How to say this in English?
Hello everybody, I have a few questions about some sentences and phrases and I hope you can clear them up to me. These are the sentences:
- he is a middle aged man;
- it is a medium sized / middle sized town;
- she is of average size;
- she is a middle sized / medium sized / average sized woman;
- to my greatest surprise, it turned out that my application was accepted;
- to her greatest disappointment, the shop was closed;
- some drivers don't stop at the red light;
- as far as her privacy is concerned, we barely know anything;
- for lunch they often eat rice;
- at lunch time we usually go for a stroll

Question

Answer

Hi Joel,

For the most part I agree with the first answer from Lucy.  Here are two differences:

It is a medium sized town - CORRECT - less likely to say middle-sized
To my greatest surprise, it turned out that my application was accepted - BRILLIANT --   to my GREAT surprise, unless you’re comparing this surprise to another surprise

Hope this helps,
Marcy

Answer

Most of these are correct.  The only suggestions I have:  “mid-sized town” is common, but saying “middle sized town” is probably correct but less common; it sounds strange to say a “middle sized woman,” but the other two options are good; “to my GREAT surprise/disappointment” is how we usually say it (at least in the US), not “greatest.”

Answer

Hola Joel

That's really good English. Just one or two tweaks - see below:
He is a middle aged man - CORRECT
It is a medium sized / middle sized town - CORRECT
She is of average size - CORRECT
She is a medium sized / average sized woman - CORRECT
To my greatest surprise, it turned out that my application was accepted - BRILLIANT
To her great disappointment, the shop was closed
Some drivers don't stop at red lights
As far as her privacy is concerned, we barely know anything - BRILLIANT;
For lunch, they often eat rice _ CORRECT
At lunch time we usually go for a stroll - PERFECT

Answers · 3

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