Slicing or sliced tomoatos

Question

I saw 'slicing tomatos' on a supermarket circular today, but I think it should be 'sliced tomatos'.Shall I say two overlapping books or two overlapped books?Thanks

Usenet · Accepted Answer

Kevin wrote on 23 Apr 2005:
[nq:1]I saw 'slicing tomatos'"tomatoes" on a supermarket circular today, but I think it should be 'sliced tomatos'. Shall I say two overlapping books or two overlapped books?[/nq]
Tomatoes are used for different purposes. One is for slicing. The tomatoes are sliced and placed on a plate with an oil & vinegar dressing and, perhaps, with some cheese on top. Sliced tomatoes are used for sandwiches. For these two uses, one needs slicing tomatoes to turn into sliced tomatoes. The are usually red and round and firm. Plum tomatoes, on the other hand, are not for slicing but for stewing or turning into tomato sauce. Cherry tomatoes are eaten shole and not sliced.
"Slicing tomatoes" is perfectly correct.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Kevin wrote on 23 Apr 2005:[/nq]
You answer is really helpful. Thank you so much,
Can you please help me on the second question as well?

There are two books placed together on my desk . I want to refer to both of them.
Shall I say "two overlapping books" or "two overlapped books"?

Thanks, Kevin

Usenet · Answer

Kevin wrote on 23 Apr 2005:
[nq:2]Kevin wrote on 23 Apr 2005: "tomatoes" Tomatoes are used ... eaten shole and not sliced. "Slicing tomatoes" is perfectly correct.[/nq]
[nq:1]You answer is really helpful. Thank you so much, Can you please help me on the second question as well? ... desk . I want to refer to both of them. Shall I say "two overlapping books" or "two overlapped books"?[/nq]
No, "overlapping/overlapped" is the wrong word. It all depends on how many books are on your desk, how they are arranged, and how the two you are referring to are arranged on your desk.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Kevin wrote on 23 Apr 2005:[/nq]
baking potatoes - potatoes for baking by the customer baked potatoes - potatoes that have already been cooked by the shop

also eating apples / cooking apples
Owain

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[nq:2]Kevin wrote on 23 Apr 2005: Tomatoes are used for ... uses, one needs slicing tomatoes to turn into sliced tomatoes.[/nq]
[nq:1]baking potatoes - potatoes for baking by the customer baked potatoes - potatoes that have already been cooked by the shop also eating apples / cooking apples[/nq]
It is interesting cutting knife and drinking glass are different, as one cannot or does not say cutted knife and drunk glass.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]baking potatoes - potatoes for baking by the customer baked ... cooked by the shop also eating apples / cooking apples[/nq]
[nq:1]It is interesting cutting knife and drinking glass are different, as one cannot or does not say cutted knife and drunk glass.[/nq]
I'm not certain what is so interesting here. A "cutting knife" is a knife you use to cut things (i would think that carving knife would be more common - I never really noticed anybody ever saying "cutting knife") and a "drinking glass" is a glass you drink from. You don't normally cut knives or drink glasses. But there is a phrase "cut glass" meaning glass which has been cut.
Regards, Einde O'Callaghan
BTW there is no such word as "cutted", the past tense and past participle of "cut" are the same as the infinitive.

Usenet · Answer

One of my favorites. Teaching this, especially in an opportunistic setting, is a blast.
The general rule of thumb for -ing/-ed (participle) adjectives is pretty simple. It helps if you know that the more formal names for the present and past participle are the active and passive participle. A "terrifying film" reaches out and scares you. "A terrified viewer" has been terrified BY something (emphasize the preposition, as it names the agent in the passive and will help solidify the link in your learner's minds).
Generally speaking, the number of students who have the analytical ability and/or the desire to pick this up by means of a straight-up (even with examples) grammar explanation is low, especially when you're dealing with unmotivated/suspicious/hostile teenagers.

Run through it once orally, and ask some check questions, as the majority of the learner's failures (both strong and weak learners) to pick it up will encourage them to listen to you a little more carefully when you orally explain grammar in the future. If you can, translate it into L1. They still won't really get the principle, thus encouraging weak learners to think again about the translation of grammar points as the best possible means of knowledge transmission.

When they don't get it, show NO hostility/impatience/disgust whatsoever. At other times, perhaps, letting SOME students know that you feel upset with them is a viable teaching tool. It is most definitely NOT one here. Nod, smile and get the chalk out.

I write out "terrifying" and elongate the tail on the g, adding ghosts and fangs and disembodied, bloodshot eyes for "terrifying." Then, I do a stick-figure at the receiving end in a state of shock (hands down, lines radiating outward).
You then expand the rule to include the notion of
purpose/cause-and-effect. Draw objects, an arrow with a big loop in it, and the object's name. Write purpose in the center of the loop. Why does the glass or the knife exist? I start off with "dining room" and then move into the more confusing variants, drinking glass, cutting knife, etc.
Next, we have things that are in progress:
falling bricks (sidewalk, two bricks in the air with a vertical line above them, stick figure looking up)
versus completed:
fallen bricks (sidewalk, bricks on sidewalk, stick figure looking down)
And finally, rounding off the progression, things that are just, in general, active.
working parents (father in one easily-illustrated profession, mother in another)
dripping water (pipe with water drops falling downward)

Check questions and voila! In a real-world, teacher-centered classroom (minus ages for prep and fancy supporting equipment) we have...victory!

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I'm not certain what is so interesting here. A "cutting knife" is a knife you use to cut things (i ... is no such word as "cutted", the past tense and past participle of "cut" are the same as the infinitive.[/nq]
Noted your correction. Of course you dont see what is interesting, as I think you misunderstood what I wrote. But never mind.

John

Usenet · Answer

It should be "sliced tomatoes" because "sliced" is the past participle which functions like an adjective. It is the adjective that should be placed before a noun in English.
The same rule" applies to "overlapped books".
Maria.G

Usenet · Answer

I am sorry! I still disagree. Should it be "baked potatoes" or "baking potatoes", "chopped onions" or "chopping onions", "sliced bread" or "slicing bread"? The same rule aplies to "sliced tomatoes". There is no gastronomical term such as "slicing tomatoes". Why? It is sliced because The tomato has been sliced. It is baked because The potato has been baked.
These past participles become adjectives which describe the nouns. -ing is used when the object does the action and not when the action is being done to it.
Example : "slicing knife" because the knife does the slicing. "Moving car" because the car is doing the moving.
In conclusion, the tomatoes are not slicing anything, the tomatoes have been sliced.
Agree?

Slicing or sliced tomoatos

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