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Standard English 03
It is important to write I GAVE presents and not I GIVED presents or I GIV presents!

Standard English 03

Standard English is about choosing the right word to make a sentence understandable.

This quiz focusses on a few specific common errors which you should avoid if you'd like to speak and write in Standard English. One of these is a confusion between the verbs "teach" and "learn". In modern English, "to teach" means that the subject is imparting knowledge or helping someone else to learn. By contrast, the verb "to learn" means that the subject is gaining new knowledge or skills. In Standard English, it is not correct to say "I'll learn him" or "That'll learn him". Although you can KNOW a person, you can't really LEARN them! Instead, it would be correct to say "I'll teach him" or "That'll teach him".

Another common error which occurs in some dialects is to say "it were". As you know, subjects and verbs need to agree in person and number. "It" is singular, rather than plural. It is also third-person. Just as it would not be correct to say "she were" or "he were", it is also not correct to say "it were", at least in Standard English.

Practise, practise, then practise some more with English. A good solid grasp of English will set you on your way in the world. Here is the third quiz in our Standard English series.

1.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
They will ..... him the new song.
learn
learned
teach
teached
They can learn something but not someone!
2.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
He will ..... the new song that they will ..... him.
learned, teached
learn, teach
teached, learned
teach, learn
He will learn something (a new song) but he cannot learn someone!
3.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
I'll ..... him not to do that again!
learn
learned
teach
teached
You can teach someone, and you can teach something to someone. You can learn something, but not someone!
4.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
He'll ..... not to do that again when I ..... him next lesson.
learned, teached
learn, teach
teached, learn
teach, learn
Remember that a person can learn something or be taught something
5.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
We ..... hungry so we ate the apples ..... I bought.
was, that
was, what
were, that
were, what
"We were" not "we was"
6.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
It ..... a dark and stormy night and we ..... cold and wet.
was, was
was, were
were, was
were, were
"He", "she" and "it" take "was". "We", "you" and "they" take "were"
7.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
Can I ..... a pen from you please?
borrow
give
lend
let
You can lend something to someone; that person "borrows" from you
8.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
You can ..... the pen which I will ..... you.
borrow, lend
borrow, let
lend, borrow
lend, give
The subject of the verb "will lend" is "I". The subject of the verb "can borrow" is "you"
9.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
Yesterday I ..... some leaflets to ..... children to distribute.
gave, those
gave, them
give, them
give, those
"Gave" is in the past tense, "yesterday I gave..."
10.
Which is the correct answer in the following sentence?
I could ..... carried my luggage but I ..... it to ..... mum.
have, gave, my
have, give, me
of, gave, my
of, give, me
Remember: "could have" not "could of"!

 

Author:  Sue Daish

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