Are these sentences right?
There was hardly any hope of his passing the exam.
He is said to have studied English for 10 years.
I saw the house set fire.
I saw her kiss him.
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 10
1
I saw her kiss him>>I saw her kissing him.
He is said to have studied English for 10 years >> He said he had studied English for 10 years
There was hardly any hope of his passing the exam >> It was hopeless for him to pass the exam or He could hardly have passed the exam
I saw the house set fire >> I saw the burning house
1
They're all fine apart, from the third one.
'Set fire' is a transitive verb. For example, 'The burglars set fire to the house.'
If, for example, you saw a spark from something land on a house and the house started to burn, you could say 'I saw the house catch fire.'
For the first one, many native speakers would say ' of him passing..', which is less correct than your version. It is more correct to say 'of his passing..'.
1
They are all correct, except for the third one. You could say:
I saw the house set on fire.
or
I saw the house catch on fire.
or
I saw the house be set on fire.
The others are good-- in fact the first two are at a higher register of English than is used in every-day speech.
1
There was hardly any hope of him passing the exam.
He is said to have studied English for 10 years.
I saw the house being set on fire.
I saw her kiss him.
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!
Start Learning Today
