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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Need help with Identifying the expression...
Need help with Identifying the expression...
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brahmam
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Need help with Identifying the expression...
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Dear teachers, I found the following question in an exam paper. Which of the options, do you think, is correct?
I wonder if you could solve this problem! A. Expressing surprise B. Expressing doubt C. Expressing opinion D. Expressing possibility
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4 Feb 2022
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cunliffe
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Well, I think you can express all four, so every option is correct. Did the question have a short paragraph or sentence above it that the question was referring to, maybe?
Edit. Sorry, I misunderstood and for some reason thought the sentence in red �I wonder...� was part of the request for help, rather than part of the question. It is not quite a request for support in giving help to solve the problem, so I suppose it is expressing possibility as niksailor says. It seems a strange question!
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4 Feb 2022
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brahmam
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Actually, there is no context.
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4 Feb 2022
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niksailor
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I�d choose D because if we remove �I wonder...� from the sentence and make all the necessary changes, our sentence will be like �Could you solve this problem?�, which, in my view, can clearly express the possibility of doing the action in the past. That�s what the sentence seems to express at first glance. |
4 Feb 2022
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kwsp
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I too believe that D is the correct answer - I wonder if you could possibly solve this problem! As soon as I saw "I wonder" I thought to myself EMBEDDED QUESTION! Here are a couple of websites that explain the construction of embedded questions.
Also, I think I wonder if you could solve this problem! could be considered making a polite request, although a rather urgent polite request since there is an exclamation point at the end of the sentence. Here are a couple of links about polite requests.
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4 Feb 2022
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douglas
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Because they use "could" versus "can" (conditionals--past tenses express doubt), I think I would go with B versus D. If they had used "can" I would say D. |
11 Feb 2022
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JackPonting
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Great to know that we can discuss our educational problem here and get a solution. Now I want to forward this post to my students so they can get also solution of their difficulties.
Jack,
Dissertation writer at Quality Dissertation - http://www.qualitydissertation.co.uk/ in UK.
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18 Feb 2022
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brahmam
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Thank you all for the help. |
13 Mar 2022
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