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Verbs ending with ‘ed’

We use the base form of a verb with the ‘ed’ ending for the past tense.
Sakunthala danced for two hours.
We walked to school as there was a bus strike.
The mechanic repaired the vehicle in two hours.
I have been called for an interview.
The Government has expanded university education.

We form the past tense by adding ‘ed’ to the base form of regular verbs. When the base form of a verb ends in a consonant, we add ‘ed’ to form the past tense.

earn: earned
laugh: laughed
kill: killed
roll: rolled
reign: reigned
walk: walked
lift: lifted
deposit: deposited
lick: licked
paint: painted

When the base form of a verb ends in ‘e’ we simply add ‘d’ to form the past tense.

decide: decided
argue: argued
refuse: refused
cane: caned
like: liked
guide: guided
sue: sued
wipe: wiped
type: typed
dance: danced

When the base form of a verb ends in ‘y’, we delete it and add ‘ied’ to form the past tense.

carry: carried
worry: worried
bury: buried
hurry: hurried
marry: married
apply: applied
tally: tallied
shy: shied
solidify: solidified

When the base form of a verb ends in a consonant preceded by a vowel, it is doubled before adding ‘ed’ to form the past tense.

cram: crammed
refer: referred
whip: whipped
tap: tapped
travel: travelled
lap: lapped
log: logged
man: manned
map: mapped
mar: marred

When the base form of a verb ends in ‘w, x’ or ‘y’, the consonant is not doubled before adding ‘ed’ to form the past tense.

vow: vowed
tax: taxed
delay: delayed

The past tense of an irregular verb does not consist of the base form of the verb with ‘ed’ ending.

bend: bent
set: set
put: put
hit: hit
rise: rose
go: went
sleep: slept
weave: wove
ride: rode
drive: drove

(More on irregular verbs next week)

[Activity]

Fill in the blanks with the past tense of the verbs given in brackets. Check your answers with the key.

1.The company............. up huge debts. (run)
2.The programme .......... last year to great acclaim. (debut)
3.Chemotherapy .......... him. (exhaust)
4. Our world view has become ............ We no longer have a sense of the sacred. (debase)
5.Sunlight............ through the branches. (filter)
6.These cakes are .......... with cream. (fill)
7.Two of his ribs ........... when he was thrown from his horse. (fracture)
8.The suffering .............. on these children was unimaginable. (inflict)
9.She ............ her father. (lose)
10.During the riot shops were ............. . (loot)

Key:

1. ran
2. debuted
3. exhausted
4. debased
5. filtered
6. filled
7. fractured
8. inflicted
9. lost
10. looted


Quiz on Synonyms

A synonym is a word or phrase that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word or phrase.

In the following quiz we give you 25 words in column ‘A’ and their synonyms in column ‘B’. However, they are not in order. Match the words and synonyms. Check your answers with the key.

Column A Column B

1. Admirable A. access
2. Admire B. clever
3. Admission C.commendable
4. Adopt D. choose
5. Adorn E. derogate
6. Adroit F. enemy
7. Adulterate G. declare
8. Advance H. hostile
9. Advantageous I. announce
10. Adversary J. debase
11. Adverse K. incident
12. Advertise L. counsel
13. Advice M. beneficial
14. Advocate N. counsel
15. Affair O. loving
16. Affectionate P. proceed
17. Affinity Q. beset
18. Affirm R. respect
19. Afflict S. similarity
20. Affliction T. distress
21. Affluent U. attack
22. Afraid V. increase
23. Agent W. delegate
24. Aggravate X. alarmed
25. Aggression Y. rich

Key:

1. C
2. R
3. A
4. D
5. E
6. B
7. J
8. P
9. M
10. F
11. H
12. I
13. L
14. N
15. K
16. O
17. S
18. G
19. Q
20. T
21. Y
22. X
23. W
24. V
25. U


Starters:

How to use prepositions

[Part 22]

There are over 100 prepositions in English. This is a very small number compared with the vast number of nouns, verbs and adjectives. However, most beginners find it difficult to use prepositions correctly. Here is a guide for them.

[Throughout]

If something happens ‘throughout’ a period of time, it happens during that time.
Some people are unhappy throughout their lives.
The Provincial Council minister remained seated throughout the meeting.

When something happens throughout a place, it happens in all parts of it.
Some bookshops have branches throughout the island.

[Till]

If something happens ‘till’ a particular time, it happens until the time mentioned.
Hurry up! I can stay here only till 9 o’clock.
The coffee shop is open from seven till seven.

[To]

If something or somebody goes ‘to’ a place, they move towards it.
Mother went to the airport to meet her son returning from Australia.
The boy took the ball and threw it to the other end of the playground.
Even an occasional visit to the theatre is useful.

When we go to a concert or party, we go to the place where such activities take place.
We went to a friend’s birthday party last night.
When we attach something to another thing which is larger or fixed, the two things are joined.

The villagers tied the thief to a coconut tree.
Sometimes, we use ‘to’ to indicate the position of something.
Go ahead and you will find the hospital to the left.

We use ‘to’ to indicate who receives something.
I gave the bus fare to the conductor.

The following verbs are typically followed by ‘to’:
beckon, demonstrate, give, offer, point, show, signal, wave

We use ‘to’ after an adjective.
Sita was devoted to her mother.
Why do you remain utterly indifferent to my advice?

The following adjectives are typically followed by ‘to’:
courteous, cruel, devoted, disloyal, fair, faithful, friendly, indifferent, kind, loyal, nice, partial, sympathetic, unfair, unfaithful, unkind, kind

When we say something to somebody, we want that person to listen to us.
The minister began to explain his five-year plan to the Cabinet.
I haven’t spoken to her for two years.

The following verbs are typically followed by ‘to’:
announce, apologise, boast, brag, chat, complain, confide, explain, mention, mumble, murmur, mutter, preach, report, say, speak, talk, write

[Activity]

Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions. Check your answers with the key.

1. We are not expected .......... speak aloud here.
2. The child will not stop crying until he receives a piece ....... cake.
3. I saw her staring .......... the stranger on the bus.
4. The fox has eyes which contract ......... strong light and expand ........... darkness.
5. Everyone was warned that it was dangerous ....... travel alone.
6. He changed his appearance ..... dressing himself as a native.
7. The story caused a state .......... excited feeling.
8. We waited .......... him at the railway station.
9. Water dripped from the brim ......... his hat.
10. The fox is probably the most intelligent ......... all the quadrupeds.

Key:

1. to 2. of 3. at 4. in, in 5. to 6. by 7. of 8. for 9. of 10. of


Form adjectives from nouns

Words often come in families. You can expand your vocabulary by becoming familiar with these word families. In the following quiz we give you 25 nouns in column ‘A’. Fill in column ‘B’ with the relevant adjectives and check your answers with the key.

Column A Column B

1. Religion ..............
2. Remains ..............
3. Remark ..............
4. Repair ..............
5. Repetition ..............
6. Report ..............
7. Representation ..............
8. Reputation ..............
9. Repeat ..............
10. Response ..............
11. Responsibility ..............
12. Rest ..............
13. Retirement ..............
14. Reward ..............
15. Richness ..............
16. Rider ..............
17. Right ..............
18. Roll ..............
19. Romance ..............
20. Roughness ..............
21. Roundness ..............
22. Royalty ..............
23. Rudeness ..............
24. Rule ..............
25. Run ..............

Key:

1. religious
2. remaining
3. remarkable
4. irreparable
5. repeated
6. unreported
7. representative
8. reputable
9. respectable
10. responsive
11. responsible
12. restless
13. retired
14. rewarding
15. rich
16. riderless
17. right
18. rolling
19. romantic
20. rough
21. round
22. royal
23. rude
24. ruling
25. running.

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