Finding Participles in News Headlines
2020-10-09
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1I was reading The New York Times newspaper this morning and came across a headline that read "Laughter May Be Effective Medicine for These Trying Times."
2A news headline is a very short summary of a news story that appears above the story, usually in large letters.
3The Times headline got me thinking about how much the world could use some laughter right now.
4Because I love grammar, I also thought about ways headlines and sentences are the same and different.
5To keep headlines short and catchy, English-based news groups use a few methods.
6Some, for example, leave out any form of the verb "be."
7Many also leave out the words "a," "an" and "the."
8And, most use the present verb tense. These are just a few examples.
9All in all, there are more similarities than differences between headlines and complete sentences.
10That is why headlines can teach us about English grammar, including about participles.
11Some English learners find these word forms difficult.
12On recent Everyday Grammar programs, we talked about present participles and past participles.
13On today's program, we will identify participles in news headlines and review them using a "test yourself" format.
14Let me begin by reviewing present participles.
15They are very common in English-language news headlines.
16As a reminder, the present participle is a word form that ends in -ing and has specific functions in English.
17For instance, it is used in all continuous tenses.
18The word "studying" in "You are studying English" is an example.
19In addition, some participles are adjectives, such as the word "shocking" in the sentence "His words were shocking."
20Listen for the present participle word in the following headline, which I mentioned earlier from the New York Times newspaper.
21Decide whether the word is:
22a-an adjective
23b-part of a continuous verb (or)
24c-neither
25Here's the headline again:
26Laughter May Be Effective Medicine for These Trying Times
27Did you find the present participle? It is the word "trying."
28Now, take a look at the phrase "trying times."
29The word "trying" describes the noun "times" so, in this headline, "trying" is an adjective.
30The answer is b. "Trying times" means a period of difficulty.
31Now, look at the headline again.
32Have any words been left out that prevent it from being a complete sentence?
33You can tell us later in the comments and do the same for the other headlines.
34Here is another one, this time from the VOA Learning English website.
35This headline has two present participles in it.
36We will focus on the first one.
37Listen to the headline and decide whether the word "becoming" is:
38a-an adjective
39b-part of a continuous verb (or)
40c-neither
41Here it is:
42World Becoming Less Accepting of Migrants, Poll Finds
43Did you decide on what "becoming" is?
44It is part of a continuous verb tense - in this case, the present continuous.
45 So the answer is a.
46Notably, the word "is" was left out before "becoming,"
47 so it may not have been immediately clear that you were looking at a continuous verb tense.
48Remember: Headlines often do not include the verb "be."
49Now let's review past participles, which are also common in news headlines.
50To refresh your memory, the past participle is a word form that often ends in -ed and has three main functions in English.
51It is used in all perfect verb tenses, as in "I have visited that museum."
52It is also used in passive verbs, as in, "He is taken to school by his father."
53Additionally, some past participles are adjectives, like in the sentence "The animal is scared."
54Past participles can have endings other than -ed since there are 200 irregular verbs in English.
55They may have any of several endings, such as -n, as in the words "seen" and "taken."
56Or they may look like a base verb, as in the words "run" "cut" and "cost."
57Listen for the past participle in this headline from The Associated Press news service.
58Decide whether the word is:
59a-an adjective
60b-part of a passive verb
61c-part of a perfect verb
62Here's the headline:
63Pennsylvania online voter services restored following outage
64Did you find the past participle? It is the word "restored."
65And it is part of the passive verb "are restored," so the answer is b.
66That one was not easy, since the headline left out the verb "be."
67Remember that, in passive voice, the person or thing performing the action of the verb is often not mentioned.
68That is true for many headlines, as it helps to keep them short.
69OK, now let's take a look at a headline from the CNN website.
70Listen carefully for the past participle word and decide whether it is:
71a-an adjective
72b-part of a passive verb
73c-part of a perfect verb
74Nobel Prize awarded for discovery of Hepatitis C
75Did you find the past participle? It is the word "awarded."
76Like the earlier example, this headline required you to think about what word might be missing - the verb "be" in this case.
77And "awarded" is part of the passive verb "is awarded."
78So the answer is c.
79Well, I hope you enjoyed examining these headlines for participles.
80If you had trouble with them, do not worry!
81You can learn more about participles on our recent programs.
82I'm Alice Bryant.
1I was reading The New York Times newspaper this morning and came across a headline that read "Laughter May Be Effective Medicine for These Trying Times." 2A news headline is a very short summary of a news story that appears above the story, usually in large letters. 3The Times headline got me thinking about how much the world could use some laughter right now. Because I love grammar, I also thought about ways headlines and sentences are the same and different. 4To keep headlines short and catchy, English-based news groups use a few methods. Some, for example, leave out any form of the verb "be." Many also leave out the words "a," "an" and "the." And, most use the present verb tense. These are just a few examples. 5All in all, there are more similarities than differences between headlines and complete sentences. That is why headlines can teach us about English grammar, including about participles. Some English learners find these word forms difficult. 6On recent Everyday Grammar programs, we talked about present participles and past participles. On today's program, we will identify participles in news headlines and review them using a "test yourself" format. 7Present participles 8Let me begin by reviewing present participles. They are very common in English-language news headlines. 9As a reminder, the present participle is a word form that ends in -ing and has specific functions in English. For instance, it is used in all continuous tenses. The word "studying" in "You are studying English" is an example. In addition, some participles are adjectives, such as the word "shocking" in the sentence "His words were shocking." 10Listen for the present participle word in the following headline, which I mentioned earlier from the New York Times newspaper. Decide whether the word is: 11a-an adjective 12b-part of a continuous verb (or) 13c-neither 14Here's the headline again: 15Laughter May Be Effective Medicine for These Trying Times 16Did you find the present participle? It is the word "trying." Now, take a look at the phrase "trying times." The word "trying" describes the noun "times" so, in this headline, "trying" is an adjective. The answer is b. "Trying times" means a period of difficulty. 17Now, look at the headline again. Have any words been left out that prevent it from being a complete sentence? You can tell us later in the comments and do the same for the other headlines. 18Here is another one, this time from the VOA Learning English website. This headline has two present participles in it. We will focus on the first one. Listen to the headline and decide whether the word "becoming" is: 19a-an adjective 20b-part of a continuous verb (or) 21c-neither 22Here it is: 23World Becoming Less Accepting of Migrants, Poll Finds 24Did you decide on what "becoming" is? It is part of a continuous verb tense - in this case, the present continuous. So the answer is a. 25Notably, the word "is" was left out before "becoming," so it may not have been immediately clear that you were looking at a continuous verb tense. Remember: Headlines often do not include the verb "be." 26Past participles 27Now let's review past participles, which are also common in news headlines. 28To refresh your memory, the past participle is a word form that often ends in -ed and has three main functions in English. It is used in all perfect verb tenses, as in "I have visited that museum." It is also used in passive verbs, as in, "He is taken to school by his father." Additionally, some past participles are adjectives, like in the sentence "The animal is scared." 29Past participles can have endings other than -ed since there are 200 irregular verbs in English. They may have any of several endings, such as -n, as in the words "seen" and "taken." Or they may look like a base verb, as in the words "run" "cut" and "cost." 30Listen for the past participle in this headline from The Associated Press news service. Decide whether the word is: 31a-an adjective 32b-part of a passive verb 33c-part of a perfect verb 34Here's the headline: 35Pennsylvania online voter services restored following outage 36Did you find the past participle? It is the word "restored." And it is part of the passive verb "are restored," so the answer is b. That one was not easy, since the headline left out the verb "be." 37Remember that, in passive voice, the person or thing performing the action of the verb is often not mentioned. That is true for many headlines, as it helps to keep them short. 38OK, now let's take a look at a headline from the CNN website. Listen carefully for the past participle word and decide whether it is: 39a-an adjective 40b-part of a passive verb 41c-part of a perfect verb 42Here it is: 43Nobel Prize awarded for discovery of Hepatitis C 44Did you find the past participle? It is the word "awarded." Like the earlier example, this headline required you to think about what word might be missing - the verb "be" in this case. And "awarded" is part of the passive verb "is awarded." So the answer is c. 45Well, I hope you enjoyed examining these headlines for participles. If you had trouble with them, do not worry! You can learn more about participles on our recent programs. 46I'm Alice Bryant. 47Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 48_________________________________________________________________ 49Now, you try it! Examine the four headlines from today's story. Decide which words have been left out. Then, write the headlines as complete sentences in the comments. If there are no words missing, write "nothing missing." Here they are again: 50Laughter May Be Effective Medicine for These Trying Times 51World Becoming Less Accepting of Migrants, Poll Finds 52Pennsylvania online voter services restored following outage 53Nobel Prize awarded for discovery of Hepatitis C 54________________________________________________________________ 55Words in This Story 56summary - n. a brief statement that gives the most important information about something 57tense - n. a form of a verb that is used to show when an action happened 58review - v. to study or look at something again 59function - n. the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used 60mention - v. to briefly talk about, write about, or refer to something or someone 61phrase - a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence 62focus - v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific 63poll - n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or questions to find out what most people think about something 64irregular - adj. not normal or usual 65outage - n. a period when a power supply or other service is not available or when equipment is closed down