Are these sentences correct, please?

Question

Are all the sentences below correct?

The tests are rather difficult;
The coat is fairly warm;
I'm rather lazy to do the household chores;
He speaks Chinese fairly well;
I'm rather slow;
The sofa is fairly wide to sit;
I worked rather hard;
He has a fairly good qualification for that work.

(sentences) (questions)

- If they came earlier, they would know the state fair. - What would they do if they came earlier?
- The hotel is taken up this summer. - How is the hotel this summer?
- He is studying to get a scholarship. - What is he studying to get?
- Some people don't like winter because it depresses them. - Why do some people don't like winter?
- The sun shines intensely. - How does the sun shine?

Thanks,
Mike

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

.
These need work-- and all need to end in periods (or question marks), not semicolons:

I'm rather lazy to do the household chores.
The sofa is fairly wide to sit.
He has a fairly good qualification for that work.

If they came earlier, they would know the state fair. - What would they do if they came earlier?
The hotel is taken up this summer. - How is the hotel this summer?
He is studying to get a scholarship. - What is he studying to get?
Some people don't like winter because it depresses them. - Why do some people don't like winter?
The sun shines intensely. - How does the sun shine?
.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi, Mr.Micawber!

Thanks for checking the sentences. Please, what kind of mistakes are there in the following sentences (I understood that I had to change semi-colon by periods in the first three sentences), because you said "These need work" ????

"These need work-- and all need to end in periods (or question marks), not semicolons:

I'm rather lazy to do the household chores.
The sofa is fairly wide to sit.
He has a fairly good qualification for that work.

If they came earlier, they would know the state fair. - What would they do if they came earlier?
The hotel is taken up this summer. - How is the hotel this summer?
He is studying to get a scholarship. - What is he studying to get?
Some people don't like winter because it depresses them. - Why do some people don't like winter?
The sun shines intensely. - How does the sun shine?"

Thanks again for the help,

Mike

Mister Micawber · Answer

.
I thought you were Thereza. Are you in the same class?

I have underlined the problem areas:

I'm rather lazy to do the household chores.
The sofa is fairly wide to sit.
He has a fairly good qualification for that work.-- should be plural ('qualifications')

If they came earlier, they would know the state fair. - What would they do if they came earlier?
The hotel is taken up this summer. - How is the hotel this summer?
He is studying to get a scholarship. - What is he studying to get?
Some people don't like winter because it depresses them. - Why do some people don't like winter?
The sun shines intensely. - How does the sun shine?"

Also, none of the questions seem natural to me-- please try again.
.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi, Mr. Micawber No, I don’t have any “Thereza” in my classroom, but it’s natural to find students with similar questions or kinds of exercises, isn’t it? Well, if by one side it is important not to give a prompt answer for the students’ questions, by other side sometimes it is too hard for students try to identify where are the mistakes and replace them by the correct answers and it happens simply because most of the time they really don’t know what are the correct forms, if they knew they wouldn’t have questions. Anyway, here goes what I suppose be the correction for the following. Thanks again for helping me!
I'm rather lazy to do the household chores.New sentence: I’m rather lazy to help my mother with the household chores.
The sofa is fairly wide to sit.New sentence: The sofa is fairly comfortable to sit . (I still don’t understand why “fairly wide” isn’t clear here).
He has a fairly good qualification for that work.-- should be plural ('qualifications')New sentence: He has fairly good qualifications for that work. (why should be qualifications? Why is it wrong to say that someone has a good qualification for a specific kind of work?)
If they came earlier, they would know the state fair. - What would they do if they came earlier? New sentence: If they came earlier, they would visit the state fair (also hear I don’t understand why I can’t say “...know the state fair”).
The hotel is taken up this summer. - How is the hotel this summer? I really don’t remember,but I’m sure I have already seen to take up concerning hotels. My idea here is to say that the hotel is full, there are no more rooms available. So, “the hotel is ____?_____this summer. - How is the hotel this summer?”
He is studying to get a scholarship. - What is he studying to get?
New sentence: I suppose there’s no problem here, isn’t it? Some people don't like winter because it depresses them. - Why do some people don't like winter? New sentence: I suppose there’s no problem here, isn’t it?The sun shines intensely. - How does the sun shine?"Please,explain me what’s wrong here? I suppose it is just a kind of obvious statement, but it’s not gramatically wrong, isn’t it? Anyway I changed it for:New sentence: The supporter goes to the stadium by tram. – How does the supporter go to the stadium?

I hope the answers be fine, now. Many thanks!

Mike

Mister Micawber · Answer

.
I'm rather lazy to do the household chores.New sentence: I’m rather lazy to help my mother with the household chores.-- No, 'lazy to do' is the wrong structure. 'Lazy at doing'.

The sofa is fairly wide to sit.New sentence: The sofa is fairly comfortable to sit . (I still don’t understand why “fairly wide” isn’t clear here). -- No. 'to sit in'.
.
He has a fairly good qualification for that work.-- should be plural ('qualifications')New sentence: He has fairly good qualifications for that work. (why should be qualifications? Why is it wrong to say that someone has a good qualification for a specific kind of work?-- It is unnatural. Jobs require many qualifications)

If they came earlier, they would know the state fair. - What would they do if they came earlier? New sentence: If they came earlier, they would visit the state fair (also hear I don’t understand why I can’t say “...know the state fair”).-- Good. 'Know' simply doesn't make sense here; it is the wrong verb choice.

The hotel is taken up this summer. - How is the hotel this summer? I really don’t remember,but I’m sure I have already seen to take up concerning hotels. My idea here is to say that the hotel is full, there are no more rooms available. So, “the hotel is ____?_____this summer. - How is the hotel this summer?” -- fully booked

He is studying to get a scholarship. - What is he studying to get?
New sentence: I suppose there’s no problem here, is there?-- Odd question. 'Why is he studying?'

Some people don't like winter because it depresses them. - Why do some people don't like winter? New sentence: I suppose there’s no problem here, is there? -- Why don't some people like winter?

The sun shines intensely. - How does the sun shine?"Please,explain me what’s wrong here? I suppose it is just a kind of obvious statement, but it’s not grammatically wrong, isn’t it?-- Grammar is not your problem here; semantics is. There is nothing wrong with this grammar: 'Colorless green ideas sleep furiously'-- but it is meaningless.

Anyway I changed it for:New sentence: The supporter goes to the stadium by tram. – How does the supporter go to the stadium?-- OK.
.

Anonymous · Answer

Mister Micawber,

Many thanks for your help and attention.

Best wishes,

Mike

Are these sentences correct, please?

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