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ufo22347
Joined: 04 May 2012
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 7:33 am Post subject: Question about Turn off |
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The car turned off the freeway.
The car turned off the road near the trees, and drove onto a track.
I want to ask, why use "turned off"?
if I write these sentences, I maybe used "leave".
And I want to ask "onto".
I maybe used "to" in the sentence.
The car left the road near the trees, and drove to a track.
Thanks for your help! |
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askeladd
Joined: 05 Jan 2010
Posts: 89
Location: Chicago area, USA
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| Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 9:05 am Post subject: Re: Question about Turn off |
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| ufo22347 wrote: |
The car turned off the freeway.
The car turned off the road near the trees, and drove onto a track.
I want to ask, why use "turned off"?
if I write these sentences, I maybe used "leave".
And I want to ask "onto".
I maybe used "to" in the sentence.
The car left the road near the trees, and drove to a track.
Thanks for your help! |
turn off is called a "phrasal verb." English (especially spoken English) uses a lot of phrasal verbs.
If you use "leave," then we don't get the same picture in our mind as "turn off." Maybe the car left the road because the road curved, but the driver kept going straight. But if you say "turn off," then we understand very clearly that the driver moved the steering wheel to get the car off the road.
"onto" is definitely the correct preposition for this sentence. Using "onto" lets us know that the car is now on top of a track. It is physically located on the track. But if you use "to," then we probably think that the car is just moving in the direction of the track. It wouldn't have to be on the track at all. Instead, we would probably think the car was next to the track, or somewhere by the track.
Hope this helps!
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Helping ESL students since 2001!
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ufo22347
Joined: 04 May 2012
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 4:39 am Post subject: |
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Thank you!
Explained very clearly! |
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askeladd
Joined: 05 Jan 2010
Posts: 89
Location: Chicago area, USA
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| Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 6:29 am Post subject: |
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You're welcome 
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Helping ESL students since 2001!
www.summit-esl.com |
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