"the bell has went"

This used to drive me mad at school (and it wasn't just the pupils who got it wrong!): the inability in the West of Scotland to get the right past participle. The past participle is the part of the verb used after have, has or had. Perhaps, though, it is a feature of Scots and should be celebrated. Again it is about the difference between spoken and written English and knowing the difference.

Here are some common English strong verbs in the simple past and the perfect tense

it went: it has gone

it came: it has come

it began: it has begun

it fell: it has fallen

it got: it has gotten

it ran: it has run
it sang: it has sung
it swam: it has swum
it ate: it has eaten
it drank: it has drunk
it wrote: it has written
it drew: it has drawn
it broke: it has broken
it took: it has taken
it stole: it has stolen

I love Bud Neill's poem, "Winter"  - meant to be read aloud.

Winter's came, the snow has fell


Wee Josie's nose is froze as well


Wee Josie's frozen nose is skintit


Winter's diabolic, intit?

More less troublesome examples of use of the past participle 

The manuscript written in the 13th century was discovered in a library.


The property taken by burglars included …

It's not just the Scots who have trouble with past participles though. Here's one trawled from the internet

a beautiful song by the rankin family sang in gaelic titel in english is the mist covered mountains 
(not to mention the non-sentences, spelling, lack of punctuation or capital letters!)

Test yourself

The following are wrong. Replace with the correct past participle.

1. It has came to my attention.
2. The bell has went.
3. Snow has fell.
4. Winter's began.
5. He has drank a lot of coffee. 
6. They have sang together for years.
7. He has broke a tooth.

 Answers: paste the upside down answers into FLIP

 to save turning the computer upside down!

˙ɥʇooʇ ɐ uǝʞoɹq sɐɥ ǝɥ 7

˙sɹɐǝʎ ɹoɟ ɹǝɥʇǝƃoʇ ƃuns ǝʌɐɥ ʎǝɥʇ 6

 ˙ǝǝɟɟoɔ ɟo ʇol ɐ ʞunɹp sɐɥ ǝɥ 5

˙unƃǝq s,ɹǝʇuıʍ 4

˙uǝllɐɟ sɐɥ ʍous 3

˙ǝuoƃ sɐɥ llǝq ǝɥʇ 2

˙uoıʇuǝʇʇɐ ʎɯ oʇ ǝɯoɔ sɐɥ ʇı 1

full

full is an adjective

my room is full of junk

my cup is full

the spoon is full of sugar

when you tag full on to the end of a noun to make an amount,  there is only 1 L

a spoonful of sugar

a cupful of flour

a handful of people

compare

a cupful of flour  - this is an amount and the stress is on cup

a cup full of coffee - more a statement of fact -evenly stressed

similarly, one L for adjectives such as

fruitful

successful

wonderful

helpful

truthful

Simple rule:

only double LL on full

and single L when tagged on the end of another word

too much to bear

to is a preposition with lots of uses such as

with a verb: to go

with a place: to Glasgow

with a person: they gave it to me

but too is  used for an excess of something

too much, too silly, too sweet, too many

or in the sense of "as well"

Obama says he, too, was a poverty fighter.

And her mother came too.

Test yourself:

1. He was … embarrassed … complain.
2. The porridge was … hot.
3. She went … the shops.
4. … close for comfort. 
5. … many sweet things are bad for you.
6. He left all his money … his dog.
7. I love you …

Answers: paste upside down answers into FLIP



˙ooʇ noʎ ǝʌol ı ˙7  
˙ƃop sıɥ oʇ ʎǝuoɯ sıɥ llɐ ʇɟǝl ǝɥ ˙6  
˙noʎ ɹoɟ pɐq ǝɹɐ sƃuıɥʇ ʇǝǝʍs ʎuɐɯ ooʇ ˙5  
 ˙ʇɹoɟɯoɔ ɹoɟ ǝsolɔ ooʇ ˙4  
˙sdoɥs ǝɥʇ oʇ ʇuǝʍ ǝɥs ˙3  
˙ʇoɥ ooʇ sɐʍ ǝƃpıɹɹod ǝɥʇ ˙2  
˙uıɐldɯoɔ oʇ pǝssɐɹɹɐqɯǝ ooʇ sɐʍ ǝɥ ˙1  

truly, madly, deeply

Adverbs go with verbs* and adjectives go with nouns (or pronouns).

a true friend   - adjective describing the friend

I love you truly - adverb saying how I love

You can often add -ly to an adjective to make it an adverb

mad madly

deep deeply

true truly  

Note the final -e drops off. 

Yours truly,

Same with due duly. 

Duly noted!

Or double a final l

brutal brutally

Or add -ally for ease of pronunciation

tragic tragically

Not all adverbs end in -ly

good (adjective) well (adverb)

Frequently you hear an adjective used where it should be an adverb.

They are now able to clear the runway twice as quick. (Heard on BBC news)

It should of course be "quickly" since it is the verb clear that is done quickly.

Scottish football managers are frequently heard saying, "the boys done good!"  Aaaagh!

Consider the following

He was born premature.

He was born prematurely.

Which is correct?

The first uses the adjective premature going with the pronoun "he". It is much better to say "he was premature"

The second example is correct.

* Adverbs can also go with adjectives and adverbs

she is very pretty
that worked quite well

More on adverbs another time. 

whom

who or whom?

They mean the same but they are not interchangeable.

However, in informal language "whom" is seldom used except after a preposition. 

Who is the subject form so must have a verb next.

Who won the game?

The man who fell to earth.

Did you see the children who were dressed up?

Whom is the object form and should be used 

after a subject and verb

She married whom?  

after a preposition
such as: after, at, before, between, by, for, from, in, into, of, over, under, with, without

for whom the bell tolls.

with whom he discussed the merger

the man after whom he is named

most of whom are weak from hunger

Test yourself:

1. a man for … playing football is everything
2. the chef with … he trained
3. Tom … grew up in Kent 
4. … is playing …?
5. from … she learnt songs

 Answers: paste the upside down answers into FLIP

 to save turning the computer upside down!

sƃuos ʇuɹɐǝl ǝɥs ɯoɥʍ ɯoɹɟ 5
¿ɯoɥʍ ƃuıʎɐld sı oɥʍ 4
 ʇuǝʞ uı dn ʍǝɹƃ oɥʍ ɯoʇ 3
pǝuıɐɹʇ ǝɥ ɯoɥʍ ɥʇıʍ ɟǝɥɔ ǝɥʇ 2
ƃuıɥʇʎɹǝʌǝ sı llɐqʇooɟ ƃuıʎɐld ɯoɥʍ ɹoɟ uɐɯ ɐ 1

stand by your principles

principal and principle sound exactly the same. 

principal can be a noun or an adjective and refers most usually to the head of an organisation or a firm.

An elementary school principal has banned …

University principals 

As an adjective principal means the most important.

the principal psychologist

principle is only ever a noun and refers to a rule

the principles of design
against my principles
back to first principles

How can you remember which is which? How about a wee mnemonic (aid to memory)?

Think of your headteacher - the principal is not your pal!

Test yourself:

1. The princip… cause of obesity is 
2. I'm sticking to my principl…s
3. He doesn't have any principl…s
4. At a meeting of college principl…s  
5. The acting princip… officer is  

Answers: paste upside down answers into FLIP

 sı ɹǝɔıɟɟo lɐdıɔuıɹd ƃuıʇɔɐ ǝɥʇ ˙5  
  slɐdıɔuıɹd ǝƃǝlloɔ ɟo ƃuıʇǝǝɯ ɐ ʇɐ ˙4  
sǝldıɔuıɹd ʎuɐ ǝʌɐɥ ʇ,usǝop ǝɥ ˙3  
sǝldıɔuıɹd ʎɯ oʇ ƃuıʞɔıʇs ɯ,ı ˙2  
 sı ʎʇısǝqo ɟo ǝsnɐɔ lɐdıɔuıɹd ǝɥʇ ˙1  

 

who's whose?

Really, this is quite simple.

Who's stands for "who is" (or who has)  so try replacing with who is..

Who's going to the pub? = Who is going to the pub?

Who's not finished? = Who is (or has) not finished

the person who's lost a wallet = who has lost

Whose is a possessive adjective so must be followed by a noun.

the person whose wallet was lost

the girl whose boyfriend cheated on her

Test yourself

1. Guess …… coming to dinner?
2. …… phone is this?
3. Don't forget …… paying.
4. Ask him …… work this is.
5. …… daddy is he?
6. …… the daddy?
7. …… better at cards?

Answers: paste the upside down answers into FLIP

 to save turning computer upside down!

¿spɹɐɔ ʇɐ ɹǝʇʇǝq s,oɥʍ ˙7

¿ʎppɐp ǝɥʇ s,oɥʍ ˙6

¿ǝɥ sı ʎppɐp ǝsoɥʍ ˙5

˙sı sıɥʇ ʞɹoʍ ǝsoɥʍ ɯıɥ ʞsɐ ˙4

˙ƃuıʎɐd s,oɥʍ ʇǝƃɹoɟ ʇ,uop ˙3

¿sıɥʇ sı ǝuoɥd ǝsoɥʍ ˙2

¿ɹǝuuıp oʇ ƃuıɯoɔ s,oɥʍ ssǝnƃ ˙1