UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLE

FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES
ESCUELA DE CIENCIAS DEL LENGUAJE
LECTURA DE TEXTOS ACADMICOS EN INGLS

Past participles in scientific and

technical texts
Luis A. Saldarriaga B.
English teacher (ESP)
luisarcelio@yahoo.com

The Simple Past Tense

Affirmative: Subject + verb (past tense) +
complement
Negative: Subject + did not + verb (present)
+ complement
Question: Did + subject + verb (present) +
complement?

The Simple Past Tense

Fill in the blanks with the proper form of the verb.
In 1928, Amelia Earhart (be) was the first
woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air. In
1932, Earhart (fly) flew solo across the Atlantic.
In March, 1935, Amelia Earhart (attempt)
attempted an around-the-world flight.
However, soon after the plane (take off) took
off, it (go) went out of control and (hit) hit the
ground.

The Simple Past Tense

In 1928, Amelia Earhart (be) was the first
woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air.
In 1932, Earhart (fly) flew solo across the
Atlantic. In March, 1935, Amelia Earhart
(attempt) attempted an around-the-world
flight. However, soon after the plane (take
off) took off, it (go) went out of control and
(hit) hit the ground.

The Present Perfect Tense

Affirmative: Subject + have/has + main verb
(past participle) + complement
Question: Have/has + subject + main verb
(past participle) + complement
Negative: Subject + have not (havent) /has
not (hasnt) + main verb (past participle) +
complement

The Present Perfect Tense

Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper form
of the verb.
A psychologist (attend) has attended graduate
school in psychology and (complete) has
completed his or her training in a clinic or
counseling office. But psychologists (not train)
have not been trained to prescribe drugs for
their patients.

The Present Perfect Tense

Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper form
of the verb. (Solution.)
A psychologist (attend) has attended graduate
school in psychology and (complete) has
completed his or her training in a clinic or
counseling office. But psychologists (not train)
have not been trained to prescribe drugs for
their patients.

The Present Perfect Tense

Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb.
Psychiatrists, on the other hand, (have)
have had a medical training. They (attend)
have attended medical school and (get)
have gotten the M.D. (doctor of medicine)
degree.

The Present Perfect Tense

Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb. (Solution.)
Psychiatrists, on the other hand, (have)
have had a medical training. They (attend)
have attended medical school and (get)
have gotten the M.D. (doctor of medicine)
degree.

Past Tense vs Present Perfect Tense

The Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense expresses an action that
occurred before another action in the past.
Affirmative: Subject + had + main verb (past
participle) + complement.
Question: Had + subject + main verb (past
participle) + complement.
Negative: Subject + had not (hadnt) + main
verb (past participle) + complement.

The Past Perfect Tense

Researchers studied the brains of patients
who suffered seizures.
When did the patients suffer seizures?
Before or after the study?
Researchers studied the brains of patients
who had suffered seizures.
Until 2001, no brain imaging studies had
been performed in patients who had PTSD.

The Past Perfect Tense

Plaintiff XX sued a hospital claiming that high
doses of Pitocin administered during labor had
caused him brain trauma during birth.
An MR imaging examination showed that the
plaintiffs brain tissue had developed
asymmetrically.
But the court held that the plaintiff had failed
to prove that this was the cause of his injuries.

The Past Perfect Tense

Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb.
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has
revolutionized the legal arena. In a murder
trial, MR imaging results showed that the
decision-making area of the defendants
brain (shrink) had shrunk significantly, and
that his brain (atrophy) had atrophied.

The Past Perfect Tense

Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb. (Solution.)
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has
revolutionized the legal arena. In a murder
trial, MR imaging results showed that the
decision-making area of the defendants
brain (shrink) had shrunk significantly, and
that his brain (atrophy) had atrophied.

Passive voice
The passive voice is used to describe situations,
methods, etc. It involves the following elements:
Object + Verb to be + Main verb (past participle)
The passive voice is especially helpful in scientific
or technical writing where the actor is not really
important but the process or principle being
described is very important. Instead of saying I
wrote down a report at period end, it is
preferable to say The report was written down
at period end.

Tense

Object

To be

Main verb
(past participle)

Present

The car/cars

is / are

designed ...

Present perfect

The car/cars

has / have been

designed ...

Past

The car/cars

was / were

designed ...

Past perfect

The car/cars

had been

designed ...

Future

The car/cars

will be

designed ...

Future perfect

The car/cars

will have been

designed ...

Present progressive

The car/cars

is / are being

designed ...

Past progressive

The car/cars

was / were being

designed ...

Passive voice
In societies where life expectancy has been
considerably extended, dementias are becoming
a major public health concern.
Experts estimate that 22 million people around
the world will be afflicted by Alzheimer in 2025.
Drugs, which are known as psychostimulants,
have been found to improve the behavior of
children with attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD).

Modal auxiliary verbs

Modal verbs are used to make precise
statements and for that reason are very
common in scientific and technical texts.
Modal verbs have no meaning by themselves.
They are always used in conjunction with main
verbs to help them express ideas (about the
past, the present or the future).
There are several categories of modal verbs.

Modal verbs
Ability: can, may.
All that we experience and can do is, in some
measure, a function of our placement in a
physical world.
By adapting the physical environment we
may provide strategies to help many children
and adults who can not make sense of their
world.

Modal verbs
Possibility / probability: can, could,
may, might, will, would.
Persons suffering distress may be in general
disarray and disorganised; they would often
have no plan or miss the target; they could also
lack precept and apt to self-fulfilling prophecy.
They might require re-organization as well as rebuilding self concept.

Modal verbs
Obligation: must, ought to, should.

Students in this course should attend every

lecture.
In any course, the student must achieve a
passing grade.
Students must enter the examination room
quietly and may not bring into it any
electronic communication devices.

Modal verbs / Passive voice

When body fluids have been spilled, the
following actions ought to be taken:
The equipments should be cleaned according
to manufacturers recommendations.
You must wash your hands before and after
the procedure. Handwashing may be
accomplished using a commercial water-free
cleaning solution.

References
King C., Stanley N: Building skills for the TOEFL
test. (1996)
Zimmerman F: English for Science. (1989)
Peat J: SCIENTIFIC WRITING - Easy When You
Know How. BMJ (2002)
The Role of Imaging in United States
Courtrooms. Neuroimag Clin N Am 17 (2007)
557567.