Afraid and Fear

Afraid

Afraid and fear

In an informal style, be afraid is more common than fear.

• Don’t be afraid. (NOT Don’t fear)
• Are you afraid of the dark?

I’m afraid = I’m sorry

I’m afraid (that) often means ‘ I’m sorry to tell you (that)’. It is used to introduce apologetic refusals and bad news.

• I’m afraid (that) I can’t help you.
• I’m afraid that there’s been an accident.

Afraid is not used before a noun

• Hamid is afraid
• Hamid is a frightened man. ( NOT … an afraid man.)

Across, Over and Through

On the other side (line) : across and over

Across and over can both be used to mean ‘on the other side of a line, river, bridge, road etc.’

• His village is just across/over the border.
• See if you can jump across/over the stream.

High things: over preferred

We prefer over to say ‘on/to the other side of something high’

• Why are you climbing over the wall? (NOT …across the wall?)

On flat areas; in water: across preferred

We usually prefer across to say ‘on/to the other side of a flat area or surface’, or to talk about movement in water.

• He walked across the field. (NOT … over the field)
• Let’s swim across the river. (NOT … over the river)

But over is sometimes used in British English if there is no idea of arriving at the other side.

• We often walk over the fields in the evening.

Across and through

The difference between across and through is like the difference between on and in. through, unlike across, is used for a movement in a three dimensional space, with things on all sides.

Compare:

• We walked across the desert. (We were on the desert.)
• I walked through the wood. (I was in the wood.)
• We drove across the field.

* We drove through several towns.

Answers of Exercise 2(Advance Grammar)

21. ‘Neither’ must be followed by singular verb and pronoun in formal written English. So ‘were’ should be ‘was’.
22. Most adverbs of manner are formed by adding –ly to adjectives. So ‘different’ should be ‘differently’ to modify the manner in which the chair is shaped.
23. ‘because’ is a prepositional phrase, so ‘as evening’ should be ‘like evening’. ‘As’ acts as a conjunction, while ‘like’ acts as a preposition.
24. Here ‘raised’ should be used instead of ‘risen’. To ‘raise’ means to move to a higher place, while to ‘rise’ means to go up.
25. Adverb is used to modify an adjective. So ‘profound’ should be changed to adverb ‘profoundly’ which modifies adjective ‘disappointing’.
26. ‘was’ should be ‘were’. In the unreal condition (contrary to fact or hypothetical), the past tense form of ‘be’ is always ‘were’.
27. The clause ‘many people believed’ establishes a point of view in the past. ‘is’ should be ‘was’ to maintain the point of view.
28. A ‘verb word’ must be used in a clause after an impersonal expression. ‘is’ should be changed to ‘ be’ after the impersonal expression ‘it is essential’.
29. ‘living’ should be ‘live’. (subject + used to + verb in simple form)
30. ‘because’ should be ‘because of’. (because of + noun)

English Grammar Exercise 2(Advance Grammar)

Each of the following sentences may contain an error in grammar, idiom or usage. If there is an error, it will appear in one of the underlined portions. Answers are given at the answer part. First try to answer by yourself, and then check it against the given answer. Answer explanation for each sentence is also given. If you go through this exercise, we can assure you that you will have a vast idea in English.

21. Neither of the two candidates who had applied for the job to the factory were eligible. Answer
22. This chair has the same design, but it is different shaped from that one. Answer
23. Because of the approaching cyclone, the wind began to blow hard and the sky became dark as evening. Answer
24. The flag is risen in the morning and taken down at night by the guards. Answer
25. To the men who worked so hard on the construction of the bridge, the news was profound disappointing. Answer
26. If the oxygen supply in the atmosphere was not replaced by plants, it would soon be exhausted. Answer
27. In ancient times, many people believed that the earth is motionless. Answer
28. It is essential that cancer is diagnosed and treated as early as possible in order to assure a successful cure. Answer
29. Kamal used to living in England, but his company had transferred him to a better position in France. Answer
30. Mr. Manik usually arrives at the office at ten o’clock, but because the traffic jam, he was one hour late. Answer

English Grammar Exercise 1(Advance Grammar)

Each of the following sentences may contain an error in grammar, idiom or usage. If there is an error, it will appear in one of the underlined portions. Answers are given at the answer part. First try to answer by yourself, and then check it against the given answer. Answer explanation for each sentence is also given. If you go through this exercise, we can assure you that you will have a vast idea in English.

1. Rina was upset last night because she had to do too many homeworks. Answer
2. After Rana had returned to his house, he was reading a book. Answer
3. Kamal is thinking to go to the seminar on child-care next month. Answer
4. It has been a long time since we have talked to Rashed, isn’t it? Answer
5. The only students who were required to attend the workshop on ‘mass communication’ were Rana, Rina, Laila, and me. Answer
6. There’s a new supermarket in Elephant Road, isn’t it? Answer
7. The teacher tired to make the classes more enjoyable to the students so they would take a greater interest in the subject. Answer
8. Two of the students from the school has been chosen to participate in the national chess competition. Answer
9. The examination will test your ability to understand spoken English, to read non technical language and writing correctly. Answer
10. If cancer is suspected, the diagnosis need to be confirmed by blood tests. Answer
11. It has been known for the last two centuries that lightning was a form of electricity. Answer
12. Proper lighting is a necessary for good eyesight even though human night vision can be temporarily impared by extreme flashes of light. Answer
13. Intense clearing of jungles over decades in Chittagong Hill Tracts has destroyed the elephant’s habitat and threatened their survival. Answer
14. Enormous energy is required for the exchange of heat and moist between the atmosphere and the earth’s surface. Answer
15. Clouds hold water that evaporates from the land or the sea; later the water in clouds return to the land as rain. Answer
16. Medical experts are now suggesting that every healthy adult should receive counselling about exercise, diet and drug using. Answer
17. When the distance to any object is known, so the configuration of that object can be determined. Answer
18. Because fireworks are danger, many countries have introduced laws to prevent their sale. Answer
19. Throughout history, the mosquito is not only a nuisance but a killer carrying some of the most dangerous diseases known. Answer
20. Never before has so many people in Bangladesh been interested in cricket. Answer

Answers of Exercise 1(Advance Grammar)

Answers with Explanations:
1. Should be ‘much home-work’ instead of ‘many home-work’. Home-work can never be plural and it is a non-count noun, so it must be preceded by ‘much’.
2. Should be ‘read’ instead of ‘was reading’. You have to use the simple past tense to indicate an action that happened later.
3. Should be ‘of going’. (think of or think about + verb + ing). Never use: (think + infinitive).
4. Should be ‘hasn’t it’ instead of ‘isn’t it’, because the auxiliary verb in the main clause is ‘has’.
5. Should be ‘I’ instead of ‘me’. You have to use subject pronouns after the verb ‘be’.
6. Should be ‘isn’t there’ instead of ‘isn’t it’, when ‘there appears in the subject position of the sentence, it is also used in the tag question.
7. Should be ‘so that’ instead of ‘so’. It is required to use ‘so that’ between a purpose clause and a result clause.
8. There must be agreement between subject and verb. ‘has’ should be replaced by have to agree with the plural subject ‘two of the students’.
9. Ideas in a series should be expressed by parallel structures. ‘writing’ should be ‘to write’ to provide parallelism with infinitives ‘to understand’ and ‘to read’.
10. Here ‘need’ should be changed to ‘needs’ because ‘diagnosis’ is a singular subject.
11. ‘was’ should be changed to ‘is’, because to express a scientific fact present tense is used.
12. A noun is needed after the article ‘a’. So ‘a necessary’ is to be changed into ‘a necessity’.
13. It is correct to use ‘its’ instead of ‘their’ because the antecedent is the ‘elephant’ which is singular.
14. ‘and’ joins equal sentence parts. So adjective ‘moist’ should be changed to noun ‘moisture’ to provide parallelism with noun ‘heat’.
15. ‘water’ is a singular subject, so verb should be singular (returns).
16. The gerund ‘using’ is unidiomatic here. It should be ‘use’.
17. The conjunction ‘so’ should be omitted from the sentence.
18. Here the adjective ‘dangerous’ is to be used to modify the noun ‘fireworks’.
19. You should use the present perfect tense ‘has been’ because the action of the verb began in the past, includes present, and is likely to continue into the future.
20. There must be agreement between subject and verb. ‘has’ should be ‘have’ to agree with the plural subject ‘so many people’.