GRAMMAR & RULES & EXERCISES
COLLECTED BY"GUELLIL MABROUK"
Contents (click below links).................................pro. English/high education
I/exercises
Unit One: articles and NounsII/answers key
Unit One: articles and Nouns
Unit Eleven: Present & Past Participles
1) Present participial phrases at the beginning of sentences
English sentences sometimes begin with a present participial phrase followed by a noun which is
understood to be the “subject” of the preceding present participle, as in the following examples:
Walking in the park, I admired the beautiful flowers.
(meaning “While I was walking in the park, I admired the beautiful flowers)
Wanting to improve my grades, I decided to quit my part-time job and spend more
time studying.
(meaning “Because I wanted to improve my grades, I decided to quit my part-time job
and spend more time studying.”)
Reading the newspaper every day, ESL students can learn useful, new vocabulary.
(meaning “If they read the newspaper every day” or “By reading the newspaper every day, ESL
students can learn some useful, new vocabulary.”)
Grammar Exercise One
Make up three sentences beginning with present participial phrases. You could begin with such verb forms as
reading, talking, listening, thinking, looking, studying, driving, going, seeing, hearing, feeling,
walking, traveling, visiting, etc.
2) Past participial phrases at the beginning of sentences
Sentences can also begin with a past participial phrase followed by a noun which is understood to be the
“subject” of a passive verb form, as in the following examples:
Annoyed by the loud music, I asked the teenagers to turn it down.
(meaning “Because I was annoyed by the loud music, I asked the teenagers to turn it
down.)
Tired from working all day, I went to bed early that night.
(meaning “Because I was tired from working all day, I went to bed early that night.”)
Frustrated with his difficult employer, Juan decided to quit his job.
(meaning “Because he was frustrated with his difficult employer, Juan decided to quit his job.)
Grammar Exercise Two
Make up three sentences beginning with past participial phrases. You could begin with such verb forms
excited, interested, encouraged, discouraged, bored, annoyed, irritated, inspired, pleased,
displeased, infuriated, frustrated, disappointed, frightened, pleased, displeased, confused, etc.
3) Present participial phrases used after nouns
Present participial phrases can also be used after nouns, as in the following examples:
In New York, I often see people rushing all over the place.
In my country, I would more often see people relaxing in cafes and stopping to talk to
each other in the street.
I smell something burning in the kitchen.
Note that the above participial phrases can be seen as shortened forms of adjective clauses, as in
In New York, I often see people who are rushing all over the place.
In my country, I would more often see people who were relaxing in cafes and stopping
to talk to each other in the street.
I smell something that is burning in the kitchen.
Grammar Exercise Three
Make up three sentences using the verbs see, hear, feel, or smell, followed by a noun, followed by a
present participial phrase.
4) Past participial phrases used after nouns
Past participial phrases can also be used after nouns, as in the following examples:
I sometimes see students discouraged by their lack of progress in learning English.
I meet immigrants in New York City excited by the many opportunities offered to
them by the city.
I was pleased to meet someone interested in my area of study.
Note that the above participial phrases can be seen as shortened forms of adjective clauses, as in
I sometimes see students who are discouraged by their lack of progress in learning
English.
I meet immigrants in New York City who are excited by the many opportunities
offered to them by the city.
I was pleased to meet someone who was interested in my area of study.
Grammar Exercise Four
Make up three sentences using the verbs see, speak to, hear, or meet followed by a noun, followed by a
past participial phrase. The past participial phrase could begin with such verb forms as excited,
interested, encouraged, discouraged, bored, annoyed, irritated, inspired, pleased, displeased,
infuriated, disappointed, frustrated, frightened, confused, etc.
Grammar Observation Exercise
Notice the use of present and past participial phrases in the following sentences (These are not errors, but
examples of correct use of present and past participial phrases by students):
1. We traveled across all of Russia, stopping in big and small cites and seeing new
things.
2. Analyzing the story, you can see that the mother cares about her daughter.
3. Putting too much pressure on their kids, parents create problems in the relationship.
4. I was surprised to see my father waiting there.
5. There is only me and my father living in America.
6. Trying to force their will on their daughters, mothers push their daughters away.
7. Wanting her daughter to be a prodigy, Jing Mei’s mother forces her to take piano
lessons.
8. Not caring about her daughter’s opinions, Jing Mei’s mother makes her daughter do
things that she doesn’t want to do.
9. Worried aobut her daughter’s behavior, the mother in “Girl” gives her daughter some
rules that she must follow.
10. Discouraged by her bad performance at the recital, Jing Mei refuses to continue
playing the piano.
11. Some women try to rescue themselves by marriage, thinking that if he loves me,
he’ll make me happy.
12. Then some women see their expectations broken into little pieces.
13. Speaking about women’s liberation, it would be good to mention how the woman in
this story feels about her husband’s death.
14. The woman thought “There would be no powerful will bending hers.”
15. Having a good mother, I still can’t deal with her sometimes.
16. Being a daughter, I know that mother-daughter relationships can be difficult.
17. Working all day, my father doesn’t have much time to spend with the family.
18. I see him come home tired from his long work day.
19. Respected by many people in my native country, it was hard for my father to adjust
to his new life in this country.
20. Discouraged by his trouble with English, my father had to accept a boring job with
low pay.
Proofreading Exercise
Correct the errors in the use of articles, nouns, verb forms (including infinitives, gerunds, and present and
past participles), punctuation and sentence structure, and word forms in the following essay (The types and
numbers of errors are indicated at the end of paragraphs):
In humans, shyness is a feeling of insecurity that certain people experience while being among
others, talking with others, asking favors of others, etc. I think shyness itself originates after a person has
experienced physical anxiety, there could be other ideas why a person is shy. Another example may be
she or he was raised in certain environment that cause the development of shyness, this concept is
directly connected with one of characters in a play “The Glass Menagerie” - Laura Wingfield. Laura, with
her paralyzing shyness, chose to avoid social situations because they have no reward for her, and she find
the extra sensory input overwhelming. Laura fear such situations and feel that she has to avoid them. And
in order to avoid this world of reality, she creates her own imaginary reality. The Glass Menagerie - Laura’s
private world.
(a-4, v-5, p-2)
Laura Wingfield , a daughter whose childhood illness has left her crippled. Stemming from this,
Laura’s separation increases until she is like a piece of her own glass collection, too fragile to move from
the shelf. Laura’s mother Amanda says, “Laura! Why, Laura, you are sick, darling! Tom, help your sister
into the living room dear! … Is Laura all right now?” Amanda says this to Laura when she felt sick during a
visit of a gentleman caller, Laura’s shyness makes her very uncomfortable, and instead of having a good
time in the new company, she feel sick. She decides to stay on a couch alone with her glass collection.
The collection of glass represents her own private world. Set apart from reality, a place where she can hide
and be safe. Jim, the gentleman caller says to Laura, “You know what I judge to be the trouble with you?
Inferiority complex! Know what that is? That’s what they call it when someone low-rates himself! I
understand it because I had it too. Although my case was not so aggravated as yours seems to be. …
Think of yourself as superior in some way!” He tries to give an advice to Laura and to help her, in respond,
Laura show Jim her glass unicorn. Laura point out to Jim that the unicorn is different, just as she is
different. She also point out that the unicorn does not complain about being different, as she does not
complain either. And when Jim accidentally breaks the horn off the unicorn, Laura points out that now it is
like the other horses. Just as Laura has shed some of her shyness and become more normal: “I’ll just
imagine he had an operation. The horn was removed to make him feel less - freakish! Now he will feel
more at home with the other horses, the ones that don’t have horns.” Laura comes close to Jim during their
conversation. They dance, they kiss. But Jim’s revelation that he is engaged to be married is devastating,
and push Laura back into her world, world of her imaginary.
(a-3, v-6, p-3, wf-2)
I spent some time thinking who could be as shy as Laura and I didn’t come up either with movie
character or with live example. I guess people like Laura don’t live an ordinary live, meet people, have
friends, socialize with them, they stay away from reality. However, I have found interesting fact in our local
newspaper. Research in the United States indicates that shyness is highest among Asian Americans and
lowest among Jewish Americans. One explanation for the cultural difference between Japanese and
Israelis lies in the ways each culture deals with attributing credit for success and blame for failure. In
Japan, an individual’s performance success is credited externally to parents, grandparents, teachers,
coaches, and others, while failure is entirely blame on the person. In Israel, the situation is entirely reverse.
Failure is externally attributed to parents, teachers, coaches, friends, and other things. While performance
success is credited to the individual.
In conclusion, there are people like Laura in this world. For example, the shyness clinic exists which
located in Los Altos, California. This clinic offer a broad spectrum of psychotherapeutic services for
shyness and social phobia. While scientists study and try to create technologies to solve this problem, I
think shyness itself can be solve by challenging automatic thoughts and beliefs, and learning new
behaviors.
(a-4, v-4, p-2, wf-1)
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