[Grammar] Some questions on grammar

[Pakhavit]

Dear teacher, I just took a quiz from online, and the explanation was so short. So can you please explain this answer please


It took the director two hours__________.
A) explaining us the new plan
B) to explain us the new plan
C) explaining the new plan to us
D) to explain the new plan to us

Answer : It took the director two hours to explain the new plan to us
V.ing should be after a preposition, so we use “to explain”.

1. Can't I use explaining as participle phrase?
It took the director two hours(to be)explaining the new plan to us.

How about this sentence?
It took me an hour finishing the work last night

Ancient civilizations were not aware that the earth ____ a sphere.
A) is
B) was
C) has been
D) had been

Answer: is
The truth is always the truth. So we use “is”. If we don’t, it means that the earth now is not a sphere.

2. Can't I use has been? Because it is always a sphere, and now it is still a sphere.


He directed that no one _____ eat before sunset.
A) must
B) should
C) would
D) could

Answer : Should
[FONT=&quot] ....[/FONT]to direct that + noun + should + verb….

3. Why I can't use could? Directed can be a command which means
he orders everyone that no one can eat before sunset.

thank you very much :-o

 

[Nightmare85]

**Neither a teacher nor a native speaker.**

Hey,

1)
Sometimes it's not the same to say "to verb" or "verb+ing".
I'm not sure if "explain" is such a case.
Anyway, to me the answer is perfect.
Another reason could be that "took" needs the "to".
It took hours to...

2)
If you say, "The Earth has been a sphere", some people could think some day the Earth will not be a sphere anymore.
So it was a sphere, is a sphere, and will always be a sphere.
-> Simple Present

3)
To me this sounds more like some advice.
If you say "could", then it means it's not possible.
"You could try to eat before sunset, but you'll see it's not possible."
-> Nonsense.

"You could try to fly, but you'll see it's not possible."
-> Correct.

I hope I could help you.

Cheers!

 

[Pakhavit]

I thought it was an order, like from the king.

The king directed that no one could eat before sunset.
The king directed that no one could eat before him.

It's not possible because he might kill you if you don't follow his order. :shock:

Maybe I think too much. :-|

 

[Raymott]

I thought it was an order, like from the king.

The king directed that no one could eat before sunset.
The king directed that no one could eat before him.

It's not possible because he might kill you if you don't follow his order. :shock:

Maybe I think too much. :-|

1. has to use the infinitive.
You can write, "Explaining the new plan to us took the director two hours." But, rearranged, you have to write, "It took the director two hours to explain the new plan to us."

I partly agree with you about 2 and 3.

The colloquial way of saying 2 is:
"Ancient civilizations were not aware that the earth was a sphere."

For 3, I agree that "should" is wrong.
He is directing them not to eat. You can't direct/order someone that they should not eat. I'd choose "must" - only because you have to make a choice. But if the direction is an order, I'd prefer, "He directed that no one eat before sunset."
You can suggest to, or advise, someone that they shouldn't eat.
But you can't order someone that they shouldn't eat.

 

[Pakhavit]

MrPedantic

Moderator

I spent three hours to try to understand these.
I spent three hours try to understand these. I hope both are correct.

— No; "I spent three hours trying to understand these".

This is from my other thread. The sentence is different though.

1. has to use the infinitive.
You can write, "Explaining the new plan to us took the director two hours." But, rearranged, you have to write, "It took the director two hours to explain the new plan to us."

What if I change the sentence a little bit to match the other sentence?

I spent three hours trying to understand these. < Pedantic sentence
Director took two hours explaining the new plan to us. < is it correct?

 

[Raymott]

This is from my other thread. The sentence is different though.

Yes the sentence is different.
"Spent" and "Took" are two different verbs.

What if I change the sentence a little bit to match the other sentence?

I spent three hours trying to understand these. < Pedantic sentence
Director took two hours explaining the new plan to us. < is it correct?
No. He took two hours to explain it; he needed two hours to explain it.

R.