Fill in the blanks.
1. He ……………………….. his hand.
Raise is transitive. It takes an object. Rise is intransitive.
2. Don’t blow it up too much. You will ……………………….. the balloon.
All three forms of burst are burst.
3. He ………………………… in the morning.
When we say when something happened, we use the simple past.
4. We ………………………….. all of our friends.
The present perfect is preferred to express ideas like these. When there is no time reference, we use the present perfect to talk about finished events.
5. Where ……………………………….. all this while?
The present perfect is used to talk about an action or situation that started in the past and has continued up to the present.
6. Trouble began shortly after he ……………………………….
The past perfect is more correct here because it refers to the earlier of the two actions; however, the simple past is also possible here because the time expression after clearly shows which action occurred first.
7. I ………………………… from them for a long time.
8. I will ……………………… you something but keep it a secret.
Before a personal object, use tell.
9. Neither of the passengers ……………………….. tickets.
Use a singular verb after neither.
10. The flowers on this plant …………………………… no fragrance.
Here the subject is the plural noun flowers.
11. None of them ………………………….. present at the party.
Use a singular verb after none.
12. Germs ………………………………. in cold weather.
Use the simple present to talk about facts.
Answers
- He raised his hand.
- Don’t blow it up too much. You will burst the balloon.
- He called in the morning.
- We have invited all of our friends.
- Where have you been all this while?
- Trouble began shortly after he arrived / had arrived.
- I haven’t heard from them for a long time.
- I will tell you something but keep it a secret.
- Neither of the passengers has tickets.
- The flowers on this plant have no fragrance.
- None of them was present at the party.
- Germs thrive in cold weather.
