Challenge yourself! Check out these exercises!

[parousia]

Hi

I've made my first exercise at the Unilang Exercise Center. (It was fun! ) It's at an intermediate level. If I make more English exercises, I'll announce them here so the pages get some traffic, and all my hard work doesn't come to naught. (By the way, whoever programmed the site, Kudos! It's really easy to make exercises.)

Of couse, other people can announce new English exercises in this thread as well.

Oh, and if you have questions about any part of the exercise, feel free to pose them here.

Ok now, go stretch those linguistic muscles!
Right this way, please http://home.unilang.org/main/exercise.p ... xercise=54

[Geist]

I never did know how to create exercises. Good work, parousia!

[parousia]

Thanks, Geist, though you're not exactly whom I had in mind for these exercises

Oh, my second exercise here http://home.unilang.org/main/exercise.p ... xercise=57

[JackFrost]

You know, you could try making one about verbs, since afterall, some verbs are regular and some aren't. Such as...ride vs. rode, teach vs. taught, play vs. played, etc. It could help some who may have trouble remembering the crazy irregularities in English.

Excellent job!

[Kubi]

In both I got number two wrong, the rest right.

Trivia: Humphrey Bogart, in Casablanca.

[parousia]

That's excellent, Kubi. I'll have to wrack my brains to come up with something to challenge YOU.

Apropo #2 in the first exercise, actually, it's not absolutely clear from the context what the answer should be. I can imagine a situation where "Let's pick up some daisies for Dad" could be correct. Of course, what I intended was "pick" in the sense of plucking the flowers from the plants and gathering them.

When I hear "Let's pick up some daisies for Dad" I think about somebody going by the florist's and buying some daisies. It still sounds odd because 'pick up' is just too casual a word to use to describe a special activity like buying flowers for someone. You pick up a loaf of bread, you pick up a pack of cigarettes, you pick up the evening paper at the newstand, etc. but not flowers... unless it's some kind of long-standing practice or habit for these people to buy daisies for their father (maybe 'cause he's such a daisy freak ) such that they would say casually "Let's pick up some daisies for Dad."

uh... you probably didn't need such a lengthy explanation, but I wanted to take advantage of this reply to your post to clarify #2.

Oh yeah, you win a set of steak knives for the trivia question.

[Kathy]

Thanks, parousia, I liked the exercises!
But I was mistaken about #2 in the first exercise, too. And so I have a question. Is it both American and British version? I have never met such a construction. I would probably say "We're looking to your assisting us". And I'd more likely add "forward" before "to" there. Could you clarify it? Or is this 'looking' not from 'looking forward' at all?

[parousia]

Thanks, parousia, I liked the exercises!
But I was mistaken about #2 in the first exercise, too. And so I have a question. Is it both American and British version?

I don't know.

I have never met such a construction.

Please see:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=n ... +you+to%22

I would probably say "We're looking to your assisting us".

I think that's OK grammatically though less commonly heard.

And I'd more likely add "forward" before "to" there. Could you clarify it? Or is this 'looking' not from 'looking forward' at all?

Right, it doesn't mean We're looking forward to ...
The expression We're looking to (somebody/something) + infinitif means that you're relying on somebody/something to do something. You're counting on them. You're looking toward them with an expectation.

[Kathy]

Thank you, parousia!
That'll be very useful.
As for the usage, is "we expect you to" just more formal? Are there any particular differences in usage between 'look to' and 'expect'?

[JackFrost]

Thank you, parousia!
That'll be very useful.
As for the usage, is "we expect you to" just more formal? Are there any particular differences in usage between 'look to' and 'expect'?

To expect to and to look to have different meanings. You already know the meaning to "to look to", but "to expect to" means something that you have to do, must do, and expected to do it, which means...no choices.

I am looking forward to see you do your homeworks tonight. (Pleasure)
I am expecting you to do your homeworks tonight. (Stern and must do)

[parousia]

Thank you, parousia!
That'll be very useful.

Пожалуйста!

As for the usage, is "we expect you to" just more formal?

No, I would not say that one expression is more formal than the other.

Are there any particular differences in usage between 'look to' and 'expect'?

Yes, but be careful, the expression is not 'look to'. We're talking about: look to (somebody) to (do something). Yes, there are differences in usage, but it's really hard to describe in a general way. So, let me just take the sentence used in the exercise: We're looking to you to assist us.

We're looking to you to assist us. (This does suggest expectation but you're not positive that you'll get this assistance. You're counting on it, you're hoping for it. Here's some context: "We're looking to you to assist us. You're the only one who knows the mountain path. We'll pay you handsomely for your trouble."

We're expecting you to assist us. (This suggests that the person from whom you're seeking assistance has some kind of obligation to help you. "We're expecting you to assist us. After all, that's your job. You cannot abandon us now."

До встречи!

[Kathy]

That's much more clear now. Спасибо большое!

[parousia]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the latest exercise written by yours truly :

http://home.unilang.org/main/exercise.p ... xercise=68


p.s. This chef-d'oeuvre of pedagogy was inspired by nothing other than certain delightful errors in the use of the English language by foreign speakers (even very advanced ones). *Parousia bows* I thank you for being my muse.

[Kubi]

Actually I found that one quite easy. The use of the derived form on -ed or -ing is IMO clear and easy. So everyone seems to have his/her own preferred problems

[paruha]

Actually I found that one quite easy. The use of the derived form on -ed or -ing is IMO clear and easy.

Same for me. Maybe in some languages there is no difference between these two, so they confuse them.

Btw, how about an excercise on "see it happen" and "see it happening" etc?

[parousia]

Actually I found that one quite easy. The use of the derived form on -ed or -ing is IMO clear and easy.

Same for me. Maybe in some languages there is no difference between these two, so they confuse them.

Oh...

..............hmmm..... .... it's too easy, huh? ...


.................... ............ ok....



(now I feel silly...) ........ back to the drawing board! ....


... *parousia skips off*

[勺园之鬼]

I didn't know that such exercises existed.

I took the first one, I didn't know what to choose so I picked random answers everytime; same for the second exercise, I don't remember the result but I know that preposition problem is still not clear at all for me... My english is not good but I never (unfortunately) studied it out of interest, so I don't expect to have good results. Neither have I got any will to improve...

I also took the last exercise and I made no mistake; I didn't even hesitate at all. I believe, like some others, that it is too easy.

Keep up the good job anyway!

[parousia]

I took the first one, I didn't know what to choose so I picked random answers everytime; same for the second exercise, I don't remember the result but

You're pretty funny, you know that?

@ Paruha

Btw, how about an excercise on "see it happen" and "see it happening" etc?

Do you have some example sentences you've come across? Here are some uses of this locution:

"I don't see it happening" = I don't think it will happen (OR it can literally mean that you don't see something happening at that very moment)

I see it happening = I think it will happen (OR it can literally mean that you see something happening at that very moment)

Joe: I shouldn't complain so much. Maybe we'll get a big bonus at Christmas.
Chuck: Ha! You serious? With that skinflint at the head of the company? I don't see it happening.
Joe: Yes, it's true, he's a scrooge, but strange things happen to people at Christmas time. You never know. I see it happening.
Chuck: Ha! When hell freezes over!


As part of an imperative sentence, e.g.
"Come see it happen!"
"See it happen! = Come and witness this event and be part of the excitement (usually in advertisements).


"When did you see it happen?" = When did you see the event take place? (straight-forward meaning)

Detective: You actually saw the man accost the old lady that lives here?
Witness: Yes, sir. I saw it with my own eyes.
Detective: When did you see it happen?
Witness: It was about three o'clock in the afternoon.

Is that what you mean, Paruha?

[勺园之鬼]

I took the first one, I didn't know what to choose so I picked random answers everytime; same for the second exercise, I don't remember the result but

You're pretty funny, you know that?

Well, I don't remember the results exactly, but if someone takes a test and picks random answers everywhere, that means that it was a complete failure... Which is my case...

[paruha]

Is that what you mean, Paruha?

erm, not quite. Here is what my grammar gives and what i had in mind:
1. David fell down the steps. Rachel saw him fall.
2. David was walking with a stick. Rachel saw him walking across the road.


I hope this example made it more clear. I often confuse these because when we were studying it, we were with the crappy teacher I had in 8th grade, and just a grammar book didn't help.