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jasonlulu_2000



Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 879

PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:18 am    Post subject: help Reply with quote

I am going to London. Do you have anything ______?
A. to buy b. to be bought

Could any native tell me which one is more appropriate from the grammatical perspective?

There is a similar question:
I am going to London. Do you have anything _______?
A. to take b. to be taken
The answer given is B.

I think the same rule goes for both the questions. Am I right? Or is there any difference between them?


Many thanks for consideration.

Jason
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eddfx



Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 38
Location: Behind you!

PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You have to love test questions. Wink

These sentence structures are not used by native speakers when we speak. It is obvious these test questions are made by a non-native speaker and used to test you on tenses.

The answer I give is for you to answer your test questions correctly so you can pass your test, but they are not correct in spoken English for they sound clunky and "non-native" to me.

I am going to London. Do you have anything to buy?

This is a strange sentence because the speaker was originally talking about himself going to London then they switch topics without a smooth transition.

These are just sample sentances and only used for examples on how I would personally say them.

I am going to London. Is there anything you want me to buy (for you)?
I am going to London. Is there anything you want bought?

I am going to London. Do you have anything to take?

Again this is a strange sentence because the speaker was originally talking about themselves going to London then they switch topics without a smooth transition.

It sounds better to me to say:

We are leaving for London; do you have anything to take?

These are just my examples. I am really interested in hearing other native English speakers answers as well.
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CP



Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California

PostPosted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with eddfx: These are unnatural constructions made up for test purposes only.

I am going to London. Do you have anything ______?
A. to buy b. to be bought
--A native speaker would say: I am going to London. Do you need anything from there? / Would you like me to get you anything?

I am going to London. Do you have anything _______?
A. to take b. to be taken
--A native speaker would say: I am going to London. Do you have anything to take there / to send there / for me to take there for you?
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