What's new

Would you proofread the sentences?

hirashin

Sempai
Donor
8 Apr 2004
2,720
63
63
Hello, native English speakers. How have you been?

I have to teach English in DVD lessons. Would you proofread the sentences
used in the textbook and the ones I made for the lessons?

1a) This song always makes me happy.
b) This song always makes me feel happy.
[Are 1a and 1b almost the same in meaning?]

2a) The egg made me sick.
b) When I ate the egg, I became sick.
c) When I ate the egg, I felt sick.
[Would all the sentences above used commonly?]
[Can 2a mean 2b or 2c?]

3a) What makes you so angry?
b) Why are you so angry?
[Does 3b have the same meaning as 3a?]

4) The news made him a hero.

5a) The music made her sleepy.
b) The music made her feel sleepy.
c) The music made her become sleepy.
[Would all the sentences above used commonly?]
[Are 5a and 5b the same in meaning?]

6a) The discovery made the town famous.
b) The discovery made the town become famous.
[Would both sentences used commonly?]

7) His success in the examination made his parents happy.

8a) Make yourself at home
b) Make yourself comfortable.
[Would 8b be used as well as 8a?]

9a) I couldn't make myself heard above the noise.
b) My voice was almost drowned by the noise.
[Would both sentences be used? Do they have the same meaning?]

10a) Nothing will make me change my mind.
b) Nothing will change my mind.
[Would both be used?]

11a) His joke made all laugh.
b) His joke made everyone laugh.
[Would 11a be used with the same meaning as 11b?]

12a) You made me feel like a hero.
b) You let me feel like a hero. [Sorry. "?" was a mistake.]
[Would both sentences make sense?]

13a) He has made me what I am.
b) I owe to him what I am.
[Would 13a be used commonly?]
[Does 13b have the same meaning as 13a?]

14a) What made him so angry?
b) What made him get so angry?
[I think 14a would be OK, but would you say 14b as well?]

Thank you in advance.

Hirashin
 
Last edited:
1) I can't think of any difference in meaning.

2) a) is common, b and c sound too formal for conversation, but you would see them in written English. a) could mean b) or c), but a little more likely b). When you're talking about food, "sick" usually means you vomited. "Felt sick" implies you felt like you might vomit, but it didn't actually happen (yet)

3) Same meaning, although I'd be more likely to use a) if I thought there was some external thing making them angry, and more likely to use b) if I thought they were just an angry person all the time.

4) Good

5) first two are extremely common in speech and writing, c) has a formal and slightly old fashioned ring to it, probably only found in writing.

6) a) very common. b) this sounds awkward. "made the town famous" already means that it became famous, if you put the word "become" in there as well it seems unnecessary. It's allowable but not common.

7) Good.

8) Very similar meaning, not sure if there's a difference. But I would be more likely to say "make yourself at home" if I meant "feel free to make use of the facilities", and "make yourself comfortable" if I meant "sit down and relax".

9) same meaning, both could be used. "drowned" on its own sounds a bit literary, "drowned out" is more usual when talking about noise. I think because if you say "drowned", it usually means someone is actually drowning in water, so you're more aware it's a metaphor and it seems poetic. Whereas "drowned out" is a common phrase that doesn't make you think of actual drowning. If that makes sense!

10) both good.

11a) Same meaning, but a) sounds awkward and uncommon.

12) both make sense. Not sure if you meant to have a question mark on the second one? It would be a strange question to ask. Anyway, both similar in meaning, but you'd be more likely to say b) if you know you weren't really a hero, it almost implies there's a "but I wasn't" coming.

13 same meaning, a) would be very but common but usually without the "has", i.e. "he made me what I am". b) would mean the same, but the word order is so awkward and old-fashioned I can't imagine using it. Better to say "What I am, I owe to him", or "I owe what I am to him". Neither would be very common though.

14) both very common and mean the same thing. Personally I prefer b) , but only because I like the rhythm of the sentence better.
 
In English, there is a slight difference in nuance between 'be (adj)' and 'feel (adj)'. Be has a slightly stronger condition to it, while feel is somewhat more passing.

If I said, I am sick, the meaning would be that I have been sick since before that time, while, I feel sick, has a feeling of something happening right now (like, I'm on a boat that is making me feel that way now).

This idea can be carried over to a number of your examples. Makes me sleepy sounds more concrete than makes me feel sleepy. That feel makes it sound as though it's a passing feeling.
 
Thank you very much for your help, Rick and nahadef.

I really appreciate it.

I hope some other people will give me their views.

Hirshin
 
I agree with what Rick said your sentences are good for the most part. However for number 13, 13)a) is relatively common, I have heard this phrase many times ( not in real life, but mainly in TV shows and movies), 13)b) makes sense however I can't imagine anyone really saying it unless they are intentionally trying to speak in a rather odd fashion.

12)b) also does not really make sense being a question, however you can add some more to the actual phrase to make it actually have some meaning, but I can't imagine any scenario to which it would make sense.
 
Thank you for the help, letianchen.

As for 12b, the question mark was a typo. I'm sorry.

How about the following sentences ? Which one would be used in speech or in writing
and which one would sound old-fashioned?
A) I owe my success to you.
B) I owe what I am to you.
C) You owe it to your friends that you have been able to redeem your honor.
D) I owe my blond hair to my mother.
E) I owe you my life.
F) I owe him gratitude.
G) We owe it to society to make our country a better place.

Hirashin
 
No problem we all make mistakes, your English is very good :)

A) Correct and good, people say this quite a bit in real life.
B) Uncommon, but is correct I would say most people prefer A rather than B, but both look fine to me.
C) Makes sense however no one would say this, this seems rather archaic and you would probably hear this in a medival movie or a piece of literature, It sounds really weird to me when I say it to myself.
D) No one says this( to my knowledge, someone can correct me though), although it does make sense I think the majority of people would prefer another way to convey this.
E) Good
F) Rather you would want to say "I owe him my gratitude" or "I owe him my debt of gratitude"
G) No it usually isn't really worded like that rather "We can thank society for making our country a better place".
 
Thank you for the help, letianchen.

As for 12b, the question mark was a typo. I'm sorry.

How about the following sentences ? Which one would be used in speech or in writing
and which one would sound old-fashioned?
A) I owe my success to you.
B) I owe what I am to you.
C) You owe it to your friends that you have been able to redeem your honor.
D) I owe my blond hair to my mother.
E) I owe you my life.
F) I owe him gratitude.
G) We owe it to society to make our country a better place.

Hirashin

Myself I probably wouldn't say any of those in normal conversation, they all sound like something from a political speech or a serious piece of writing. D) is definitely in use but it would more common to say "got my blonde hair from my mother". C) sounds wrong in the way the tense changes from present to past, you can't have an obligation today to do something in the past unless you have a time machine.

2
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you for the help, letianchen and Rick I appreciate it.
.I may ask some further questions later. :)

Hirashin
 
Back
Top Bottom