Grammar Challenge #25 – Answers revealed and explained

For our followers on Instagram and Facebook, here’s another opportunity to check your answers and see some of your own common errors! It’s worth taking the time to read through the explanations and if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask us. Let’s get started! 🙂

Here are the answers:

1. It’s an exception to the rule.
2. They were suspicious of each other.
3. I must look it up in the dictionary.
4. The library’s pretty near (to) my home.

Let’s delve deeper:

1. While exclusion and exception sound similiar, they do have different meanings. This common error is simply a confusion between these two nouns, so it’s just a case of remembering their meanings. The expression above is very common and is used frequently in both spoken and written English. So, just to clarify their meanings: Exclusion is used when something or someone is removed completely and is taken out of the equation / situation. For example – The women were excluded from the temple activities. While exception is used when there is a restriction so that something is taken out of a category, group, statement or rule that would otherwise be included. Here’s an example that is 100% true and annoying! – English grammar is full of exceptions, which is incredibly annoying when you’re trying to get to grips with the language!

2. Adjective and preposition collocations can be tricky to remember in English! We recommend that you make a note of the combinations that you find difficult to recall and re-write them in example sentences. Make sure to read them out-loud too so that it really sinks in, even if you feel slightly crazy when doing so! When we use the adjective ‘suspicious’, it’s usually followed by the preposition ‘of’ and then someone or something. For example – I am suspicious of people who come across as extremely friendly, I often get the sense that there’s a whole other side hidden within their personality!

3. Phrasal verbs are a major component of everyday spoken English, so try and include them in your speech! 🙂 To look up a word means to search for its meaning in the dictionary and it’s a term I’m sure as an English learner, you use frequently! We generally look something up, so that the noun is in between the verb and the preposition. It doesn’t have to have a noun afterwards, but if it does, you’ll need to use the preposition ‘in’ beforehand. For example – Often when students ask me the meaning of a particular word in class, I ask them to look it up in an online dictionary first and then we discuss the meaning together and I check their comprehension. Here’s an example without a noun following the phrasal verb – Thomas was sure he had returned his books to the library, even though he had received a penalty for apparently not having done so. He ended up going into the library and asking the librarian if she could check it directly on their system. Since she was such a kind and helpful lady, she said to him, ‘I’ll look it up right away, no need to wait!’ and it turned out he had returned the books after all.

4. Near is never followed by ‘at’ and yet it can be followed by the preposition ‘to‘. Here you have a choice and often native speakers drop the preposition altogether. For example – It’s pretty important to me to live near (to) my parents, as I realize the importance of spending time with your loved ones.

Stay tuned for more grammar challenges on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

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