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Ask for help > vocabulary
vocabulary
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Pedro14
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vocabulary
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Hi there everybody, Could you help me with an explanation for this question? * Rare earth elements are not actually very rare, but they are awkward to mine. This is mainly because they ______ naturally in very small quantities and are difficult to separate from other elements surrounding them. Why the correct verb to fill the gap is "occur" instead of "happen"? The only explanation I could give my students is because occur is more formal than happen and this seems to be a formal context. Thanks in advance. |
10 Dec 2017
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yanogator
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"Occur naturally" is somewhat of a regular collocation. In scientific writing, we generally use "occur" instead of "happen". It isn �t incorrect to use "happen" here, though, just not as common. Bruce |
10 Dec 2017
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Pedro14
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thanks a bunch Bruce for your help. Dunno if you could also give me a hand with another question which is arising to me. Right now I �m marking my students � homework and most of them have used one tense i wouldn �t use to fill some sentences. * They will surely be tired when they arrive because they _____ all day! * when Susan retires, she ____ as an accountant for 25 years.* You ___ for two hours when the plane finally takes off. In all these sentences, they have used the future perfect tense. I feel, however, the future perfect continuous would fit better because we have periods of time after the gaps. Even though the actions will not continue. Would the future perfect be correct in all these sentences? Thanks in advance. |
10 Dec 2017
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redcamarocruiser
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Also, in regard to your first question, events happen (like an accident happened) and occur also has the added meaning of "to appear" or "to crop up" . |
10 Dec 2017
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yanogator
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Pedro, The difference between future perfect and future perfect continuous is usually one of emphasis, so the speaker can frequently choose either form. The continuous tenses usually emphasize the time period over which an action takes place, rather than just the action itself. If you say, "They will surely be tired when they arrive because they have been working all day!", it emphasizes the duration of the work, which definitely makes them sound tired. In fact, the exclamation point essentially demands the continuous here. Without the exclamation point, though, the future perfect would work, just making a simple statement about the reason they will be tired. "They will surely be tired when they arrive because they will have worked all day". When Susan retires, she ____ as an accountant for 25 years. This one can definitely use either tense, again depending on the intended emphasis. The future perfect will just state a fact, and the continuous will in a sense bring us into her life. The continuous forms usually have a more personal feel to them. You ___ for two hours when the plane finally takes off. For this one, the future perfect would indicate the amount of work you probably will have finished, while the future perfect continuous makes the statement more personal - about you, rather than what you have produced. So, your students are correct, and you now have an excellent opportunity for a full lesson on the difference between the two forms, and on the continuous tenses in general. Bruce |
11 Dec 2017
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Pedro14
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Thanks a lot for your clear explanation. I �ll surely work on a lesson on these subtle differences you have taught me about. Have a nice day! |
11 Dec 2017
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