4 questions

Spotting Usage Errors

Which sentence is correct?

  • a.Despite of the rain, we enjoyed the walk.
  • b.Despite the rain, we enjoyed the walk.
  • c.Despite the rain, but we enjoyed the walk.
  • d.Despite of the rain, so we enjoyed the walk.

'Despite' is followed directly by a noun phrase, with no 'of'. It also should not be paired with 'but' or 'so', so 'Despite the rain, we enjoyed the walk' is correct.

Spotting Usage Errors

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

  • a.He is used to work night shifts.
  • b.He is use to working night shifts.
  • c.He is used to work night shifts now.
  • d.He is used to working night shifts.

'Be used to' meaning 'be accustomed to' is followed by the -ing form: 'used to working'. This is different from 'used to + base verb', which describes a past habit.

Spotting Usage Errors

Which sentence uses the reflexive pronoun correctly?

  • a.They organised the whole event by themselves.
  • b.They organised the whole event by theirselves.
  • c.They organised the whole event by themself.
  • d.They organised the whole event by theirself.

The standard plural reflexive pronoun is 'themselves'. 'Theirselves', 'themself', and 'theirself' are non-standard forms.

Spotting Usage Errors

Which question is formed correctly?

  • a.How long you have been waiting?
  • b.How long have been you waiting?
  • c.How long have you been waiting?
  • d.How long you been waiting?

In a present perfect continuous question, the auxiliary 'have' comes before the subject: 'How long have you been waiting?'. The subject 'you' must sit between 'have' and 'been'.

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