Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1No sooner ............... the merger been announced than the regulator opened an inquiry.
Wrong!
After a fronted negative adverbial such as 'no sooner', use subject-auxiliary inversion; the passive past perfect 'had been announced' needs the auxiliary "had", followed by 'than'.
2Scarcely had the committee circulated the draft ............... objections began to arrive.
Wrong!
The pattern is 'scarcely ... when' to mean almost immediately afterwards; the correct answer is "when".
3Unpalatable ............... it was, the compromise kept the negotiations alive.
Wrong!
With adjective-fronting, use 'though' after the adjective phrase: the correct answer is "though".
4The proposal was not ............... ignored as quietly shelved until the budget improved.
Wrong!
In the negative comparative pattern, 'not so much X as Y' means rather Y than X; the correct answer is "so much as".
5............... your intervention, the talks would have collapsed before dawn.
Wrong!
'But for' introduces an unreal negative condition meaning 'if it had not been for'; the correct answer is "But for".
6............... that the auditors were not reassured by the missing invoices.
Wrong!
The fixed formal pattern is 'Suffice it to say' before a summary statement; the correct answer is "Suffice it to say".
7The amended protocol closed the loophole, ............... forcing the banks to disclose offshore transfers.
Wrong!
'Thereby' means 'by that means' and links an action to its result; the correct answer is "thereby".
8The year-on-year comparison was misleading ............... the figures excluded seasonal staff.
Wrong!
'Inasmuch as' introduces a reason (= because, in that), explaining why the comparison was misleading; 'whereas' introduces a contrast, which does not fit. The correct answer is "inasmuch as".
9Far from ............... peripheral, the footnotes altered the legal effect of the contract.
Wrong!
After 'far from', use a gerund or noun phrase, so the correct answer is "being".
10As it turned out, the witnesses ............... disclosed their names at all.
Wrong!
'Need not have' says the action happened but was unnecessary; the correct answer is "need not have".
11............... the board seen the appendix, it would have postponed the vote.
Wrong!
For an inverted third conditional with a past participle, use 'Had'; the correct answer is "Had".
12The judgment amounted to procedural abstention, ..............., a refusal to decide the constitutional issue.
Wrong!
To restate or clarify the preceding term, use the fixed expression 'that is to say'; 'that is saying' is not used this way. The correct answer is "that is to say".
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- No sooner had the merger been announced than the regulator opened an inquiry.
- Scarcely had the committee circulated the draft when objections began to arrive.
- Unpalatable though it was, the compromise kept the negotiations alive.
- The proposal was not so much as ignored as quietly shelved until the budget improved.
- But for your intervention, the talks would have collapsed before dawn.
- Suffice it to say that the auditors were not reassured by the missing invoices.
- The amended protocol closed the loophole, thereby forcing the banks to disclose offshore transfers.
- The year-on-year comparison was misleading inasmuch as the figures excluded seasonal staff.
- Far from being peripheral, the footnotes altered the legal effect of the contract.
- As it turned out, the witnesses need not have disclosed their names at all.
- Had the board seen the appendix, it would have postponed the vote.
- The judgment amounted to procedural abstention, that is to say, a refusal to decide the constitutional issue.