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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

short conversation

Mary: Hi, I'm Mary and I'm new in the company.

James: Hi Mary. I'm James. I didn't realize there was a unfamiliar car in the parking lot today.

Mary: Oh. I took [the/a] bus. I prefer to commute to work by bus.

Could you please check to see if there's any mistakes? Thanks!
  

Top answer

" However, there are some thing that would sound more natural. I didn't notice any unfamiliar cars ... rather than I didn't realize there was an unfamiliar car.

— BarbaraPA

  • " However, there are some thing that would sound more natural.
  • I didn't notice any unfamiliar cars ...
  • rather than I didn't realize there was an unfamiliar car.
  • That sounds like he has just now realized it, even though he didn't before.
  • And since her car isn't there, he can't realize it now.
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4 Answers
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Hi Anon,

There are no actual mistakes except that you need "an" before "unfamiliar."

However, there are some thing that would sound more natural.

I didn't notice any unfamiliar cars... rather than I didn't realize there was an unfamiliar car. That sounds like he has just now realized it, even though he didn't before. And since her car isn't there, he can't realiz
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Thanks, GG. Without 'to work', the sentence becomes 'I prefer to commute by bus' and it sounds like I take the bus everywhere I go, not only to work. Am I right?
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Commuting is very tightly linked with how you travel to work. I would never refer to going to the grocery store or the library as commuting.
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Now I understand. Thanks a lot, GG.
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