DESCRIBING PROBLEMS 1

This doesn’t LOOK good…

OBJECTIVE:
Describe problems in the CONDITION of the things.
BAD CONDITION GOOD CONDITION
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CURTAINS?!

The curtains are torn.

PAST PARTICIPLE AS ADJECTIVE
(‘TORN’ PAST PARTICIPLE OF ‘TEAR’)

The curtains have a tear.

NOUN A/AN + SINGULAR
SOME + PLURAL
OOPS…
The curtains have some tears.
There is a tear on the curtains.
THERE + BE + ARTICLE + NOUN (V + A + N = CONCORDANCE)

There are some tears on the curtains.

PAST PARTICIPLE
NOUN THERE + BE
AS ADJECTIVE

VERB TO BE VERB TO HAVE ARTICLE + NOUN

THE CONCORDANCE BETWEEN:

SUBJECT AND VERB
ARTICLE AND NOUN

SINGULAR PLURAL
 *

EXCEPTION: leaking is a GERUND EXCEPTION: damage is uncountable:

use always with ‘some’
1. This one is cracked.
This one has a crack.
There is a crack on this one.

2. My car is dented.
- plural
My car has a dent.
There is a dent on my car.
- plural
3. And the sink is leaking.
And the sink has a leak.
And there is a leak in the sink.

4. It is stained. 5. This glass is chipped. 6. The wood is scratched, too.

It has some stains. This glass has a chip. The wood has some scratches, too.
There are some stains on it. There is a chip on this glass. There are some scratches on the wood, too.

7. The one he’s wearing is torn. 8. And the ceiling is damaged.

This one he’s wearing has a tear. And the ceiling has some damage.
There is a tear on the one he’s wearing. And there’s some damage in the ceiling.
Put an x where it corresponds.

x x x
x x
x x x x
x x x x
x x x x
 DESCRIBING PROBLEMS 2
This doesn’t WORK well…

OBJECTIVE:
Describe problems in the FUNCTIONING of the things.
 KEEP + GERUND

I hate this microwave! It keeps burning the food!

1.- My computer is driving me crazy! It keeps crashing! Break down
2.- My cellphone battery doesn’t last! My cellphone keeps going dead! Crash
3.- That used CD player often jumps to another song. It keeps skipping! Flicker
Freeze
4.- Our new flat-screen TV has a problem. It keeps flickering!
Go dead
5.- Those old cell phones never work right anymore. They keep breaking down! Jam
6.- Sometimes Ed can’t use his solar-powered calculator. It keeps overheating! Overheat
7.- The meeting at Zoom is failing because the image keeps freezing! Skip
8.- The answering machine never picks up any calls. It keeps jamming!