I STAYED AT A BED AND BREAKFAST INN IN VERMONT. THEBUILDING IS/WASV...
25.
I stayed at a bed and breakfast inn in Vermont. The
building is/was
Victorian.
TRICKY VERBS
The sets of verbs on the next page confuse even native speakers
of English. To keep them straight, think about which verb in each
pair needs an object. For example, lie
describes an action per-
formed by a subject: I will lie down. Lay,
on the other hand, needs
an object to make sense: He lays the baby in the crib.
To make things
more confusing, the past tense of lie
is lay!
Review this chart and
practice using these tricky verbs in context.
PREPOSITIONAL IDIOMS
Knowing which preposition (to, of, about, for, with, about, on, upon,
etc.) is appropriate in a sentence is a challenging part of master-
ing English. Review these common prepositional idioms:
according to
depend on/upon
next to
afraid of
equal to
of the opinion
Lie/Lay
Lie
means to rest, to recline.” Don’t just lie
there like a
(subject)
lump, do something!
past tense:
lay, had lain
Last night, he lay
on the
couch and fell asleep.
Lay
means “to place, to set
I always lay
my keys on the
down.” (needs an object)
counter. (The object is keys.)
Past tense:
laid, had laid
Ruben laid
the blankets on
the bed yesterday.
Sit/Set
Sit
means “to rest.” (subject)
She always sits behind her
desk.
Set
means “to put or place.”
He set the files on my desk.
(needs an object)
(The object is files.)
Rise/Raise
Rise
means “to go up.”
After it is filled with hot air,
(subject)
the balloon rises.
Raise
means “go move
The town officials are raising
something up.” (needs
property taxes this year.
an object)
(The object is taxes.)
anxious about
except for
on top of
apologize to (someone)
fond of
opposite of
apologize for (something)
from now on
prior to
approve of
from time to time
proud of
ashamed of
frown on/upon
regard to
aware of
full of
related to
blame (someone) for
glance at/through rely on/upon
STRUCTURE
75
blame (something)
grateful to (someone)
respect for
on
grateful for (something) responsible for
bored with
in accordance with
satisfied with
capable of
incapable of
similar to
compete with
in conflict
sorry for
complain about
inferior to
suspicious of
composed of
insist on/upon
take care of
concentrate on
in the habit of
thank (some-
concerned with
in the near future
one) for
congratulate on
interested in
tired of
conscious of
knowledge of
with regard to
consist of
QUICK QUIZ
Answer the questions below. If the question has a blank, select
the correct
answer to fill in the blank. If the question has four under-
lined words or phrases, choose the underlined word or phrase that
is incorrect. Find the answers on page 83.