The Past Participle in English

 

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In this lesson about the past participle in English we will see its formation and utilisation (ex: been, liked, played…)

What is the past participle?

Past participle indicates a past and finished action or moment.

How to make the past participle in English:

1. Regular verbs:

For regular English verbs, the past participle is formed by simply adding an’ed’ to the verbal base, or a’d’ if the verb ends in the letter ‘e’. This is why the past participle is also called “the ED form of verbs”.

• live → lived
• seem → seemed
• enjoy → enjoyed
• pour → poured
• hope → hoped
• like → liked
• jump → jumped
• play → played
• paint → painted
• enter → entered

With a one-syllable verb, you must double the end consonant and add “ed”:

• chat → chatted
• chop → chopped
• stop → stopped

Unless it ends in a -w, -x or -y:

• sew → sewed
• play → played
• fix → fixed

If the last syllable of a long verb is accented and ends with a consonant, it must be doubled:

• incur → incurred
• prefer → preferred
• travel → travelled

Be careful, when the verb ends with a consonant followed by a -y, you have to replace it by a -ied:

• try → tried
• marry → married
• fry → fried
• reply → replied

Finally, it is necessary to remember certain regular verbs that end in a way specific to the past participle:

• panic → panicked (c becomes -ck)
• free → freed
• dye → dyed

2. Irregular verbs:

For irregular verbs in the past participle: there is no real rule and you have to learn them by heart. A few examples:

• know → known
• arise → arisen
• catch → caught
• choose → chosen

It’s sometimes possible that the irregular verb is identical to the verbal basis and the preterite (= simple past), for example:

• cut (base form) → cut (preterite) → cut (past participle)
• hit (base form) → hit (preterite) → hit (past participle)

Or it is the same as the preterit:

• pay (base form) → paid (preterite) → paid (past participle)
• bind (base form) → bound (preterite) → bound (past participle)

When to use the past participle in English?

1. To form the passive voice in English:

• His room was well cleaned.
• My flight has been delayed because of the storm.
• He was injured in a car accident.
• This school was opened in 1993.

2. Past participle used as an adjective:

Past participles can be used as an adjective in front of a noun:

• I am bored.
• She feels tired today.
• It’s a stolen car.
• She was interested in the movie.
• Tom Cruise is a well-known actor.
• This house is abandoned.
• His toy is broken.

3. To form different verbal forms (past participle is in bold):

• Present perfect: I have learnt
• Present perfect progressif: I have been breaking
• Past perfect: I had learnt English
• Past perfect progressif: I hab been learning
• Futur perfect: I will have learnt
• Futur perfect progressif: I will have been learning

 

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List of prepositions

 

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Here is the most commonly used preposition list in English, grouped in a table with many examples. It’s up to you to memorize them!

Time prepositions

Preposition	Use	Example
on	days of the week	on Tuesday
in	month / seasons time of the day year after a certain period of time (when?)	in June / in summer in the evening in 2007 in an hour
at	for the night for the week end at a certain point in time (when?)	at night at the weekend at half past ten
since	from a certain point in time (from the past to the present)	since 1990
for	for a certain period of time (past to present)	for 4 years
ago	at some point in the past	3 years ago
before	before a certain date	before 2011
to	tell the time	ten to five (4:50)
past	tell the time	ten past seven (7:10)
to / till / until	mark the beginning and end of a time period	from Monday to/till Friday
till / until	up to a certain point in time (duration)	He is on holiday until thursday.
by	at the latest up to a certain point	I will be back by 4 o’clock. By 10 o’clock, I had read six pages.

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Location prepositions (position and direction)

Preposition	Use	Example
in	room, building, street, city, city, country book, paper etc…. car, taxi in a photo, in the world	in the kitchen, in Paris in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the world
at	next to an object at the table to an event a place to do something specific (cinema, study, work)	at the door, at the station at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work
on	attached a place with a river placed on a surface for a certain side (right or left) one floor in public transport on TV, radio….	the picture on the wall London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio
by, next to, beside	to the left or right of someone or something	Tom is standing by/ next to /beside the car.
under	on the ground, lower (or covered) by something else	the bag is under the table
below	underwater	the dolphins are below the surface
over	covered by something more than…. go to the other side (= across) overcome an obstacle	put a jacket over your shirt over 18 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall
above	higher than anything else but not directly on it	a path above the lake
across	go to the other side (= over) go to the opposite side	walk across the bridge swim across the lake
through	something limited, surrounded on all sides	drive through the tunnel
to	movements to a specific place travel to a city, country go to bed	go to the cinema go to London / Thailand go to bed
into	enter a room/building	go into the kitchen / the house
towards	movement towards something (but not directly towards it)	go 6 steps towards the house
onto	movement at the top of something	jump onto the table
from	that comes from somewhere	a flower from the garden

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Other important prepositions

Preposition	Use	Example
from	who gave it to him/her	a present from Tina
of	who/what it belongs to what it shows	a page of the book the picture of a castle
by	who did it	a book by Shakespeare
on	walking or riding a horse enter public transport	on foot, on horseback get on the bus
in	getting into a car/taxi	get in the car
off	getting off a plane/bus/train etc.	get off the train
out of	getting out of a car/taxi	get out of the taxi
by	decrease or increase travel (other than on foot/horse)	prices have risen by 15 percent by car, by bus, by plane
at	at what age	she learned Japanese at 45
about	for subjects	we were talking about you

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Demonstrative pronouns in English (lesson with examples)

 

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WHAT ARE THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS IN ENGLISH?

A demonstrative pronoun is used to replace a particular thing (singular or plural), which has already been mentioned before, or which can be designated by the context.

• this / that 
• these / those 

these is the plural of this, those is the plural of that:

• this dog / these dogs
• that cat / those cats

There is no gender difference:

• this boy and this girl
• those men and those women

USES

This, that, these and those can be used as determinants or pronouns:

• Take this pen
• Take this.
• Give me that book.
• Give me that.

What is the difference between THIS and THAT?

We choose between this and that to show the degree of distance from the person speaking. As a general rule, this/these marks proximity to the enunciator, that/those marks distance:

THE DISTANCE IN SPACE

THIS or THESE is used to talk about a person, thing or place that is close to the person speaking:

• This is my brother
• These are my shoes.
• Is this your pen?

THAT or THOSE is used to talk about a person, thing or place that is further away from the person speaking:

• I can see that from here.
• That man over there is my boss.
• Those men are detectives.

DISTANCE IN TIME

THIS refers to the future or the present, THAT to the past (to talk about something that is not present):

• On that day, she was really tired, but she’s feeling better this week.
• That movie we watched last night was awesome.

EMOTIONAL DISTANCE

• That dog is dangerous!
• I hate this tee-shirt, but I love those shoes!

OTHER USES

1 – THIS can be used to announce something, and THAT to refer to the past:

• This is what she told me: “You can do it!”
• “You can do it!”: that‘s what she told me.

2 – To avoid a repetition: we can forward this/that by one, and these/those by ones :

• Which photo do you prefer? This one or that one? 
• Which fruits can you eat ? These ones or those ones?

3 – To compare:

• I don’t like those trousers. These are a bit better.
• This tee-shirt is nice; that one is ugly.

4 – This, these, that, that, those can be pronouns and replace a name or a sentence:

• I think this is awesome!  (This replace something we know.)

5 – To contact us by phone:

• Hello, this is Jane speaking. Who is this?

6 – This and these can refer to situations that are happening:

• Listen to this song. (NOT: Listen to that song.)

7 – That and those can refer to experiences that have just ended:

• Who said that?
• Who did that?

8 – We use THAT in expressions like that’s it and that’s that

• That’s it, I’m going home.
• I broke up with Claire, and that’s that.

9 – Other uses:

• The best movie of the festival was that made by Spielberg.
• We are organizing a trip to London. Those interested should speak with Sam.

 

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English grammar basics: The prepositions (with examples)

 

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In English, a preposition is a short word that shows the relationship of a noun/pronoun with another word in the sentence. They are always found in prepositional sentences and are usually located before the name or pronoun.

A preposition is used to give a spatial or temporal indication, a position or a logical link between two things:

Examples:

• I’m going to the office.
• He’s at the bar.
• My pen is on the table.
• We meet in an hour.
• I saw a beautiful movie painting by Spielberg.
• I’m from Canada.
• The letter is under your book.
• She will be back in a few days.
• I’m leaving on friday.
• The book belongs to me.
• The bear was killed by the hunter.
• Tina is the girl in the blue dress.
• The cat is near the window.

Here are some common prepositions in English:

above, about, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, since, to, toward, through, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within….

Prepositions are always used after specific nouns, adjectives and verbs and can change their meaning:

Examples:

Nouns + preposition:

• concern for…
• interest in…
• love of…
• success in…

Adjective + preposition:

• afraid of…
• happy about…
• jealous of…
• made of…
• familiar with…

Verb + preposition

• give up…
• talk about…
• find out…
• grow up…
• belong to…

A combination of verb+preposition is called a “verbal phrasal”. The word that is attached to the verb is then called a particle. The phrasal verbs are very important to know because with different prepositions (or particles) you can then form many different words: look up, look out, look down…

⚠️ When prepositions are not necessary:

Sometimes, we may think that we should use a preposition in a sentence when it is not necessary:

• Where is your house at ?
• Where did they go to ?
• She wouldn’t let the dog inside of / in the house. 
• He threw the TV out of the window.

⚠️ Avoid repeating prepositions:

When two words or sentences are used in parallel and require the same preposition, it is not necessary to use it twice in a row to avoid repeating it:

• You can wear that dress in summer and in winter.
• Tina is making a chocolate cake with whipped cream and with strawberries.

 

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Relative pronouns rules

 

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We use a relative pronoun in English to describe a name or give us more information about it. This description is called a relative proposal, and therefore begins with a relative pronoun. This description comes after the name.

• The woman who phoned me last night is my girlfriend. (Noun: ‘The woman’. Relative pronoun: ‘who’. Relative proposition: ‘phoned me last night‘)
• The man who fixed your computer is waiting outside. (Noun: ‘the man‘. Relative pronoun: ‘who‘. Relative proposition: ‘fixed your computer’)
• I saw the cat which ate the food. (Noun: ‘the cat‘. Relative pronoun: ‘Which‘.)
• Paul, who owns a video game store, is waiting for you. (Noun: Paul. The relative proposal gives us more information about him: ‘owns a video game store‘)

There are five relative pronouns in English:

1. who
2. whom
3. whose
4. which
5. that

Who (subject) and whom (object) → generally used for people.
Whose → for possession.
Which → for things.
That → used for both things and people.

Use of relative pronouns:

After a name, to specify what thing or person we are talking about:

• The house that Sam built is big.
• The woman who discovered radium is a scientist.
• The thirty-year-old man who attempted to rob a bank was arrested. 

To give more information about a thing or a person:

• My dad, who worked in a restaurant, has always been a great cook.
• Tina, who is 25, has just started a new job.
• We had pizza, which is my favourite meal.

Be careful, we don’t use ‘that’ as a subject in this kind of sentence. WHOSE is used as the possessive form of WHO:

• This is Paul, whose sister went to university with me.

We sometimes use whom as the object of the verb or proposal:

• This is Kevin, whom you met at the party last year.
• This is Paul’s sister, with whom I went to university.

But nowadays, we use more who instead of whom:

• This is Kevin, who you met at the party last year.
• This is Paul’s sister, who I went to university with.

When whom and which have a preposition (from, with…), it can be at the beginning of the relative proposal:

• I have an aunt in England, from who(m) I inherited a bit of money.
• We bought a washing machine, with which we washed all the laundry.

… or at the end of the proposal:

• I have an aunt in England who(m) I inherited a bit of money from.
• We bought a washing machine, which we washed all the laundry with.

That can also be used at the beginning of the proposal:

• I had an uncle in England that I inherited a bit of money from.
• We bought a washing machine that we washed all the laundry with.

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Possessive pronouns in English (with examples)

 

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The possessive pronoun is used to replace a noun that is preceded by a possessive adjective (my, your sound…) :

List of English possessive pronouns :

⚠️ Be careful not to confuse possessive pronouns with complementary personal pronouns or possessive adjectives (my, your, his…)!

• mine
• your / yours
• his / hers / its
• our / ours
• your / yours
• their / theirs

Possessive pronouns are used after a name to avoid repeating it:

• Is that Tom’s car ?  No, it’s my car. → No, it’s mine. / No, this car is mine.
• Whose chair is this? Is it your chair ? → Is it yours ? / Is that chair yours ?
• Her coat is black, my coat is brown. → Her coat is black, mine is brown.
• My hair is blond. Hers are black.
• The kids are eating their sandwiches.
• The sandwiches are theirs.

⚠️ We use its (and not it’s) for animals and things. ‘It’s’ is the contraction of ‘it is’. ‘Its’ is the possessive pronoun.

• The dog is showing its teeth.
• The horse has something on its back.

⚠️ A common error in English: people put apostrophes with possessive pronouns. It’s wrong!

•  it’s, her’s, our’s, their’s, your’s  ❌
•  its, hers, ours, theirs, yours  ✅

⚠️ Possessive pronouns can be used in English after ‘of’:

You can say:

• Nathan is one of my friend OR Nathan is a friend of mine.

You can’t say:

• Nathan is a friend of me.

You can say:

• I am one of Karen’s friends OR I am a friend of Karen’s.

You can’t say:

• I am a friend of Karen.

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How to use English Modal Verbs

 

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MODALS IN ENGLISH

What is a modal verb?

English modal verbs are special verbs that are very different from normal verbs. These are auxiliary verbs, which means that they are directly followed by another verb, without’to’.

They are used to express points of view, such as to ask for permission (with ‘can’ or ‘could’), to express a future or present possibility (with ‘may’ or ‘might’), or a necessity or obligation (‘must’)….

Here are four things to know absolutely about English modals:

1 – Modal verbs do not take “-s” in the third person

• He can speak Spanish.
• She should be here by 10:00.

2 – It is necessary to use ‘not’ with English modal verbs to make the negative form, even in the simple present tense or in the simple past tense.

• He should not be late.
• They might not come to the party.

3 – Many English modal verbs cannot be used in the past or future tense.

• He will can go with us. = ❌
• She musted study very hard. = ❌

4 – To make a question with a modal, it must be reversed with the main verb

• She can go → Can she go?
• You should drive. → Should you drive?

Some common English modal verbs:

• Can
• Could
• May
• Might
• Must
• Ought to (rarely used)
• Shall (rarely used, rather in England)
• Should
• Will
• Would

Some expressions that are not modal verbs are used as such: “had better”, “have to”, and “have got to”.

These expressions are very close to modal verbs in their meaning and can often be interchanged with them.

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Possessive Adjectives in English

 

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Possessive adjectives are used in English to refer to the ownership or possession of something. When we use them to talk about a person, it is more in the sense of a relationship with that person.

English possessive adjectives :

• my
• your
• his / her / its (not it’s!)
• our
• your
• their

Examples:

• My bike is very old.
• His girlfriend is very friendly.
• Our cat is black.
• Their homework is on the desk.

Like all adjectives in English, they are always placed directly in front of the noun to which they refer (possessive adjective + noun).

⚠️ We do not put an S to the possessive adjective when the noun is plural!

• Our bikes are expensive.
• Ours bikes are expensive.

However, the verb used must be plural if the noun is plural, and singular if the verb is singular.

• My pen is blue. (sing)
• My pens are blue. (plur)
• Our child is smart. (sing)
• Our children are smart. (plur)

⚠️ Its or It’s ?

Be careful not to confuse it’s and its

• Its = the possessive adjective of it for things or animals. Do not use an apostrophe.
• It’s = the contraction of ‘it is’ or ‘it has’

Ex: I’m taking my cat to the vet. Its leg is broken. 

⚠️ Their, They’re or There ?

Be careful not to confuse the two! Same as for its / it’s

• Their = the possessive adjective of They
• They’re = the contraction of ‘they are’
• There = adverb

⚠️ Be careful not to confuse possessive pronouns with complementary personal pronouns or possessive adjectives!

• This is your (possessive adjective) book and this is mine (possessive pronoun).

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Adverbs in english grammar

 

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WHAT IS THE USE OF AN ADVERB?

It is used to specify how someone does something. They can modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

• I am sincerely sorry.

Adverbs of place

• above
• abroad
• anywhere
• away
• behind
• downstairs
• everywhere
• here
• home
• inside, outside
• nowhere
• out / outside
• somewhere
• there
• underground
• upstairs

Adverbs of time

• already
• now
• today
• soon
• then
• yesterday
• tomorrow
• tonight

Adverbs of maners

You need to add -ly at the end to make an adverb of maners:

• warmly
• nicely
• carefully
• correctly
• easily
• loudly
• slowly
• patiently
• quickly
• quietly

Degree adverbs

• too
• very
• more
• totally
• nearly
• enough

Frequency adverbs

• never
• rarely
• sometimes
• occasionally
• frequently
• often
• usually
• always

Negative Adverbs

The adverbs hardly, barely and scarcely already have a negative meaning, so they cannot be associated with another negative form: the verb appears in the positive form.

• I could hardly eat anything. 

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Basic grammar rules: How to form the plural in English

 

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This is a lesson about the plural in English: how to form the plural of regular and irregular English names.

Plural in regular English

The plural is usually formed with an -s at the end of the singular name:

• book → books
• dog → dogs
• river → rivers
• horse → horses
• hat → hats
• cup → cups
• bag → bags
• boat → boats

Be careful, for names that end in -s, -sh, -ch, -ch, -x, -z or -o, the plural mark is -es:

• watch → watches
• bus → buses
• church → churches
• box → boxes
• witch → witches
• dress → dresses
• beach → beaches
• kiss → kisses
• table → tables
• potato → potatoes
• hero → heroes
• echo → echoes

Some words ending with -o take a -s in the plural:

• Zoo → Zoos
• Photo → Photos
• Piano → Pianos
• Auto → Autos
• Pro → Pros
• Tattoo → Tattoos
• Solo → Solos
• Kangaroo → Kangaroos
• Kilo → Kilos
• Memo → Memos
• Studio → Studios
• Video → Videos

Some words ending with -o may have a -s or -es in the plural (both are correct):

• buffalo → buffalos / buffaloes
• no → nos / noes
• tornado → tornados / tornadoes
• volcano → volcanos / volcanoes
• zero → zeros / zeroes
• cargo → cargos / cargoes
• mosquito → mosquitos / mosquitoes
• halo → halos / haloes

For names ending in -y, it must be replaced by -ies:

• baby → babies
• party → parties
• cherry → cherries
• fly → flies
• cry → cries
• lady → ladies
• entry → entries
• city → cities

But if the -y is preceded by a vowel, just add a -s:

• boy → boys
• toy → toys
• key → keys
• way → ways
• storey → storeys
• day → days
• tray → trays
• donkey → donkeys

For names that end in -f or -fe, the plural mark is -ves:

• wife → wives
• knife → knives
• leaf → leaves
• thief → thieves
• loaf → loaves
• shelf → shelves
• self → selves
• half → halves
• wolf → wolves

Some exceptions: belief, chief, cliff, proof, roof, oaf and safe take only one -s.

Plural in irregular English

Some names change significantly in the plural:

• man → men
• woman → women
• child → children
• person → people
• foot → feet
• tooth → teeth
• goose → geese
• mouse → mice
• louse → lice
• ox → oxen

But some names have the same form in the singular and plural: no need for -s at the end!

• sheep → sheep (NOT sheeps)
• fish → fish (NOT fishes)
• information → information (NOT informations)
• hair → hair (NOT hairs)

and so on for salmon, deer, aircraft, series, species, species, furniture and luggage, they never take -s in the plural!!!

Family names (surnames) take one -s in the plural:

• I went to the Smiths for dinner last night.
• The Simpsons.

Some Greek or Latin words may keep their original plural:

• basis → bases
• hypothesis → hypotheses
• analysis → analyses
• crisis → crises
• diagnosis → diagnoses
• thesis → theses
• referendum → referenda
• phenomenon → phenomena

Measurements or cardinal numbers have regular plurals when used alone. If they are preceded by a number or many, they keep their singular form.

Ex: thousand, hundred, pound, foot and stone.

• thousand    |     thousands 
• hundred      |      hundreds 

⚠ The termination -s is not necessarily the mark of the plural. Some nouns in -s are uncountable nouns that are always followed by a verb in the singular:

– Names of diseases:

• measles
• mumps
• shingles

– Game names:

• billiards
• dominoes
• darts

– Names of materials:

• physics
• mathematics
• linguistics

Objects composed of several parts always have the termination -s

• trousers
• tweezers
• scissors
• glasses

They are often preceded by – a pair of..:

Ex: a pair of scissors

 

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