Adjectives, Modals, Phrasal Verbs, and Compound Adjectives

Posted on Mar 6, 2025 in English

Adjectives Ending in -ed and -ing

Adjectives ending in -ed generally describe emotions—they tell us how people feel. Adjectives ending in -ing generally describe the thing that causes the emotion.

  • Amazed (surprised) / Amazing (causing surprise)
  • Annoyed (upset) / Annoying (causing annoyance)
  • Bored (feeling weary and restless) / Boring (causing boredom)
  • Exhausted (very tired) / Exhausting (causing tiredness)
  • Frightened (afraid or anxious) / Frightening (causing fear)
  • Frustrated (feeling annoyed and discouraged) / Frustrating (causing frustration)
  • Interested (having interest) / Interesting (causing interest)
  • Surprised (feeling surprise) / Surprising (causing surprise)

The -ed ending describes how someone feels, while the -ing ending describes what makes someone feel that way.

Adjective Suffixes

  • -able (acceptable, remarkable, dependable, predictable, enjoyable, understandable)
  • -ous (luxurious, dangerous, famous, poisonous, adventurous)
  • -ful (beautiful, successful, careful, thoughtful, helpful)
  • -less (penniless, useless, careless, meaningless)

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that are placed before the main verb.

CAN / BE ABLE TO

CAN expresses skill or ability (similar to “know how to”). It’s used to:

  • Make suggestions or offers
  • Ask for something
  • Give and ask for permission
  • Express possibility

In these cases, it means “can”.

BE ABLE TO indicates ability. It can be used in the present, past, future, and perfect tenses. (e.g., “He can play and dance.”)

MAY / MIGHT

MAY and MIGHT can express possibility, but MIGHT suggests a lower probability (like “perhaps”). MAY (e.g., “May I…?”) is used to request something, ask for favors, or give permission in a more formal way than CAN.

MUST / HAVE TO

MUST (e.g., “You must…”) expresses obligation and necessity in the present. For other tenses, use HAVE TO. When the obligation is imposed by law or someone in authority, use MUST. HAVE TO softens the phrase and is widely used.

NEED TO / NEEDN’T

NEED TO is a normal verb that indicates obligation and necessity, similar to HAVE TO. NEEDN’T is a modal verb used to say that something is not required or necessary, similar to DON’T HAVE TO.

MUSTN’T / DON’T HAVE TO

MUSTN’T indicates prohibition. DON’T HAVE TO means there is no obligation or need, and it’s not necessary.

SHOULD / OUGHT TO

Both are used to give advice, but SHOULD is more frequent. OUGHT TO is less common and typically used in negative and interrogative sentences.

Modal Perfects

  • SHOULD / OUGHT TO HAVE + past participle: Criticizes a past event.
  • SHOULDN’T HAVE + past participle: Criticizes something that shouldn’t have happened.
  • MUST HAVE + past participle: Indicates certainty that something happened.
  • MAY / MIGHT HAVE + past participle: Guesses about what happened.
  • COULD HAVE + past participle: Indicates an ability to do something that didn’t happen.
  • COULDN’T HAVE + past participle: Indicates certainty that something couldn’t have happened.
  • NEEDN’T HAVE + past participle: Refers to an unnecessary past action.

Phrasal Verbs

Examples of phrasal verbs and their meanings:

  • Accuse of
  • Apply for (request)
  • Complain about (expressing dissatisfaction)
  • Hear of (hear about)
  • Laugh at
  • Laugh with
  • Listen to
  • Participate in
  • Protect from
  • Provide with
  • Replace with
  • Rely on (depend on, trust)
  • Walk by (pass by)

Compound Adjectives

Examples of compound adjectives:

  • Right-handed
  • Two-edged (double-edged)
  • Low-paid (underpaid)
  • Well-known (known, famous)
  • Good-looking (handsome)
  • Never-ending
  • Record-breaking
  • Last-minute
  • Homesick (missing home)
  • World-famous (famous worldwide)
  • Air-conditioned
  • Sun-tanned
  • Action-packed
  • So-called
  • Long-distance
  • Record-breaking