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Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening



 
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Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening #1 (permalink) Wed Jul 22, 2009 16:30 pm   Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening
 

hi there

i was asked some questions by my teacher and i dont know how to answer them. she says that for each one i should not give an answer that is predictable but rather explain in terms of the tense that is used in the wrong way.

1) why can you say "she was frightened" and "she was frightening" but not "the film was frightened" * teacher said we should look at verbs ending with ed here and ing
-i dont understand-

2) why do you say "prettier" but not "beautifuler"
* teacher said that we should look at comparitives and superlatives*
-please explain in this context-

3) why cant you say " i have been knowing him for 2 years"
please explain in terms of gramatical errors
Saj
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Joined: 20 Jul 2009
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Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening #2 (permalink) Wed Jul 22, 2009 18:11 pm   Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening
 

1. Frightened means scared, frightening means scary.
She might be scared (frightened) if somebody or something scare her, she might be scary (frightening) if somebody or something is afraid of her. A film is not a living thing, you cannot scare a film, a film cannot be scared (frightened) but you may be scared by a film, this film is frightening (scary).
2. You can say "more beautiful."
With most two-syllable adjectives, you form the comparative with more and the superlative with most.
3. "Know" is a stative verb and the progressive forms do not occur with stative verbs, they occur only with dynamic verbs.

Grammar is the correct spelling.
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Milanya
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Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening #3 (permalink) Wed Jul 22, 2009 20:25 pm   Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening
 

"Means" and "occur" are correct spellings Wink

When exactly we say that it is a typo and not a spelling mistake?
-- a genuine question, not kidding Smile
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Gray
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Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening #4 (permalink) Wed Jul 22, 2009 22:16 pm   Problems with grammer: she was frightened vs she was frightening
 

Gray wrote:
When exactly we say that it is a typo and not a spelling mistake?
-- a genuine question, not kidding Smile

When the same error is repeated several times in a row and there is no correct spelling in sight.

You are right, though, I have to be more careful and pay more attention.
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Milanya
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Joined: 29 Dec 2008
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