-> Mary has three brothers, all of whom are married. (1 sentence)
They asked me a lot of questions. I couldn't answer most of them. (2 sentences)
-> They asked me a lot of questions, most of which I couldn't answer. (1 sentence)
In the same way you can say:
none of/neither of/any of/either of + whom (people)
none of/neither of/any of/either of which (things)
some of/many of/much of/(a) few of + which (things)
some of/many of/much of/(a) few of whom (people
both of/half of/each of/one of/two of (etc.) + whom (people)
both of/half of/each of/one of/two of (etc.) + which (things)
* Tom tried on three jackets, none of which fitted him.
* Two men, neither of whom I had ever seen before, came into my office.
* They've got three cars, two of which they never use.
* Sue has a lot of friends, many of whom she was at school with.
C. Which (not 'what')
Study this example:
[Jim passed his driving test.] [This] surprised everybody. (2 sentences)
[Jim passed his driving test,] _[which] surprised everybody._(relative clause)(1 sentence)
In this example, which = 'the fact that he passed his driving test'. You must use which (not 'what') in sentences like these:
* Sheila couldn't come to the party, which was a pity. (not '...what was a pity')
* The weather was very good, which we hadn't expected. (not '...what we hadn't
expected')
For what, see also Units 91C and 92D.
EXERCISES
95.1 Make two sentences from one using a relative clause. Use the sentence in brackets to make the relative clause.
1. Mr Carter is very interested in our plan. (I spoke to him on the phone last night.)
_Mr Carter, to whom I spoke on the phone last night, is very interested in our plan._
2. This is a photograph of our friends. (We went on holiday with these friends.)
This is a photograph ---.
3. The wedding took place last Friday. (Only members of the family were invited to it.)
The wedding ---.
4. Sheila finally arrived. (We had been waiting for her.)
5. We climbed to the top of the tower. (We had a beautiful view from there.)
95.2 Write sentences with all of/most of etc. + whom/which.
1. Mary has three brothers. (All of her brothers are married.)
_Mary has three brothers, all of whom are married._
2. We were given a lot of information. (Most of the information was useless.)
We were given ---.
3. There were a lot of people at the party. (I had met only a few of these people before.)
4. I have sent her two letters. (She has received neither of these letters.)
5. Ten people applied for the job. (None of these people were suitable.)
6. Kate has got two cars. (She hardly ever uses one of them.)
7. Norman won 50,000 pounds. (He gave half of this to his parents.)
8. Julia has two sisters. (Both of her sisters are teachers.)
95.3 join a sentence from Box A with a sentence from Box B to make a new sentence. Use which.
A:
1. Sheila couldn't come to party.
2. Jill isn't on the phone.
3. Nell has passed his examinations.
4. Our flight was delayed.
5. Ann offered to let me stay in her house.
6. The street I live in is very noisy at night.
7. Our car has broken down.
B:
1. This was very nice of her.
2. This means we can't go away tomorrow.
3. This makes it difficult to contact her.
4. This makes it difficult to steep.
5. This was a pity.
6. This is good news.
7. This meant we had to wait four hours at the airport.
1. Sheila couldn't come to the party, _which was a pity._
2. Jill isn't ---.
3. ---.
4. ---.
5. ---.
6. ---.
7. ---.
UNIT 96 ~ing and ~ed clauses (the woman talking to Tom, the boy injured in the accident)
A. A clause is a part of a sentence. Some clauses begin with ~ing or ~ed. For example:
Do you know the woman _talking to Tom?_(~ing clause)
The boy _injured in the accident_(~ed clause) was taken to hospital
B. We use ~ing clauses to say what somebody (or something) is doing (or was doing) at a particular time:
* Do you know the woman talking to Tom? (the woman is talking to Tom)
* Police investigating the crime are looking for three men. (police are investigating the crime)
* Who were those people waiting outside? (they were waiting)
* I was woken up by a bell ringing. (a bell was ringing)
When you are talking about things (and sometimes people), you can use an ~ing clause to say what something does all the time, not just at a particular time. For example:
* The road joining the two villages is very narrow. (the road joins the two villages)
* 1 live in a pleasant room overlooking the garden. (the room overlooks the garden)
* Can you think of the name of a flower beginning with 'T'? (the name begins with 'T')
C. ~ed clauses have a passive meaning:
* The boy injured in the accident was taken to hospital. (the boy was injured in the accident)
* Some of the people invited to the party can't come. (the people have been invited to the party)
Injured and invited are past participles. Many verbs have past participles that do not end in ~ed (made, bought, stolen etc.):
* Most of the goods made in this factory are exported. (the goods are made.
* The police never found the money stolen in the robbery. (the money was stolen)
You can use left in this way, with the meaning 'not used, still there':
* We've spent nearly all our money. We've only got a little left. For irregular past participles, see Appendix 1.
D. We often use ~ing and ~ed clauses after there is/there was etc.:
* There were some children swimming in the river.
* Is there anybody waiting?
* There was a big red car parked outside the house.
EXERCISES
96.1 Make one sentence from two. Use the information in brackets to make an ~ing clause. Sometimes the ~ing clause goes in the middle of the new sentence; sometimes it goes at the end.
1. I was woken up by a bell. (The bell was ringing.)
_I was woken up by a bell ringing._
2. 1 didn't talk much to the man. (The man was sitting next to me on the plane.)
3. The taxi broke down. (The taxi was taking us to the airport.)
The ---.
4. At the end of the street there is a path. (The path leads to the river.)
5. A new factory has just opened in the town. (The factory employs 500 people.)
6. The company sent me a brochure. (The brochure contained all the information I needed.)
96.2 Make one sentence from two, beginning as shown. Each time make an ~ed clause.
1. A boy was injured in the accident. He was taken to hospital.
_The boy injured in the accident was taken to hospital._.
2. A window was broken in the storm last night. It has now been repaired.
The window --- repaired.
3. A number of suggestions were made at the meeting. Most of them were not very practical.
Most of the suggestions ---.
4. Some paintings were stolen from the museum. They haven't been found yet.
The ---.
5. A man was arrested by the police. What was his name?
What was the name ---.
96.3 Complete the sentences using one of the following verbs in the correct form: blow call invite live offer read ring sit study work
1. I was woken up by a bell _ringing._
2. A lot of the people _invited_ to the party cannot come.
3. Life must be very unpleasant for people --- near busy airports.
4. A few days after the interview, I received a letter --- me the job.
5. Somebody --- Jack phoned while you were out.
6. There was a tree --- down in the storm last night.
7. When I entered the waiting room it was empty except for a young man --- by
the window a magazine.
8. Ian has got a brother --- in a bank in London and a sister --- economics at university in Manchester.
96.4 Use the words in brackets to make sentences using there is/there was etc.
1. That house is empty. (nobody/live/in it)
_There's nobody living in it._
2. The accident wasn't serious. (nobody/injure)
_There was nobody injured._
3. I can hear footsteps. (somebody/come)
There ---.
4. The train was full. (a lot of people/travel)
5. We were the only guests at the hotel. (nobody else/stay there)
6. The piece of paper was blank. (nothing/write/on it)
7. There are regular English courses at the college. (a course/begin/next Monday)
UNIT 97 Adjectives ending in ~ing and ~ed (boring/bored etc.)
A. There are many adjectives ending in ~ing and ~ed. For example, boring and bored. Study this example situation:
Jane has been doing the same job for a very long time. Every day she does exactly the same thing again and again. She doesn't enjoy it any more and would like to do something different.
Jane's Job is boring.
Jane is bored (with her job).
Somebody is bored if something (or somebody else ) is boring. Or, if something is boring, it makes you bored. So:
* Jane is bored because her job is boring.
* Jane's job is boring, so Jane is bored. (not 'Jane is boring')
If a person is boring, this means that they make other people bored:
* George always talks about the same things. He's really boring.
B. Compare adjectives ending in ~ing and ~ed:
You can say:
* My job boring.
* My job interesting.
* My job is tiring.
* My job satisfying.
* My job depressing. (etc.)
The ~ing adjective tells you about the job.
You can say:
* I'm bored with my job.
* I'm not interested in my job any more.
* I'm always tired when I finish work.
* I'm not satisfied with my job.
* My job makes me depressed. (etc.)
The ~ed adjective tells you how somebody feels (about the job).
Compare these examples:
interesting
* Julia thinks politics is very interesting.
* Did you meet anyone interesting at the party?
surprising
* It was quite surprising that he passed the examination. disappointing
* The film was disappointing. I expected it to be much better.
shocking
* The news was shocking.
interested
* Julia is very interested in politics. (not 'interesting in politics')
* Are you interested in buying a car? I'm trying to sell mine.
surprised
* Everybody was surprised that he passed the examination.
disappointed
* I was disappointed with the film. I expected it to be much better.
shocked
* We were very shocked when we heard the news.
EXERCISES
97.1 Complete the sentences for each situation. Use the word given + the ending ~ing or ~ed.
1. The film wasn't as good as we had expected. (disappoint-)
a. The film was _disappointing._
b. We were _disappointed_ with the film.
2. Diana teaches young children. It's a very hard job but she enjoys it. (exhaust-)
a. She enjoys her job but it's often ---.
b. At the end of a day's work, she is often ---.
3. It's been raining all day. I hate this weather. (depress-)
a. This weather is ---.
b. This weather makes me ---.
c. It's silly to get --- because of the weather.
4. Clare is going to the United States next month. She has never been there before. (excit-)
a. It will be an --- experience for her.
b. Going to new places is always ---.
c. She is really --- about going to the United States.
97.2 Choose the correct word.
1. I was _disappointing/disappointed_ with the film. I had expected it to be better.
2. Are you _interesting/interested_ in football?
3. The football match was quite _exciting/excited_ I enjoyed it.
4. It's sometimes _embarrassing/embarrassed_ when you have to ask people for money.
5. Do you easily get _embarrassing/embarrassed?_
6. I had never expected to get the job. I was really _amazing/amazed_ when I was offered it.
7. She has really learnt very fast. She has made _astonishing/astonished_ progress.
8. 1 didn't find the situation funny. I was not _amusing/amused._
9. It was a really _terrifying/terrified_ experience. Afterwards everybody was very _shocking/shocked._
10 Why do you always look so _boring/bored?_ Is your life really so _boring/bored?_
11. He's one of the most _boring/bored_ people I've ever met. He never stops talking and he never says anything _interesting/interested._
97.3 Complete the sentences using one of the words in the box.
amusing/amused confusing/confused exhausting/exhausted annoying/annoyed disgusting/disgusted interesting/interested boring/bored exciting/excited surprising/surprised
1. He works very hard. It's not _surprising_ that he's always tired.
2. I've got nothing to do. I'm ---.
3. The teacher's explanation was ---. Most of the students didn't understand it.
4. The kitchen hadn't been cleaned for ages. It was really ---.
5. I seldom visit art galleries. I'm not particularly --- in art.
6. There's no need to get --- just because I'm a few minutes late.
7. The lecture was ---. I fell asleep.
8. I asked Emily if she wanted to come out with us but she wasn't ---.
9. I've been working very hard all day and now I'm ---.
10. I'm starting a new job next week. I'm quite --- about it.
11. Tom is very good at telling funny stories. He can be very ---.
12. Liz is a very --- person. She knows a lot, she's travelled a lot and she's done lots of different things.
UNIT 98 Adjectives: word order (a nice new house), Adjectives after verbs (You look tired)
A. Sometimes we use two or more adjectives together:
* My brother lives in a nice new house.
* In the kitchen there was 'a beautiful large round wooden table.
Adjectives like new/large/round/wooden are fact adjectives. They give us factual information about age, size, colour etc.
Adjectives like nice/beautiful are opinion adjectives. They tell us what somebody thinks of something or somebody.
Opinion adjectives usually go before fact adjectives.
a nice(opinion) long(fact) summer holiday
an interesting(opinion) young(fact) man
an delicious(opinion) hot(fact) vegetable soup
a beautiful(opinion) large round wooden(fact) table
B. Sometimes we use two or more fact adjectives. Very often (but not always) we put fact adjectives in this order:
1. how big? -> 2. how old? -> 3. what color? -> 4. where from? -> 5. what is it made of? -> NOUN
a tall young man (1 -> 2)
a large wooden table (1 -> 5)
big blue eyes (1 -> 3)
an old Russian song (2 -> 4)
a small black plastic bag (1 -> 3 -> 5)
an old white cotton shirt (2 -> 3 -> 5)
Adjectives of size and length (big/small/tall/short/long etc.) usually go before adjectives of shape and width (round/fat/thin/slim/wide etc.): a large round table a tall thin girl a long narrow street
When there are two colour adjectives, we use and:
a black and white dress
a red, white and green flag
but a long black dress (not 'a long and black dress')
C. We say 'the first two days', 'the next few weeks', 'the last ten minutes' etc.:
* I didn't enjoy the first two days of the course. (not 'the two first days')
* They'll be away for the next few weeks. (not 'the few next weeks')
D. We use adjectives after be/get/become/seem:
* Be careful!
* I'm tired and I'm getting hungry.
* As the film went on, it became more and more boring.
* Your friend seems very nice.
We also use adjectives to say how somebody/something looks, feels, sounds, tastes or smells:
* You look tired./I feel tired./She sounds tired.
* The dinner smells good.
* This tea tastes a bit strange.
But to say how somebody does something you must use an adverb (see Units 99-100):
* Drive carefully! (not 'Drive careful')
* Susan plays the piano very well. (not 'plays...very good')
EXERCISES
98.1 Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct position.
1. a beautiful table (wooden/round) _a beautiful round wooden table_.
2. an unusual ring (gold) ---.
3. a new pullover (nice) ---.
4. a new pullover (green) ---.
5. an old house (beautiful) ---.
6. black gloves (leather) ---.
7. an American film (old) ---.
8. a long face (thin) ---.
9. big clouds (black) ---.
10. a sunny day (lovely) ---.
11. a wide avenue (long) ---.
12. a metal box (black/small) ---.