Wild Word Formations
The weatherman said there is a strong _________ of rain today. (POSSIBLE)
POSSIBILITY
After a six year relationship, they decided to _______ _____.
BREAK UP
She is interested _____ artificial intelligence.
IN
Correct or incorrect?
I haven't seen her for a long time ago.
INCORRECT
'SINCE'
QUALIFICATIONS
The new boss will ______ ______ the company from next Monday. (be in control)
TAKE OVER
The employees complained _____ the lack of free coffee in the staffroom.
ABOUT
I (have cycled/have been cycling) and my legs are really tired now.
HAVE BEEN CYCLING
I was surprised at his _________ to give up. (REFUSE)
REFUSAL
Lisa's fancy cupcake business soon _______ ______ after she became famous on Instagram. (become successful)
TOOK OFF
The students had to compare the first photograph ___ the second one.
WITH
I told John not to drive, because he ________ all night. Choose the best answer.
a) drank
b) was drinking
c) had drunk
d) had been drinking
We use the past perfect continuous with dynamic verbs to talk about longer continuous actions that started earlier in the past than the main events of the story.
The existence of aliens has not been _________ proven yet. (SCIENCE)
SCIENTIFICALLY
CAME UP WITH
The teenagers volunteered ______ clean the homeless shelter.
TO
Why did you change the channel? I ______ that movie.
a. watched
b. was watching
c. had watched
d. had been watching
We use the past continuous for actions in progress in the past or longer actions interrupted by shorter actions in past simple. In the sentence above, when you changed the channel, watching the movie was in progress.