SKILL 4: BE CAREFULL OF PRESENT PARTICIPLES

A present par*ciple is the -ing form of the verb such as walking, wri,ng, etc. In structure part in
the TOEFL test, a present par*ciple can cause confusion since it can be either a part of verb or an
adjec*ve. It is part of the verb when it is preceded by some form of the verb be. For example:

The man is walking with his friend.

VERB

In this example, the word walking is part of the verb because it is accompanied by be (is).
Meanwhile, a present par*ciple is an adjec;ve when it is not accompanied by some form of the
verb be. For example:

The man walking with his friend has a beard.

ADJ

In that example, walking is an adjec*ve and not part of the verb since it not accompanied by
some form of the verb be. So, the verb in that sentence is has.

The following example shows how a present par*ciple appears in structured ques*ons on the
TOEFL test.

Example:
The child . playing in the yard is my son.
A. now
B. is
C. he
D. was

In this example, the first word (The child) is the subject of the sentence. If you think that playing
is part of the verb, the answer might be (B). is or (D). was to complete this sentence. However,
these two answers are incorrect because playing is not part of the verb. You should recognize that
playing is a par*cipial adjec*ve rather than a verb because there is another verb in the sentence.
The verb in this sentence is the word is, located aSer the word yard. In this sentence there is a
complete subject (child) and a complete verb (is), so this sentence does not need another subject
or verb. The best answer here is (A).

Exercise Skill 4:

1. .you do not like shrimp, I have made some salad too.

A. Having known
B. Knowing
C. Is knowing
D. Known
2. The candidate . the most votes win the elec*on
A. Got
B. Is geXng
C. GeXng
D. Was geXng
3. .her work, I am sure she is a good employee.
A. Saw
B. Seeing
C. Having seen
D. See
4. .you have not got much *me, it might be be\er to discuss this tomorrow.
A. Having seen
B. Seeing
C. Saw
D. See
5. Who is the girl over there .to Robert?
A. Talk
B. Talked
C. Talking
 D. Having talked
6. If I feel stressed, I find taking a bath is oSen relax.
A B C D
7. He is siXng in a large chair read his newest ar*cle on the newspaper.
A B C D
8. He accidently kicked a table, having sent plates and glasses crashing to the floor.
A B C D
9. Several old bikes, abandoning by their owners, lay rus*ng in the basement.
A B C D
10. The room was crowded with the passenger wave farewell to their family and friends.
A B C D

SKILL 5: BE CAREFULL OF PAST PARTICIPLES

Past par*ciples can cause confusion in structure ques*ons on the TOEFL test because a past
par*ciple can be either an adjec*ve or a part of a verb. The past par*ciple is the form of the verb
that appears with have or be. It oSen ends in -ed, but there are also many irregular past par*ciples
in English. For example:

The family has closed their shop.

VERB

The poem was wri>en by Emma.

VERB

In the first sentence the past par*ciple closed is part of the verb because it is accompanied by
has. In the second sentence the past par*ciple wri>en is part of the verb because it is
accompanied by was.

A past par*ciple is an adjec;ve when it is not accompanied by some form of be or have. For
example:
 The shop closed yesterday was the old one.
ADJ

The poem wri>en by Emma appeared in the magazine.

ADJ

In the first sentence closed is an adjec*ve rather than a verb because it is not accompanied by a
form of be or have (and there is a verb, was, later in the sentence). In the second sentence wri\en
is an adjec*ve rather than a verb because it is not accompanied by a form of be or have (and
there is a verb, appeared, later in the sentence).

The following example shows how a past par*ciple can be confused with the verb in structure
ques*ons on the TOEFL test.

Example:
The packages . mailed at the post office will arrive Monday.
A. have
B. were
C. them
D. just

In this example, if you look only at the first few words of the sentence, it appears that packages
is the subject and mailed is either a complete verb or a past par*ciple that needs a helping verb.
But if you look further in the sentence, you will see that the verb is will arrive. You will then
recognize that mailed is a par*cipial adjec*ve and is therefore not part of the verb. Answers (A)
and (B) are incorrect because mailed is an adjec*ve and does not need a helping verb such as
have or were. Answer (C) is incorrect because there is no need for the object them. Answer (D) is
the best answer to this ques*on.
Exercise Skill 5:

1. He has been fishing for five hours but he has not .a fish yet.
A. Was caught
B. Catch
C. Caught
D. Been caught
2. How much work have you .today?
A. Do
B. Does
C. Did
D. Done
3. Who has .all the food?
A. Eaten
B. Ea*ng
C. Ate
D. Eat
4. I have .Tony since I was at school.
A. Knew
B. Know
C. Been known
D. Known
5. I had .to the manager. He will call you later.
A. Speak
B. Spoken
C. Spoke
D. Been spoken
6. This was the first *me she had do her homework.
A B C D
7. They has started the game before the sun set because of some reasons.
 A B C D
8. He was so happy because he has never drove a motorbike before.
A B C D
9. By the *me we arrived, I realized that the children had ate all the chocolate.
A B C D
10. She had bring a cake to the party but we did not know.
A B C D