Practice and Improve Your Grammar part 1

'What happened to the mistress?' I asked rather (12) ….., looking round the dark room.

'Nobody knows,' he answered. 'But if I was her, I would stay far away from this house.'

Exercise 35. Rewrite each sentence with one set of adverbs added in appropriate positions.

a bit/ cheerfully completely / obviously

enough / impatiently / quickly hard / recently/ too

1Roland hadn't studied for the test and most of his answers were wrong. …..

2Sоme of us were feeling tired, but Molly was talking about hiking another five miles. …..

3You need to take a day off because you've been working. …..

4Edward started pacing up and down the street because the taxi didn't come. …..

Exercise 36. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete each definition with a noun and an adverb.

busybodies	fanatics	passionately	too
eccentrics	hooligans	socially	violently

1….. are young people who are noisy and behave ….. in public.

2….. are people who like particular things or activities ….. .

3….. are people who are ….. interested in other people's private activities.

4….. are people who behave in ways that are different from what is usual or ….. accepted.

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Exercise 37. Add these adverbs to the texts.

actually	completely	financially	frankly	of course
thoroughly	badly	definitely	fortunately	more
pretty	unnecessarily

A There was a car crash near where I live. I didn't (1) ….. see the crash, but I heard it and ran outside to help, (2) ….., nobody was killed, but one driver's hand was cut (3) ….. (4) ….. by broken glass.

В My friend Dorothy is (5) ….. concerned about her health than anything else. She often worries (6) ….. about getting ill and she always thinks she's

(7) ….. going to catch every terrible disease she hears about. (8) ….., I think she's just a hypochondriac.

С The worst job I ever had was working in a stable. (9) ….., it was a bad idea because of the low pay, but I was in love with horses and just wanted to be near them. However, the owner was (10) ….. crazy and often complained that I was lazy and I wasn't cleaning the stalls (11) ….. . That wasn't true, (12) ….. .

Equatives, comparatives and superlatives

Equatives

Equatives are marked by as ... as or not as ... as. We use adjectives and adverbs in equatives to say that a person (1), thing (2), or action (3) is similar (or not) to another in some way.

1She's as tall as her father. • I'm as hungry as a horse. • He's not as young as he looks.

2The van was as big as a house. • His new book is not as interesting as his other one.

3I came as soon as possible. • Write as fast as you can. • It didn't do as well as we had hoped. (NOT She's as tall her father. Write fast as you can. It didn't do well we had hoped.)

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We can use focus adverbs such as just and only before equatives (4). We sometimes use not so ... as for the negative (5).

4Our plan is just as good as theirs. • You're only as old as you feel. • He's not even as tall as her.

5This year's harvest wasn't so bad as last year's. • He's not so arrogant as he used to be.

Note the use of equatives with a singular noun: He's not as good a teacher as Mrs Marshall. (NOT He's not as good teacher as Mrs Marshall. He's not as a good teacher as her.)

Comparatives

We change adjectives and adverbs to say that a person (6), a thing (7) or an action (8) has more or less of a quality than another. We put more or less before long forms and add -er to short forms.

6She's more intelligent than him. She's also more interesting. • He's slower than a snail.

7Some ideas are less practical than others. • His flat is smaller and cheaper than ours.

8I should practise more often. • She always finishes her work faster than me.

Subject pronouns are sometimes used after than (faster than I), but they

sound very formal.

We can treat adjectives such as friendly or quiet as either long forms (9) or short forms (10).

9Our neighbours have become more friendly recently. • The boys seem more quiet than usual.

10Everyone was friendlier this time. • My new office is quieter than the old

one.

Others include: clever, common, crazy, likely, lonely, narrow, simple, untidy, yellow

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We use special forms for the comparative of good/well and bad/badly (11). We use further (from far) for distance and when we mean 'additional' (12). Farther is only used for distance.

11 I thought the weather would be better in July, but it actually got worse. 12 How much further/farther do we have to walk? • We hope to get

further details of the plan soon.

We can use comparative forms, repeated with and, to emphasize that something is increasing or decreasing (13). We use the + comparative ... the + comparative to say that one development is connected to another (14).

13 We meet more and more frequently. • It's less and less common. • Alice got taller and taller.

14 The sooner we leave, the faster we'll get there. • The older I get, the crazier everything seems.

Superlatives

We can use adjectives and adverbs to say that people (15) or things and actions (16) have the most or least of a quality. We put the most or the least before long forms and add -est to short forms.

15 He's the most likely to succeed. • It's the least dangerous. • She's one of the cleverest students.

16 Where's the most beautiful beach in the world? • That's the simplest question of all. • The least popular subject is algebra. • I was sure my golf ball had landed nearest to the hole.

Note the special forms for good/well (best), bad/badly (worst) and far (farthest/furthest).

After superlatives we use in or on, not of before singular words for groups (17) or places (18).

17 Alan is the youngest student in the class. • I'm the tallest in my family.

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18 He's the best player in the world. • I think we stayed in the worst hotel on the island. (NOT He's the best player of the world.)

Exercise 38. Write the most appropriate forms of adjectives and adverbs from one set in each sentence.

bad / skilled / well early / new / well-behaved easy / short / well-known beautiful / different / quick fast / old / tall good / likely / long

1The ….. you wait, the ….. you are to miss the ….. bargains in the sale.

2Our ….. son is ….. than his dad, but our other two haven't grown as ….. .

3The ….. group of students is ….. than that other group who stayed here ….. .

4His ….. book is ….. and ….. to read than all the others.

5There are several ….. ways to get to the ….. beach on the other side of the island, but the ….. way is by boat.

6I can't play as ….. as most of the others, but I'm not the ….. player or the ….. of all those who want to participate.

Exercise 39. Complete this first paragraph of an essay about 'fast food' with these adjectives and adverbs.

better	puzzled	as quickly as	more easily	the best
faster	smaller	less beneficial	more wasteful	the most important

When did we decide that 'more convenient' is (l) ….. way to choose between two different things to eat? Why do people now want food (2) possible, in containers that are (3) ….. thrown away? How did '(4) ….. is (5) ….. ' become our slogan? Don't we see that this is (6) ….. and much (7) ….. than making our own food? Is it because we want food to have a much (8) ….. place in our lives? But isn't food one of (9) ….. things? Am I the only one who is (10) ….. by this?

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Exercise 40. Editing. Correct the mistakes in this text.

In one experiment, students were asked to look at photographs of people and choose the good best words and phrases to describe them. The students didn't know that the researchers had chosen the photographs to represent two groups. In Group A, they put the good-looking of all the people whose photographs were used. For Group B, they chose people who (they decided) were not attractive as those in Group A. According to the students, the people in Group A were warm, kind, exciting and sensitive than those in Group B. Also, Group A would find high-paid jobs, have successful marriages and lead happy lives than Group B. The women in Group A were considered to have appealing personalities and to be socially skilled than the Group В women, but also to be vain, materialistic, snobbish and likely to get divorced than them. Interestingly, the students decided that Group A would be bad parents than Group B.

Exercise 41. Complete the text with appropriate forms of the adjectives and as or than where necessary.

alone beneficial good healthy likely long (×2) short

Research is showing that marriage is much (1) ….. for men ….. for women. A recent study discovered that married men live (2) ….. single men. For example, if a man is between forty-five and sixty-five years old, and not married, he is twice (3) ….. to die within ten years as a married man of the same age. The results indicate that the eating habits of an unmarried man are rarely (4) ….. as those of a married man, especially if he lives (5) ….. . However, the study also found that the life of an unmarried woman is not significantly (6) ….. that of her married counterpart. These results suggest that, in terms of living (7) ….., marriage is not (8) ….. for women as it is for men.

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Exercise 42. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete each description with appropriate forms of one pair of adjectives.

bad / harmful big/ significant cheerful / confident good/ important

1He had such a condescending attitude. He behaved as though he thought he was ….. and ….. than other people.

2He made exaggerated claims about everything. Hе асted as though everything he had was ….. or ….. than if really was.

3His actions had a detrimental effect. He made the situation ….. and ….. for everyone than it had been.

4He had a deflated look. He was feeling ….. and ….. than before.

Exercise 43. Correct the twenty mistakes in these sentences.

1You сan sometimes be as just lonely in a crowd as if when you're by

yourself.

2The early we got started, the soonest we'll be able to finish.

3I think the beautiful beaches of the world must be in Hawaii.

4I wasn't the worse student in the class, but I wasn't the better one either.

5He's not as quick learner as his sister, but he's the young in the family.

6He said he'd send us farther information soon as possible.

7Evelyn thought that the more money man was not attractive as the poor one.

8My aunt always said that the expensive the ring, the happy the bride's parents will be.

9Things aren't bad as last year, but the weather is becoming less less predictable.

10Gary was the good-looking of all the brothers, but he wasn't handsоme than his father.

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Библиографический список

1.Aarts, B. Oxford Modern English Grammar [Text] / B. Aarts. – United States of America : Oxford University Press, 2011. – 448 pp.

2.Haines, S. Advanced Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises [Text]

/S. Haines, M. Nettle. – United States of America : Cambridge University Press, 2007. – 136 pp.

3.Hewings, M. Advanced Grammar in Use Book [Text] : A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Advanced Learners of English / M. Hewings. – Cambridge University Press, 2013. – 296 pp.

4. Swan, M. Oxford English Grammar Course:	Advanced [Text] :
A Grammar Practice Book for Advanced Students of	English / M. Swan,

C. Walter. – United States of America : Oxford University Press, 2011. – 348 pp.

5.Vince, M. Advanced Language Practice [Text] / M. Vince. – Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2003. – 326 pp.

6.Vince, M. Macmillan English Grammar in Context [Text] / M. Vince.

–Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2012. – 240 pp.

7.Yule, G. Oxford Practice Grammar Advanced [Text] / G. Yule. – United States of America : Oxford University Press, 2009. – 280 pp.

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CONTENTS
Articles and nouns …………………………………………..	3
Articles ………………….…………………………………	9
Nouns ………………………………………………………	20
Articles and nouns in discourse…………………………….	34
Determiners and quantifiers ………………………………..	41
Determiners ………………………………………………...	43
Quantifiers ………………………………………………….	47
Multipliers, fractions and percentages ……………………..	75
Pronouns, substitution and ellipsis ……………………..…..	78
Pronouns ……………………………………………………	80
Substitution …………………………………………………	101
Ellipsis ……………………………………………………...	108
Adjectives and adverbs ………………………..…………….	115
Adjectives ………………………………………………….	117
Adverbs …………………………………………………….	133
Equatives, comparatives and superlatives …………………	144

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Дубовцева Людмила Викторовна Кропачева Ксения Игоревна

PRACTICE AND IMPROVE YOUR GRAMMAR

ПРАКТИЧЕСКИЙ КУРС АНГЛИЙСКОЙ ГРАММАТИКИ

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