<p>Here I have some questions on sentence correction of the writing section. Some are from the blue books, and some are from the online course practice.</p>
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<li><p>"Despite" the efforts of the publicity subcommittee, "hardly anyone" attended the workshop that "had been" planned "so painstakingly".</p>
<p>The sentence is suppose to be right, but "so painstakingly" in the sentence just doesn't make much sense to me.</p></li>
<li><p>Mediators were standing by, prepared "to intervene in" the labor dispute "even though" both sides "had refused" earlier offers "for" assistance.</p>
<p>"for" is wrong. What should I swith "for" to ?</p></li>
<li><p>According to some theorists, "what" "any" particular bird can eat could change "with even" "the slightest" variation in the shape of its beak.</p>
<p>The sentence is right. But I think it should be "some" instead of "any" .</p></li>
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<ol>
<li>“Despite” the efforts of the publicity subcommittee, “hardly anyone” attended the workshop that “had been” planned “so painstakingly”.</li>
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<p>The sentence is suppose to be right, but “so painstakingly” in the sentence just doesn’t make much sense to me.</p>
<p>Why not? Grammatically speaking, “so” is an adverb modifying another adverb, “painstakingly”, which is acceptable.</p>
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<li>“Painstakingly” and words that end with -ly are adverbs that modify verbs. The verb is “planned.” The act of planning had been painstaking. The workshop had been planned painstakingly. “Painstakingly” describes how it was planned.</li>
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<p>For example, “I drank quickly” indicates that the act of drinking was quick. Keep in mind that “painstaking” is an adjective just as “quick” is. Adjectives describe nouns and things. You add the -ly to make it an adverb. Adverbs describe verbs and actions.</p>
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<li>You should switch “for” with “of” because “offer” is an action. It is the act of offering. You say that an action is of X if X indicates the object of that action:</li>
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<p>“the killing of Mary” implies that Mary was, or is to be killed
“the eating of the apple” implies that the apple was eaten, or is to be eaten
“the offer of assistance” implies that the assistance was offered, or is to be offered</p>
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<li>The theorists give information that pertain to birds. This information describes each bird individually because not all birds are the same. Since it is a description of birds in general, it applies to all birds. You would use “any” to indicate “each and all.” “Some” implies only a portion of birds, not all</li>
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<ol>
<li><p>Both “painstakingly” and “so” are adverbs [most adverbs end in ly], and adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. In this sentence, “painstakingly” modifies the verb “planned” and “so” modifies the adverb “painstakingly.” This is done correctly. </p></li>
<li><p>Offers “for” is unidiomatic. Offers ‘to’ is the correct idiomatic phrase.</p></li>
<li><p>This is error identification, not improvement. All answers are grammatically wrong in some way. There is nothing wrong with “any,” or “some.”</p></li>
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<p>Fresh, are offers “to” and offers “of” both correct? Or am I wrong. :X </p>
<p>Both are correct but it depends on the structure of the sentence. </p>
<p>You can use “offers to” if the sentence was this: Mediators were standing by, prepared “to intervene in” the labor dispute “even though” both sides “had refused” earlier offers TO ASSIST</p>
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<li>According to some theorists, “what” “any” particular bird can eat could change “with even” “the slightest” variation in the shape of its beak.</li>
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<p>May I understand why the use of “what” is correct in this case?</p>
<p>Also. I have difficulty undertstanding this question.</p>
<p>An amateur potter “herself”, the accountant offered “to help” the artist with his business accounts, complicated “as they were” “by” his usual system of record keeping. </p>
<p>I dun understand the reason why “by” is correct. </p>
<p>It means the type or kind (of food). It refers to something abstract. We don’t know exactly what any particular bird can eat, so we call it “what” </p>
<p>“That is just what I needed.”
“That is just the type of thing I needed.”</p>
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<p>In this sentence, “complicate” is a verb meaning “to make difficult.” When you complicate things, you make them more difficult. When something is complicated by something else, it is made difficult by that “something else.” The business accounts were made difficult by his usual system of record keeping.</p>