Can you spot the mistakes?
X “He explained us why he didn’t agree with the proposal.”
Clue: What preposition would you need after explained?
Key: explain to somebody.
√ “He explained to us why he didn’t agree with the proposal.”
X “Can I make a picture of your garden?”
Clue: think of another verb, make is not the right one here.
Key: “take” collocates with picture
√ “Can I take a picture of your garden?”
X “Could you tell me where is the supermarket?”
Clue: use the inversion only once in this question
Key: “where the supermarket is” (no inversion in the indirect question)
√ “Could you tell me where the supermarket is?”
X “They had got a pet hamster when they were little.”
Clue: we use have got for possession in the present but, what about the past?
Key: we don’t need got.
√ “They had a pet hamster when they were little.”
X “Susan is the headteacher since 2020.”
Clue: what tense do you need to talk about something that started in the past and continues now?
Key: present perfect
√ “Susan has been the headteacher since 2020.”
X “It is going to be a surprise party so you don’t have to tell her.”
Clue: “don’t/doesn’t have to” expresses a lack of obligation; in other words, we use it to say that something is not necessary. “I don’t have to commute to work as I work from home.”
Key: you need a modal that expresses “prohibition”.
√ “It is going to be a surprise party so you mustn’t tell her.”
Extra tip: the “t” in mustn’t is silent but remember to write it.
X “It wasn’t easy to find the way but finally, we could make it back to the B&B before dark.”
Clue: we use can for ability in general in the present and could in past, but in this example, we are referring to a particular situation. The idea here is: we managed.
Key: use be able to
√ “It wasn’t easy to find the way but finally, we were able to make it back to the B&B before dark.”