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Chapter 29
Past Tense
Regular Verbs in the Past Tense
Regular verbs in the past tense take an -ed or -d
ending:
 The captain hoisted the flag.
 They purchased a flat screen TV yesterday.
 We deposited a quarter in the meter.
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Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense
Irregular verbs do not take an -ed or -d ending in
the past but change internally:
1. I wrote that letter in ten minutes.
2. Although the orange cat fell from a high
branch, she escaped unharmed.
3. The play began on time but ended fairly late.
NOTE:
Wrote
Fell
Began
is the past tense of write.
is the past tense of fall.
is the past tense of begin.
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A Troublesome Verb in the Past Tense: To Be
To be is the only verb that in the past tense has
different forms for different persons.
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Troublesome Pairs in the Past Tense: Can/Could
Use could as the past tense of can.
1. Maria is extraordinary because she can
remember what happened to her when she was
three years old.
2. When I was in high school, I could do two situps in an hour.
(In sentence 1, can shows the action is in the
present. In sentence 2, could shows the action
occurred in the past.)
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Troublesome Pairs in the Past Tense: Will/Would
Use would as the past tense of will.
1. Roberta says that she will arrive with her
camera in ten minutes.
2. Roberta said that she would arrive with her
camera in ten minutes.
(In sentence 3, will points to the future from the
present. In sentence 4, would points to the
future from the past.)
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EXPLORING ONLINE
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/
grammar/pasted.htm
Review and quizzes: regular verbs
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Chapter 30
The Past Participle
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Past Participles of Regular Verbs
The past participle is the form of the verb that can
be combined with helping verbs like have and has
to make verbs of more than one word:
Present Tense
1. They skate.
2. Beth dances.
3. Frank worries.
Past Tense
1. They skated.
2. Beth danced.
3. Frank worried.
Helping Verb plus Past Participle
1. They have skated.
2. Beth has danced.
3. Frank has worried.
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Past Participles of Irregular Verbs
Most verbs that are irregular in the past tense
are also irregular in the past participle, as shown
in the following chart.
Present Tense
1. We sing.
2. Bill writes.
3. I think.
Past Tense
1. We sang.
2. Bill wrote.
3. I thought.
Helping Verb plus Past Participle
1. We have sung.
2. Bill has written.
3. I have thought.
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Using the Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect tense is composed of the present tense
of to have plus the past participle.
The present perfect tense shows that an action has begun in
the past and is continuing into the present.
1. Past tense: Beatrice taught English for ten years.
2. Present perfect tense: Beatrice has taught English for ten
years.
(In sentence 1, Beatrice taught English in the past, but she
no longer teaches it.
In sentence 2, Beatrice has taught for ten years and is still
teaching English now.)
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Using the Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is composed of the past tense of to
have plus the past participle.
The past perfect tense shows that an action occurred further
back in the past than other past action.
1. Past tense: Rhonda left for the movies.
2. Past perfect tense: Rhonda had already left for the movies
by the time we arrived.
(In sentence 1, left is the simple past. In sentence 2, the past
perfect had left shows that this action occurred even before
another action in the past, arrived.)
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Using the Passive Voice (To Be and the Past Participle)
The passive voice is composed of the past
participle with some form of to be (am, is, are,
was, were, has been, have been, or had been). In
the passive voice, the subject does not act but is
acted upon.
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Using the Passive Voice
Compare the passive voice with the active voice in the following
pairs of sentences.
1. Passive voice: This newspaper is written by journalism students.
2. Active voice: Journalism students write this newspaper.
3. Passive voice: My garden was devoured by rabbits.
4. Active voice: Rabbits devoured my garden.
In sentence 1, the subject, this newspaper, is passive; it is acted
upon. In sentence 2, the subject, students, is active; it performs
the action. However, both verbs (is written and write) are in the
present tense.
The verbs in sentences 3 and 4 are both in the past tense: was
devoured (passive) and devoured (active).
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Using the Past Participle as an Adjective
The past participle form of the verb can be used as an adjective
after a linking verb:
The window is broken.
(The adjective broken describes the subject window.)
The past participle form of the verb can sometimes be used as
an adjective before a noun or a pronoun.
This fried chicken tastes wonderful.
(The adjective fried describes the noun chicken.)
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EXPLORING ONLINE
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
quizzes/fi nal-ed_option.htm
To add or not to add -ed? This one is tricky; test
yourself.
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Chapter 31
Nouns
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Defining Singular and Plural
Nouns are words that refer to people, places, or things.
Nouns can be either singular or plural. Singular means
one. Plural means more than one.
Singular
the glass
a lamp
a lesson
Plural
glasses
lamps
lessons
(As you can see, nouns usually add -s or -es to form the
plural.)
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Some nouns form their plurals in other ways. Here are a few
examples:
Singular Plural
child
crisis
Singular
children
crises
Plural
medium
memorandum
criterion
foot
goose
man
criteria
feet
geese
men
phenomenon
syllabus
tooth
woman
media
memoranda
(memorandums)
phenomena
syllabi
teeth
women
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These nouns ending in -f or -fe change endings to -ves in the
plural:
Singular
half
knife
life
scarf
shelf
wife
wolf
Plural
halves
knives
lives
scarves
shelves
wives
wolves
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Hyphenated nouns form plurals by adding -s or -es to the main
word:
Singular
brother-in-law
maid-of-honor
master-at-arms
Plural
brothers-in-law
maids-of-honor
masters-at-arms
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Other nouns do not change at all to form the plural; here are
a few:
Singular
deer
equipment
fish
merchandise
Plural
deer
equipment
fish
merchandise
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Signal Words: Singular and Plural
A signal word tells you whether a singular or a
plural noun usually follows. These signal words
tell you that a singular noun usually follows:
Signal Words
a(n)
a single
another house
each
every
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Signal Words: Singular and Plural
These signal words tell you that a plural noun
usually follows:
Signal Words
all
both
few
many
most
several
some
two (or more)
various
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Signal Words with of
Many signal words are followed by of . . . or of
the. . . . Usually, these signal words are followed
by a plural noun (or a collective noun) because
they really refer to one or more from a larger
group:
Signal Words with of
one of the
each of the
many of the
a few of the
lots of the
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Signal Words with of
Be careful:
The signal words one of the and each of the are
followed by a plural noun, but the verb is
singular because only the signal word (one or
each) is the real subject:
One of the coats is on sale.
Each of the flowers smells sweet.
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EXPLORING ONLINE
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/qu
izzes/cross/plurals_gap.htm
Interactive noun plurals quiz: test yourself!
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Chapter 32
Pronouns
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Defining Pronouns and Antecedents
Pronouns take the place of or refer to nouns, other pronouns, or phrases.
The word that the pronoun refers to is called the antecedent of the pronoun:
Eric ordered baked chicken because it is his favorite dish.
(In sentence 1, it refers to the antecedent baked chicken, and his refers to the
antecedent Eric.)
Simone and Lee painted their room.
(In sentence 2, their refers to the plural antecedent Simone and Lee.)
I like camping in the woods because it gives me a chance to be
alone with my thoughts.
(In sentence 3, it refers to the antecedent camping in the woods. This antecedent
is a whole phrase. Me and my refer to the pronoun antecedent I.)
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Making Pronouns and Antecedents Agree
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and
person.
1. When Tom couldn’t find his pen, he asked to borrow mine.
2. The three sisters wanted to start their own business.
(In sentence 1, Tom is the antecedent of his and he. Since Tom
is singular and masculine, the pronouns referring to Tom are
also singular and masculine. In sentence 2, sisters is the
antecedent of their. Since sisters is plural, the pronoun
referring to sisters must also be plural.)
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Making pronouns agree with their antecedents is
usually easy. However, three special cases can be
tricky.
1. Indefinite Pronouns
2. Special Singular Antecedents
3. Collective Nouns
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Indefinite Pronouns
Each of these words is singular. Any pronoun that refers to
one of them must also be singular: he, him, his, she, or her.
anybody
anyone
everybody
everyone
nobody
no one
one
somebody
someone
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Special Singular Antecedents
Each of these constructions is singular. Any
pronoun that refers to one of them must also be
singular.
each (of) . . .
either (of) . . .
neither (of) . . .
every one (of) . . .
one (of) . . .
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Collective Nouns
Collective nouns represent a group of people but are
usually considered singular. They usually take singular
pronouns.
Common Collective Nouns
class
family
panel
college
flock
school
committee
government society
company
group
team
faculty
jury
tribe
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Referring to Antecedents Clearly
A pronoun must refer clearly to its antecedent. Avoid vague,
repetitious, or ambiguous pronoun reference.
Vague pronoun: At the box office, they said that tickets were
no longer available.
Repetitious pronoun: In the article, it says that Tyrone was a
boxer.
Ambiguous pronoun: Mr. Tedesco told his son that his car had
a flat tire.
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Special Problems of Case
Personal pronouns take different forms depending on how
they are used in a sentence.
Pronouns can be subjects, objects, or possessives.
Pronouns used as subjects are in the subjective case:
He and I go snowboarding together.
The peaches were so ripe that they fell from the trees.
(He, I, and they are in the subjective case.)
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Pronouns that are objects of verbs or prepositions
are in the objective case.
Pronouns that are subjects of infinitives are also in
the objective case:
A sudden downpour soaked her. (object of verb)
Please give this card to him. (object of preposition)
We want them to leave right now. (subject of infinitive)
(Her, him, and them are in the objective case.)
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Pronouns that show ownership are in the
possessive case:
The carpenters left their tools on the windowsill.
This flower has lost its brilliant color.
(Their and its are in the possessive case.)
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Using the correct case is usually fairly simple, but three
problems require special care.
1. Case in Compound Constructions
A compound construction consists of two nouns, two
pronouns, or a noun and a pronoun joined by and.
2. Case in Comparisons
Pronouns that complete comparisons may be in the
subjective, objective, or possessive case.
3. Use of Who (or Whoever) and Whom (or Whomever)
Who and whoever are in the subjective case. Whom and
whomever are in the objective case.
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Using Pronouns with –self and –selves
Pronouns with -self or -selves can be used in two ways—as
reflexives or as intensives.
A reflexive pronoun indicates that someone did something
to himself or herself:
My daughter felt very grown up when she learned to dress
herself.
An intensive pronoun emphasizes the noun or pronoun it
refers to:
Anthony himself was surprised at how relaxed he felt during
the interview.
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The following chart will help you choose the
correct reflexive or intensive pronoun.
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EXPLORING ONLINE
http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/pronouns.html
Pronoun quiz: especially helpful for ESL writers.
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