeated action)	I heard someone shout ‘Help!’, so I ran outside. (emphasizes the whole event happened once)
I saw her crossing the street. (emphasizes the crossing as it was happening)	I saw Philip cross the street. (emphasizes the whole event from start to finish)

 

Verbs: formation with common prefixes and suffixes

 

We can make new words by adding prefixes and suffixes to words we already know.

 

Prefixes go at the beginning of words. We use prefixes to change the meaning of words, including verbs:

• Alex decided to rewrite his paper to get a better grade.
• Why did you undo all of the work I did on the website?  Now I have to redo it all.
• I think you should disconnect the printer and then reconnect it.  That might work.
• You have to preorder items so that you get them on time.

 

The most common verb prefixes and their meaning:

 

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
re-	again or back	restructure, revisit, reappear, rebuild, refinance
dis-	reverses the meaning of the verb	disappear, disallow, disarm, disconnect, discontinue
over-	too much	overbook, oversleep, overwork
un-	reverses the meaning of the verb	unbend, uncouple, unfasten
mis-	badly or wrongly	mislead, misinform, misidentify
out-	more or better than others	outperform, outbid
co-	together	co-exist, co-operate, co-own
de-	do the opposite of	devalue, deselect
fore-	earlier, before	foreclose, foresee
inter-	between	interact, intermix, interface
pre-	before	pre-expose, prejudge, pretest
sub-	under/below	subcontract, subdivide
trans-	across, over	transform, transcribe, transplant
under-	not enough	underfund, undersell, undervalue, underdevelop

 

Note: You may see verbs with prefixes written with a hyphen (-).  This happens when a verb is not commonly used with a prefix, such as: ‘re-submit’.  This will also depend on the type of English (American or British).

 

Suffixes go at the end of words. We use suffixes to change a word, like a noun or an adjective, to a different type of word, such as a verb.  

• The butter is very soft because of the heat. – The butter softens when it is hot.  

‘Soft’ is an adjective, and it changes to a verb when we add ‘-en’.

 

Another example is ‘-ise’, which turns nouns to verbs.

• I find it hard to sympathise with you because my life is so different.  
• We should try to synthesize all of this information so that it is easier to understand.

 

The most common verb suffixes and their meaning:

 

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-en	To become	Soften, darken, widen, weaken, strengthen
-ise/-ize	To make or become	Sympathise, empathise, synthesize
-ate	To become	Activate, collaborate, create
-ify, -fy	To make or become	Justify, magnify, amplify, satisfy

• Nowadays students need to learn how to collaborate on projects.
• You should use clear arguments to justify the opinions in your essay.  

 

Note: It is important to be able to identify the root word or base word. This will help you create new words, such as ‘justify – justice – justification – just – justly’. The root word is often the verb and then other words, like nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, are created with it, like ‘create – creative – creativity’.

 

Modal verbs: suggestions and advice

 

To give suggestions and advice we can use the modal verbs ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘ought to’, ‘had better’.

 

‘Should’ is used when the speaker wants to make a strong suggestion:

• The sun is shining bright, so you should wear a cap.
• You look pale. I don’t think you should go to school today.
• The road is wet. You shouldn’t drive too fast.

 

In more formal situations you can use ‘ought to’ instead of ‘should’, but this modal verb is not used in negative statements and questions:

• You ought to (should) wear a scarf. It’s very cold outside.
• They ought to hurry, their train is leaving.
• Jane ought to visit that castle, it’s great!

 

Note: Both ‘should’ and ‘ought to’ are used to express advice, obligation or duty. BUT: ‘should’ is used when we want to express our subjective opinion. In other words, ‘what I think is best for you to do’. You should call your mother more often. ‘Ought to’ is used when we want to express an objective truth. In other words, ‘what is necessary, and cannot be avoided’. That’s why we usually use ‘ought to’ when we are talking about laws, duties and regulations. They ought to follow the school’s policy, or they will get expelled.

 

If you want to give an important piece of advice or recommendation (that can have a negative consequence if not followed), use ‘had better’:

• You had better (You’d better) leave for work, it’s 8 o’clock already.
• We’d better go that way, we’ll save about 10 minutes.
• He’d better park his car correctly or he will get fined.

 

Note: Had better is a strong expression. We use it if we think there will be negative results if someone does not do what is desired or suggested.

 

‘Could’ is not as strong as ‘should’ and is normally used to give mild advice or to suggest a solution to some problem:

• – I hate my old jeans!
• – Well, you could buy a new pair.

 

• If they need more space, they could look for a bigger house.
• Jack moves to Canada next month. He could learn to play hockey there.

Modal verbs: obligations, negative and questions

 

In negative statements ‘must’ and ‘have to’ are used differently.

 

‘Must not’ is a negative obligation, meaning that something is not allowed.

 

We form negative statements with ‘must not’ like this:

 

Subject + must not + the verb (base form without ‘to’):

 

Singular	Plural
I must not (mustn’t) speak You must not speak He/she/it must not speak	We must not speak You must not speak They must not speak

• She must not take this medicine.
• You must not smoke in the office.

 

‘Do not have to’ is used when there is no need to do something.

 

We form negative statements with ‘do not have to’ like this:

 

Subject + do not / don’t / doesn’t have to + the verb (base form of the verb):

 

Singular	Plural
I do not (don’t) have to wait You don’t have to wait He/she/it doesn’t have to wait	We don’t have to wait You don’t have to wait They don’t have to wait

• You don’t have to buy me a birthday present.
• It’s summertime, and Peter doesn’t have to go to school.

 

We also use ‘have to’ in questions, for example, to ask if something is necessary. Such questions are formed like this:

 

Do / Does + subject + have to + infinitive form of the verb:

 

Singular	Plural
Do I have to speak? Do you have to speak? Does he/she/it have to speak?	Do we have to speak? Do you have to speak? Do they have to speak?

• Do I have to get ready now?
• Does she have to leave before 12 a.m.?

 

Note: ‘must’ is possible for questions, for example: Must we finish this today? But it is not as common as ‘have to‘.

 

Modal verbs: possibility

 

We can use modal verbs to talk about possibility or to express uncertainty. The most common modal verb for such cases is ‘might’.

Statements with ‘might’ can refer to past, present, or future possibilities.

 

1. To refer to past possibility, use:

Might + have + Past Participle

(for regular verbs, this is the “-ed” form of the verb. See more in Participles section)

• I can’t find my pen. I might have dropped it earlier.
• We are lost. We might have taken a wrong turn at the river.

 

2. To refer to present possibility, use:

Might + the verb (base form without ‘to’)

• Look at Jack! He might be in a hurry to meet with Catherine.
• The clouds cover the top of the mountain. It might be windy there.

 

3. To refer to future possibility, use:

Might + the verb (base form without ‘to’) + future time marker

• It’s cold outside. It might snow later on.
• Joe might not come to our party next weekend.

 

Modal verbs: making deductions

 

We can use modal verbs to talk about probability or improbability of something, as well as to make deductions about some facts or events.

 

To talk about something with uncertainty, use modal verbs ‘might’ and ‘could’:

• Sarah isn’t feeling well. She might have a cold.
• I have a high temperature. It could be a flu.

 

To describe negative things you are not certain about, use ‘might not’:

• Your leg is not swollen, so it might not be serious.
• I can’t reach Tom by phone, he might not be in the city.

 

To speak with more certainty about things in present, use ‘must’:

• John must be very tired, he’s been staying in bed all day long.
• They must be absent, I cannot find them anywhere.

 

To speak about something you consider absolutely impossible, use ‘cannot (can’t)’:

• Jack cannot be at school, I saw him playing basketball at the playground.
• Pete’s leg can’t be broken, he walked to the doctor without any help.

 

To speak about something that you think definitely happened in the past, use  ‘must have’ with the Past Participle (for regular verbs, this is the “-ed” form of the verb. See more in Participles section):

• I can’t find my socks. My wife must have taken them to the laundry room.
• Nobody opens the door, my friend must have left the house already.

 

In case you are not sure whether something happened in the past, use ‘may have’, ‘might have’ or ‘could have’ instead of ‘must have’:

• Cindy didn’t return my call yesterday. She might have forgotten to call me back.
• I didn’t see who knocked on the door, but it may have been the postman.

 

And finally, to speak about something you are absolutely sure did not happen in the past, use ‘couldn’t have’:

• I saw a flash in the sky, but it couldn’t have been aliens, they don’t exist.
• Paula couldn’t have been at the party last night, she was at work.

Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous?

 

How do you choose between the Present Perfect Continuous and Present Perfect?

 

The Present Perfect Continuous is used to show that an activity in the past was in progress. It is possible that the activity is still taking place.

• We’ve been looking at those beautiful paintings for two hours.

 

The Present Perfect is used to show that an activity in the past is finished.

• We’ve selected our favorite painting among those exhibited.

 

Consider the following examples:

 

Present Perfect Continuous

I’ve been cooking dinner. It will be ready soon.

Jane’s been running today. Now she’s really tired.

We’ve been eating too much cake. We must eat less.

 

Present Perfect

I’ve cooked dinner. It is ready now.

Jane has just run a race. Now she’s receiving a medal.

We’ve eaten all cake. The plates are empty.

 

Present Perfect Continuous: questions

 

To make questions in the Present Perfect Continuous, put have/has before the subject and add been + the “-ing” form of the verb:

 

Singular	Plural
Have I been reading? Have you been reading? Has he/she/it been reading?	Have we been reading? Have you been reading? Have they been reading?

 

• Have you been watching the movie?
• Yes, come in, let’s watch it together.

 

• Has she been studying French this year?
• Yes, and she is taking her exam next Monday.

 

• Have they been waiting for the bus for an hour?
• Unfortunately… Looks like the bus broke down.