What makes someone cool? A recent international study involving 6,000 people across 12 countries tried to discover the secret. Researchers found that cool people share six characteristics: they are extroverted, open, hedonistic, adventurous, autonomous and powerful. However, experts say that becoming cooler is difficult. You can't buy coolness, and claiming to be cool makes you seem uncool instead. The more you try to be cool, the less cool you become. Cultural historians explain that coolness emerged in 1940s New York with jazz, pioneered by young Black artists. Today, coolness is connected with celebrity and the influencer industry. Yet young people struggle to name someone they know personally who's cool. Experts remain skeptical that you can make yourself cooler—it tends to come from obsessive artistic vision or family problems, things you cannot plan.
🎯 Grammar Showcase
Present perfect for life experience and recent actions
Used to connect past events to present relevance
“A recent international study claims to have discovered the secret of coolness, identifying six key characteristics that make someone seem effortlessly desirable.”
→ perfect infinitive after claim (to have + past participle)
“Coolness has to live within you to really make it work.”
→ present perfect showing necessary condition
“Cool emerged in 1940s New York with jazz, pioneered by young Black artists as an act of resistance.”
→ past participle in reduced relative clause
Passive voice for formal reporting
Common in academic and journalistic contexts
“A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that cool people have six characteristics.”
→ past participle as adjective modifier
“Selling out to the mainstream was looked down upon.”
→ passive with phrasal verb (past simple)
“At this point, cool is connected with celebrity.”
“The more you try to be cool, the more uncool you become.”
→ comparative structure (the more…the more)
“According to the researchers, people can increase how cool they seem to others to a certain extent, but it's limited.”
→ noun clause after verb (how + clause)
“Cultural historians argue that coolness is a combination of rebellion, personal style, extraordinary confidence and charisma.”
→ that-clause after reporting verb
“They can't imagine living a quiet life that anyone would consider cool.”
→ relative clause with modal verb
Contrast connectors
Links ideas showing opposition or unexpected results
“However, cool people remain desirable and in demand.”
→ however at sentence start (contrast)
“Cool cannot be bought, although it's enthusiastically sold, and it can't be claimed without losing its benefits.”
→ although showing concession (mid-sentence)
“Otherwise, being inexpressive makes you seem cold rather than cool.”
→ rather than showing preference/contrast
Gerunds and infinitives
Verb forms used as nouns or after other verbs
“What's fundamental to being cool is expressing them in an appropriate way.”
→ gerund after preposition (to)
“Otherwise, being inexpressive makes you seem cold rather than cool.”
→ gerund as subject of sentence
“People who are born introverts will probably struggle to seem consistently socially confident.”
→ infinitive after struggle (verb + to)
“Any attempt risks seeming fake or try-hard, which is worse than being actively uncool.”
→ gerund after risk (verb + -ing)
💡 Study Tip
Practice by describing people you know using these structures: 'She seems confident because…' or 'The more he tries, the less successful he becomes.'
Grammar Practice: What is Cool? And Can Anyone Become Cool?
Test your understanding of the grammar forms from the story.
Perfect Infinitive
Which sentence uses the perfect infinitive correctly after ‘claim’?
After ‘claim’, we use the perfect infinitive (to have + past participle) to show that the discovery happened before the claiming. This connects a past event to the present statement.
Perfect Infinitive
Why is ‘to have discovered’ used instead of ‘to discover’ in this sentence?
The perfect infinitive (to have + past participle) shows that the action of discovering was completed before the act of claiming. It connects a past event to present relevance.
Past Participle Clause
Which sentence correctly uses a past participle in a reduced relative clause?
The past participle ‘pioneered’ functions as a reduced relative clause (which was pioneered). It’s passive because the artists did the pioneering, not the jazz itself.
Passive Voice
Which sentence uses a past participle as an adjective modifier correctly?
The past participle ‘published’ acts as an adjective modifying ‘study’. It’s passive because the study was published (by someone), not publishing itself.
Passive Voice
Why is the passive voice used in ‘Selling out was looked down upon’?
The passive voice with the phrasal verb ‘look down upon’ shifts focus to what was judged (selling out) rather than who did the judging. This is common in formal reporting when the agent is unknown or unimportant.
Passive Voice
Which sentence contains an error?
Option C incorrectly uses the active continuous form ‘is connecting’. To show a state or relationship, we need the passive ‘is connected with’, not the active form.
Comparative Structure
Which sentence uses the comparative structure ‘the more…the more’ correctly?
The correct structure is ‘the more + clause, the more + clause’ to show that two things change together proportionally. Both parts need ‘the’ before the comparative.
Noun Clause
What grammatical function does ‘how cool they seem to others’ serve in this sentence?
The ‘how + clause’ structure creates a noun clause that acts as the direct object of the verb ‘increase’. It answers the question ‘increase what?’
That-Clause
Which sentence correctly uses a that-clause after a reporting verb?
After reporting verbs like ‘argue’, ‘claim’, ‘say’, we use a that-clause. While ‘that’ can sometimes be omitted in informal speech, option B is the most complete and formal structure.
Relative Clause
Complete the sentence: They can’t imagine living a quiet life ____ cool.
We use ‘that’ (not ‘who’) to refer to ‘life’ (a thing, not a person). The modal ‘would’ shows hypothetical consideration. No pronoun ‘it’ is needed after ‘consider’.
Contrast Connectors
Which sentence uses ‘although’ correctly to show concession?
‘Although’ introduces a concessive clause and doesn’t need commas around it when used mid-sentence. It shows contrast: despite being sold, it cannot actually be bought (in the true sense).
Contrast Connectors
What does ‘rather than’ express in this sentence?
‘Rather than’ is used to contrast two alternatives: ‘cold’ versus ‘cool’. It shows that one result happens instead of the other, emphasizing the preference or distinction between them.
Contrast Connectors
Which sentence uses a contrast connector incorrectly?
Option C is missing the comma after ‘However’ at the sentence start. When ‘however’ begins a sentence as a contrast connector, it must be followed by a comma.
Gerunds & Infinitives
Which sentence correctly uses a gerund after the preposition ‘to’?
After the preposition ‘to’, we must use the gerund form (being), not the infinitive. This is different from ‘to’ as part of an infinitive (to be). Here ‘to’ is a preposition requiring a gerund.
Gerunds & Infinitives
Why is the infinitive ‘to seem’ used after ‘struggle’ in this sentence?
The verb ‘struggle’ is followed by an infinitive (to + base verb), not a gerund. This is a fixed pattern: we struggle TO do something, not struggle doing something.
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