[Grammar] Nylon , a synthetic done from a combination of water ,air ,and by-product of coa

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atabitaraf

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I couldn't find the error in this test I had in my class, I would be grateful if you helped.

- Nylon, a synthetic done from a combination of water, air, and by-product of coal, was first introduced in 1938.
 
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Rover_KE

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Why are some words underlined?

What did your teacher say the mistakes were?
 

atabitaraf

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Here I am one of the assistants who are trying to detect some of the problems we have in some of our national English exams. The test you see is one of those.
One of the standard test types in this series has some underlined words in which we are supposed to find the incorrect underlined one.
I would be grateful if you helped to upgrade our system.
 
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Rover_KE

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Which of those underlined can you eliminate (because you are sure they are correct)?

You must also be aware that there's something wrong with all the commas because you didn't make the same mistake in your question (although your comma should have been a full stop).
 

atabitaraf

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The only option (underlined phrase), about it I am not sure, is the third one (of coal); apart from it I think the sentence has no error.

(I corrected the places of commas in the original test as I thought fit after your mentioning)
 

Rover_KE

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'A by-product of coal' is fine.

In some languages, make and do share the same word. I wonder if that's the case in Persian. In English they have distinctly different meanings.

You do your homework and you make a cup of tea.

You don't make your homework and do a cup of tea.
 

Roman55

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I am not a teacher.

Is the sentence saying that nylon is made of water, air and a by-product of coal, or that it is a by-product of coal made of (amongst other things) water and air?
 

Rover_KE

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Fortunately, the question does not require us to make that distinction.
 

atabitaraf

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In Persian, make and do don't share a common word.

With thanks to your comments all, we'll consider this test an incorrect one.

Totally I did not approve of its structure from the very beginning as I saw it, but I really wanted your approval, so now I'm certain that it was not a good test.
 

emsr2d2

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There is nothing wrong with the test. There is an error. Read post #6 again and consider its contents against the original sentence.
 

atabitaraf

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There is nothing wrong with the test. There is an error. Read post #6 again and consider its contents against the original sentence.

Can we replace 'done' with 'made'? Does it sound natural?
Thanks,

(I'm afraid there is a problem with the test. We can only correct the underlined phrases so there is an 'a' missing for 'a by-product of coal')
 
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Rover_KE

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You've got it! That is the mistake.:up:
 

emsr2d2

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Not only does "made" sounds natural, it is the correct word. Using "done" there is grammatically wrong.
 

atabitaraf

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You've got it! That is the mistake.:up:

I'm really sorry, but I needed to ask it again because I think there are two mistakes:

1. 'made' does not sound natural to me, does it to you?
2. the mentioned 'a'

Please let me know if you think one of the above points are extra.
 

Mrfatso

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I'm really sorry, but I needed to ask it again because I think there are two mistakes:

1. 'made' does not sound natural to me, does it to you?
2. the mentioned 'a'

Please let me know if you think one of the above points are extra.
Not A Teacher

'Made' is correct or possibly as we are talking of the first time it was produced 'created' but not 'done' it is wrong.
 

bhaisahab

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As you have been told "made" is correct and natural in that sentence.
 
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