In each of the following pairs of sentences, one sentence is correct and the other is wrong. Find out which one is correct.

1. a) He had to leave his rights. / b) He had to abandon his rights.

2. a) He went to school to learn science. / b) He went to school to know science.

3. a) He knows to swim. / b) He knows how to swim.

4. a) Later on he knew his mistakes. / b) Later on he realized his mistakes.

5. a) They cut Charles I’s head. / b) They cut off Charles I’s head.

6. a) I said to him to go. / b) I told him to go.

7. a) The dictator is troubling his subjects. / b) The dictator is oppressing his subjects.

8. a) My back is paining. / b) My back is hurting.

9. a) Peter can now sit on a bicycle. / b) Peter can now ride a bicycle.

10. a) He took out his shoes. / b) He took off his shoes.

Answers

1. He had to abandon his rights.

2. He went to school to learn science.

3. He knows how to swim. (We cannot put a to-infinitive immediately after know. Instead, we use know how to.)

4. Later on he realized his mistakes.

5. They cut off Charles I’s head. (When the act of cutting divides an object into pieces, use ‘cut off’, ‘cup up’ or ‘cut into’.

6. I told him to go.

7. The dictator is oppressing his subjects.

8. My back is hurting.

9. Peter can now ride a bicycle.

10. He took off his shoes.