What Is Youth?

Ibrahim Jubaira

The following essay is a definition essay. A definition essay gives the meaning of a word,
phrase, term or concept. Read the essay and find out why contrary to popular saying, youth is
not wasted on the young.

Youth is the virgin morning, the seedtime of life; it’s the fresh immaculate clouds, the
dazzling expanding sun, the cool silvery moon upon which a child’s delight is focused with
wonder and fascination. It’s the vigorous winds, the falling rains, the cascading flow of newly
found rivers; it’s the shore of life. That is youth, partly youth. But youth, I told my boy, is more
than that.

Youth at times is the shuffling feet of a girl, her whimpers and cries, her endless complaints.
It’s a boy’s fistfights and black eyes in the classroom one moment and then his equivocal
friendship the next. It’s scrawls and chalk marks on the walls, the crude writings and drawings
on the board: it’s a pencil constantly licked by an innocent moist tongue. It’s pigtails and
fancy ribbons. Its anxious hand fingering the book, the eyes focused on the board, an eager
ear to catch the word.

Youth is the ever-questioning boy who has not yet caught the meaning of the world, who
is confused by the intricate pattern of life. It’s a boy rubbing his eyes, raising his voice to ask:
What is beyond that mountain, moon, the sun, and the stars? God could not be sufficient
answer, because who made God then? And you ask him to be quiet. Youth then is curiosity
and sober thoughts. It’s a child hungering for knowledge, because it has not acquired any yet.

Youth then is a boy or girl laughing and crying on the face of this earth. It’s bicycle and
bus rides and movies and hitchhiking and reckless, aimless wanderings. Its robust boy drinking
the sweet water of this earth, hugging the sweetness of life, lamenting nothing, because life for
youth is more laughter, while heartaches and real sorrows and responsibilities belong to
another age, another time, time, another season.

Understanding and Using the Past Tense

There are two kinds of verbs:

What Are Regular Verbs?

 A regular verb is one that conforms to the usual rule for forming its simple past tense and its
past participle. In English, the "usual" rule is to add -ed or -d to the base form of the verb to
create the past forms.

What are Irregular verbs?

 An irregular verb is a type of verb that does not follow the general rule of using “-ed” at the
end of the word to make the past tense or the past participle form. It means the spellings of an
irregular verb can be tricky and may follow a different pattern.

 Examples of regular verbs:

 Present Tense Past tense/Past participle

bag bagged

beg begged

clip clipped

clog clogged

commit committed

dip dipped

embed embedded

kidnap kidnapped

hem hemmed

omit omitted

travel travelled

1. Irregular verbs whose principal pats are the same

Present tense Past tense Past participle

bet bet bet

bid bid bid

broadcast ----- -----

cost cost cost

cut cut cut

hit hit hit

hurt hurt hurt

put put put

quit quit quit

2. Irregular verbs whose past tense & past participle are the same

Present tense Past tense Past participle

breed bred bred

cling clung clung

dig dug dug

dream dreamt dreamt

feed fed fed

fight fought fought

 flee fled fled

fling flung flung

3. Other irregular verbs

Present tense Past tense Past participle

blow blown blown

draw drew drawn

drive drove driven

grow grew grown

know knew known

ride rode ridden

shake shook shaken

take took taken

begin began begun

bid bade bidden

drink drank drunk

fly flew flown

3. Irregular verbs that have an -n or -en ending in the past participle

Present tense Present tense Past participle

bear bore born; borne

bite bit bitten

break broke broken

choose chose chosen

forget forgot forgotten

freeze froze frozen

lie lay lain

steal stole stolen

swear swore sworn

tear tore torn

wear wore worn

weave wove woven

Uses & Forms of the Past Tense

 Note the following sentences. All the verbs indicate a past action or a past condition. How are
the different forms of the past tense formed? Pick out the adverbials used to denote past time.

1. The Simple Past Tense in statements

a. Aunt Ely and her family arrived last October 15.

b. The Sunday before the fiesta, we were very much excited.

2. The Past Emphatic Form; did + simple form of verb.

a. We did have fruit salad during the last fiesta.

b. Mother did see them again after seven years.

3. Negative Statements in the past tense - Did with adverb not and the simple form of verb.

a. The students did not watch the eclipse last night.

b. You did not do your homework as you promised.

c. The news did not bother us at all.

4. Asking the questions in the Past tense – Did with the simple form of the verb is also used with
questions in the past tense.

a. Did a Filipino really invent the fluorescent tube?

b. How did Fleming discover the penicillin?

c. Where did you to use the computer very well? learn

5. The past Progressive Form - was/ were + present participle of the main verb (-ing)

a. She was reading the newspaper when Andrea handed her the cablegram.

b. We were waiting for them to come.

c. Mother was cooking the whole day before the fiesta.

Past Progressive

The past progressive is used to show an action going on in the past action happened or before an
the other is take place. It is formed by using was or were plus the –ing form of the main verb.

6. Past Habitual Action

A past habitual action is indicated by using the simple present tense with adverbials like every day,
usually, weekly.

Example:

Every year the Ramoses spend the summer with us.

Past habitual action that is no longer done at the time of speaking is indicated by the expression to.

a. They used to spend summer vacations with us until they left for the states.

b. Mother used to babysit her grandchild twenty years ago.

c. Mother used to go to market to buy food; now she simply calls up the supermarket that
delivers the groceries.
7. The Past Passive voice is made up of was and were + the past participle of the main verb.

a. The plane was delayed for an hour.

b. Nell and John were given a quick briefing.

c. Roast pig was served as the main dish of the feast.

Understanding and Using the Past Tenses

The past perfect tense is used to indicate an action that was completed before another action
happened. It follows this form:

Had + Past participle of the verb

Examples:

I had left the house when my aunt and my cousins came.

When I graduated from the college, the unemployment rate had already improved.

My grandparents had left town before the fire began.

Using direct and indirect speech

Direct Speech

 The reporting of speech by repeating the actual words of a speaker, for example “I'm going,”
she said.

Indirect Speech

 is a means of expressing the content of statements, questions or other utterances, without

quoting them explicitly as is done in direct speech. For example, He said "I'm coming" is
direct speech, whereas He said (that) he was coming is indirect speech.

Bobby said “ I am staying at home today”.(Direct Speech)

Bobby said that he was staying home today.(Indirect Speech)

Direct Speech

Simple present

“ Lee draws very well” Janet observed.

Present progressive

The students exclaimed “ we are having so much pain.”

Present perfect

“ I have finally found my necklace” said jean.

Simple Past
“ Boracay is my sanctuary” shared the foreign journalist.

Indirect Speech

Simple past

Janet observed that Lee drew very well.

Past Progressive

The students exclaimed that they were having so much fun.

Past perfect

Jean said that she had finally found her necklace.

Past Perfect

The foreign journalist had shared that Boracay was his sanctuary.

The changes in pronouns also occur when changing from direct speech to indirect speech.

Direct Speech

“ I am leaving for Cebu tonight” Paolo said.

Me

Anna said” Mother gave me a pair of pearl earrings”.

My

Kevin said “ My collection of action figures is growing”.

We

“We are excited to see the beach!” my sister said.

Indirect Speech

He/ she

Paolo said that he was leaving tonight.

Him/ Her

Anna said that her mother had given a pair of pearl earrings.

His/her

Kevin said that his collection of action figures was growing.

They

My sisters said that they were excited to see that beach.

Using Preposition to Express Relationship

 A preposition is word that is used to relate a noun or a pronoun to some other words in the sentence.
They usually come before a noun or a noun phrase and give information about time, place, and
direction.

A preposition shows how things are related.

Some preposition:

Using Prepositional Phrases

A preposition should always have an object. A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition, ends
with an object, and may or may not have modifiers between the two.

Prepositional Phrases can be as adjective or adverbs.

Examples of prepositional phrase: From the hudhud, to the sea, on the hunting trips, before bugan,
under the mango tree.

Read the following creation myth taken from the article A Thousand Years of Filitude by Isagani R.
Cruz. Underline the Prepositional Phrases.

In the beginning was Dagau, who set the world a top five iron pillars, one of them at the
center. The sky was round and was bounded by the sea. Near the sea’s edge was its navel, a
gigantic hole. The water rose and fell through this hole, causing high and low tides. The world was
shaped like a mushroom, underneath which lived Dagau with her pet giant python. This deity
created Filipinos, who then dispersed throughout the earth and become all other peoples.

Using Expression of Time and Place

There are words that express time and place. In usual conversations, we use these expressions to
ensure that we understand one another better. Take a look at some of these expression:

Take a look at the following conversation:

Phil: Hey! I was looking for you yesterday.

Coleen: Hi! Sorry, I was not at home last night. Why?

Phil: I was going to borrow your English book.

Coleen: Oh, wait. Here it is.

Phil: Thanks! When do you need it back?

Coleen: Next week, please. Just leave it on my desk in school.

Notice that both Phil and Coleen used expressions of time and place. You may use the expressions
whenever you talk with family and friends.