Error Correction 3

Idioma Modern II 2012

1. Prepositions

• The monument is near of my home.

• The monument is near to my home.

near tofar from

2. Prepositions

• I am impressed for your idea.

• I am impressed by your idea.be impressed by something

3. Prepositions / Verb Forms

• The matches could be useful for light a fire.

• The matches could be useful to light a fire.

• The matches could be useful for lighting a fire.be + adjective + to (verb)be + adjective + for (verb –ing)

4. Articles

• I am very interested in the history. • I am very interested in history.

history (general) takes no articlea specific period can take an article e.g. The history of ancient Egypt is fascinating.

5. Collocations

• I will talk about how to survive changing your home.

• I will talk about how to survive moving house.move house = go to live in a different housechange (things in) your house = redecorate / renovate e.g. I’m redecorating, I’m going to completely change my apartment!

6. Recommend…

• I recommend pay attention to this advice.• I recommend that you pay attention to

this advice.• I recommend paying attention to this

advice.recommend that + subject + verbrecommend + verb -ing

7. False friends

• Something rare happened to me...• Something strange happened to me…

– rare = scarce / precious / unknown e.g. She suffers from a rare disease, doctors don’t know what to do. Diamonds are not the rarest stone there is.

– strange = surprising / odd / unusual e.g. Snow in July? That’s strange!

8. Time expressions

• I bought a house for ten years.• I bought a house ten years ago.• I was househunting for ten years, it

was so hard to find the perfect place!ago = a specific time e.g. Ten years ago it was the year 2002.for (ten years) = period of time

9. False friends / vocabulary

• The sheet of plastic would be interesting.• The sheet of plastic would be useful.

interesting refers to something you want to study / learn about / watch / listen to e.g. That’s an interesting movie, I highly recommend it.useful refers to something practical e.g. The sheet of plastic would be useful to protect us from the rain.

10. Collocation / false friends

• Insect bites could be an important problem.

• Insect bites could be a major problem.important = something positive / necessary e.g. Penicillen was an important discovery. It’s important to eat healthily.problem = something negative. You can say a big problem / a major problem / a significant problem

11. Word order / tense

• Do you know to which place I refer?• Do you know which place I am

referring to?at the moment, present continuous (e.g. talking in a story in LangBlog)

12. Describe

• I’m going to describe you a special place.• I’m going to describe a special place to /

for you.– describe a person = give a description of that

person e.g. I would describe you as a very patient person.

– describe something to someone = give a description of that thing e.g. I described the Pyramids to / for my classmates.