Grammar Note 3

Sentence Variations:

1. "The process? I overestimated it when I thought it would be easy."
2. "I overestimated the process when I thought it would be easy."
3. "I overestimated when I thought the process would be easy."

Intensifiers:

• "very" (e.g., "very tall")
• "extremely" (e.g., "extremely cold")
• "quite" (e.g., "quite beautiful")
• "really" (e.g., "really fast")

Example of Incorrect Word Choice:

Original: "Vaccines protect against disease."
Incorrect: "Vaccines prevent from disease."
(Note: The preposition "from" should be omitted in this case.)

Noun Phrases and Subordinate Clauses:

• Noun Phrase: "bad weather"
• Subordinate Clause: "a sub-sentence"

Prepositions Indicating Cause or Reason:

• "due to" / "because of" / "owing to" / "in view of" + noun phrase
• "thanks to" / "in light of" / "as a result of" / "in response to" (indicates reaction to something) / "in accordance with"

Adverbs Used with "Is":

• Here: "She is here."
• There: "The book is there."
• Now: "The meeting is now."
• Away: "He is away."
• Up: "The price is up."
• Down: "The system is down."
• Over: "The event is over."

Common Chinglish Corrections:

• Chinglish: "It is a very beautiful scenery."
  Natural English: "The scenery is beautiful."

• Chinglish: "He is engineer."
  Natural English: "He is an engineer."

• Chinglish: "This is a useful thing."
  Natural English: "This is useful." or "This is a useful tool."

• Chinglish: "The homework is finished by me."
  Natural English: "I finished the homework."

Inversion for Emphasis:

1. "The company grew rapidly, as has its competitor."
   (Shortened form of: "The company grew rapidly, just like its competitor has grown.")

2. "The company grew rapidly, as did its competitor."
   (Meaning: "The company grew rapidly, just like its competitor did.")

Using Indefinite Pronouns:

• "It's important to manage one's time wisely."
• "One should always be careful when crossing the street."
• "Whoever is responsible should fix the issue."

Different Ways to Say "Understood":

• "Understood?"
  Example: "Make sure to finish this by noon. Understood?"
• "Understand?"

Use of "Where" vs. "Which":

• Where (refers to a situation or context):

  • "The meeting where she convinced everyone to agree was intense."
  • "The moment where she let the person escape changed everything."

• Which (adds more detail):

  • "She created a distraction, which allowed the person to escape."
  • "The situation where she let the person escape was the one that caused the evidence to be lost."
  • "The situation in which she let the person escape caused the evidence to be lost."
  • "The situation where she let the person escape, which caused the evidence to be lost."

Verbs Requiring an Object:

1. Bring – "She brought it with her."
2. Give – "He gave me the book."
3. Take – "She took the keys."
4. Offer – "They offered him a job."
5. Buy – "He bought a new car."
6. Make – "She made a cake."
7. Send – "They sent her a letter."
8. Show – "Can you show me the way?"
9. Build – "He built a house."
10. Fix – "She fixed the problem."
11. Choose – "He chose the red one."
12. Find – "She found her wallet."
13. Get – "I got a new phone."
14. Help – "He helped his friend."
15. Tell – "She told me a story."
16. Invite – "He invited her to the party."
17. Teach – "She taught the students."

Inversion for Emphasis in Formal Writing:

• When an adverb of manner introduces a sentence:

  • "Hardly had the meeting started when he interrupted."

• Inversion with place or direction:

  • "On the hill stood an ancient castle."
  • "Down the road came a group of travelers."

• In formal or literary contexts:

  • "Beautiful was the night, silent and calm."

• Conditional inversion:

  • Standard: "If I had known, I would have helped."
  • Inverted: "Had I known, I would have helped."