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Tanit Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

there was _______ a time

0From a test:02br
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00'As a junior doctor there was ........ a time when I had to seek a second opinion from my superiors before I made a diagnosis.' 02br
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00The given answer is only one, 01i01font00many02font02i00, and to me it is certainly correct.02br
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00However, how about other possibilities? For instance, is 01i01font00often02font02i00 grammatically and semantically ok?02br
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00Besides, how about 01i01font00hardly02font02i00, 01i01font00seldom02font02i00, and 01i01font00never02font02i00? (Without any context, he might be an arrogant doctor 05000 )010id1
  

Top answer

0 Do a search with:02br 02br 01font 00"there was * a time" 02font 02br 02br 00your defining expression, 01b 00but only at Google02b 00. 02br 00 Quotation marks are mandatory. 02br 02br 00 You'll find examples there.

— Marius Hancu

  • 0 Do a search with:02br 02br 01font 00"there was * a time" 02font 02br 02br 00your defining expression, 01b 00but only at Google02b 00.
  • 02br 00 Quotation marks are mandatory.
  • 02br 02br 00 You'll find examples there.
  • 02br 02br 00 For often, try:02br 02br 01font 00"there was 01b 00often02b 00 a time" 02font 0-
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9 Answers
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0 Do a search with:02br
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01font00"there was * a time" 02font02br
02br
00your defining expression, 01b00but only at Google02b00. * is a Google wildcard.02br
00 Quotation marks are mandatory. 02br
02br
00 You'll find examples there. 02br
02br
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0Hi, Marius, 02br
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00Thank you, but I had already done that before posting the question.02br
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00It's a test, and when only ONE answer is accepted you get no marks if you choose other words. 02br
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00That's why I'd appreciate some opinions from our experts.0-
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0 Which were the other given choices? 02br
00 We can't comment on the test, if you don't reproduce it exactly here. 02br
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0 None. It was an open cloze exercise: you have only the sentence, and you must fill in the gap. 0-
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0 Well, being 01i00new/junior02i00 in that profession, 01i00many a time 02i00would seem best. 02br
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01i00often a time 02i02br
00 is quite rare. 02br
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00 The 01i00never a time02i00 isn't good for the reason you've mentioned. 0-
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0 However, you're not saying they're ungrammatical ... in a grammar test (this one was from a CPE) you're supposed to write meaningful and grammatical sentences, not to "guess" the most likely ones. 0-
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0Hi02br
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01i00Hardly, rarely, seldom02i00 and 01i00never02i00 are all possible (but, of course, they don't fit the context as well as 01i00many02i00). 02br
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00I wouldn't replace 01i00many 02i00with 01i00often02i00 in your sentence -- inst
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0 Thanks, both MH and Yankee. 0-
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From the information I know, "there was often a time" fits best here. Good luck.

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