Corrections 5

Question

Can I say,(1) She cleans the carpet with a vacuum cleaner.(2) They are boarding a bus to town / to the town.(3) The girl thanked him for the flowers.(4) She keeps the keys in / into the drawer. (5) The athlete runs very fast. (6) He is brushing his teeth before going to bathroom.(7) The fish has / have many scales.(8) The room is in a mess.(9) The horse is jumping over the hurdles.(10) They played with kittens at the yard.(11) She is feeling warm in her room.(12) The pupils cross the road with the overhead bridge.

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

You're on a bit of a roll today Vincent... Been drinking a lot of coffee?

(1) She cleans the carpet with a vacuum cleaner. -- OK. However, sentences like this written in the simple present tense tend to feel like exercises in beginners' English rather than real-life examples of the language. In reality you'd rarely say such a thing.

(2) They are boarding a bus to town / to the town. -- OK

(3) The girl thanked him for the flowers. -- OK

(4) She keeps the keys in the drawer.

(5) The athlete runs very fast. -- OK

(6) He is brushing his teeth before going to the bathroom.

(7) Fish have many scales. -- refers to fish in general

The fish has many scales. -- refers to a specific fish (though it could, in a literary style, possibly also mean fish in general)

(8) The room is in a mess. -- OK

(9) The horse is jumping over the hurdles. -- OK

(10) They played with kittens in the yard.

(11) She is feeling warm in her room. -- OK

(12) The pupils cross the road by the overhead bridge.

Lucus Ong · Answer

I get a few questions about them.
(1) They are boarding a bus to town / to the town.
What is the difference between with "the" and without "the"?
The town is singular I think it should be a town or the town.

(2) She is feeling warm in her room. (right)
how about this?She is feeling angry in her room.

(3) He is brushing his teeth before going to the bathroom.
Does the article"the" in the 3th sentence mean that the bathroom is in his house?
My grammar is not good, I hope to pick my grammar.
Could many anybody please help me?
Many thanks in advance

Vincent Teo · Answer

Can tell me the reason, why do we use "by" instead of "with" ?

1 He cut the paper with scissors. (not "by")

2 The pupils cross the road by the overhead bridge. (why? not "with"?)

P/s: why do we say "in the yard", not "at the yard"?

Lucus Ong · Answer

I also have the same problem like Vincent.
Many thanks in advance

Lucus Ong · Answer

Thank Vincent, You have asked many questions that I hope to ask.
I like to read your dicussions very much.

Lucus Ong · Answer

Any comment?

Mr Wordy · Answer

Vctory Ong
(1) They are boarding a bus to town / to the town.

What is the difference between with "the" and without "the"?

The town is singular I think it should be a town or the town.

According to the usual rules, "the" ought to be required. For example, you cannot say "to city" or "to village". However, "to town" is a special idiomatic case and is OK. It suggests a familiarity with the town -- for example, it's the town nearest to where someone lives.

"a town" is possible but not very likely. It sounds vague -- as if the destination of the bus is unknown to the travellers and/or the writer.

Vctory Ong
(2) She is feeling warm in her room. (right)

how about this?She is feeling angry in her room.

Fine.

Vctory Ong
(3) He is brushing his teeth before going to the bathroom.

Does the article"the" in the 3th sentence mean that the bathroom is in his house?

The word "the" doesn't have any bearing on whether the bathroom is in his house or in someone else's house. It's purely a grammatical requirement.

Lucus Ong · Answer

Thanks,
How about changing it into the sentence below?
He is brushing his teeth before going to a bathroom.
I am confused by this type of problem for a long time.

Mr Wordy · Answer

Vincent Teo
Can tell me the reason, why do we use "by" instead of "with" ?

1 He cut the paper with scissors. (not "by")

2 The pupils cross the road by the overhead bridge. (why? not "with"?)

It's often very difficult to explain why we choose one preposition rather than another. The use of prepositions can be very idiomatic (not subject to easy rules).

In #1, you are manipulating or affecting the paper, so we use "with". In #2 you are not manipulating or affecting the bridge: it's just there, and you're using it (in fact, "using" would work in both sentences). I'm not sure how satisfactory this explanation is, but it's the best I can think of right now.

Vincent Teo
P/s: why do we say "in the yard", not "at the yard"?

Note that "yard" has different meanings in BrE and AmE. In BrE it's a paved area, usually next to a building. If associated with a house, it's usually small (smaller than a garden) and at the back of the house. In AmE (but not BrE), "yard" can mean "garden".

Again, the "at"/"in" distinction is hard to explain. If you use "at", then the yard sounds like a distinct, remote location. For example, a builder might say "Darn, I left my tools back at the yard". In your sentence I'm assuming that the yard is at or near the location where the narrative is centred, and is viewed as a part of the building to which it's attached (in fact, I'm assuming you probably mean "garden"). Therefore, it's neither distinct nor remote. Therefore we use "in".

Mr Wordy · Answer

Vctory OngHe is brushing his teeth before going to a bathroom.

Not impossible, but unlikely. It sounds either strangely vague, or it means that there are several bathrooms from which he can choose (and it's important to point out this fact).

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