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Would you check my sentences for Lesson 5 Part 1?

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
would you help me again?

I've created some sentences for Lesson 5.
Would you correct them if needed?
(2) While I traveled in the United States, I usually managed to make myself understood in English.

(5) All the trains and buses have stopped because of the storm.

(6) The company built a 100-meter building in the central area of Tokyo.

(7) Some scientists came to the company to carry out experiments there.

(8) The rain was getting harder. I wondered whether my plane could land safely.

(9) Jupiter has much stronger gravity than Earth. (Jupiter = 木星)

(10) He worked hard and achieved high scores on his final exams.

(11) You probably wonder how such a small company in Hokkaido achieved a great success in the field of space development.

(12) Making a loud noise, the rocket went up high into the sky.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
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(7) Some scientists came to the company to carry out experiments there.
All look good. For this one I'd probably say
Some scientists came to the company to carry out experiments here.
or
Some scientists went to the company to carry out experiments there.
 
9: 'gravity' can be both countable and uncountable. In this context, the countable form sounds more natural to me: "Jupiter has a much stronger gravity...". If you think this would be too confusing for your students, then you can choose a different question.

11: changing to "... achieved such a great success..." sounds more natural to me, but it is OK as is.

7: this sounds OK as is to me, but grammatically I am unable to explain why.
 
(11) You probably wonder how such a small company in Hokkaido achieved a great success in the field of space development.

I don't like the a in there, and would mark it for removal if I saw it on a student's paper.

While saying, The experiment was a great success is fine, experiment is a single instance of something. The field of space development is broad and non-specific, probably consisting of many separate achievements. So another possibility:

You probably wonder how such a small company in Hokkaido achieved so many great successes in the field of space development.
 
Thanks for the help, johnnyG.

Does joadbres' version "You probably wonder how such a small company in Hokkaido achieved such a great success in the field of space development." not sound right to you, either?
 
I'd like to ask you all about "a gravity".

According to my dictionaries, "gravity" is an uncountable noun. Could you explain in which case it becomes countable?

How about these ones?
(a) Jupiter's gravity is much stronger than Earth's.
(b1) Jupiter has much stronger force of gravity than Earth. (Does this also need "a" before "much"?)
(b2) Jupiter has much stronger forces of gravity than Earth.
 
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I'd like to ask you all about "a gravity".

According to my dictionaries, "gravity" is an uncountable noun. Could you explain in which case it becomes countable?

How about these ones?
(a) Jupiter's gravity is much stronger than Earth's.
(b1) Jupiter has much stronger force of gravity than Earth. (Does this also need "a" before "much"?)
(b2) Jupiter has much stronger forces of gravity than Earth.

'gravity' as a concept is uncountable. However, the way you are using it in your original sentence, it is standing in for the term 'surface gravity', which is countable.

Your (a) sentence is fine. (b1) requires "a" before much, but this is because "force" is countable. I would not use (b2), but cannot say for certain that it is wrong.
 
Does joadbres' version "You probably wonder how such a small company in Hokkaido achieved such a great success in the field of space development." not sound right to you, either?
I also considered if "a" belonged there or not and I decided it was perfectly fine.
Both are ok but the meaning is slightly different.
achieved such a great success in the field of space development
means they achieved one thing primarily. That one thing could be their whole business. Or it could be one specific project. For example maybe they were the first to create some special polymer for space use. But even with this one success, it's possible the company in total was not successful or profitable.
achieved such great success in the field of space development
means the company as a whole was very successful in that field.
 
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