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Forum_mail Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

3 short questions...

0 Hello there!02br
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01b00102b00. Shouldn't there be "01font00a02font00" before "01font00political suicide02font00" in the following sentence? : 01i00An election would have been 01font00political suicide02font00, and would have certainly led to the downfall of the govermen.02br
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02i01b00202b00. Here is a sentence taken from a text from "Advanced Language Practice", Chapter 5 - Consolidation. Words in brackets are the ones that I'm supposed to transform using an appropriate tense.02br
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00"01i00In a typical race, hal a dozen sheep 01i00____02i00 (01font00race02font00) downhill over a course of about half a mile. Food 01i00_____02i00 (01font00wait02font00) for them at the other end of the track, I ought to add! The sheep 01i00_____02i00 (01font00run02font00) surprisingly fast, although presumably they 01i00_____02i00 (01font00not/eat02font00) for a while just to give them some motivation."02br
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02i00The key says: race; 01font00is waiting02font00; run; 01font00have not eaten - 00I don't understand why "is waiting" and "have not eaten" 05002br
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01b00302b00. 01i00Jack has as ked/has been asking for a pay-rise 3 times this year. 02br
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02i00Which one would you take and why? I would take "have asked" but I don't know why... Why can't we say "have been asking" ?02br
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00thanks! 02br
02font00 010id6
  

Top answer

12br 12br 11b 10112b 10. Shouldn't there be "11font 10a12font 10" before "11font 10political suicide12font 10" in the following sentence? : 11i 10An election would have been 11font 10political suicide12font 10, and would have certainly led to the downfall of the govermen.

— Philip

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5 Answers
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Forum_mail12cite10Hello there!12br
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11b10112b10. Shouldn't there be "11font10a12font10" before "11font10political suicide12font10" in the following sentence? : 11i10An election would have
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0 1. No. 02br
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00 2.01i00 Is waiting02i00: this is a background action, thus continuous present. 02br
01i00Have not eaten02i00: because this is leading to the present state, thus present perfect.02br
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00 3. Jack is 3rd person singular. Only 01i00has02i00. 02br
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0 01i00An election would have been political suicide02i00. No article needed. 01i00political suicide02i00 is being regarded as a phenomenon, not as an actual occurrence. Compare: 01i00It looks like 01u00rain02u02i00.02br
01i00____02i02br
01i00Food is waiting f
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0 Thanks! But there's still one thing nagging me...02br
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00Why "is waiting" ? I simply don't understand why! Firstly he says "in a typical race..." and then he gives its general rules that happen every time! like "sheep run" etc. then why in case of food is "waiting" ?02br
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00don't get it... at all...0-
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0 I admit it's puzzling. "waits" could work, I suppose, but "is waiting" is the better answer. I need to think about it. In the meantime, maybe another poster will have some insight about it.02br
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00 CJ0-
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