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24 October 2008: Common mistakes in spelling and phrasal verbs

I thought we might look at the spelling of some common English words today. I've been doing some marking and found lots of simple spelling mistakes as well as people just using the wrong word.

Exercise 1
Look at the sentences below. In each sentence there is either a spelling mistake or a wrong word. Choose the word you think is correct. Let's have a look at an example first.
I saw them getting into there/their car and drive off. You should choose the word their as you are talking about the car which belongs to them. There is a pronoun as in "There's a big car!"
You really should    asked before you borrowed his car.
The    of the film was really boring but it got better towards the end.
Don't forget to give me your    before you leave.
It was such a    programme that I turned over to watch the football instead.
It is really difficult to find cheap    in London.
Don't forget to    your swimming costume when you come to visit us next week.
Yes, I will    come to your party on Saturday.
It never    to him to take a taxi even thought it was past midnight.
Please can I    your dictionary for a minute?
That was a really    talk on how difficult English spelling is.
Exercise 2
In the following sentences you have to choose which adverb or preposition is correct when it is part of the phrasal verb.
Will you look    the cat while I am on holiday?
I spent a lot of time looking    my contact lens when I dropped it on the floor.
He began his talk by describing his interest in travel and then went    give an account of his journey across the southern parts of Africa.
He went    talking for so long that some of the audience fell asleep.
We had to put the picnic    because the weather forecast was terrible.
They put    a huge party for the headmaster when he retired after 25 years.
It took the firemen at least two hours to put    the fire in the restaurant in Chester.
Will you help me put these pictures    on the wall?
Jane speaks excellent French as she was brought    in Paris.
He didn't really want to go to the cinema but we managed to bring him    in the end.

The saying this week is "It never rains but it pours". We use it when we are complaining that lots of bad things happen at the same time.

For example, if you have an accident in your car and the same morning your bag gets stolen and you fall down and break your leg, you might well say "It never rains but it pours!

Have a good weekend
Love from Harriet and everyone at English in Chester


Online English Language Practice
Online English Language Practice