Newspaper headlines are often extremely difficult to understand. Sometimes, of course, this is simply because one doesn't know enough about what's been going on in the country recently. Obviously, you can't understand a headline like SMITH DOES IT AGAIN  if you have no idea who Smith is, or what he did the first time. In many cases, however, the problem is a different one: it is that newspaper headlines are written in a special kind of language, almost like a secret code, with its own vocabulary and grammar.

1.- Vocabulary. Headlines often contain relatively unusual words which are chosen either because they are short (for example, "gems" meaning "jewels"; "bid" in the sense of "attempt"), or because they are vivid and dramatic (like "blaze", which is often used instead of "fire"). So even if you have a very wide vocabulary, you probably won't be able to understand headlines like PRESS CURB PROBE (meaning "an investigation into censorship of the press") without a very good dictionary. (To some extent it depends on the paper: the more serious newspaper use less of this kind of language than the others.)

2.- Grammar. Newspaper headlines also have a special grammar, which is different from that of ordinary sentences. The main features of this grammar are: (a) omission of articles and the verb "to be"; (b) a special tense system; (c) the very frequent use of nouns as adjectives. The following explanations and exercises will help you to deal with these constructions.

(a)    omission of articles and the verb "to be"

Here are a few examples:

ROYAL DOG ILL

One of the Queen's dogs is ill.

MOON AMERICAN, SAYS US SENATOR

A United States senator says that the moon is American

OPPOSITION CLAIM GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBLE FOR CRISIS

The opposition claim that the government is responsible for the crisis.

More:

DOG WORSE: ROYAL DOCTOR READY TO OPERATE

SHAKESPEARE PLAY DISGUSTING, SAYS EDUCATION COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

BRITISH WOMEN MOST BEAUTIFUL IN WORLD, ACCORDING TO MANCHESTER PROFESSOR

(b)    a special tense system

Newspaper headlines use a simplified tense system. It is unusual to find complex verb forms such as "is staying" or "has reached". The auxiliaries to be and to have are left out.

1. Generally the simple present form ("stays", "reaches") is used whether the headline is about something that has happened, something that is happening, or something that happens repeatedly.

CHINA LAUNCHES SPACE SATELLITE

STUDENTS FIGHT FOR COURSE CHANGES

FAT BABIES CRY LESS, SAYS DOCTOR

2. Sometimes the present progressive tense is used (particularly to describe something that is developing), but the auxiliary verb "to be" is left out. Try to rewrite these examples:

BRITAIN HEADING FOR NEW CRISIS

WORLD GETTING COLDER, SAY RESEARCHERS

3. To refer to the future, headlines usually use the infinitive:

QUEEN TO VISIT BAFFINLAND

BRITAIN TO SPEND MORE ON CANCER RESEARCH

4. Passive sentences are constructed with no auxiliary verbs -just the past participle. So instead of saying, for example, "A man is being held by the police", the headline would probably say MAN HELD BY POLICE. Headlines like this are easy to misunderstand, if you are not careful. For instance, BLACK TEENAGERS ATTACKED IN RACE RIOT means that the black teenagers were attacked, not that they attacked somebody else. If the black teenagers did the attacking, the headline would use the present tense (BLACK TEENAGERS ATTACK).

More:

NUDE BATHERS PAINTED ON BEACH

POLICEMAN KILLED IN PUB FIGHT

LOST CAT RETURNED TO DUCHESS

(c)     very frequent use of nouns as adjectives

Even in ordinary English, it is very common to put nouns before other nouns, as if they were adjectives. For example, a rise in the prices can be called a price rise; the leg of a table can be called a table leg. In newspaper headlines, this often goes to an extreme. Three, four or even five nouns may be put together into a sort of block, with all the nouns except the last acting as adjectives. Imagine, for instance, that there is a research station in the Welsh mountains trying to develop a waterproof sheep, and that one of the staff turns out to be a spy working for a foreign power. The headline reporting this might compress the essential information into a block of five nouns: SHEEP RESEARCH STATION SPY DRAMA.

Generally, the easiest way to understand headlines like this is to start at the end and read them backwards:

BREAD PRICE RISE SHOCK refers to the shock caused by a rise in the price of bread.

More:

SPACE RESEARCH TALKS PROPOSAL

CAR INDUSTRY UNEMPLOYMENT THREAT

LIVERPOOL SUPERMARKET BOMB SCARE

• PRACTICE

1.       SWITZERLAND INVADES NEW ZEALAND

2.       WOMAN HELD IN MURDER SEARCH

3.       GIRL, 16, TO ADVISE GOVERNMENT ON TEENAGE PROBLEMS

4.       NIGHTCLUB STAR BREAKS LEG

5.       POLLUTION DANGER INCREASING, SAY SCIENTISTS

6.       BLIND WIDOW CAPTURES TRAIN ROBBER

7.       REBEL TROOPS PUSHED BACK IN NEW BATTLE

8.       STRIKE THREAT OVER PAY CLAIM REFUSAL

9.       EUROPE 51^ST STATE, SAYS US GENERAL

10.   PIANO FACTORY PAY CUT RIOT DEATH DRAMA

11.   CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY CASINO PLAN: NEW MOVE

12.   HOUSEWIFE GETS LETTER FROM TAXMAN

13.   DOG WORSE: ROYAL DOCTORS TO OPERATE

14.   BUDGET LEAK. COMMONS ROW.

15.   MANCHESTER BLACKOUT IN POWER CUT

16.   ROADS TREACHEROUS, SAY AA

17.   CHRISTMAS TOLL WORST EVER

18.   POLL GIVES TORIES LEAD

19.   ELECTRIC KETTLE FAULT WARNING

20.   SMUGGLING CHARGES: TWO MEN CLEARED

21.   MINERS BAN OVERTIME

22.   COMIC STARR IN BIG TAX PROBE

23.   DOUBLE TAX CUT, SAY LIBS

24.   CLIMBER DIES AFTER SAVING GIRLFRIEND

25.   YARD HOLDS 5 DRUGS RAID

26.   FLASHING UFO SPOTTED AGAIN

27.   SNOW HITS MOTORISTS

28.   BRITONS HIT BY STRIKE IN SPAIN

29.   CAR SALES HIT NEW UK RECORD

30.   CONDUCTORLESS BUS PLAN ANGER

31.   MURDER RIDDLE STILL UNSOLVED, YARD BAFFLED

32.   POSTMISTRESS FOILS ARMED ATTACKER

33.   GOLD RESERVES REACH NEW PEAK

34.   ALL OCTOBER RAINFALL RECORDS BROKEN

35.   EGG TALKS: GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL POLICY UNDER FIRE

36.   CABINET CHANGES: NO CRISIS SAYS PM

37.   WASP STING STOPS FLIGHT

38.   PM MOVES TO CUT DOWN EXPENDITURE

39.   NEWFIELD WIFE TO BE STRANGLED

40.   WOMEN MAN WINNING YACHT

41.   DOG IN WELL DRAMA: NEW RESCUE ATTEMPT TODAY

42.   MODEL MURDER: JUDGE WITHDRAWS

43.   GOVERNMENT REBELS REFUSE WHIP

44.   SMOKING BILL THROWN OUT BY LORDS

45.   HOME SECRETARY UNDER FIRE AGAIN

46.   RUSH TO SUN ENDS IN JAMS

47.   SPENDING SPREE DESPITE GLOOM

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