The document provides examples of how to describe problems in English using participles, gerunds, and passive infinitives. It discusses describing issues with restaurants, hospitals, bus stations, and educational facilities. Examples are given for using participles like "torn" and "damaged" as adjectives or their noun forms. The use of "need + gerund/passive infinitive" and "keep + gerund" structures are also explained. Pictures demonstrate identifying issues and solutions, such as a full wastebasket needing to be emptied.

1. What’s wrong with it? Describing problems By Profr. José Ma. Jaramillo S. May 2009

2. Complaints Customer: Waiter, waiter! There’s a fly in my soup! Waiter: Well, don’t shout about it, or the other customers will want one, too

3. Typical complaints in… Restaurants The waiter was rude. The soup was cold. The steak was under cooked. I had to wait more than 30 minutes to get my food. The service was terrible. The waiters forgot my order.

4. Hospitals There are not enough medicines. The doctors arrived late to the hospitals. The nurses are sometimes rude. The service is not good enough They are dirty and is not secure for children’s health.

5. Bus station The bus station is always full of people. The buses are old and not good. They don’t have air condition. The seats are torn. The bathrooms are damaged. The windows’ glasses have scratches.

6. CAADI Some books are damaged. There are books lined. The tables are chipped. The chairs have some stains on them. The ceiling has some leaks on it. The desks are stained by ink. The bathrooms are leaking.

7. Vocabulary A tear torn A damage damaged A chip chipped A dent dented

8. A crack crack Some scratches scratched A stain stained

9. Describing problems To describe problems we can use Participles as adjectives or Nouns. e.g. We can say that something is torn or has a tear in it. Complete the next chart writing the verb as an adjective and as a noun. torn A tear damaged some damage chipped a chip dented a dent Crack a crack Scratched some scratches Stained a stain Verb Participle/adjective Noun Tear Damage Chip Dent Crack Scratch Stain

10. Using Participles as adjectives Subject + be + Participles as adjectives Some books are damaged. The tables are chipped. My favorite cd is scratched. The sofa is stained. The teacher’s car is dented. My bedroom is crack. My new jeans are torn. The sunglasses are burned. The shower is leaking.

11. Using Nouns subject + have + Noun there is/there are + noun There are some damage on the books. The table has a chip on it. There are some scratches on it. The sofa has some stains. The teacher’s car has a dent. There is a crack in my bedroom. It has a tear in it. There’s a hole in it. There are some burns on them. The shower has a leak.

12. Look at the pictures and choose an appropriate adjective for each problem. The jeans are torn/ chipped/ broken. The CD is broken/ scratched / torn. The car is burned/ stained /dented. The faucet is cracked/ leaking / scratched. The scale is dented / damaged / chipped.

13. Read the comments. Write sentences in two different ways using forms of the word in parenthesis. Can you give another computer. This one … (stain) This one has a stain in it. This one is stained. b. My son needs a new uniform for the school. It’s has …(tear) ______________________________________________________________________________ c. The dictionaries in the CAADI are really old. They … (damage) ________________________________________________________________________________ d. We need to paint the walls. There are some … (scratch) ________________________________________________________________________________ e. My father had an accident. The car … (dent) ________________________________________________________________________________ f. Be careful with that chair. It’s …(chip) ________________________________________________________________________________ We need to call the plumber. The sink…(leak) ________________________________________________________________________________ I need a new blouse. This one … (stain) ________________________________________________________________________________ Can I borrow a better sharpener. It’s … (damage) ________________________________________________________________________________ j. I don’t like this restaurant. The furniture … (chip) ________________________________________________________________________________ k. I need a new pair of sunglasses for my next vacation. These …(scratch) ________________________________________________________________________________

14. Let’s practice with on your books! More information: [email_address]

15. Describing problems part II By Profr. José Ma. Jaramillo S. May 2009

16. Have you ever seen the tv show program EXTREME MAKEOVER? Well let’s take a look before we start with the next grammar.

17. Check it out the way we can describe problems focus in the videos. Need + gerund (ing) Carter’s house needs repairing. Carter’s house needs painting. Carter´s livingroom needs extending The kitchen’s floor need fixing. The garden needs watering. The carpet needs washing. The hall needs repairing. The ceiling needs adjusting. The office needs fixing.

18. Need + passive infinitive Carter’s house needs to be repaired. Carter’s house needs to be painted. Carter´s livingroom needs to be extended. The kitchen’s floor needs to be fixed. The garden needs to be watered. The carpet needs to be washed. The hall needs to be repaired. The ceiling needs to be adjusted. The office needs to be fixed.

19. Also we can use: keeps + gerund (ing) It is use a gerund followsed by the verb keep when it refers to a repetitive action. My aquarium keeps leaking. My jeans keep shrinking. My parents keep telling me to get married. My students keep copying the workbooks. The teachers keep working in the CAADI. The kids keep running outside the classroom.

20. Exercise 5 Look at the pictures, identify the problem and give it a solution. The wastebasket is full. It needs to be emptied. The map

21. The window The light bulb The faucet

22. Let’s practice with on your books! More information: [email_address]