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Would you please check my sentences ?[Part 1]

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
Would you please check my sentences ?
Q1
1 The little girl didn't swim for long.
2 He's lived in Japan for a long time. (He's = He has)
3 The weather will stay cold for a few days. (weather = 天気 a few = 2,3の)
4 During World War II, Mr. Sugihara helped those who wanted to leave Germany.
5 At first I thought he was joking. [think-thought-thought](joke =冗談を言う)
6 Some people opposed the new policy of the mayor.
7 The number of cars in China has been increasing. (number =数)
8 Far from getting angry, he thanked me with a smile.
9 The mayor's policy improved the profits of the shopkeepers on the street.
10 More and more people abroad are interested in Japanese anime.
(abroad =海外の / anime = アニメ)


Q2
1 私の叔父は、オーストラリアに長くは住まなかった。(didn't, for long を用いて8語)
My uncle didn't live in Australia for long.

2 私は、私の店の売り上げが増えていることに気付いた。(find,thstを用いて10語で)
I found/noticed that the sales of my shop/store were increasing.

3 彼はお金持ちの実業家(businessman)とはほど遠かった。(far fromを用いて7か8語で)
He was far from (being) a rich businessman.

4 最初、私は、彼が日本人だと思った。(first を用いて7語で)
At first I thought he is/was Japanese.

5 最近(these days)ますます多くの中国人が日本を訪れています。
(現在形, more を用いて8 か9語で)
More and more Chinese (people) visit Japan these days.

6 インド(India)の人口はまだ(still)増えている。(theで始め,進行形7語で)
The population of India is still increasing.

7 彼の英語の発音(English pronunciation)は非常に(greatly)良くなった。(hasを用いて6語で)
His English pronunciation has greatly improved.
His English pronunciation has improved greatly.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
He's = He is. You would write the sentence like this: He has lived in Japan for a long time.

Everything else seems right.
????? Are you sure about that??

Don't worry Hirashin, you can use "he's" to mean "he has", but I'm not sure what adding the explanation in the exam will add to it. If you're giving them that information what are you testing them on in that question?
 
Thanks for the help, Alex and Michaels.
Alex, are you American? What does "Slovakia" in your profile mean?

Don't worry Hirashin, you can use "he's" to mean "he has", but I'm not sure what adding the explanation in the exam will add to it. If you're giving them that information what are you testing them on in that question?
Well, that's because I want all my 41 students to work on the exercise. If I didn't add any hints on each question, many of them would not try to work on it. Most of the students are vey bad at English and the textbook is much too difficult, so I usually give some additional information to each question so that every student can work on the exercise. Do I make sense?
 
????? Are you sure about that??
I could be completely wrong on this, but it really intrigued me when I saw this reply. Currently I am an American exchange student in Slovakia, so at first I thought maybe I was the one that was wrong. To check I did two things:
1. I asked an American English teacher about it
2. I asked a British English teacher about it

I actually got two different results here. The British English teacher right away said that "He's" would work for "he has". However, the American teacher agreed with me and said that it sounded incorrect.

To summarize: I would definitely say something like "He's got a book" in everyday conversation, however in writing I don't think Americans would ever write it that way. What do you think?

Alex, are you American? What does "Slovakia" in your profile mean?
I am an American exchange student in Slovakia. I don't know why it says Slovakia, maybe because I created the account here? Who knows, but I certainly am American
 
Well grammatically I would say it's undeniably correct. An apostrophe is obviously just used for contraction so there is no reason why "has" shouldn't be contracted just as much as "is" is. Also, I know Americans don't use the perfect tense as much as Europeans but I can't believe you've never said "I've been to ......." before, and that when you did you said it like, "I HAVE NEVER been to ....."

Sorry, missed your part about the book somehow. So what I am saying above is right. Why would you then think it wrong to write as a contraction, or to think it sound un-natural, if you would say it?
 
Hirashin, theoretically it makes sense, but a hint like that seems strange for me. Have you taught them the present perfect? If so they are not really being tested on it if you give them a hint like that. If you haven't taught it you won't find out what they do and don't know if you give them it. Also, it's such a simple sentence that a first year JHS student could try it nowadays.
I used to give similar hints but it was usually vocabulary which was given as a hint, like you did in most of the other questions, which is ok because they are applying their learnt knowledge (usually grammatical as we all know) in an unfamilar sutuation but where we don't want them to get worried by the new vocabulary.
 
Michael2, the questions I created this time are not for an exam, but for a translation drill.

Many of my students already know the perfect present. But it is likely that they don't know that "he's" can mean "he is". So I added the explanation.
 
Well grammatically I would say it's undeniably correct. An apostrophe is obviously just used for contraction so there is no reason why "has" shouldn't be contracted just as much as "is" is. Also, I know Americans don't use the perfect tense as much as Europeans but I can't believe you've never said "I've been to ......." before, and that when you did you said it like, "I HAVE NEVER been to ....."

You are absolutely right, it is grammatically correct. I don't know how it is in England, but in the US you are taught to almost never use "don't, won't he's etc" in any kind of serious writing. The only time I ever use contraction like that is when I am texting a friend, or sending a casual email. Probably why I flagged it as incorrect was because I use it so little in normal writing.
And it is true, we really don't use perfect tense. Of course I will orally say things like "He's been there before", but in writing I will almost never say that. If ever. I guess it is just where you learn your English!
RIP me, I probably just lost all credibility in this thread haha
 
Haha no worries man it's all good.
I've always found it strange though that a lot of Americans say they are taught not to do certain things yet I don't see much evidence of the claim, contractions being one of them. A quick look at The New York Times has loads of contractions. The only more serious form of writing I can think of would be academic work, but to me it would be incredibly unnatural to spell out contractions, e.g "it can not be true that...."
 
The only more serious form of writing I can think of would be academic work
In almost all academic courses (that I have taken anyway) if you use contractions they will mark you down. Currently abroad so I can't provide an example, but it has happened to me before.
Generally pronoun and "not" contractions are OK for normal and academic use, where they really scrutinize you is the "have" and who, what, when, where, and why contractions. Couldn't tell you why, but we are taught that some contractions are "less OK" than the rest. I always cringe when I see someone write it that way, even when in casual writing.

But just my opinion :p
 
2 He's lived in Japan for a long time. (He's = He has)

This usage is perfectly okay. There's nothing at all wrong with it.
 
6 Some people opposed the new policy of the mayor.
Very minor, I'd prefer it to be:
Some people opposed the mayor's new policy.

He was far from being a rich businessman.
I think "being" is necessary there, not optional.

At first I thought he is/was Japanese.
For me, only "was" works here.

His English pronunciation has greatly improved.
His English pronunciation has improved greatly.

Correct, but the everyday phrasing would use "a lot."
His English pronunciation has improved a lot.
 
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