USE OF ENGLISH

Uno de los ejercicios que tendréis que hacer en las pruebas de selectividad (PAEG) consiste en parafrasear una oración (decir lo mismo de otra manera), manteniendo todo lo posible el sentido de la oración original. Este tipo de ejercicio requiere mucha práctica. A continuación encontraréis algunas de las estructuras más típicas en este tipo de actividad.

1.- ACTIVE / PASSIVE

ACTIVE My grandfather built this house.

PASSIVE This house was built by my grandfather.

PASSIVE This picture was painted by Picasso.

ACTIVE Picasso painted this picture.

2.- DIRECT / INDIRECT SPEECH (Reported Speech)

DIRECT She said: "I went to London last summer".

INDIRECT She said that she had been to London the previous summer.

INDIRECT Mary said that she would be coming on the 6.30 train.

DIRECT Mary said: "I will be coming on the 6.30 train".

3.- GERUNDS / INFINITIVES

GERUND Driving at night is dangerous.

INFINITIVE It is dangerous to drive at night.

INFINITIVE It is difficult to learn Chinese.

GERUND Learning Chinese is difficult.

4.- COMPARISON

MORE THAN I have more friends than Peter

NOT SO/AS MANY AS Peter hasn´t so/as many friends as I have

MORE THAN Jane has more money than Susan.

NOT SO/AS MUCH AS Susan hasn´t so/as much money as Jane.

-ER THAN My apartment is bigger than yours.

NOT SO/AS.....AS Your apartment isn´t so/as big as mine.

5.- TOO ... TO / NOT ... ENOUGH TO

      Here the opposite of the adjective in the first sentence will usually be required to make 

     the necessary change.

TOO ... TO He is too weak to lift the case.

NOT ... ENOUGH TO He is not strong enough to lift the case.

NOT ... ENOUGH TO My brother isn´t old enough to go to school by himself.

TOO ... TO My brother is too young to go to school by himself.

6.- SO / SUCH A / SUCH (for plurals or uncountable nouns)

SO The girl was so beautiful that everyone stared at her.

SUCH A She was such a beautiful girl that everyone stared at her.

SO The weather was so hot that I sat in the garden all day.

SUCH It was such hot weather that I sat in the garden all day.

7.- SUCH A(N) / SUPERLATIVE 

SUCH A(N) I´ve never paid such a high price.

SUPERLATIVE It´s the highest price I´ve ever paid.

SUPERLATIVE It´s the most interesting book I´ve ever read.

SUCH A(N) I´ve never read such an interesting book.

8.- SO ... THAT / SO ... TO

  SO ...THAT He was so surprised that he couldn´t reply.

TOO ... TO He was too surprised to reply

TOO ... TO The exam was too difficult for him to pass.

SO ... THAT The exam was so difficult that he couldn´t pass it.

9.- SUPPOSE / MUST

SUPPOSE I suppose they are homeless. Look at their clothes.

MUST They must be homeless. Look at their clothes.

MUST They must have forgotten our address. They should have written.

SUPPOSE I suppose they have forgotten our address. they should have written.

10.- PERHAPS / MAY

PERHAPS Perhaps she knows the answer.

MAY She may know the answer.

MAY He may be working in the garden.

PERHAPS Perhaps he is working in the garden

11.- IT´S JUST POSSIBLE THAT ... / MIGHT

IT´S JUST POSSIBLE THAT ... It´s just possible that they will arrive tomorrow.

MIGHT They might arrive tomorrow.

MIGHT He might be waiting for us at the cinema.

IT´S JUST POSSIBLE THAT ... It´s just possible that he is waiting for us at the cinema.

12.- PROBABLY / BE LIKELY TO

PROBABLY It will probably rain tomorrow.

LIKELY TO It´s likely to rain tomorrow.

LIKELY TO She´s likely to pass all her exams.

PROBABLY She will probably pass all her exams.

13.- WHAT A PITY... / I WISH

WHAT A PITY What a pity I don´t speak French!

I WISH I wish I spoke French.

I WISH I wish I had seen her

WHAT A PITY What a pity I didn´t see her!

14.- ALTHOUGH / IN SPITE OF

ALTHOUGH Although he was quick, he couldn´t avoid the blow.

IN SPITE OF In spite of his quickness, he couldn´t avoid the blow.

IN SPITE OF In spite of working hard, he doesn´t earn much.

ALTHOUGH Although he works hard, he doesn´t earn much.

15.- ...BECAUSE / IN CASE

...BECAUSE Take an umbrella because it may rain.

IN CASE Take an umbrella in case it rains.

IN CASE He took an umbrella in case it rained.

...BECAUSE He took an umbrella because it might rain.

16.- FOR / SINCE

FOR I haven´t seen her for a long time.

SINCE It´s a long time since I saw her.

SINCE It´s years since I visited my grandmother.

FOR I haven´t visited my grandmother for years.

17.- ON ONE´S OWN / BY ONESELF

ON ONE´S OWN He prefers to work on his own.

BY ONESELF He prefers to works by himself.

BY ONESELF I can´t do my homework by myself.

ON ONE´S OWN I can´t do my homework on my own.

18.- IT / THERE BE

IT The station is four miles from the city centre.

It is four miles from the city centre to the station.

He didn´t arrive till four o´clock.

It was after four o´clock when he arrived.

THERE BE A policeman is standing at the cirner of the road.

There is a policeman standing at the corner of the road.

No one will be in the office now.

There will be no one in the office now.

This suitcase has nothing in it.

There is nothing in this suitcase.

19.- HAVE SOMETHING DONE

I´m going to the hairdresser´s. He will cut my hair.

I¨m going to the hairdresser´s to have my hair cut.