Search results for 'tag:Conditionals tag:Constructions' matching tags 'Conditionals' and 'Constructions'

I MADE AN EXERCISE BUT I'M NOT SURE WITH ANSWERS, CAN ANYONE CHECK IT?

lucaslucas — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:49:05 GMT

Structure reconstruction. ( dots mean that this part of sentence is not changed)

Reconstruct the following sentences (or pairs of sentences) in such a way that they are as similar as possible in meaning to the ones printed before them. Make all necessary alteraction. Use the info provided in the brackets.

1. Freda phoned Jack last night. (cleft sentence with emphasis on last night)

It was last night that Freda phoned Jack.

2. We didnât complain to the waiter about the food because we didnât want to embarrass our friends. (adverbial clause with so as)

We didn't ........... waiter so as not to embarass......

3. There are difficulties that must be surmounted before any agreement can be reached. ( non-finite clause)

There are difficulties to be surmounted.............

4. He didnât even phone to let me know he was not coming. This made me very angry. ( noun clause)

The fact that he didn't........ coming made me very angry.

5. We came within sight of Everest. Its summit has attracted so many climbers. ( relative clause)

We...... Everest, whose.....

6. The railway attendant assumes the train has been running too slow for the last 20 minutes. ( non-finite in passive structure)

this i just dont know how to change :/ maybe: That the train had been running too slow for the previous 20 minutes the railway attendant assumed.

7. A group of MPâs has advocated that the Government should set up a special commission of inquiry. ( gerundial structure)

A group.................Government setting up..........

8. He is to do the task. I recommend it. (subjunctive)

I recommend he to do the task.

9. Several people went to Paris this spring. None of them complained about the hotel. ( relative clause)

Several people, none of whom......hotel, went............spring

10. He tore open the letter and found a cheque for Å100 in it. (non-finite clause)

He .. letter finding..

11. What if you lose the ticket you have. Have you got enough money to buy another one? (suppose)

idk here but maybe: Suppose that you lose the ticket, have you got enough money to buy another one?

12. She is only crying because some soap went into her eye while her mother was washing her hair. ( passive voice)

here idk also but lets try: She was only crying because some soap went into her eye when her hair was being washed.

13. Penicillin was discovered in 1928. It helped to save many lives in World War II. (conditional- use but for)

i bet im wrong here: But for penicilin discovery in 1928 many lives would not have been saved in WWII.

14. We never thought he was that sort of fellow. (emphasis)

he i have serious doubts also: That he that sort of fellow was we never thought.

15. What a tasty cake this is! My neighbours commented. (reported speech)

My neighbours commented that what a tasty cake that was.

16. He lost two games early in the tournament. Despite this, however, he managed to carry off the championshim. ( co0ordinate relative clause)

He lost..tournament, despite which, however, he..

CAN YOU PLEASE CHECK MY ANSWERS?

can u guys help me with it? can you check my answers? please

lucaslucas — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:22:10 GMT

I tried to solve this lil test but i couldnt figure out all answers. Would you be so kind and help me with it? I have no answer key for it so I can't compare my answers with correct ones and im not sure of my answers :( I hope that u'll find some time to help :)

read the following text and cross out or circle unnecessary words. In each line there is one such word.

The prince of Walesâs determination to give up lunch for Lent shows out an admirable out

strength of good will, but is physiologically unsound. The metabolism of humans has has

evolved round so that we are omnivorous. It may sound unlikely, but we have a digestive round

system more closely related one to that of rats and pigs than carnivorous lions and one

wolves. People should have a hard hearty breakfast containing plenty of complex starches, hard

such as a porridge and cereals, together with some protein but not too much fat a

or highly refined sugar adding. Lunch is the safest meal in which to take the daily to?

allowance of fats and fruit juices. Most people need it to eat at midday because without it

sustenance at that short time even the most even-tempered can become difficult and even

demanding task. The balance is difficult â no lunch and the mood becomes vulnerable but the? ( idk which one, mayb e its not the :/)

too much heavy a lunch will induce deep somnolence a couple of hours later. When you 1st a

are starving as the metabolism slows down and the next meal is therefore treated by the as

body as though every other calorie could be life-saving and thatâs why fat is stored up. though

The old my advice to have a good, Followed in due course by light lunch and my

supper, is no better both for the psyche and physique than eating once a day like a tiger. no

Identify and correct mistakes. ( some sentences are correct , 5 if i remember well )

He a)warned us b)not to go on feet across the park alone c)as people d)had been

mugged there. b- by foot

It a)must be used in b)a well-ventilated room. C) Used otherwise it d)could be harmful. b- just cross out a

3. Warships also served as cargo a)ship until b)the 1600âs when they c)took on a d)more specialized military role. a- ships

4. The works a)of Thomas Eakins, an American b)realist of the 1800âs were notable for c)its vitality and painstaking detail. correct?

5. Princess Diana a)would have liked to b)have been there but she c)wasnât able to come d)to Windsor. corect?

6. a)A mecca for b)nature watchers, this bay contains a c)two-miles stretch of beach literally d)covered in animals and birds. c- two-mile

7. When a client a)approaches the company, whether he b)be a King or an ordinary member of the public, the c)companyâs team of designers d)sets to work. b- is

8. a)Fearing that the police b)wouldnât recognize him he never c)went out d)in daylight. b- would

9. a)Not knowing the language and b)having not friends in the town, he c)found it hard to give up d)work

b- not having

10. The day a) being fine b)Tom and I decided c)to go d)swimming.

correct?

11. He was a)arousing b)by the crash and c)client d)to his feet. a- aroused

12. a)Having bitten twice, the postman refused b)to deliver our letters c)unless we chained our dog d)up

a- having been bitten

13. You donât care a)about science fiction, b)do you? c)Oh yes, I like d)it.

correct?

14. The kidnappers a)threatened him b)to kill his daughter if he c)didnât pay the ransom d)at once.

a- threatened( just w/o him)

15. I said that if he a)could lend me b)the money I c)neednât go to d)the bank.

correct?

Structure reconstruction. ( dots mean that this part of sentence is not changed)

Freda phoned Jack last night. (cleft sentence with emphasis on last nigh)

It was last night that Freda phoned Jack.

We didnât complain to the waiter about the food because we didnât want to embarrass our friends. (adverbial clause with so as)

We.........food so as not to embarass............

3. There are difficulties that must be surmounted before any agreement can be reached. ( non-finite clause)

There are difficulties to be surmounted.............

He didnât even phone to let me know he was not coming. This made me very angry. ( noun clause)

The fact that he didn't........ coming made me very angry.

We came within sight of Everest. Its summit has attracted so many climbers. ( relative clause)

We...... Everest, whose.....

The railway attendant assumes the train has been running too slow for the last 20 minutes. ( non-finite in passive structure)

this i just dont know how to change :/ maybe: That the train had been running too slow for the previous 20 minutes the railway attendant assumed.

A group of MPâs has advocated that the Government should set up a special commission of inquiry. ( gerundial structure)

A group.................Government setting up..........

He is to do the task. I recommend it. (subjunctive)

I recommend he to do the task.

Several people went to Paris this spring. None of them complained about the hotel. ( relative clause)

Several people, none of whom......hotel, went............spring

10. He tore open the letter and found a cheque for Å100 in it. (non0finite clause)

He ..... letter finding.....

11. What if you lose the ticket you have. Have you got enough money to buy another one? (suppose)

idk here but maybe: Suppose that you lose the ticket, have you got enough money to buy another one?

12. She is only crying because some soap went into her eye while her mother was washing her hair. ( passive voice)

here idk also but lets try: She was only crying because some soap went into her eye when her hair was being washed.

13. Penicillin was discovered in 1928. It helped to save many lives in World War II. (conditional- use but for)

i bet im wrong here: But for penicilin discovery in 1928 many lives would not have been saved in WWII.

14. We never thought he was that sort of fellow. (emphasis)

he i have serious doubts also: That he that sort of fellow was we never thought.

What a tasty cake this is! My neighbours commented. (reported speech)

My neighbours commented that what a tasty cake that was.

He lost two games early in the tournament. Despite this, however, he managed to carry off the championshim. ( co0ordinate relative clause)

He lost.........tournament, despite which, however, he.............

Transformations. Rewrite each sentence starting as shown so that the meaning stays the same. Beginnings are provided.

Oliver asked Jenny why she hadnât taken part in the race the previsions day.

âWhyâ¦..haven't you taken part in the race yesterday â Oliver asked Jenny.

But for Helen, the play would be a flep.

Wereâ¦.The play be a flop if not Helen.

We still donât know what has happened to all the missing passengers.

We still have not accountedâ¦what to all the missing passengers has happened.

âShall I carry that bag for you, John?â said Paul.

Paulineâ¦.asked John if he should carry that bag for her.

It is not always easy to overcome difficulties.

Toâ¦overcome difficulties is not always easy

Lobster is a new experience for me.

Itâs the firstâ¦time I have a lobster.

Mary spends all her money on sweets, which is unwise.

Itâs â¦.unwise for Mary to spend all her money on sweets.

Although he studied hard, he failed the exam.

In spiteâ¦of his studying hard, he failed the exam.

We little understand the problem he has had.

Littleâ¦did we understand the problem he has had.

He always cheats in examinations which is dishonest.

Howâ¦he always cheats on examinations is dishonest.

Although it is sunny today, it may still rain tomorrow.

Sunnyâ¦as today is it may still rain tomorrow.

I met Mary as soon as I left home.

I had no soonerâ¦left home than I met mary.

His words may be sincere. However, I donât think he is telling whole truth.

Hovewerâ¦sincere his words may be, i don't think....

Her leg hurt so much that she fainted.

Suchâ¦did her leg hurt that she fainted.

You mustnât let strangers in when you are alone.

On noâ¦account must you let strangers when you are alone.

A single could appeared in the sky.

Inâ¦the sky should a single appear.

If you tell her my secret, Ill never speak to you again.

Tellâ¦her my secret and I'll never speak to you again.

The house is too big for me to live there on my own.

It is tooâ¦.big a house to live on my own.

Although I tried very hard I couldnât make them see my point of view.

No matterâ¦.how hard did i try I couldn't make them see my point of view.

I Believed you were the murderer because of this clue.

This clue ledâ¦..me to the believing that you were the murderer.

Joe doesnât like it when people treat him like a child.

Joe resentsâ¦ being treated like a child.

I wish I hadnât heard that.

Iâd rather youâ¦..did not say that.

May the President live a long time.

Longâ¦live the president

The Inspector Collins said they believed John was living in Malta at that time.

here idk the beggining because of poor copy, coz i mentioned before that Ive retyped all on my laptop, but i think it should start from John.... is believed to live in Malta at that time. i bet I messed sth up.

Re: Is this a conditional sentence?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 06:59:36 GMT

Thank you, again. Then, what a person has to do in order to build some solid foundations on the basics of conditional construction and have a ready reference at the back of his head (?) to refer back to to check whether a conditional sentence he wrote is formed correctly?? Could your answer be that we have to read more and take notice of conditional constructions?

Use of conditional verb prior to an infinitive clause / object complement

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:17:48 GMT

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for your help in answering this question. I'm trying to explain to a non-native English speaker that a certain usage is either incorrect or awkward, but I find myself unable to do so. At this point, I'm just confusing myself in trying to explain it.

So her construction is:

"I like for you to go to my friend's house in three weeks."

My correction would be:

"I would like for you to go to my friend's house in three weeks."

My reasoning is that including the word "would" allows for a better logical continuity of tenses. I have tried to explain this via continuity of verb tense and the nature of the conditional word "would"-- but I am not a grammarian and my explanations are either imprecise or wholly inaccurate. On that note,

1) Is my correction correct?

2) Is there a rule which either supports or refutes this correction?

Kind regards,
A.S.

Re: conditional

CalifJim — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:59:55 GMT

Anonymous
Would you please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to attend this seminar.

Correct.

Anonymous
If you would hand me that spoon, I will/would appreciate it.

would OK, not will.

Anonymous
If you would give me a pen,I would give you a pencil.

Just barely OK. More idiomatic with will, thus: If you'll give me a pen, I'll give you a pencil.

Anonymous
He looks as if he is about to cry. - first conditional?
He looked as if he were going to cry.- second conditional?

I'm not aware of any classification of the as if constructions into first, second, and third. From what I've seen, they can parallel the first, second, and third conditionals in their tense patterns, but usage is much more free. That is, they don't always conform strictly to those numbered conditional patterns. Like so many other cases, the "past" form can be borrowed into a present tense setting, thus: He looks as if he were about to cry.

Re: What does this sentence mean?

Tanit — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:11:59 GMT

Hi,

Should a delay exist ... = If a delay should exist ... (which means: we consider the existence of a delay very unlikely; however, if this delay existed ...)

It's not a question, but a conditional sentence where subject and verb are inverted and "if" is dropped.
It's a formal / literary construction, possible also without "should":

If I were the President of the USA ... => Were I the President of the USA ...
If I had won the lottery ... => Had I won the lottery ...

Re: Hey Guys, Need Help

Tanit — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:37:47 GMT

Hi,

New2grammar
Could you try to convince me why the abrupt change of tense makes sense?

Why should it make sense? After all, we're talking about English grammar!
Anyway, somebody says it's an instance of unreal past ...

BBC Learning English

We sometimes use past tenses to describe things in the present or future that are imagined or unreal.
It's time we went.
We are using It's time... here to say that something is not happening, but it should be happening. Compare also the following:
It's time we left. Our son will be home soon and he doesn't have a house key.
It's about time you started looking for a job. You can't depend on us all the time. It's high time you started to fend for yourself.

...we can use the construction it's time to or it's time for + object + to as alternatives to the unreal use of past forms to express this idea:
It's time for you to think seriously about what you want to do in your life.
It's time you thought seriously about what you want to achieve in your life.
It's time to reflect on how you want your life to proceed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv347.shtml

UNREAL PAST

The past tense is sometimes used in English to refer to an 'unreal' situation. So, although the tense is the past, we are usually talking about the present, e.g. in a Type 2 conditional sentence:
If an elephant and a mouse fell in love, they would have many problems.
Although fell is in the past tense, we are talking about a hypothetical situation that might exist now or at any time, but we are not referring to the past. We call this use the unreal past.
Other situations where this occurs are:

after other words and expressions like'if'(supposing, if only, what if);
after the verb 'to wish';
after the expression 'I'd rather..'
(http://www.edufind.com/English/Grammar/IF10.cfm)

... and somebody says it's subjunctive. See also:
http://www.englishforums.com/English/ChangingTenses/dqcdx/post.htm
http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhichSentencesAreCorrect/zjbhp/post.htm

Re: Conditional past-future

New2grammar — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:55:43 GMT

Kooyeen, do you say "have gone play" or "have gone playing"? In this case, I think
the common expression is "have gone golfing".What do you think?
By the way, I was told to use your construction, conditional 3 even though the event was scheduled for sometime in the future.

Re: Which tense to use?

Philip — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:12:15 GMT

MarvinTheMartian wrote:

I can't make up my mind which tense to use in the following sentence:

"If it hadn't been for the remarkable opening passage, I would have assumed that the recital would be / have been a bore.

I've seen both tenses used in similar constructions. Is it safe to assume that both options are correct in this case? If not, is there a logical way of determining which tense should be used? If possible, could you give me some examples?

We have the pluperfect in the first clause and the conditional perfect in the second [typical type III conditional sentence]. Any verb that follows must not be such as to put the action before that of the other two verbs: therefore the present of the conditional (would be).

Re: if clause

Hoa Thai — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:31:03 GMT

Devrim55 wrote:
If we ...........ready for the YDS exam decently, we .........at least two and a half hours a day for reading questions.

a)were to get / should have spared

b)got / would have spared

c)are to get / had spared

d)have gotten / would spare

e)have to get / must have spared

thanks in advance...

Hi,

Here is a structure of conditional sentences: if condition statement, result statement.

From that structure, we have 4 basic conditional constructions:

Type zero - condition statement uses present simple, result statement uses present simple.

Type I â condition statement uses present simple, result statement uses shall / will / can/ may + base verb.

Type II â condition statement uses past simple, result statement uses should / would / could / might + base verb.

Type III â condition statement uses past perfect, result statement uses should / would / could / might + have + past participle.

None of the 5 choices matches with any pattern shown above.