The Present Participle
2020-09-25
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Today, let me start with a question: What do the following three statements have in common?
2You are learning about grammar.
3The president's words were shocking.
4I smelled food burning in the kitchen.
5Did you find the commonality?
6You may have noted that there is an -ing word in each sentence: learning, exciting, burning.
7These are examples of the present participle, a word form that ends in -ing and has a specific purpose in a sentence.
8Present participles can refer to the present, past or future.
9I hope the meaning of that becomes clearer over the next few minutes.
10On this Everyday Grammar program, we will talk about three uses for present participles.
11Let's start with continuous verb tenses.*
12As a reminder, a continuous tense is one that includes the verb "be" plus the -ing form of a verb.
13There are six continuous tenses in English.
14Some are more common than others.
15You do not need to learn them all to understand the present participle.
16Continuous tenses can describe present, past or future actions or events.
17Now, let's think about an example from earlier.
18Listen closely for the verb:
19You are learning about grammar.
20Here, the speaker used the present continuous verb tense.
21Notice that the verb "be" appears in the present form "are."
22And the verb "teach" is in present participle form, "teaching."
23Now, listen to an example about something that already happened:
24I was watching a movie when you called.
25In the first part of the sentence, the speaker used the verb "was watching," which is the past continuous tense.
26Notice that the verb "be" appears in the past form, "was."
27Yet the verb "watch" still appears in present participle form, "watching."
28Next, let's turn to verbs of perception, also known as "sense verbs."
29These are verbs that describe experiences we have through the physical senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste.
30We sometimes use the present participle after sense verbs.
31Listen for the sense verb and the present participle in this sentence, which you heard earlier:
32I smelled food burning in the kitchen.
33Here, the sense verb is "smell" and the sentence is about something that happened in the past.
34The speaker used the verb "burn" in its present participle form, "burning."
35Notice that the sentence structure is sense verb + object + present participle.
36The object in the speaker's sentence is "food."
37After sense verbs, use of the present participle shows that the speaker experienced only part of what happened.
38It emphasizes that an action was in progress or not finished when a speaker experienced it.
39Here is another example that involves a sense verb and the present participle:
40I heard the woman talking about the election.
41The sense verb here is "heard" and the verb "talk" is in present participle form, "talking."
42The object is "the woman." Use of the present participle "talking" here suggests the speaker only heard part of what was said.
43And finally, we move to adjectives that end in -ing, also known as present participial adjectives.
44Do not worry! You do not need to remember that term.
45Just remember that in English, some adjectives end in -ing.
46We usually use these adjectives to describe a person, thing or idea that causes a feeling or emotion.
47In one of our earlier examples, you heard the adjective "shocking."
48Listen to it again and take mental note of what caused the emotion:
49The president's words were shocking.
50The speaker is saying that she felt shocked by something: the president's words.
51Participial adjectives appear in the same position in sentences that normal adjectives do - after linking verbs, such as "be," and before nouns.
52In this final example, listen for the -ing adjective and the noun that follows:
53That boring online class put me to sleep!
54Did you find the adjective? It was "boring."
55And it came before the noun "online classes."
56Remember that -ing adjectives describe the cause for an emotion.
57 In this case, the online class caused the speaker to feel bored.
58And that's our program for this week.
59I'm Alice Bryant.
1Today, let me start with a question: What do the following three statements have in common? 2You are learning about grammar. 3The president's words were shocking. 4I smelled food burning in the kitchen. 5Did you find the commonality? You may have noted that there is an -ing word in each sentence: learning, exciting, burning. These are examples of the present participle, a word form that ends in -ing and has a specific purpose in a sentence. 6Present participles can refer to the present, past or future. I hope the meaning of that becomes clearer over the next few minutes. 7On this Everyday Grammar program, we will talk about three uses for present participles. 8Continuous tenses 9Let's start with continuous verb tenses.* 10As a reminder, a continuous tense is one that includes the verb "be" plus the -ing form of a verb. There are six continuous tenses in English. Some are more common than others. You do not need to learn them all to understand the present participle. 11Continuous tenses can describe present, past or future actions or events. 12Now, let's think about an example from earlier. Listen closely for the verb: 13You are learning about grammar. 14Here, the speaker used the present continuous verb tense. Notice that the verb "be" appears in the present form "are." And the verb "teach" is in present participle form, "teaching." 15Now, listen to an example about something that already happened: 16I was watching a movie when you called. 17In the first part of the sentence, the speaker used the verb "was watching," which is the past continuous tense. Notice that the verb "be" appears in the past form, "was." Yet the verb "watch" still appears in present participle form, "watching." 18Sense verbs 19Next, let's turn to verbs of perception, also known as "sense verbs." 20These are verbs that describe experiences we have through the physical senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. 21We sometimes use the present participle after sense verbs. 22Listen for the sense verb and the present participle in this sentence, which you heard earlier: 23I smelled food burning in the kitchen. 24Here, the sense verb is "smell" and the sentence is about something that happened in the past. The speaker used the verb "burn" in its present participle form, "burning." 25Notice that the sentence structure is sense verb + object + present participle. The object in the speaker's sentence is "food." 26After sense verbs, use of the present participle shows that the speaker experienced only part of what happened. It emphasizes that an action was in progress or not finished when a speaker experienced it. 27Here is another example that involves a sense verb and the present participle: 28I heard the woman talking about the election. 29The sense verb here is "heard" and the verb "talk" is in present participle form, "talking." The object is "the woman." Use of the present participle "talking" here suggests the speaker only heard part of what was said. 30Participial adjectives 31And finally, we move to adjectives that end in -ing, also known as present participial adjectives. Do not worry! You do not need to remember that term. Just remember that in English, some adjectives end in -ing. 32We usually use these adjectives to describe a person, thing or idea that causes a feeling or emotion. 33In one of our earlier examples, you heard the adjective "shocking." Listen to it again and take mental note of what caused the emotion: 34The president's words were shocking. 35The speaker is saying that she felt shocked by something: the president's words. 36Participial adjectives appear in the same position in sentences that normal adjectives do - after linking verbs, such as "be," and before nouns. 37In this final example, listen for the -ing adjective and the noun that follows: 38That boring online class put me to sleep! 39Did you find the adjective? It was "boring." And it came before the noun "online classes." 40Remember that -ing adjectives describe the cause for an emotion. In this case, the online class caused the speaker to feel bored. 41And that's our program for this week. 42I'm Alice Bryant. 43Alice Bryant wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 44*Continuous verb tenses are sometimes called "progressive" verb tenses. 45__________________________________________________ 46Words in This Story 47kitchen - n. a room in which food is cooked 48refer to - v. to have a direct connection or relationship to something 49tense - n. a form of a verb that is used to show when an action happened 50perception - n. the way that you notice or understand something using one of your senses 51emphasize - v. to give special attention to something 52boring - adj. dull and uninteresting