Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/HS1 Grammar
Spring Term 2011
Grammar Assignment 4: Key to Seminar Tasks
Task 1
See the references to sections in UGE for explanations.
1)
It’s /about/high/ time you told the truth. UGE 5.4.2.
2)
Who told you (that) I was (at) home? UGE 5.4.2.
3)
Where were you born? I was born abroad. UGE 5.4.2.
4)
Who painted this picture? UGE 5.4.2.
5)
He has lived abroad for many years (and still does). UGE 5.4.3.
6)
Previously, he also lived in Sweden for a couple of years. UGE 5.4.2–5.4.3.
7)
I’ll phone you when I have heard from him. UGE 5.4.5.1.
8)
If you need help, I’ll take over some of your tasks. UGE 5.4.5.1, 5.4.6.
Task 2
a.
1)
2)
She had gone home when he came to the party.
She would have gone home if he had come to the party. Swedish skulle ha
gått would also be possible in this sentence, which is in the third
conditional; in such cases, a construction with would have + past participle
is obligatory in English. In Swedish, a present or past perfect auxiliary can
be omitted in a dependent clause (… om han [hade] kommit till partyt); in
English, it is not possible to omit the perfect auxiliary in these contexts.
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Uppsala University
Department of English
b.
A1/HS1 Grammar
Spring Term 2011
See also UGE, section 5.4.6, for explanations.
3)
If she /turns up/shows up/comes/, I will stay. The first conditional: the
present tense in the conditional clause, will + infinitive in the main clause
(the present tense is not possible).
4)
If she /turned up/showed up/came/, I would stay. The second
conditional: the past tense in the conditional clause, would + infinitive in
the main clause.
5)
If she had /turned up/shown up/come/, I would have stayed. The third
conditional: the past perfect in the conditional clause, would have + past
participle in the main clause (the past perfect is not possible).
6)
If you had helped me, it would probably have gone better. The third
conditional: the past perfect in the conditional clause, would have + past
participle in the main clause (the past perfect is not possible).
7)
A Christmas party would have been nice. The third conditional: would
have + past participle in the main clause (the past perfect is not possible).
The condition is understood instead of explicitly stated in a conditional
clause (= If we had had a Christmas party, that would have been nice).
8)
It would have been better if you had not been late. The third conditional:
the past perfect in the conditional clause (the perfect auxiliary is
obligatory), would have + past participle in the main clause (the past perfect
is not possible).
9)
Otherwise, he would /certainly/surely/ have believed me. The third
conditional: would have + past participle in the main clause (the past perfect
is not possible). The condition is expressed by the adverb otherwise instead
of a conditional clause (= If things had been different, he would
/certainly/surely/ have believed me).
Task 3
a.
1)
b.
It’s raining again (ongoing action at the time of speaking) – it always
rains (habit) here this time of year.
2)
It’s always raining (irritating habit) when I want to go running.
3)
What does he do? (habit, e.g. occupation)
4)
What’s he doing? (ongoing action at the time of speaking)
5)
Is (something typical of the subject) he really that stupid, or is he just
being (temporary, specific behaviour) silly, do you think? – Oh, he is
always trying (irritating habit) to be funny and making (irritating habit)
an ass of himself.
Stative verbs such as know and desire rarely occur in the progressive. However,
most verbs can be used in the progressive in special contexts.
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Uppsala University
Department of English
A1/HS1 Grammar
Spring Term 2011
Task 4
See the reference to UGE after each sentence for the changes that are necessary.
1)
Some students dislike having to read /one/a/ novel /a/per/ week.
UGE 5.7.3.
2)
I enjoy reading English literature. UGE 5.7.3.
3)
I /will/am going to/ continue /to read/reading/ English literature. UGE
5.7.4.
4)
I avoid reading novels in Swedish. UGE 5.7.3.
5)
I love /staying/to stay/ in bed reading (or … love to stay in bed and read …)
an English novel. UGE 5.7.4.
6)
The worst thing about it is that I risk never getting out of bed. UGE 5.7.3.
7)
My mother remembers /doing/having done/that she did/ the same (thing)
when she was a student. UGE 5.7.4.
8)
I cannot help liking her. UGE 5.7.3.
9)
My parents expect me to succeed. UGE 5.7.1.
10) They have /made me subscribe/got me to subscribe/ to Newsweek. UGE
5.7.2.
11) I /long/am longing/cannot wait/ for the /term/semester/ to end. (These
particular verbs are not listed in UGE, but long for and cannot wait for
behave like the other verbs that take an object plus a verb in the toinfinitive form listed in section 5.7.1.)
12) My boyfriend wants us to travel. UGE 5.7.1 (note that want cannot be
followed by a that-clause in English, unlike Swedish vilja, which is
followed by an att-clause).
13) We had better finish our courses before /we leave/leaving/. UGE 5.7.2.
14) Anyway, I /mustn’t forget/must remember/ to call the travel agency. UGE
5.7.4.
15) I caught him stealing a /mobile/cell/ phone. UGE 5.7.3.
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