Thursday, June 07, 2007

Sentence Changes - Advanced Sentence Structure

Sentence Changes (or sentence transformations) are often used in advanced level exams such as Cambridge's First Certificate, CAE or Proficiency.

Taking just one word, change a second sentence similar in meaning to the original. The re-written sentence must mean exactly the same as the first sentence. Here are quizzes to help build this skill.

A PPT on sentence changes Basic Sentence Transformations

Semantic ambiguity: rewrite the following amibiguous and unclear sentences to convey clearly two different meanings per sentence:

1.Police squad help dog bite victim.
a)

b)

2.Man eating piranha mistakenly sold as house pet.
a)

b)

3.We saw the Eiffel Tower flying from London to Paris.
a)

b)

4. The police were ordered to stop drinking after midnight.
a)

b)

5. A sailor was dancing with a wooden leg.
a)

b)


6. The chicken is ready to eat.
a)


b)

Rewrite the following sentences using the words in capitals so that the meaning remains approximately the same.

1. I am sure that the United will win the match against the City. (BOUND)

2. I actually find studying English enjoyable. (ENJOYING)

3.His new hobby is swimming. (TAKEN)

6 comments:

  1. Hi Ms. Vanessa,

    I have tried the Quiz NO. 1 and found that I have got :

    You answered 24 items out of 30 correctly.

    Your score is 80%. Great job!

    I'll try to do the next one also and let you know my results.

    Bye

    Rajeev

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rajeev

    WHERE are the sentences the exercise asked you to rewrite? That will help you much more than taking yet another quiz.

    It's time to go on a quiz diet! WRITE sentences, descriptions with concrete details, and opinions that you support with specific examples.

    Taking quizzes won't teach anyone how to write: it only teaches you how to take quizzes. That is handy for school but hardly a real life job or professional skill

    ReplyDelete
  3. Semantic ambiguity: rewrite the following amibiguous and unclear sentences to convey clearly two different meanings per sentence:

    Which ones make sense and which ones don't?

    1.Police squad help dog bite victim.

    a) The police squad helped the victim of a dog bit

    b) The police squad helped the dog bite a victim

    2.Man eating piranha mistakenly sold as house pet.

    a) A man eating piranha was mistakenly sold as a house pet.

    b) The man who was eating a piranha was mistakenly sold as a house pet.

    3.We saw the Eiffel Tower flying from London to Paris.

    a) While flying from London to Paris, we saw the Eiffel Tower.

    b) We saw the Eiffel Tower fly from London to Paris.

    4. The police were ordered to stop drinking after midnight.

    a) The police were ordered to keep people from drinking after midnight.

    b) The police were ordered not to drink after midnight.

    5. A sailor was dancing with a wooden leg.

    a) The sailor's dance partner was a wooden leg.

    b) A sailor with a wooden leg was dancing.


    6. The chicken is ready to be fed.

    a) The chicken is ready for us to eat.

    b) The chicken is ready to eat.

    Rewrite the following sentences using the words in capitals so that the meaning remains approximately the same.

    1. United is bound to win the match against the City.

    2. I enjoy studying English.

    3.He took swimming for his new hobby.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Ms. Vanessa,

    From now onwards, I'll move in the direction showed by you. My sentences are as follows :

    1. United will definitely win the match against the City.

    2. Studying English is enjoyed by me.

    3. He has taken to swimming as his new hobby.


    Bye

    Rajeev

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rajeev,

    "Moving in the direction shown[ by" me include carefully reading and then following directions.

    Did you miss the instructions telling you to "rewrite the following sentences using the words in capitals"? It's more like you moved in OPPOSITE direction.

    Althoug I do like to see students posting comments, I worry that your making so many comments and so often might intimidate and discourage other students from commenting. Perhaps too they think that they don't need to comment since you are doing it for them.

    I want to read comments from EVERYONE in the class.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Ms. Vanessa,

    I understood your point and will try to abide by your instructions. But, now a days I am totaly free and have made up my mind that from now onwards I will leave no stone unturned to learn English language. I hope you would forgive me for my silly mistakes.

    Bye

    Rajeev

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...