Poll (3)

Which sentence(s) is / are wrong?

A: Can you explain me that again? I'm not sure if I understand. (36%)

B: Promise me that you will phone when you get there. (9%)

C: He suggested us to visit Toledo but we didn't have enough time. (54%)

D: She accused her husband of lying. She didn't believe his excuses. (45%)


A is wrong.

In Spanish you can explain sb stH but in English you can't - it's explain stH (to sb) or explain how to.

Can you explain that to me again?

I've already explained how to do it.


B is right.

There are two possible constructions - promise sb (that...) or promise sb to do stH (for sb)

"I'll do my best" he said.

He promised that he would do his best.

He promised to do his best.


C is wrong.

In Spanish you can suggest sb but in English you can't. It's -
  • suggest + verb+ing
  • suggest that + subject + verb
  • suggest that + subject + should + verb
"Why don't you visit Toledo?"
  • He suggested visiting Toledo.
  • He suggested that we visit Toledo.
  • He suggested that we should visit Toledo.

D is right.

"You are a liar. I don't believe your excuses."

The construction is - accuse sb of doing sth


For more practice, check out the posts in the labels Verb Patterns and Reported Speech


Which is your favourite body idiom?

A. Keep your hair on. I'm not going to tell anyone. (60%)

B. You should let your hair down every once in a while. (30%)

C. Why is he giving up his job? He must be off his head. (10%)

D. I laughed my head off when he told me. (0%)


You say keep your hair on when you tell someone to calm down and stop being so upset.

You let your hair down when you enjoy yourself and do things you don't normally do.

If you are off your head, it means you are crazy. You can also be off your head with drink or drugs.

If you laugh your head off, you laugh a lot and loudly.


I think I agree with the majority. Even if I don't have so much of my own, my favourite is to keep your hair on.


Check out the posts on idioms / expressions.


Which adjective is the odd-one-out?

A. frightening (0%)

B. scary (0%)

C. terrific (60%)

D. spooky (40%)


The odd one out (The different one) is terrific.

If something is terrific, it is fantastic ie you are describing something you really like.

Many Spanish students think that it means terrorífico but you'd translate this as terrifying.

A spook is a ghost. Spooky describes something that is strange and frightens you.


Check out the post on terrific and posts on other confusing words.


Which sentence needs a different preposition?

A. What's on TV tonight?

B. She's always on her mobile phone.

C. There were no chairs so I had to sit on the floor.

D.  I'm going to visit my family on at Xmas.


As you can see, the answer is D.

Check out the Label of Prepositions.



Which of the following isn't associated with sleep?

A. to have a nightmare (0%)

B. to have a lie-in (10%)

C. to sneeze (80%)

D. to snore (10%)


The answer is C.

You sneeze when you have a cold.

Check out other vocabulary related to illness and other health posts.





Check out other posts on sleep.


Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Graham! This is Cristina. I've been reading most posts you've written in the last two weeks (including this one). There were a lot of new exercises! I've tried some. I'm afraid, though, there are several sentences I have no idea what to write in the gap. I've also taken part in the second pool you've proposed.

See you on Friday.
Graham said…
Hi Cristina,

You can show me which ones you aren't sure about and we can look at them together.