My grammar exercises 8

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Bassim

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Would you please correct my mistakes in the following sentences?

1. The young girl would spend her spare time trying on clothes, putting on make-up, and making faces at herself in the mirror.
2. Anna was grinding pepper over the steak in her kitchen, listening with anger to the rustling of the paper her husband was reading at the table.
She had told him hundreds of time not to read his paper in the kitchen while she was cooking, but the man did the same thing, nevertheless.
3. Peter stopped with fear as he heard behind him the click of a gun's safety catch.
4. The fat man at the table let out a loud belch, and almost all the patrons turned their heads.
5. It was cold and blustery, and I felt chill sneaking under my clothes.
6. John was tall, and his feet poked out from beneath the duvet.
7. Gina worked long hours as a cleaner. She would return home late in the night and flop down in bed with exhaustion.
8. Mr Hitchens was a great conversationalist and would ardently defend his ideas.
9. Although Nabokov had spent years in the US, he had always remained a Slave by heart.
10. Some people in the audience insulted the writer and told him to go away. He paused for a second or two as if marshalling his thoughts,
and went on to talk in a measured voice as if he had not heard anything.
 

teechar

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2. Anna was grinding pepper over the steak in her kitchen, listening with anger to the rustling of the paper her husband was reading at the table.
She had told him hundreds of times not to read his paper in the kitchen while she was cooking, but the man did it anyway. [STRIKE]the same thing, nevertheless.[/STRIKE]

4. The fat man at the table let out a loud belch, and almost all the patrons turned to have a look. [STRIKE]their heads.[/STRIKE]

5. It was cold and blustery, and I felt the chill sneaking under my clothes.

7. Gina worked long hours as a cleaner. She would return home late in the night and flop down in bed exhausted. [STRIKE]with exhaustion.[/STRIKE]

9. Although Nabokov had spent years in the US, he had always remained a Slave by heart.

10. Some people in the audience insulted the writer and told him to go away. He paused for a second or two as if marshalling his thoughts and went on to talk in a measured voice as if he had not heard anything.

I don't get the meaning of #9; in any case you need "at heart" not "by heart."
 

Bassim

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teechar,

Thank you so much for your corrections. Regarding my sentence Nr 9, I wanted to say that Nabokov, born Russian has always remained a Slave in his inner being. So maybe I should have written "...he had always remained a Slave at heart."
 

teechar

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I still don't get what being born in Russia has to do with being a slave.
That aside, your sentence should read, "Although Nabokov had spent years in the US, he remained a slave at heart."
Oh! Do you mean "Slav" or "slave?" :shock: :shock:
 

Bassim

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teechar,
Excuse me, I have made a mistake. I should have written a Slav.
 

teechar

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Aha!:-D
Now it makes sense.
Although Nabokov had spent years in the US, he remained a Slav at heart.
 

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This might be irrelevant to this thread, but do you know that the word "slave" comes from "Slav"? So many Slavs were made slaves that they gave their name to that practice. It's easy to see the connection between the two words, isn't it?
 

Bassim

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Tarheel,
I did not know that. But I know that we Slavs have no difficulties communicating with each other. Many words are similar, and I for example understand someone from Slovakia, Bulgaria, or Czech Republic without any problems.
 

teechar

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This might be irrelevant to this thread, but do you know that the word "slave" comes from "Slav"? So many Slavs were made slaves that they gave their name to that practice.
I'm often intrigued by the etymology of a word. In this case, I cannot but feel disgust at the shameful history involved.
Thanks for the enlightenment, Tarheel.
 
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