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Rifa’s Qualifying Program in English

‫مؤسسة رفعة للتطوير المجتمعي والبشري‬

.‫ الجمهورية اليمنية‬- ‫ذمار‬

VERBS, TENSES AND PASSIVE VOICE

1. Conjugation Typology

Infinitive Past Past participle Type

1 cost cost cost AAA
2 beat beat beaten AAC
3 run ran run ABA
4 arrive arrived arrived ABB
5 take took taken ABC

2. Regular “d” in past form, e.g. [serve > served]

 accommodate, achieve , advertise , advise , activate , admire , alternate analyze,

animate, appreciate , announce , arrange ,approve , argue , arrive articulate , bake ,
believe , bathe, behave , breathe calculate , celebrate , circulate , combine
,communicate , compare ,compete , complicate ,concentrate , confuse, conclude
,confine, continue, congratulate ,consume contribute ,converse, convince, cope ,create
,cultivate ,damage, demonstrate define derive, describe, deserve, differentiate, determine
,devote, die ,dominate distribute divorce, divide, elevate emerge exaggerate examine
excite exclude explode, explore ,expose ,free ,generate, ignore imagine impose improve
include indicate, initiate, inquire, introduce, investigate, invite, involve, irritate, locate,
liquidate , necessitate , negate, observe , operate ,oppose, owe ,palace , pollute
,prepare, preserve, please, populate, practice, presume ,produce ,propose promote, prove
,provide ,pronounce ,pursue, receive , reduce, retire, revise ,serve shade , suppose,
survive, tabulate ,validate , violate
 capture. care take care of care for challenge change charge chase chat. cause
cease close clothe code collapse complete cure curve dance date debate decide declare.
decline decorate balance. bandage base blame bottle bridge decrease...deliver. desire
disagree disappear disappoint disapprove ease encourage. end engage ensure entitle.
escape estimate exchange exercise face experience facilitate. feature adj., figure fill
finance fire force gamble glue grade. guarantee halve handle hesitate hire
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 hope, illustrate, increase, influence, injure, issue ,love, joke, judge, lecture, like,
live, manage , manufacture, measure, move, house, outline, pause, quote ,
persuade, phone ,telephone, pose , praise, purchase, promise , rate , race, raise ,
range, refuse, relate, release, replace , reproduce , require , rescue , reserve ,
resolve , rest , restore , reverse , saturate scare schedule score secure,
slide , slope . smile ,smoke solve square squeeze stare state store struggle, tackle.
Taste, telephone, tie up , tire trace ,trade , translate , tune unite , urge , use ,
value ,venture ,vote, waste, welcome, wish, surprise, sentence , separate, substitute
…others

Regular “ed” e.g. [ accept > accepted]

Add, address, affect, accept ,allow, appear, assist, attach ,attend ,attract ,appoint avoid
,bombard, borrow, can, cancel , check, chew, cheat, climb ,collect ,consist of ,construct,
consult ,confirm, convert, contain, curb, confront, connect, transform, tend, travel, treat,
wait, want, warn, . wash, watch, , wave, wonder yawn, favor, defend, depend ,develop,
display, drag ,distinguish, disturb, earn, edit, employ ,enjoy, enter, entertain, establish
exist expand ,expect explain, express, extend fetch float furnish gather, govern, grab,
greet hang harm .hear impress ,insert, insist ,infect, install, instruct interpret interrupt
invent. Invest intend join kill kiss learn look after, look, listen, melt ,obtain , occur ,
offend , open pack , pass , perform , possess , pretend , prevent , print out ,
proceed publish. Punish, prospect, protect , reach ,reckon, recommend, reflect, reject
relax, remain, respond, resist , restrict, retain, reveal, rush, stretch, succeed, suggest,
surround, suffer, swallow, switch off, switch on, select , spell ,account aid, aim
,amount, answer, appeal, approach, arm, arrest , attack , attempt , act award ,benefit,
block, board , book , brush, call, calm ,camp, claim ,coin, color comfort command
comment, concern, conduct, conflict, contact, contest ,contract contrast ,control , cough
cover crack crash cross crowd curl count clean credit defeat , delight demand deposit
desert design detail farm fashion fasten finish fish, flash, flavor, flood ,focus, fold ,film
,form ,function, fund, gain, hand, inform, insult ,interview ,interest ,jump, knock , kick, lack,
land ,last, launch, lift, light limit, list , load, lock, look, mail , major, march, mark,
match, milk, mind, acknowledge , monitor, mix ,murder, need, nest ,object, order,
paint, park, pin ,point , poison , plant , post ,press , process , polish ,program,
progress , protest, project, pull, punch, push, quit, question, rain , rank , react ,.
Record, repair, regard ,remark, report, research, request, result , return , respect
,reward ,roll , review ,ruin ,sack , sail , scratch , scream , screw , seal shift ,shock,
shout , show ,smash , smell , snow ,sign, sound, search , spoil ,spray ,steer, start
,stress ,support, survey ,suspect ,switch, suit, target, test, train, transfer ,track, trust
,twist, trick, view, turn ,visit, walk ,wander ,witness , work …others [ some of
the above verbs are verbs and nouns in the same time can you identify them ? ]

double + ed e.g. [ stop > stopped]

clot , commit , chopped , equip, knit , permit ,shop , stop…others

Y # ied, e. g. [ cry > cried]

ally , copy, cry, delay ,deny, worry ,study, dry, apply ,bury, hurry, carry …others

but these are Y+ed

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decay ,destroy ,play , stay …others

Derived Verbs

 authorize, categorize, centralize , characterize, civilize ,computerize conceptualize

,criticize, familiarize, emphasize, economize ,.energize ,equalize specialize, finalize ,
generalize , humanize, hospitalize, illegalize, individualize, industrialize ), institutionalize
, internationalize , jeopardize, maximize ,nationalize organize , popularize ,publicize ,
realize ,recognize , regularize sensitize, socialize , specialize , stabilize ,
summarize , sympathize . systematize, televise , theorize, urbanize, naturalize .
…others.
 worsen ,whiten , widen, blacken ,darken, hearten, frighten, threaten, strengthen
…others ( past „ed‟ )
 specify ,certify, justify ,signify , qualify , quantify , magnify , electrify simplify …
others [ past „ ..ied‟, e.g. justified ]

Prefix verb

 return , replace , undo , dislike , defrost , disconnect , decode , discount reform enlarge
enable , …others

Exercise : What is the group of each verb

Wound, crush, cycle, bore ,bother, agree , associate , clarify ,click, complain. Consider,
cook ,cool, correct , discover ,discuss, disgust ,dislike ,dismiss ,dissolve, do, undo,
double, doubt , draw, dream ,dress, drop ,deal, depart, depress ,dig, direct, disable,
educate, elect , embarrass, encounter., exhibit experiment, export ,fail ,fear, fix, follow.
,found, freeze, fry, gift, grant ,guard, guess happen, harden, hate, head, heal, heat ,help,
satisfy, save , settle , shape , share , shave , shelve , ship scarify , split, stamp ,step
,stir ,slip , rob, reply represent , rub , read , recall , recover , register , regret
, rely on , remember , remind . , remove , repeat , rule , identify, imply, import
,iron lay, legalize, lengthen , lie ,unload , localize , maintain ,marry mention ,
multiply, note ,notify , notice, obey , occupy , offer, pan , photocopy, photograph, pick
, place , plan , plot , plug, pour , pray , predict prefer ,present , purify , strip,
supply , touch , tour, trap, trip, try, vary, warm , weaken , weigh , worship

Irregular Verbs :
Look to the attached handouts

Usage I : - A verb is infinitive in Six cases :

a. When it is preceded by “to:
he wants to go us
To study abroad isn‟t a good plan

b. in simple present tense with these subjects including plural subject :

I / We / You/They / > agree with me.
The workers want to strike .

C. If it is accompanied by a modal or verb to do

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- Sam will/would / can / could/ may/ might/ must / shall/ should / can/could / could >
visit me
- Do / don‟t / does / doesn‟t/ did/ did not / > stop

d. In imperative sentence [ command / order ]

Please , sit calm and listen.

e. If it is a part of the object clause

- She let the bird fly away.
- Sam has his son drive the car for him
- I like people invite me to wedding meals .

Usage II verb is past without any auxiliary when we want to express past actions :

I/ We /you / He / She / it/ they/ the boy / the boys/ > went there yesterday.

Usage III : a verb is past participle if it is :

a. preceded by has , have , had ,
I / we/ you / they > have taken lunch.
He/ she/ it has > eaten the cakes.
I / we/ you / they/ He/ she/ it had gone there .

b. if the sentence is passive :

- Monalisa was painted by Davinci
- The lecture will be presented by Professor Rami

Usage IV : A verb takes [ s – form in simple present tense if the subject is singular
]:
He / She / it > comes from this direction.
This telephone costs YRs 10,000

 Adding “s‟‟ to verbs :

1- Sit > Sits / come > comes / like> likes.

2. watch> watches / search > searches / miss> misses / do> does.
3. study > studies / deny > denies / clarify > clarifies / generalize> generalizes.
Usage V: a verb is progressive [ „ing‟ form ] when ;
preceded by these auxilaries
is
are
am
was repairing the car
were
… been
--- be

 Adding “ing ‟‟ to verbs:

1. Do> doing / work> working / play> playing / sail> sailing
2. write> writing / come > coming / take > taking / observe > observing
3. hit > hitting / shop > shopping / plan > planning / cut > cutting
4. picnic > picnicking / panic > panicking
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 Some verbs are not likely to come in [ing form] such as :

Love / like / think / want / remember / believe/ prefer / respect / refuse/ deny/ hate/ hope/
- inappropriate: I am not believing in luck . X
- appropriate I do not believe in luck .
- Inappropriate : I was remembering you when I went to Egypt. X Appropriate : I
remembered you when I went to Egypt

TENSES
1. Simple present
The manager writes the report .
2. Simple past
The manager wrote the report.
3. Simple future
The manager will write the report.
4. Perfect present
The manager has written the report .
5. Perfect Past ( always a compound sentence )
The manager had written the report before he took his leave.

(remember that the first action whether in the beginning of the sentence or at the end of
it , it takes “had’)
- He bought a car after he had got the post)
6. Perfect Future :
The manager will have written the report.
7. Continuous Present :
The manager is writing the report
8. Continuous Past : (always a compound sentence)
The manager was writing the report when I came to visit him in his office .

(remember that the action that took longer time takes ‘was /were+ ing’ ):
My telephone rang twice when I was sleeping .
The two part of the sentence can take progressive form if the durations of the two
actions are equal in length :
It was raining when I was driving to the city.

9. Continuous Future :
The manager will be writing the report.
. Continuous Perfect Present :
The manager has been writing the report.
11. Continuous Perfect past : ( always compound)
The manager had been writing the report when his deputy went to attend the
conference.
12 . Continuous perfect future:
The manager will have been writing the report
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THE PASSIVE SENTENCES

Called also passive voice
 Dynamic and Static Sentences :
* Not all sentences can be put into passive
* A sentence that to put into passive include a subject , verb and an object. It is
dynamic whereas the sentence that you can not change into passive is static e.g.

- ACTIVE (DYNAMIC): The children broke the glass of my car.

- PASSIVE : The glass of my car was broken by the children.
-ACTIVE (STATIC) : Sam will be coming now from the hall.

* Some sentences are not preferred to be put into passive although they have
objects.
- e.g. ACTIVE (favored usage) Sam studies Chemistry.
- Passive ( unfavored usage) Chemistry is studied by Sam.
Here , because Sam is the agent which we speak about , not “chemistry”

* If the object is preceded by a preposition use active voice, e.g.

- CORRECT: The teacher is going to the class
INCORRECT: The class is being gone to by the teacher.

* If the doer agent is a pronoun , you don‟t need to re-mention it , e,g:

- COMMON: He often beats Sam in chess
- UNCOMMON: Sam is often beaten in chess by him
Omit “by him”

* Avoid dangling modifiers (disjunction ) caused by the use of passive voice, e.g.
FAVORED : To save time, she wrote the paper on a computer.
UNFAVORED: To save time, the paper was written on a computer. (Who was
saving time? The paper or the hidden doer ?)

THE VERB THAT MAKES THE SENTENCES PASSIVE TAKES PAST PARTICIPLE
FORMS

 CHANGE OF TENSES :
1. Simple Present :
The parliament passes new laws
New laws are passed by the parliament.
A new law is passed by the parliament

2. Simple past :
The parliament passed new laws
New laws were passed by the parliament.
A new law was passed by the parliament.

3. Simple future:
The parliament will pass new laws
New laws / A new law > will be passed by the parliament.

4- Perfect present :
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The parliament has passed new laws .

New laws have been passed by the parliament.
A new law has been passed by the parliament.

5. Perfect past
The parliament had passed new laws before any further discussion.
New laws had been passed by the parliament before any further discussion.

6. Perfect future
The parliament will have passed new laws
New laws/ a new law > will have been passed by the parliament.

7. Continuous present:
The parliament is passing new laws .
New Laws are being passed by the parliament .
A new law is being passed by the parliament.

8. Continuous past :
The parliament was passing new laws when the workers began strike.
New Laws was being passed by the parliament when workers began strike.
A new law was being passed by the parliament when workers began strike.

9. Continuous future:
The parliament will be passing new laws
New laws / A new law > will be passed by the parliament .

10. Perfect continuous present :

The parliament has been passing new laws.
New laws have been / A new law has been >continually passed by the parliament.

11. Perfect continuous past :

The parliament had been passing new laws before workers began strike
New laws had been continually passed by the parliament before workers began strike.
A new law had been passed by the parliament before workers began strike.

12. Perfect continuous future

The parliament will have been passing new laws before workers began strike
New laws will have been continually passed by the parliament

 WHEN DO WE USE PASSIVE ?

1- When the doer is unknown : (without “by…‟)
- My car was stolen.
- The flat I want has been rented.
- The books you are asking about are borrowed now .

2- When the doer is axiomatic , and there is no need to mention it. (without “by…‟)
- I was born in Saudia.
- He was sentenced five years of imprisonment.
- You can’t find any meat sold here in the afternoon.
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3- when the speaker wants to make a short sentence without mentioning the doer:
(without “by…‟)
- Prices have been doubled.
- I have been advised to have surgery .
- He was disappointed.
- The same mistake is repeated.

4- When we want to emphasize the object before mentioning the doer (with “by…‟)
- Some NGOs will be donated by the EU.
- Three Palestinians were shot dead by the Israeli force
- Cloned Dolly was produced by a Scott research institute .

5- When we express some scientific and historical facts (with “by…‟)

- Oil is carried by ships .
- Malaria is caused by mosquitoes.
- Tea and rubber are produced mainly by Asian countries.
- World War II was started on by Germany .
- Bacteria infections are treated mainly by antibiotics.

6. When we express scientific facts (without “by…‟)

- Water is composed of oxygen and Hydrogen.
- Most of tube babies are born female.
- Avian influenza (bird flu) is expected to spread widely.
- Tires are made of rubber.

7. When the creation or the act is known more than the initiator: (with “by…‟)
- America was discovered by Columbus
- Television was invented by John Logy Paird.
- Yemen is democratically ruled by the GPC party.
- Monaliza was painted by Davinci.
- Tom and Jerry animation was first produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in
1940

 Passive with modals:

- A new internet system will be launched soon.
- He may/ might be arrested.
- AIDS can be easily detected but can not be treated
- This street must be widened .
- they should be punished .

Tow- Object sentence (Indirect object)

Harvard University has sent Sam an application

- Sam has been sent an application form from Harvard University . OR
- An application form has been sent to Sam by Harvard University OR
- An application form has been send by Harvard University to Sam .

 Gerund Passive
- I don‟t like my ex-wife rear my child.
I don’t like my child being reared by my ex- wife.
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- Sam doesn‟t want his neighbors disturb him by their Hi-Fi stereo.
Sam doesn’t want being disturbed by the Hi-Fi stereo of his neighbors.

- I wish that my daughter score the highest mark in the school.

I wish that the highest mark in the school being scored by my daughter.

- The manager must not allow employees use computers for their personal affairs.
The manager must not allow computers being used by employees for their personal
affairs .

- Most of the children like their grandmothers tell them fairy tales.
- Most of the children like being told fairy tales by their grandmothers.
Verbal Zeugma is also known as synezeugmenon. Some rhetoricians subdivide
zeugma according to the location of the verb that functions as the shared connector of
two unrelated objects, e,g. I sent the letters and the family.

Verb phrase verb chain A verb chain consists of one or more auxiliary verb closely
followed by a main verb: has gone / is reading / will have come . A verb chain may be
up to five verbs long, e.g. must have been being interviewed and modifies the meaning
of the full verb by supplying information about tense and voice and the kind of meaning
that is expressed by modal verbs.

Verb collocation: verbs that constantly go with other words particularly nouns,
administer drugs, catch flu, shoot fire, The match was called off due to the rain",