Adjectives: -ed and -ing

A lot of adjectives are made from verbs by adding -ing or -ed:

-ing adjectives:

The commonest -ing adjectives are:

amusing	shocking	surprising	frightening
interesting	disappointing	exciting	tiring
worrying	boring	terrifying	annoying

If you call something interesting you mean it interests you.

If you call something frightening you mean it frightens you.

• I read a very interesting article in the newspaper today.
• That Dracula film was absolutely terrifying.

-ed adjectives:

The commonest –ed adjectives are:

annoyed	bored	frightened	worried
tired	closed	excited	delighted
disappointed

If something annoys you, you can say you feel annoyed. If something interests you, you can say you are interested.

• The children had nothing to do. They were bored.

Solarbox

Do people use public phones in your country or do most people have their own mobile phone? In London there are lots of phone boxes that aren't used very often and in this video you'll see an interesting new use for them.

Preparation

British and American terms

British and American English often spell the same word differently, for example: labour/labor, enthrall/enthral, or centre/center. You can find out more about these differences here.

There are also many cases in which the two varieties of English use different terms to describe the same thing. Here’s a list of various British words and expressions together with their American equivalents.

British English and American English

British people and American people can always understand each other – but there are a few notable differences between British English and American English 

Grammar

Americans use the present perfect tense less than speakers of British English and a British teacher might mark wrong some things that an American teacher would say are correct.

• US Did you do your homework yet?
• Brit. Have you done your homework yet?

• US I already ate.
• Brit. I’ve already eaten.

In British English, ‘have got’ is often used for the possessive sense of ‘have’ and ‘have got to’ is informally used for ‘have to’. This is much less common in American English.

• Brit. I’ve got two sisters.
• US I have two sisters.

• Brit. I’ve got to go now.
• US I have to go now.

There are a number of other minor grammatical differences.

Hanukkah

What do you know about Hanukkah? Find out how the Jewish Festival of Lights is celebrated in the UK.

What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah (or Chanuka) is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It lasts for eight days and is usually celebrated in November or December. Hanukkah traditions include lighting candles, giving presents, playing games and eating food fried in oil, like doughnuts or potato pancakes.

Special candles

The traditional Hanukkah candle holder is called a Hanukkah menorah or hanukkiah and it has been used as a Jewish symbol since ancient times. A Hanukkah menorah has nine candles which are lit at night-time during Hanukkah.

In London you can see a giant menorah lit up with candles for the Hanukkah London event, in celebration of the Jewish Festival of Lights. This huge menorah in Trafalgar Square is installed close to the Christmas tree for a truly multicultural winter celebration.

Playing dreidel

A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters on each one of its sides. Playing with the dreidel is a traditional Hanukkah game played in Jewish homes in Britain and all over the world, and rules may vary from family to family. There are various games you can play with the dreidel. The games involve spinning the top and placing bets (often using coins, raisins or matchsticks) on which letters shows when the top stops spinning and falls over.

Food

Fried food is traditional at Hanukkah. Latkes are fried pancakes made with potatoes, onions, eggs, flour and oil. Jam-filled doughnuts are another popular Hanukkah treat. Dairy food such as cheese and cheesecake are also traditionally eaten at this festival.

Presents and cards

It’s traditional to give presents or money to family and friends at Hanukkah. Hanukkah Gelt refers to money given as a gift at the festival.

Gelt is the Yiddish word for money. Children are often given chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil.

People also give Hanukkah greetings cards. The cards often show a picture of a menorah or dreidel.

One UK online greetings cards company even combines Christmas (December) and Hanukkah (November/December) to make a card with the greeting “Very Merry Chrismukkah wishes”!

Happy Hanukkah!

Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims Come to America
In 1620, the Pilgrims sailed on the Mayflower to America. Theywere warned that Indians may attack them. The voyage could be dangerous. There could be pirates or hurricanes. The Pilgrims risked their lives.

It all started with a king. The King of England said that everyone must belong to his church. The Pilgrims wanted to pray in their own church. They tried to meet in secret but the king had the Pilgrim leaders arrested.
The Pilgrims decided to leave England. They sailed on the Mayflower to find religious freedom. They gave up their houses.They said good-bye to their friends.
The ship was very crowded. There were 102 people on the Mayflower. There were 70 men and women and 32 children. The children could not bring any toys. They couldn’t run and play. There was no water for washing. They couldn’t change their clothes.
They became dirty and smelly. The food was not good. The Pilgrims ate the same thing every day.
Some of the food had worms.
The Mayflower carried supplies as well as passengers. It carried barrels of water and food, seeds to plant, tools for planting, tools for building houses and clothes, knives, and beads for trading with the Indians.

Halloween exercises

Read the text about Halloween, then do these exercises to check your understanding.

1. Check your understanding: true or false
Circle True or False for these sentences.
1. People celebrate Halloween on 31st October in Britain.                         True    False
2. Halloween is not a public holiday in the UK.                                       True    False
3. Halloween lanterns are usually made from potatoes.                          True    False
4. Apple bobbing is a game which involves apples, water and a bowl.        True    False
5. Only children dress up at Halloween.                                                True    False
6. Trick or treating is an American custom that is now popular in Britain. True    False
7. Fright Night is a big Halloween party in the north of England.               True    False
8. The film ‘Psycho’ is suitable for all ages.                                            True    False

2. Check your vocabulary: grouping

Write the words in the correct group.

apples     black     curry     vampire     ghost     soup        witch     zombie     red     pumpkins     orange     white

Colours	Food	Halloween characters

3. Check your vocabulary: gap fill – collocations
Complete the collocations with a verb from the box.

dress up     wear     go     go to     make     celebrate     play     watch

1. _______________ Halloween
2. _______________ a lantern
3. _______________ apple bobbing
4. _______________ as a witch
5. _______________ a costume
6. _______________ trick or treating
7. _______________ a party
8. _______________ a film

Discussion

Do you celebrate Halloween?      What Halloween character would you dress up as, and why?           Do you like watching horror films?      Why do you think Halloween is so popular?

Vocabulary Box     Write any new words you have learnt in this lesson here.

Keys

1. Check your understanding: true or false

1. True                              5. False

2. True                              6. True

3. False                             7. True

4. True                              8. False

2. Check your vocabulary: grouping

Colours	Food	Halloween characters
black red orange white	apples  curry  soup  pumpkins	vampire  ghost  witch  zombie

3. Check your vocabulary: gap fill – collocations

1. celebrate                       5. wear

2. make                           6. go

3. play                             7. go to

4. dress up                       8. watch