prepositions.....simple past

[ripley]

An exercise asked me to fill in the blanks using the following prepositions:




AFTER, FROM, TO, AT, IN, WITH, FOR




1) We live……………..Oxford Street, next to the greengrocer’s (IN)


2) He asked his boss ………………..a day off (FOR)


3) I don’t listen ……………………to the radio when I’m working (TO)


4) I’m afraid I don’t agree ………………. you (WITH)


5) I’d like to speak ………….Mr Browning before I live (TO)


6) I waited …………………the bus all day and it still didn’t arrive (FOR)


7) Look ………………….that wonderful blue sky! (AT)


8) I’m a baby sitter. I look ….small children (AFTER)


9) We arrived …………….the theatre too late to see the play (AT)


10) I can’t find my keys. Will you help me look ……….them? (FOR)






In brackets I put the preposition I chose for each sentence.
The problem is that I didn’t use FROM, which was one of the prepositions indicated in the exercise.
Where would you use FROM in these sentences?????


Another question: sentence 6 looks strange to me: why did they use simple past? Is the sentence ok?



Thanks Rip

 

[Rover_KE]

None of those sentences need from.

5) doesn't make sense.

6) is fine with the simple past.

Rover

 

[freezeframe]

5) doesn't make sense.

live should be leave

 

[ripley]

None of those sentences need from.

5) doesn't make sense.

6) is fine with the simple past.

Rover

5) before I leave

 

[ripley]

Why is 6) ok: shouldn't you say: I have being waiting for the bus all day and it hasn't arrived yet.....

 

[freezeframe]

Why is 6) ok: shouldn't you say: I have being waiting for the bus all day and it hasn't arrived yet.....

The sentence is a little strange but it kind of makes sense. Both events are in the past. Perhaps the speaker is describing what happened last week, not what is happening now. I guess the bus didn't arrive despite him waiting for it all day.

A: Why is there a bus stop here if there are no buses running here?
B: There's a bus. It just comes when you're not watching.
A: That's not true. Last week I waited for the bus all day and it still didn't arrive. :-D

 

[ripley]

I see what you mean when you say " Both events are in the past. Perhaps the speaker is describing what happened last week, not what is happening now."
What I cannot understan is the presence of STILL, which indicates that the period of time is not completely passed....

 

[TheParser]

I see what you mean when you say " Both events are in the past. Perhaps the speaker is describing what happened last week, not what is happening now."
What I cannot understan is the presence of STILL, which indicates that the period of time is not completely passed....

****** A NON-TEACHER's COMMENT *****


(1) I believe that the use of "still" is correct in your sentence.

(2) One of my better dictionaries says that one definition of

"still" is "nevertheless."

(a) Perhaps the sense of your sentence is:

Last week I waited all day for the bus; nevertheless, it never came.

So I had to walk home.



Respectfully yours,


James

 

[ripley]

Thanks a lot James
Bye

 

[Barb_D]

None of them take "from."

You can speak "to" or speak "with."

In the U.S., you live "on" a street, not "in," but "in" is correct in BrE.

 

[ripley]

None of them take "from."

You can speak "to" or speak "with."

In the U.S., you live "on" a street, not "in," but "in" is correct in BrE.

why do you say "none of them take..." instead of takeS????

 

[TheParser]

None of them take "from."

You can speak "to" or speak "with."

In the U.S., you live "on" a street, not "in," but "in" is correct in BrE.[/QUOTHi, why do you say "none of them take..." instead of takeS????

***** A NON-TEACHER's COMMENT *****


(1) Congratulations on being such a good student. You are 100%

correct: "none" means "n(ot) one." Thus, some people insist on

"There was a big train accident. Fortunately, none of the passengers

was injured.

(2) BUT (sadly), native speakers do not always follow the rules.

(3) Many (most?) native speakers feel more comfortable using a

plural verb. Why? Well, one expert (Ms. Patricia T. O'Conner in her

Woe is I) says that "none" really means "not any." Her example:

None of the boxer's fingers WERE broken. She recommends using

the singular only if "none" means "none of it": None of the boxer's

blood WAS shed. ("Blood" is singular.)

(4) Ms. O'Connor says that if you wish to emphasize "not one," then

just say it:

Not one of the passengers WAS hurt.

(5) Since there is no general agreement, you may be very strict (always

use a singular verb with "none"), or you may do what many native

speakers do (regard "none" as plural if it refers to a plural noun. Again.

One of Ms. O'Connor's sentences:

None of the fans ARE fighting. That is, not any of the fans are

fighting./ No fans are fighting.)


Respectfully yours,


James

 

[Barb_D]

(1) Congratulations on being such a good student. You are 100%

correct: "none" means "n(ot) one." ...
(2) BUT (sadly), native speakers do not always follow the rules.

I hope this doesn't make you sadder to read, but this native speaker endeavors to follow rules that actually exist. This is not one of them.


The Grammar Curmudgeon: http://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/articles/article/1026513/9903.htm
A common misconception is that none must always be treated as singular. The customary support for this view is that none necessarily means "not one" (implying singularity); in fact, "none" is just as likely to imply "not any" (implying plurality). As noted in The American Heritage Dictionary: "the word has been used as both a singular and a plural noun from Old English onward. The plural usage appears in the King James Bible as well as the works of John Dryden and Edmund Burke and is widespread in the works of respectable writers today."

Other sites you might want to refer to (or "to which you might wish to refer, in case violations of the also-nonexistent rule of never ending a sentence with a preposition is also one of your sources of sadness):

None – Singular or Plural - Writing - English Rules
(formatting of this site doesn't make it easy to cut and paste)

World Wide Words: Singular or plural verb with ‘none’
It’s uncertain who started the notion that none requires a singular verb, but it’s pervasive, both in the US and Britain, and seems to have been drummed into the heads of generations of schoolchildren. However, all the usage guides — and the usage notes in every dictionary that I can find — are unanimous in saying that it’s wrong

Hobgoblins - NYTimes.com
Many readers of The Times and After Deadline insist that “none” should be used only with a singular verb. They argue that “none” means “not one,” and so is inherently singular.
But most authorities, including The Times’s stylebook, disagree. Here’s our entry:

none. Despite a widespread assumption that it stands for not one, the word has been construed as a plural (not any) in most contexts for centuries. H. W. Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926) endorsed the plural use. Make none plural except when emphasizing the idea of not one or no one — and then consider using those phrases instead.


​

 

[freezeframe]

(2) BUT (sadly), native speakers do not always follow the rules.

No. But rules do follow native speakers. I think you got it backwards.

 

[Mr_Ben]

Don't we say "none are" because zero isn't singular?