The infinitive after adjectives

UNIT 96  The infinitive after adjectives

A.   Compare these two sentences:

                                                        {A It is difficult to understand him.
Jim doesn't speak very clearly    {B He is difficult to understand.

Sentences A and B have the same meaning. But note that we say "He is difficult to understand." (not He is difficult to understand him.)

You can use the structure in sentence B after difficult/easy/impossible/hard and after a few other adjectives: 

• Your writing is almost impossible to read. (not to read it) (= It is almost impossible to read your writing.)

• Do you think this water is safe to drink? (not to drink it)

• Jill is very interesting to talk to. (not to talk to her)

You can also use this structure with an adjective + noun:

• This is a very difficult question to answer (not to answer it)

• Jill is an interesting person to talk to.

• I enjoyed the soccer game. It was an exciting game to watch.                       

B.   We use the infinitive after the first/the second/the third, etc., and also after the next and the last:

• Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?

• If I have any more news, you'll be the first to know.

• The next plane to arrive at gate 4 will be Flight 61 from Buenos Aires.

• Who was the last person to leave the building last night?

C.   You can use the infinitive after a number of adjectives to say how someone feels about something. For example:

• I was sorry to hear that your father is ill.

•  Was Tom surprised to see you when you visited him?

• I was delighted to get your letter last week.

Other adjectives you can use in this way include:

happy    pleased     disappointed      amazed
glad            sad             relieved          astonished

D.   Note the structure (it is) nice of someone to do something. This structure is possible after a number of adjectives, including:
nice           mean        silly         polite       generous   
kind          stupid       clever    careless      foolish

• It was nice of you to take me to the airport. Thank you very much.

• It was careless of Jack to leave the door unlocked when he went out.

• It's stupid of him to give up his job when he needs the money.

• It was very generous of Ann to lend us the money.

Enough and too Exercises

UNIT 95 Enough and too Exercises

95.1   Complete these sentences using enough with one of the following words:
big   old   warm   well   cups   money   qualifications   room   time

1.   She can't get married yet. She's not old enough.

2.   Tom would like to buy a car, but he doesn't have_____________________.

3.   I couldn't make coffee for everybody. There weren't__________________________.

4.   Are you__________________________? Or shall I turn on the heat?

5.   It's only a small car. There isn't__________________________for all of you.

6.   George didn't feel_____________________________to go to work this morning.

7.   I didn't finish the exam. I didn't have____________________________________

8.   Do you think I've got ______________________________to apply for the job?

9.   Try this jacket on and see if it's ______________________________for you                       

95.2   Answer these questions using the words in parentheses (. . .)
Example: "Is she getting married." (not old enough)
"No, she isn't old enough to get married.

1.   "Why can't you talk to me now?" (too busy) "I'm too____________________________now''

2.   "Let's go to the movies." (too late) "No, it's___________________________movies.''

3.   Why don't we sit outside? (not warm enough) "It's not_____________________________''

4.   "Would you like to be a politician?" (too nice) "No, I'm____________________________________''

5.   "Are you going away on vacation this year?" (not enough money) "No, I don't have_____________________________________''

6.   "Shall we take a picture?" (too dark) "No,_______________________________________''

7.   "Did you hear what he was saying?" (too far away) "No, we___________________________________''

8.   "Can she make herself understood (in English)?" (not enough English) "No, she doesn't speak________________________________________________________''

9.   "Does Harry work?" (too lazy) "No. he's____________________________________________''

95.3   Make one sentence (usung too or enough) from the two sentences given.

Example: We couldn't eat the food. It was too hot. The food was too hot (for us) to eat.

1.   can't drink this coffee. It's too hot. This coffee is_____________________________________.

2.   could move the piano It was too heavy. The piano___________________________________________.

3.   I can't wear this coat in winter, It's not warm enough. This coat____________________________________________________.

4.   Don't stand on that chair. It's not strong enough.
That chair_______________________________________________________.

5.   Six people can't fit in this car. It's not big enough for six people
This car_________________________________________________________________.

Enough and too

UNIT 95 Enough and too

A.   The position of enough: 
Enough goes after adjectives and adverbs:

• He didn't get the job because he wasn't experienced enough. (not enough experienced)

• You won't pass the exam if you don't work hard enough.

• She can't get married yet. She's not old enough.

Enough goes before nouns:

• He didn't get the job because he didn't have enough experience. (not experience enough)

• I'd like to take a vacation, but I don't have enough money.

• some of us had to sit on the floor because there weren't enough chairs.

You can also use enough alone (without a noun):

• I'll lend you some money if you don't have enough.

B.   After enough and too you can say for someone/something:

• I don't have enough money for a vacation.

• He wasn't experienced enough for the job. 

• This shirt is too big for me. I need a smaller size.                       

But we do not usually say "enough/too . . . for doing something." We use the infinitive after enough and too. So we say "enough money to do something old,''  ''enough to do something,'' "too young to do something," etc.:

• I don't have enough money to take a vacation. (not for taking)

• He wasn't experienced enough to do the job.

• She's only sixteen. She's not old enough to get married. (or She's too young to get married.)

• Let's take a taxi. It's too far to walk.

• There weren't enough chairs for everyone to sit down.

• The weather wasn't nice enough to go swimming.

• She spoke too quickly for us to understand.

C.   We say:

• The food was so hot that we couldn't eat it. 

and: The food was very hot. We couldn't eat it.

or we say:

• The food was too hot to eat. (without "it")

Here are some more examples like this:

• That picture is too heavy to hang on the wall

• I had to carry my wallet in my hand. It was too big to put in my pocket.

• The water wasn't clean enough to swim in.

So and such Exercises

UNIT 94 So and such Exercises

94.1   Put in so or such

Examples: Come on! Don't walk so slowly
I've never read such a stupid book.

1.   I was surprised that he looked _____________well after his recent illness.

2.   They've got____________________a lot of money, they don't know what to do with it.

3.   She is a very attractive young woman. She's got _______________ beautiful eyes

4.   Everything is________________expensive these days, isn't it?

5.   Why did you ask them_____________stupid questions?

6.   It was ____________________ a boring movie that I fell asleep in the middle of it.

7.   The wind was _____________ strong, it was difficult to walk

8.   The food at the hotel was very bad. I've never eaten _______________ awful food.

94.2   Make a sentence with so from two sentences.

Example: She worked very hard. She made herself sick.
she worked so hard (that) she made herself sick.

1.   I was very excited about going away. I couldn't sleep.
I was so_______________________________________________________

2.   The water was very dirty. We decided not to go swimming.
_________________________________________________________________

3.   She speaks English very well. You would think it was her native language.                       

94.3   Use such instead of so

Example: The book was so good that I couldn't put it down.
It was such good book that i couldn't put it down.

1.   The road is so narrow that it is difficult for two cars to pass each other.
It is__________________________________________________________

2.   The weather was so warm that I didn't need a coat
_______________________________________________________________
3.   His feet are so big that he has trouble finding shoes to fit him.
He has________________________________________________________

4.   Why do you put so much sugar in your coffee?
Why___________________________________________________________

94.4   Complete these sentences.

Example: We had a lot of problems. We hadn't expected to have so many problems.

1.   It's a long way from your house to the airport.
I didn't know it was so_________________________________________________

2.   It took us a long time to get home this evening.
It doesn't usually take us so____________________________________________

3.   You've got a lot of furniture in this room.
Why have you got so_____________________________________________________

So and such

UNIT 94 So and such

A.   Study these examples

• I didn't enjoy the book. The story was so stupid.

• I didn't enjoy the book. It was such a stupid story.

We use so with an adjective without a noun: so stupid
We use such with an adjective with a noun: such a stupid story

You can also use so with an adverb:

• He's difficult to understand because he speaks so quickly

B.   So and such make the meaning of the adjective stronger

• It's a beautiful day, isn't it? It's so warm. (= really warm)

• We enjoyed our vacation. We had such a good time. (= a really good time)

Compare so and such in these sentences:

• I like Tom and Ann. They are so nice.

• I like Tom and Ann. They are such nice people. (not so nice people)

We often say so . . . that . . . and such . . . that . . . :

• I was so tired that I went to bed at seven o'clock.

• She worked so hard that she made herself sick.

• It was such beautiful weather that we spent the whole day in the park.

• The book was so good that I couldn't put it down.                       

You can leave out that in these sentences:

• I was so tired (that) I went to bed at 7 o'clock.

C.   In these sentences we use so and such in a different way:

• I expected the weather to be much cooler. I didn't expect it to be so warm. (= as warm as it is)

• I'm tired because I got up at 6 o'clock. I don't usually get up so early. (= as early as 6 o'clock)

• Hurry up! Don't walk so slowly. (= as slowly as you are walking)

• I was surprised when Jack told me the house was built 100 years ago as old as it.

D.   We say: so long but "such a long time''; so far but "such a long way"; so many, so much but "such a lot (of)":

• I haven't seen him for so long that I've forgotten what he looks like. (or . . . for such a long time . . . )

•  I didn't know you lived so far from the city. (or . . . such a long way from . . . )

• Why did you buy so much food? (or . . . such a lot of food?)

Adjectives and adverbs (2) Exercises

UNIT 93 Adjectives and adverbs (2) Exercises

93.1   Decide whether the underlined words are right or wrong. Correct the wrong words

Examples: We lost the game because we didn't play very good.     WRONG-well
Ann has been working very hard recently.          RIGHT

1.   Give my best wishes to your parents. I hope they are well.

2.   The children behaved themselves very good.

3.   I tried hardly to remember his name butTcouldn't.

4.   The company's financial situation is not well at present.

5.   Jack has started his own business. Everything is going quite good.

6.   Don't walk so fast! Can't you walk more slowly?

7.   See you soon! Don't work too hard

93.2   Finish these sentences with well + one of the following words:

behaved      dressed      informed       kept          known          balanced

1.   The children were very good. They were well behaved

2.   Many people have heard of him. He is quite well__________________.

3.   Their garden is neat and tidy. It is very . _________________________.

4.   You should eat different types of food. You should have a ____________________ diet.

5.   Ann knows a lot about many things. She is a_____________________woman

6.   His clothes were old and torn. He wasn't very_______________________                       

93.3   Make sentences with hardly. Use the words in parentheses ( . . . ).

Example: George and I have only met once. (know/each other) We hardly knom each other.

1.   I'm very tired this morning. (slept/last night) I____________________________night.

2.   You're speaking very quietly. (can/hear) I can______________________________you.

3.   I met Keith a few days ago. I hadn't seen him for a long time. He looks very different (recognized) I__________________________________________________.

4.   They were really shocked when they heard the news. (could/speak)__________________________________________________.

93.4   Complete these sentences with hardly + any anyone/anything/anywhere/ever

Example: I'll have to go shopping. We have hardly any food.

1.   I listen to the radio a lot, but I ________________________watch television.

2.   The weather was good during our vacation. There was__________________________rain.

3.   He is not very popular. ________________________________likes him

4.   It's crowded in here. There's_________________________________to sit down.

5.   We used to be good friends, but we______________________________________see each other now.

6.   I hate this town. There's______________________________to do and_________________________to go.

7.   I enjoyed driving this morning. There was_______________________________traffic.

Adjectives and adverbs (2)

UNIT 93 Adjectives and adverbs (2) (good/well, fast/hard/late, hardly)

A.   Good/well    Good is an adjective. The adverb is well.

• You speak English well.

• Your English is very good.

• She plays the piano well.

• Susan is a good pianist.

We often use well with past participles (dressed/known, etc.)

well dressed (not good dressed)
well known
well educated

But well is also an adjective with the meaning "in good health":

• "How are you today?''  ''I'm very well, thanks." (not I'm very good)

B.   Fast/hard/late These words are both adjectives and adverbs:

adjective                                       adverb
Jack is a very fast runner.          Jack can run very fast.            

Ann is a hard worker.                 Ann works hard. (not works hardly)


The train was late.                       I got up late this morning.

The adverb lately= recently:

• Have you seen Tom lately?                       

C.    Hardly has a completely different meaning from hard:

Hardly= almost not. Study these examples:

• George asked Carol to marry him. She was surprised because they had only known each other for two days. She said: "We can't get married now! We hardly know each other.'' (= we know each other very little; we almost don't know each other)

• Why was Tom so unfriendly at the party last night? He hardly spoke to me. (= he spoke to me very little)

We often use hardly with can/could:

• Your writing is terrible. I can hardly read it (= I can read it but only with a lot of difficulty)

• My leg was hurting me. I could hardly walk.

We also use hardly with any/anyone/anything/anywhere:

• "How much money do you have?''   ''Hardly any." (= almost none; very little)

• The exam results were very bad. Hardly anyone passed. (= almost no one passed; very few people passed)

• She ate hardly anything because she didn't feel hungry. (she ate almost nothing, she ate very little)

Note that you can say:

• She ate hardly anything.             or    She hardly ate anything.

• We have hardly any food.           or   We hardly have any food.

• We've done hardly any work     or    We've hardly done any work.

Hardly ever= almost never

• I'm nearly always at home in the evenings. I hardly ever go out.

Adjectives and adverds Exercises

UNIT 92 Adjectives and adverds (1) (quick/quickly) Exercises

92.1  Decide whether the underlined words are right or wrong. Correct the wrong words.

Examples: The driver of the car was serious injured. WRONG-seriously
Be quiet, please! I'm trying to concentrate. RIGHT

1.   I waited nervous in the waiting room before the interview. ______________________

2.   Why were you so unfriendly when I saw you yesterday? ___________________

3.   It rained continuous for three days. ______________________

4.   Alice and Stan are very happy married. ____________________

5.   Tom's French is not very good, but his German is almost fluent. ____________________

6.   Eva lived in the U.S. for five years, so she speaks very well English. ________________________

7.   Everybody at the party was very colorful dressed. __________________________

8.   Ann likes wearing colorful clothes. __________________________

9.   Sue is terrible upset about losing her job. _________________________
                     
92.2   Complete the sentences with adverbs. The first letter(s) of each advert are given

Example: We didn't go out because it was raining heavily

1.   We had to wait for a long time, but we didn't complain. We waited pat__________________

2.   I lost the tennis match because I played very ba______________

3.   I don't think he trusted me. He looked at me so sus_________________

4.   Sorry, didn't mean to kick you. I didn't do it int_________________

5.   Nobody knew he was coming. He arrived unex__________________

6.   Jill has just gotten a job in a store, but she won't be staying there long. She is only working there tem_________________ until she can find another job

7.   My French isn't very good, but I can understand per ___________________ if people speak and cl____________________

8.   I had very little difficulty finding an apartment. I found one quite ea_____________________

92.3   Choose two words (one from each one) to complete each sentence.

badly   reasonably   absolutely                 enormous   cheap   planned

seriously   completely   fully                       changed   ill   quiet

extremely   unusually   slightly                   damaged   insured   sorry

1.   I thought the restaurant would be expensive, but it was reasonably cheap.

2.   George's mother is ___________________ in the hospital.

3.   The fire destroyed our house, but luckily we were_________________________.

4.   What a big house! It's__________________________.

5.   It wasn't a serious accident. The car was only_______________________________.

6.   A lot of things went wrong during our vacation because it was________________________.

7.   The children are normally very lively but they're__________________________today.

8.   When I returned home after 20 years, everything had________________________________.

9.   I am ________________________about losing your book, I'll buy you another one.

Adjectives and adverbs

UNIT 92 Adjectives and adverbs (1) (quick/quickly)

A.   Study these examples:

• Our vacation was too short-the time went quickly.

• The driver of the car was seriously injured in the accident.

Quickly and seriously are adverbs. Many adverbs are made from an adjective + -ly:

adjective  bad    quiet        careful       quick       serious

adverb:  badly  quietly    carefully     quickly    seriously

Not all words ending in -ly are adverbs. Some adjectives end in -ly too. For example:

friendly    lively    elderly     lonely      silly      lovely

B.    Adjective or adverb? 
An adjective tells us more about a noun. We use adjectives before nouns and after a few verbs (especially be)

• Tom is a careful driver.

• Be quiet, please!

• We didn't go out because of the heavy rain.

• Iwas disappointed that my exam results were so bad.

An adverb tells us more about a verb. An adverb tells us in what way someone does something or in what way something happens:

• Tom drove carefully along the narrow road. (not drove careful)

• Speak quietly, please (not speak quiet)

• We didn't go out because it was raining heavily. (not raining heavy)

• I was disappointed that I did so badly on the exam. (not did so bad)

Compare:
She speaks perfect English (adjective+noun)

She speaks English perfectly (verb+object+adverb)

C.   We also use adverbs before adjectives and other adverbs. For example:

reasonably cheap (adverb+adjective)

terribly sorry (adverb+adjective)

incredibly quickly (adverb+adverb)

• It's a reasonably cheap restaurant and the food is extremely good.

• Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to push you.

• Maria learns languages incredibly quickly.

• I was bitterly disappointed that I didn't get the job

• The examination was surprisingly easy

You can use an adverb before a past participle (injured/organized, etc.):

• The meeting was very badly organized.

• The driver of the car was seriously injured in the accident.

• The building was totally destroyed in the fire.

Adjectives: Word order Exercises

UNIT 91 Adjectives: Word order Exercises

91.1   Put the adjectives in parentheses ( . . . ) in the correct position.

Example: a beautiful table (wooden round) A beautiful round wooden table

1.   an unusual ring (gold)_______________________________

2.   an old lady (nice)_____________________________________

3.   a good-looking man (young)________________________________________

4.   a modern house (attractive)____________________________________________

5.   black gloves (leather)__________________________________________________

6.   an American movie (old)_____________________________________________

7.   a large nose (red)___________________________________________________

8.   a sunny day (lovely)______________________________________________

9.   a hot bath (nice)___________________________________________________

10.   an ugly dress (orange)____________________________________________

11.   a red car (old/little)___________________________________________________

12.   a metal box (black/small)__________________________________________

13.   a long face (thin)_________________________________________________

14.   a wide avenue (long)___________________________________________

15.   a big cat (fat/black)____________________________________________

16.   a little village (old/lovely)_______________________________________

17.   long hair (blonde/beautiful)___________________________________________

18.   an old painting (interesting/French)__________________________________________
                       
91.2   Complete each sentence with a verb and an adjective from the box.

feel   look    seemed   awful     fine     interesting    smell  upset  sounded tastes wet nice

1.   Ann seemed upset this morning. Do you know what was wrong?

2.   I can't eat this. I've just tried it and it________________________________

3.   Jim told me about his new job last night. It_____________________very___________________________, much better than his old job

4.   I wasn't very well yesterday, but I _________________________today

5.   What beautiful flowers! They__________________________too

6.   You__________________________________. Have you been out in the rain

91.3   Choose the right word: adjective or adverb

Examples: The dinner smells good/well
Drive careful/carefully!

1.   Please shut the door quiet/quietly.

2.   Can you be quiet/quietly, please?

3.   This soup tastes nice/nicely.

4.   Tom cooks very good/well

5.   Don't go up that ladder. It doesn't look safe/safely.

6.   We were relieved that he arrived safe/safely after his long trip.

7.   Do you feel nervous/nervously before exams?
 
8.   Hurry up! You re always so slow/slowly.

9.   She looked at me angry/angrily when I interrupted her.

Adjectives: Word order

UNIT 91 Adjectives: Word order (''a nice new house'') After verbs (''Do you feel tired?'')

A.   Sometimes we use two or more adjectives together:

• Tom 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 objective information about something (age, size, color, etc.). Adjectives like nice/beautiful are opinion adjectives. They tell us what someone thinks of something.

B.   Sometimes there are two or more fact adjectives. Very often (but not always) we put fact adjectives in this order:
     1                        2                            3                          4                                    5
how big?-----how old?-----what color?----where from? ---- 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 woman 

• a long narrow street

C.   We also use adjectives after some verbs, especially be/get/become:

• Are you tired?

• Be careful!

• I'm getting hungry.

We also use adjectives after: feel   smell    taste    sound    seem    look:

• Do you feel tired?

• Dinner smells good.

• This coffee tastes strong.

• Tom sounded angry when I spoke to him on the phone.

• Your friend seems very nice.

But after other verbs you must use an adverb

• Drive carefully! (not drive careful)

• Susan plays the piano very well. (not plays very good)

• Tom shouted at me angrily. (not shouted angry)

Look  We use an adjective after look when it means seem:

• Tom looked sad when I saw him

But after look at we use an adverb:

• Tom looked at me sadly. (not looked at me sad)

Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed Exercises

UNIT 90 Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed (boring/bored) Exercises

90.1   Complete two sentences for each situation. Use an adjective ending in -ing or -ed to complete each sentence.

Example: The movie wasn't as good as we had expected. (disappoint-)
a) The movie was disappointing
b) We were disappainted with the movie.

1.   It's been raining all day. I hate this weather (depress-)
a) This weather is_________________________ b) This weather makes me_______________________________

2.   Astronomy is one of Tom's main interests. (interest-)
a) Tom is in astronomy___________________________ b) He finds astronomy very______________________________

3.   I turned off the television in the middle of the program. (bor-)
a) The program was ________________________________ b) I was____________________________

4.   Ann is going to Indonesia next month. She has never been there before (excit-)
a) She is really_____________________about going. b) It will be an_______________________experience for her

5.   Diana teaches young children. It's a hard job. (exhaust-)
a) She often finds her job________________________
b) At the end of the day's work she is often_______________________________
                       
90.2   Choose the right adjective

Example: I was disappointing/disappointed with the movie. I had expected it to be better.

1.   We were all horrifying/horrified when we heard about the disaster.

2.   It's sometimes embarrassing/embarrassed when you have to ask people for money

3.   Are you interesting/interested in soccer?

4.   I enjoyed the soccer game. It was very exciting/excited

5.   It was a really terrifying/terrified experience. Afterward everybody was very shocking/shocked.

6.   I had never expected to be offered the job. I was really amazing/amazed when I got it.

7.   The kitchen hadn't been cleaned for ages. It was really disgusting/disgusted.
8.   Do you get embarrassing/embarrassed easily?

90.3   Complete these sentences with an adjective ending in-ing or -ed. The first letter(s) of the adjective are given each time.

Example: Jane finds her job boring She wants to do something different.

1.   I seldom visit art galleries. I'm not very in _________________ in art.

2.   We went for a very long walk. It was very ti______________________________.

3.   Why do you always look so b_________________? Is your life really so b_____________________________?

4.   He's one of the most b ___________________ people I've ever met. He never stops talking and never says anything in__________________________________.

5.   I was as_____________when I heard they were getting divorced. They had always seemed so happy together.

6.   I'm starting a new job next week. I'm really ex ____________________about it.

Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed

UNIT 90  Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed (boring/bored, etc.)

A.  There are many pairs of 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 over and over. 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)

Someone is -ed if something (or someone) is -ing. Or, if something is ing, it makes you -ed. So:

• Jane is bored because her job is boring.

• Jane's job is boring, so Jane is bored. (not Jane is boring)

Now study these examples:                       

Someone is interested because something (or someone) is interesting:

• Tom is interested in politics. (not interesting in politics)

• Tom finds politics interesting.

• Are you interested in buying a car.

• Did you meet anyone interesting at the party?

Someone is surprised because something is surprising.

• Everyone was surprised that she passed the exam.

• It was surprising that she passed the exam.

Someone is disappointed because something is disappointing:

• I was disappointed with the movie. I expected it to be much better.

• The movie was disappointing I expected it to be much better.

Someone is tired because something is tiring

• He is always very tired when he gets home from work

• He has a very tiring job

B.   Other pairs of adjectives ending in -ing and -ed are:

fascinating   fascinated

horrifying   horrified

terrifying   terrified

excited   exciting

frightening   frightened

amused   amusing

amazed   amazing

depressing   depressed

astonished   astonishing

worried   worrying

shocked   shocking

annoyed   annoying

disgusted   disgusting

exhausting   exhausted

embarrassed   embarrassing

satisfying   satisfied 

confusing   confused