Maria rolled up her sleeves

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence is grammatically correct.

Maria rolled up her sleeves, put on latex gloves, picked up a bottle of Ajax cleaner and some old rags, and threw herself into cleaning her flat.

 

[teechar]

Consider, e.g., "and got busy cleaning her flat" at the end.

 

[emsr2d2]

There's nothing wrong at all with teechar's suggestion but I really like the use of "threw herself into" in your original. It is, in fact, more natural in BrE than "got busy with".

 

[Bassim]

teechar,
With all respect I think "got busy cleaning her flat" or "threw herself into cleaning her flat" do not mean the same. I think that the latter meant she worked vigorously. I also think that "got busy cleaning" did not describe that she worked with vigour. Or maybe I am wrong?

 

[emsr2d2]

"Threw herself into" not only suggests that she did it vigorously, it also has a slight connotation of enjoyment. Having said that, how anyone could enjoy cleaning their flat is a mystery to me!

 

[Bassim]

emsr2d2,
I was writing my reply to teechar, and when I posted it, I saw you have already replied what I meant to tell him. It was telepathy again.

 

[Bassim]

Could "threw herself into" be used in the following sentence?

Anna threw herself into cooking her favourite soup.

 

[GoesStation]

You could. Or you could shorten it to Anna threw herself into her favorite soup. The meaning would change a little though.

 

[teechar]

I also think that "got busy cleaning" did not describe that she worked with vigour.

It does to me.

 

[teechar]

It is, in fact, more natural in BrE than "got busy with".

https://books.google.com/ngrams/gra... into cleaning;,c0;.t1;,got busy cleaning;,c0