Meaning of "I almost drowned"

[nancy]

Test No. incompl/elem-27 "Sailing", question 8

Exactly, in fact I almost ..........

(a) downed
(b) dropped
(c) dripped
(d) drowned

Test No. incompl/elem-27 "Sailing", answer 8

Exactly, in fact I almost drowned.

Correct answer: (d) drowned
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hi,

i wanted to ask if this sentence should be passive or now.
i haven't seen this usage of drowned before.
does 'drown' have another meaning?

thnx in advance
nancy

[Alan]

Hi Nancy,

You can use this verb actively and passively. Here I almost drowned means I almost died by being suffocated in water and is used intransitively.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Blazya]

what`s the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs ?

[Maggie]

Hi everyone and Alan,

When I learn the term, "drowned", I'd like to know how to use it correctly. So I made a sentence as follows:

If you read the newspaper, you can see many kids go to seas which are very dangerous to swim and they drown because they don't think that the places are so dangerous to swim. It happens again and again. In my opinion, I've no idea how come their parents let their children go to this kind of unsafety place to swim. Sigh...

My question is that I should use past tense or present tense for the term "drown" and for this situation, I mean the sentence. Should I say "they didn't think that ...." or "they don't think that..."?

Thanks a lot.

Maggie^^
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[Maggie]

Oh..I got a star at this moment. It's interesting. And it's just like what Torsten told us via the mail. I think encouragements are very very important for learners whatever they learn English, other languages or other new things. Thanks so much, Torsten.
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And welcome to my blog: http://0rz.tw/793HL

[Usher.fitz]

hi, every one

i think you should use the present tense ( they don't think )

charl

[Usher.fitz]

hi every one ,

we know we can be what we want to be if we work hard on it we can be what we want to be in english, i know that its not an easy thing but i believe that if we can practice we can make the change.

thanks charl fitz

[Fitrihanday]

hi everyone,
could you tell me why the sentence don't use downed?
My question above is true the grammar? I mean using don't or not use downed?
thanks
fitri

[Alan]

Hi Fitrihanday,

These are two different words. 'Down' is to put down often with the idea of drinking a complete drink as in: She downed a cup of coffee without stopping. 'Drown' is to go under water and die as in: The ship sank and three of the crew drowned in the heavy seas.

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Nedvedetema]

thank you alan you explained very good