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chenchen_castrourdiales
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another question
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Hi evrybody again,
There is a cloze test activity on my FCE students � book and dunno why there is only one right answer. As far as I knew, "cancel" and "call off" were synonyms. I looked them up in the dictionary and I found no difference between them.
Here you have the given sentence: "I �ve decided not to go to the restaurant. Can you ........ my reservation please?
A cancel B put off C postpone D call off
The key says "cancel" is the right answer but would "call off" be wrong? I also looked up in a collocations dictionary and cancel was the word given with reservation, but i don �t know why.
Thanks in advance |
7 Mar 2011
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Apodo
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It �s common usage. The difference is subtle, but there is a difference.
We cancel a reservation.
The game was called off because of rain.
He put off going to the dentist because he doesn �t like it.
We had to postpone our trip because there was a death in the family. |
7 Mar 2011
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Mar0919
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It �s really kind of complicated to explain, but I think that cancel is used for something that directly concerns YOU, that is, when you decide not to go somewhere: cancel a dinner reservation, your hotel reservation, your doctor �s appointment, a date with a friend... and to call off, implies that an EVENT does not take place: call off a soccer match due to rain, call off a wedding, call off the meeting.....
does that make sense? |
7 Mar 2011
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libertybelle
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Apodo �s explanation is correct - I would just like to add that you can cancel a trip or vacation.
We had to cancel our trip because I got sick.
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7 Mar 2011
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lshorton99
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Apodo is, as always, completely correct.
I �d like to add, however, having taught the Cambridge exams frequently, it is a common enough question - why one word and not another, when they are synonymous.
I start the beginning of every year teaching students the one word that will define their FCE/CAE experience - collocation. This one word is the answer to practically every question one of my students asks beginning with the word �Why...? �
Why do we use one word and not its synonym? Collocation. And collocation basically means that we use one word with another because we do! Or as I might say to Spanish learners, �Because yes. �
Good luck with FCE!
Lindsey
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7 Mar 2011
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Zora
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Cancel can be used with anything really. But "call off" is used for an event of some kind... a game, a trip, a party...
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7 Mar 2011
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