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Ask for help > Grammar test - help
Grammar test - help
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ohermann
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Grammar test - help
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Hi dear colleagues,
Have a nice Sunday. I wonder if you could give me a hand.  I�ve come across some questions in a sample test of my students who are preparing for university entrance test. Two of 50 questions are quite difficult for me to explain (and actually understand  ).
Question 1
Rarely .... succeed in ballet if they start after the age of 12.
a) children b) are children c) children have d) do children
In this question I would say a) is correct, but the answer key says d). I do not understand why!?!
Question 2
Don�t be too hard on him, he�s doing the job ...
a) best as he can b) as he can best c) as best he can d) he can as best
The correct answer is c) (answer key says that), but why not the answer a)?
So, is there anybody who could crack these two nuts for me? Or at least one?  |
13 May 2012
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tancredo
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Question one:
Examples:
I rarely see him. Rarely do I see him
If you want to emphasize this you can start by the adverb "rarely". However, when you start a sentence with an adverb of negation you have to transform the sentence as if it were in the interrogative form. You have to identify the tense of the verb and then use the correct interrogative.
Ex.
Rarely do I see him. The sentence is in the simple present, so you use do,as the auxiliary of the interrogative in the present.
You can �t do that under any circumstances!
Under no circumstances can you do that! - Can makes the interrogative form by inverting the subject.
I have never seen such a thing!
Never have I seen such a thing!
You can look for further practice in any grammar under the title "Inversion of subject"
Question 2
When you compare two things (comparative of equality) you use as...as. This is reason.
I hope I �ve made it a little clearer for you.
Have a nice Sunday.
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13 May 2012
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yanogator
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Tancredo �s answer for #1 is excellent, but #2 doesn �t have "as...as" in it, so that answer doesn �t work. Just think of "as best he can" as a fixed expression. It is very similar in meaning to "as well as he can", but it uses the superlative. I can �t think of any other adjectives that are used this way, so I think "as best he can" is the only construction like this. Someone will correct me if I �m wrong. Bruce |
13 May 2012
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summertime7
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Hi Friends! In my opinion in the second case you can�t choose a because when you use as... as the adjective or adverb go in the middle. He �s diong it as best as he can. Enjoy your Sunday! |
13 May 2012
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mido2012
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i think the discussion of the friend tancredo is very correct and wonderfuli cannot say any more |
13 May 2012
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ohermann
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Thanks a million for your HEEEEELP - dear colleagues, to all of you!  
As for the first question - of course I had known the reversion, but only in the connection with the conditionals. But I had never realized it is also used in other tenses with some words, such as rarely.
As for the second question - I hadn�t known the idiom at all. There is always room for the improvement, right? And I really appreciate the community of helpful and willing friends at ESLPRINTABLES who are always ready to help. The greatest site ever!
Hugs from the Czech Republic  Oto |
13 May 2012
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yanogator
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Yes, summertime7, we put the adjective between "as" and "as", but we don �t use comparative or superlative forms for that, so "as best as he can" isn �t correct. It would be "as well as he can". Bruce |
13 May 2012
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