Can you spot the mistakes?
X “I knew her while we were volunteering for the National Trust in the Peak District.”
Clue: What is the difference between meet and know in this context?
Key: You meet someone for the first time and from then on, you know them.
√ “I met her while we were volunteering for the National Trust.”
Extra: “Over the working holiday, I got to know her and we became friends. After having shared some more experiences, we know each other very well now.”
X “I’m not sure I’ll go hiking on Saturday. It depends of the weather”.
Clue: What is the correct preposition after depend?
Key: depend on
√ “I’m not sure I’ll go hiking on Saturday. It depends on the weather”.
X “After a stressful day at work, I was so drained that I took out my clothes and went straight to bed.”
Clue: Is out the right preposition?
Key: took off = undressed
√ “After a long day at work, I was so drained that I took off my clothes and went straight to bed.”
Click here to check out the meanings of take out.
X “She was grown up in a small rural community.”
Clue: Is the passive structure right with the phrasal verb grow up?
Key: grew up or she was brought up. In other words, you grow up, your parents bring you up.
√ “She grew up in a small rural community.”
X “We’ve got a new manager.” “Really? How is she?”
Clue: what would you answer if someone asked you “How are you?”. Probably, “Fine, thanks” or something along those lines. Here you need a question that asks about her personality.
Key: What is she like?
√ “We’ve got a new manager.” “Really? What is she like?“
X “They gave me a great advice about travelling around Japan.”
Clue: Is advice uncountable?
Key: The answer is yes. Advice is uncountable and therefore, it can’t be preceded by “a” alone. Both some or a piece of advice would work here.
√ “They gave me some great advice about travelling round Japan.”