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Never Say That
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1- |
Never say:
“After the bell rang, the boxers
continued hitting themselves.”
Themselves
means that one person is doing something to himself or
herself, and the other person is doing something to
himself or herself,
e.g. ‘ the children washed themselves
and got into bed.’
You should say: ”After the
bell rang, the boxers continued hitting each other.”
If both are doing something to the other person, you use
each other.
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2- |
Never
say: “Three men stole a bank in
North London yesterday.”
You can only steal things that you can move, because it
means that you take it away from the place or person it
belongs to,
e.g. ‘ He stole some food from the
supermarket.’
You should say: ”Three men
robbed a bank in North London yesterday.”
If you talk about the places ( e.g. banks and post
offices) that people steal things from, you use rob.
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3- |
Never
say: ”There were very little
people in the supermarket this morning.”
Little is the opposite of much, and is used with
uncountable nouns, e.g. ‘ I have very little time.
If you use little with plural noun, it means small
e.g. ‘
look at those lovely little houses.
You should say: ”There were
very few people in the supermarket this morning.”
People is a plural noun, e.g. 'the people are very friendly
here.' With a plural noun you have to use a different word
which means the opposite of many.
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4- |
Never
say: ”The landlady I stayed with
in England was a very good cooker.”
A teacher teaches, and a writer writes, but a cooker is
not the person who cooks. A cooker is a machine which
cooks, just as a dishwasher is a machine which washes
dishes.
You should say: ”The landlady
I stayed with in England was a very good cook.”
For the person who cooks, you just use the verb as a noun.
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5- |
Never
say: ”Helen usually goes to work
with her car.”
If you went somewhere with your car, it would be the same
as going with another person – it would accompany you.
You should say: ”Helen
usually goes to work by car.”
If you prefer to sit inside your car when you’re
traveling, use a different preposition. Also, you use just
car, without her or my, etc.
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6- |
Never
say: ”I’m very boring in this
class.”
If someone or something is boring, it’s causing the
problem. You don’t usually tell people that you are
boring! You might say that a lesson is boring (or
interesting).
You should say: ”I’m very
bored in this class.”
Here you are describing how you feel when you think
another thin g is boring.
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7- |
Never
say: ”Your plants have grown up
a lot since my last visit.”
People grow up when they get older and stop behaving like
children. When you grow up you start to do adult things.
You should say: ”Your plants
have grown a lot since my last visit.”
Here you are talking about something getting bigger. You
don’t need a preposition for this.
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