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Old 17-Jun-2008, 18:50
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Lightbulb "had better"

i had a test and couldn't answer these sentences
  • ''no matter how hard I tried I couldn't answer the question''
    ( begin with Try)
  • ''They had to wait 2 hours before the meeting began'' (Only after a)
  • ''It makes no difference if the play is full booked, we will still try to get
    a ticket'' (we will still try and get a ticket.........)
  #2  
Old 17-Jun-2008, 18:55
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Default Re: don't know how....?

Quote:
Originally Posted by monyshygirl View Post
i had a test and couldn't answer these sentences
  • ''no matter how hard I tried I couldn't answer the question''
    ( begin with Try)
  • ''They had to wait 2 hours before the meeting began'' (Only after a)
  • ''It makes no difference if the play is full booked, we will still try to get
    a ticket'' (we will still try and get a ticket.........)
I tried very hard but I couldn't answer the question.
Only after a wait of 2 hours the meeting began.
We will still try and get a ticket even if the play is fully booked.
  #3  
Old 17-Jun-2008, 19:03
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Default Re: don't know how....?

Wow, that must've been a hard test, Monyshygirl

1) Try as I might I couldn't answer the question.

2) Only after a wait of 2 hours did the meeting begin.

3) We will still try and get a ticket even if the play is fully booked.
  #4  
Old 17-Jun-2008, 22:52
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Default Re: don't know how....?

Quote:
Originally Posted by StarrySkies View Post
Welcome StarrySkies! But I disagree with one thing.

3) We will still try and get a ticket even if the play is fully booked.
(At least) some grammarians don't like "try and get...", and neither do I. (not a grammarian)

Saying "try and get..." (try what?) seems to be a poor choice of words when the meaning is 'try to get...'.
2006
  #5  
Old 17-Jun-2008, 23:37
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Default Re: don't know how....?

2006, you took the words right out of my mouth.

I really dislike "try and" -- and yet look! That's the what the test said to use!

I try not to be too prescriptivist, but that one really irks me.
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Old 18-Jun-2008, 02:29
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Default Re: don't know how....?

I'm not a proff.
I'd like to add a bit.

Quote:
Originally Posted by StarrySkies View Post

2) Only after a wait of 2 hours did the meeting begin.
I'd rephrase that to something like :
Only after a two-hours wait the meeting began.
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Old 18-Jun-2008, 04:35
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Default Re: don't know how....?

If you want to write it that way, then use "two-hour wait" not two-hours.

Six-foot pole, three-mile run, two-hour wait - you go back to the singular form of the noun when used like that.
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Old 18-Jun-2008, 10:17
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Default Re: don't know how....?

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Originally Posted by Barb_D View Post
If you want to write it that way, then use "two-hour wait" not two-hours.

Six-foot pole, three-mile run, two-hour wait - you go back to the singular form of the noun when used like that.
Thank you .
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Old 14-Jul-2008, 20:48
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by StarrySkies View Post
Wow, that must've been a hard test, Monyshygirl

1) Try as I might I couldn't answer the question.

2) Only after a wait of 2 hours did the meeting begin.

3) We will still try and get a ticket even if the play is fully booked.
thanks a lot for your help, but I'm afraid the answer to the sentence
''only after a wait of two hours did the meeting began'' and
''only after two-hour wait the meeting began.'' were wrong as I haven't got marks when answering that way.

I have one more sentence
''I had better go to the dentist's soon.''
It's.............................................. ..
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Old 14-Jul-2008, 21:47
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Default Re: don't know how....?

"Only after a two-hour wait did the meeting begin." If it is not that, there are no more options.
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