Find and Correct a Mistake II

My dear friends! I see  you liked my grammar test so, I am posting one more. Your task is the same: to find and to correct the mistakes. Such tests without underlining are the most complicated as any word may be wrong including articles and prepositions. There may be a few mistakes in each sentence. I’d like to pay your attention to the following: it a grammar test, so the used vocabulary is out of the question, it is correct. I’ve seen that in the previous blog some learners tried to change the vocabulary. For example, the given sentence was:

His voice sounded pleasantly.

And the answer was:

His voice sounded beautifully.

There is no difference, as both sentences contain the same mistake. I think I made myself clear as to the vocabulary.

Those who didn’t take part in the first test can read the rules and explanations here:

http://www.myenglishclub.com/profiles/blogs/find-and-correct-a-mistake#comments

And now, here is your new task:

  1. My husband wake up early and I, too.
  2. Most Americans would not be happy without a TV, a few cars and working at the extra job.
  3. It is a possibility to buy this house for a good price. (There may be two correct options).
  4. I am looking forward to see you anywhere in Europe soon.
  5. She spoke English as if she were American born.
  6. A nice house surrounding with the high fence looked at the sea.
  7. Only after coming home he realized he lost his walet
  8. You are driving too fast that I enjoy the ride.
  9. I would rather that he works in another company.
  10. No sooner it started raining when we got wet.

My dear learners! This test is more complicated than the previous one. But I believe in you,  in your desire to learn and your ability to do it!

Let Tuesday be a deadline as many people visit the EC only on weekends.

And now, just enjoy a new challenge! 

My dear friends! Today is Friday and I am posting the correct answers with my explanations. But first, I'd like to say a few words. In such kind of tests we try to lead to the right answers, so you should be more attentive reading our comments. It is well-known that if a learner finds the answer himself, he will remember it forever. But if he just reads this answer, he may forget it very soon. After I had posted my comment about No2 in bold and said that something is wrong with the article there, three people managed not to notice that mistake again and it is so easy, it is basic grammar! Well, having analyzed the results of this test I can conclude that you all have problems with grammar! Ha-ha! The parts of grammar causing a lot of problems are the following:

1. The Inversion. A very few of you corrected No1 and none of you corrected No7. But some of you corrected No10.

2. The Prepositions. I think this part of grammar is your "favorite", ha-ha! As far as I remember, only one person noticed the wrong preposition in No3, not to say about No6 although No6 turned out to be easier as you felt there is a mistake and some of you corrected it.

3. The Participle. Many of you tried to replace it with the clause but there was no need to do it as you could only change the form of the participle. It is No6.

4. The Infinitive Complex Object (No8). Dear Abiba, Onee-chan! We have just explained it in our group and you both visit it!

5. The Subjunctive Mood. Many of you had true problems with No5 and No9. We have also explained it in our group.

And now, here are the correct sentences:

  1. My husband wakes up early and so do I.
  2. Most (of) Americans would not be happy without watching__ TV, having a few cars and working __ __ extra jobs (or ___televisions, a few cars and __ __ __extra jobs).
  3. There is a possibility of buying this house at a good price. ( or It is possible to buy this house at a good price)
  4. I am looking forward to seeing you somewhere in Europe soon.
  5. She spoke English as if she had been American born (or She speaks English as if she were American born)
  6. A nice house surrounded with the high fence looked over/on the sea.
  7. Only after coming home did he realize_ he had lost his wallet
  8. You are driving too fast for me to enjoy the ride.
  9. I would rather that he worked in another company.
  10. No sooner had it started raining when we got wet.

And here are my explanations.

1, 7 and 10 include the inversion and it is impossible to explain it in a few words. So, I will do in in my group. Here is the link:

http://www.myenglishclub.com/group/improving-grammar-with-tanya-and....

5 and 9. It is the Subjunctive Mood and we have already explained how to use it. Here is the link:

http://www.myenglishclub.com/group/improving-grammar-with-tanya-and...

As to the rest.

2. Speaking about American English, there was only one principle mistake: "a" before TV and none of you noticed it! It is the same in British. The words TV and television are used without any article. It is an exception. Speaking about Standard Written English, the enumeration was also wrong and you all tried to correct it. Now you can see two best versions.

3. At the very beginning I said there may be two options. They are:

It is + adjective + infinitive

or There is + noun + preposition + gerund

Besides, there was a wrong preposition. We say "to buy at a good price" but "to sell for a good price".

4. "To look forward" must be followed by a gerund. Besides, in most of affirmative sentences we use "some". 

6. There were two mistakes. The first one is a wrong form of the participle. The right form is the past participle passive, i.e., "surrounded". There was also a wrong preposition. The idea of the sentence was the following: if you look out of the windows of that house, you will see the sea. There are two phrasal verbs expressing that: "look over" and "look on", the last is American.

8. It is the Infinitive Complex Object. We have already explained how to use it. Here is the link:

http://www.myenglishclub.com/forum/topics/daily-practice?groupUrl=i...

Thanks everyone for taking part in my test. If you still have any questions related to grammar, just ask. 

We wish you all to have a great weekend!

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  • Dear Teacher Tanya and Danny,

    I apologize to you for my belated response. Thank you always for your guidance. ^_^

    Ma'am, honestly that time I hadn't read all the posts in group, but only concerning my question. hihi..

    Wow...I learnt something new here. I just know about the grammar rule 'inversion'. hihihi...

    Anyway, I have some questions for your answers.

    Number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: OK, I got that clearly.

    Number 1: It is more common to use So do I, you might have read my answer and explanation. My question: Is it WRONG to use "I do, too" or is it about BrE and AmE?

    Number 9: Is 'that' always placed after 'would rather'? I usually read it is would rather + subject .... if involves with other people.. (without that)

    Number 10, in your example sentence in group (after checking) "No sooner had she put down the phone than it started to ring again". But the sentence in this test, you didn't change the word 'when' with 'than'. This is a question for me.

    All those my questions, I read not only from internet, I refer mostly to grammar book. I hope you don't mind to explain.

    I'm sorry. Teachers, this is not kind of protest, but only questions and confusion. I think you opens for questions. Thank you very much. ^_^

    Have a great Sunday! ^_^

  • Thank you, dear MYUNG!

  • Thank Teacher Tanya for describing the correct answers and also explanation of comments kindly. the previous sentences seem to be a little easy at a glace. but that weren't easy for me. it was very tricky to do so. so I have learned a lot of things. Thanks again for doing this. 

  • My dear friends! I'd like to say this test was not easy at all. If you made 3-5 mistakes you may think you know English grammar rather well. To encourage you, I will say that even native speakers make some mistakes passing such a test. You are very good learners, you are not indifferent, you are curious, talanted, skilled and quite knowledgeable. It is so pleasant to teach you!

    People, I'd like to ask you a question again. What parts of grammar would you like to revise here?

    We will be glad to hear your ideas and to answer all your questions if you still have what to ask.

  • And here are my explanations.

    1, 7 and 10 include the inversion and it is impossible to explain it in a few words. So, I will do in in my group. Here is the link:

    http://www.myenglishclub.com/group/improving-grammar-with-tanya-and....

    5 and 9. It is the Subjunctive Mood and we have already explained how to use it. Here is the link:

    http://www.myenglishclub.com/group/improving-grammar-with-tanya-and...

    As to the rest.

    2. Speaking about American English, there was only one principle mistake: "a" before TV and none of you noticed it! It is the same in British. The words TV and television are used without any article. It is an exception. Speaking about Standard Written English, the enumeration was also wrong and you all tried to correct it. Now you can see two best versions.

    3. At the very beginning I said there may be two options. They are:

    It is + adjective + infinitive

    or There is + noun + preposition + gerund

    Besides, there was a wrong preposition. We say "to buy at a good price" but "to sell for a good price".

    4. "To look forward" must be followed by a gerund. Besides, in most of affirmative sentences we use "some". 

    6. There were two mistakes. The first one is a wrong form of the participle. The right form is the past participle passive, i.e., "surrounded". There was also a wrong preposition. The idea of the sentence was the following: if you look out of the windows of that house, you will see the sea. There are two phrasal verbs expressing that: "look over" and "look on", the last is American.

    8. It is the Infinitive Complex Object. We have already explained how to use it. Here is the link:

    http://www.myenglishclub.com/forum/topics/daily-practice?groupUrl=i...

    Thanks everyone for taking part in my test. If you still have any questions related to grammar, just ask. 

    We wish you all to have a great weekend!

    Daily practice
    The idea of this discussion is practicing good written English. My idea is the following. I will explain you some grammar and ask you to do some task…
  • My dear friends! Today is Friday and I am posting the correct answers with my explanations. But first, I'd like to say a few words. In such kind of tests we try to lead to the right answers, so you should be more attentive reading our comments. It is well-known that if a learner finds the answer himself, he will remember it forever. But if he just reads this answer, he may forget it very soon. After I had posted my comment about No2 in bold and said that something is wrong with the article there, three people managed not to notice that mistake again and it is so easy, it is basic grammar! Well, having analyzed the results of this test I can conclude that you all have problems with grammar! Ha-ha! The parts of grammar causing a lot of problems are the following:

    1. The Inversion. A very few of you corrected No1 and none of you corrected No7. But some of you corrected No10.

    2. The Prepositions. I think this part of grammar is your "favorite", ha-ha! As far as I remember, only one person noticed the wrong preposition in No3, not to say about No6 although No6 turned out to be easier as you felt there is a mistake and some of you corrected it.

    3. The Participle. Many of you tried to replace it with the clause but there was no need to do it as you could only change the form of the participle. It is No6.

    4. The Infinitive Complex Object (No8). Dear Abiba, Onee-chan! We have just explained it in our group and you both visit it!

    5. The Subjunctive Mood. Many of you had true problems with No5 and No9. We have also explained it in our group.

    And now, here are the correct sentences:

    1. My husband wakes up early and so do I.
    2. Most (of) Americans would not be happy without watching__ TV, having a few cars and working __ __ extra jobs (or ___televisions, a few cars and __ __ __extra jobs).
    3. There is a possibility of buying this house at a good price. ( or It is possible to buy this house at a good price)
    4. I am looking forward to seeing you somewhere in Europe soon.
    5. She spoke English as if she had been American born (or She speaks English as if she were American born)
    6. A nice house surrounded with the high fence looked over/on the sea.
    7. Only after coming home did he realize_ he had lost his wallet
    8. You are driving too fast for me to enjoy the ride.
    9. I would rather that he worked in another company.
    10. No sooner had it started raining when we got wet.
  • Dear Onee-chan! Both your corrections of No5 are right

  • Dear teachers,

    Based on your explanation in group about Subjunctive and your comment about changing the Subordinate Clause, I would revise my answer for number 5.

    5) She spoke English as if she had been an American born.

    But I wonder if my both answer are correct since we can say so in present time. Thank you always. :)

  • Here my try before deadline, hehe...

    1.     My husband wakes up early and so do I.

    This is simple present tense.

    2.      Most Americans would not be happy without a TV, a few cars and an extra job.

    There is no verb after wouldn’t so I omit ‘working’.

    3.     There is a possibility to buy this house for a good price. / It is possible to buy this house for a good price.

    Simple present, lol xD

    4.      I am looking forward to seeing you somewhere in Europe soon.

    After verb+preposition, only the gerund can be used

    5.     She spoke English as if she were an American born. (if she were born in America).

    Conditional 2, means it is impossible, she wasn’t born in America so I use ‘she were’.

    6.      It is a nice house surrounded with a high fence and facing the sea.

    Reason is almost same with number 3 and 4, hehe...

    7.     Only after coming home did he realize he had lost his wallet.

    Past tense and perfect tense.

    8.     You are driving too fast for me to enjoy the ride.

    Means I couldn’t enjoy.

    9.     I would rather that he worked in another company.

    Would rather that following by infinitive.

    10.  No sooner had it started to rain than we got wet.

    Comparative with inversion. 

    Thank you in advance.

  • Oh, finally it's fine...

    My teachers, here's my try.... If you don't mind to let me know my mistakes in the nick of the time before you disclose the right answer. Thank you very much... :)

    1) My husband wakes up early and I do, too.
    (‘wakes’ is the verb for singular subject. To use ‘and . . . . too’, there should be subject and auxiliary verb between them. However, ‘so do I’ is more common to use here)

    2) Most Americans would not be happy without TV, a car, and working an extra job.
    (......still doubt...:)))

    3) It is possible to buy this house for the good price.
    (‘It is’ must be followed by adjectives, also because ‘to infinitive’ follows. We use particle ‘the’ for the specific object/noun/reason. Another correct sentence may be 'It is a possibility that we buy this house for the good price')

    4) I am looking forward to seeing you everywhere in Europe soon.
    (‘look forward to’ is a phrasal verb that should be followed by gerund. We use ‘everywhere’ in a very large area like country or region. Meanwhile, ‘anywhere’ is used when we are not referring to one particular place. We usually use anywhere for a question or negative statement like ‘I don’t go anywhere’)

    5) She speaks English as if she were an American born.
    (Simple Present + as if + Past Subjunctive … is used in Subjunctive at present. But we can also use Simple past to tell the past event without changing the verb of Past Subjunctive. Particle 'an' is needed to describe a person ----- I wanted to omit 'born', but teacher Tanya said 'to be American born' is correct-----again, DOUBT)

    6) A nice house was surrounded by the high fence before the sea.
    (The sentence should have used A Passive Voice where house is the object. We use ‘before’ to explain the position of high fence is before the sea)

    7) Just after coming home he realized he had lost his wallet.
    (It is ‘just’ that signifies the time of event, like ‘I’ve just come home’. We used Past Perfect ‘had lost’ before another event ‘he realized’, this is the reporter’s own words/ reported speech)

    8) You drive too fast that I can’t enjoy the ride.
    (It is Simple Present that expresses commentary. The expression ‘too’ means more than enough and has negative meaning. So, as the impact we are not possible to do another thing)

    9) I would rather he worked in another company.
    (‘Would rather’ should be followed by a Past Tense when we want to involve other people in action)

    10) No sooner had it started raining than we got wet.
    (‘no sooner…than’ is a conjunction that explains the raining had been started first before they got wet)

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