1.-ing and –ed adjectives
Both –ing and –ed adjectives help us to talk about our feelings.
The main difference is that –ing adjectives are usually used to talk about the person, place or thing that is making us feel a certain way:
Yawn! This lecture is really boring!
But –ed adjectives are used to talk about how we feel:
I’ve been listening to him for hours – I’m so bored.
Be careful: If you say I am boring – it’s grammatically correct, but it means that you make other people feel bored!
Here are some common pairs of -ed and -ing adjectives:
exciting and excited
We have seen some exciting developments in technology recently.
We are excited about our new range of smartphones.
surprising and surprised
It is surprising how little we know about our oceans.
My whole family was there for my party – I was so surprised!
annoying and annoyed
I hate popup adverts on the internet – they’re annoying!
I’m sorry, I know you’re annoyed – I won’t make that mistake again!
relaxing and relaxed
Some people find listening to classical music very relaxing.
Doing yoga makes me feel more relaxed.
confusing and confused
I couldn’t understand the story in that film – it was too confusing.
If lots of people are talking at the same time, I get confused.
2.Past simple - Meaning and use
We use the past simple when an action or situation happens and finishes in the past. We usually say or know when it happened.
She called me at the office yesterday.
I worked in London in 2010.
Steve went to the US three times last year.
We often use the past simple in stories, when one thing happens after another in the past.
I stopped working in London and I looked for another job.
Past simple positive
For regular verbs, the past simple ends in -ed. Irregular verbs have a different past form. The past simple form is the same for all persons (I, you, he, she, etc.)
I finished university in 2010 and I started a job in a bank.
Then he left that job and went to live in Japan.
We lived there for a year.
Past simple negative
We make the negative form with didn’t (did not) + infinitive without ‘to’.
I didn’t like working in a bank.
He didn’t go to the US. He went to Japan.
Past simple questions
Past simple wh-word questions are made from question word + did + subject + infinitive.
Where did you go last night?
The question word how is usually combined with other words when asking for information, such as size, time, or the price of something.
How long did it take to cook dinner?
Past simple yes/no questions are made from did + subject + infinitive without ‘to’.
Did you like living in Japan?
What did your children do there?
We can use short answers:
Did you go to Anjali’s party last night? Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.
Take note: spelling changes
Some regular verbs end in -ed, but have some spelling changes in the past simple.
stop – stopped
travel – travelled
marry – married
study - studied
Take note: time expressions
We often use the past simple with time expressions like yesterday, last month, six years ago, when I was a child.
Did you travel a lot when you were young?
He married Sonya three years ago.
Irregular verbs
Infinitive - Past simple - Past participle
fall - fell - fallen
feel - felt - felt
get - got - got
go - went - gone/been
have - had - had
hurt - hurt - hurt
keep - kept - kept
put - put - put
run - ran - run
take - took - taken
tell - told - told
3.vocabulary
achieve
succeed in doing or getting something, especially after a lot of effort
hurdles
frames or fences that people jump over in a running race
sailed
travelled across water in a boat or ship
the South Pole
the point on the earth’s surface (in Antarctica) that is further south than any other point
qualify
(here) be successful in one stage of a competition so that you are allowed to move to the next stage
retired
stopped working because of old age
eavesdrop
secretly listen to someone else’s private conversation
during
from the beginning to the end of a particular length of time or activity
No way!
(here) Wow! That’s amazing!
Cheer up!
this expression means: Don’t be sad!
counts
(here) is important
the treble
In English football, the treble refers to a team winning 3 main trophies in one season of football, usually the Premiership, the Champions League and the FA cup.
triathlon
a type of race where people swim, cycle, and run over very long distances
in plaster
when a broken bone is put into a hard cover to hold it in position while it gets better we say it’s ‘in plaster’
nervous
worried and scared
debut
first appearance or performance
progressed
improved; got better
anticipated
expected (something to happen)
evolving
(here) changing and improving
ultimate
(here) the best possible
spell
(here) period of time
favourably
in a good way
excited
very happy and full of energy because something good is happening or is going to happen
journalist
person whose job is to report the news for a newspaper, magazine, radio or television programme
restarted
began again
subtitles
a translation or text of what people are saying on TV or a film that is shown at the bottom of the screen
actually
this word is used to stress what really happened in a situation
[sic]
a word written in square brackets […] after a word that you have copied to show that you know it has been spelled or used wrongly
retired
stopped working because of reaching a certain age
hero
a person who admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great.
celebrity
a famous person, especially in entertainment or sport.
challenge
a situation that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully
exhausted
very tired
adored
loved and admired
3.4News Report
captain
someone who leads a team
skill
ability, especially in difficult things
skinny
very thin
talent
natural ability
rough diamond
someone who is very good or nice, even though they don’t look that way
coach
someone who teaches sports
physically
in terms of the body
recover
get better after losing something (like health or energy)
fee
price; amount of money you pay for something
3.5The Race
pinched
stolen
lawless
not obeying laws, sometimes by using violence
bounty
(here) large amount of stolen money and valuable things
sabotage
doing something, for example, causing damage, to stop something else being successful
joyriders
people who steal a vehicle (or boat) and drive it fast and dangerously just for pleasure
scallywags
people who behave badly
swashbuckling
brave, exciting and often fighting
lawless
not obeying laws
4.pronunciation tips
1.for verbs that end in /t/ or /d/ like want or decide the ending is /Id/.
Want - wanted; decide - decided.
decided
waited
wanted
competed
started
restarted
2.for verbs that end in /k/ like look, /sh/ like wash, /ch/ watch, /s/ kiss and /p/ stop, the ending is /t/:
so, kiss - kissed; wash - washed; watch - watched.
stopped
finished
asked
liked
walked
eavesdropped
3.For most other verbs, the ending is /d/.
So, train - trained, love - loved, play - played.
lived
called
loved
trained
scored
stayed
retired
climbed
achieved