Speech patterns

la. It would have been natural if the boy had gone to sleep.

It would have been natural if you had punished the child for his behaviour yesterday.

It wouldn't have been so cold in the morning if the wind had stopped blowing.

It would have been strange if he hadn't called on me when he was here last summer.

It would have been quite dark in the forest if we hadn't made a good fire.

1b. The father wouldn't have called the doctor if the boy had been quite well.

Grant would have accepted Mario's invitation if he hadn't made up his plans for the summer.

Anne would have taken her spring exams if she hadn't fallen ill.

We shouldn't have made friends with them if we hadn't stayed in the same camp.

We should have finished our work yesterday if you had helped us.

1c. The boy would have behaved in a different way if he were selfish.

They wouldn't have quarrelled if they both were less nervous.

You would have improved your spelling long ago if you were more diligent.

We should have invited him to our party if we knew him better.

She wouldn't have forgiven him if she didn't love him so much.

2. He seemed to know all about influenza.

The children seem to like each other very much. You don't seem to understand me.

She seemed to know grammar much better than we thought.

They did't seem to have met before.

3. I can't keep from thinking.

Can't you keep from talking all the time? Try and keep from gossiping about other people. She couldn't keep from scolding the child, though she knew she shouldn't do it.

We can't keep from laughing when we look at him.

EXERCISES I. Change these sentences, using Patterns 1a and 1b:

Example: We should meet a lot of tourists if we went to a tourist camp next summer.

We should have met a lot of tourists if we had gone to a tourist camp last year (last summer, when we had our holiday, etc.).

1. Mario wouldn't come to England if John didn't invite him. 2. Peter would accept your invitation if he were not ill. 3. It wouldn't be a hardship for the children to sweep and clean the rooms, would it? 4. If the weather were fine we should go to a holiday camp next summer. 5. We would live in a hotel if the rates were not very high. 6. It would be natural if they didn't meet after their quarrel. 7. My friend and I would go to the cinema after this lesson if the rest of the students agreed to go with us. 8. If the weather didn't change we should go to the country tonight.

II. Combine the fallowing sentences into one, using speech Pattern 1c:

Example: They quarrelled. They both are very nervous.

They wouldn't have quarrelled if they both were not very nervous.

1. Bob recovered. The doctors that had treated him are very experienced. 2. Mary passed her exams. She is industrious. 3. We invited John Brown to our tea-party. We are acquainted with him. 4. I didn't leave the children alone. They are naughty. 5. She didn't agree to teach us French. She doesn't know the language well. 6. Martha understood the German delegates, she is a German. 7. I gave you this book because it's very interesting. 8. I advised my friends to have a walking tour because I myself am fond of walking tours.

III. Make up sentences after Patterns 2 and 3, using the following words and phrases:

a) Pattern 2: to be busy, to know a lot, to understand each other, to hate (smb. or smth.), to love music, е.g. Ann seems to love children, I often see her playing with little boys and girls in our yard.

b) Pattern 3: to scold each other, to argue (about smth.), to meet (with), to write a letter, to dream (of smth), е.g. She can't keep from crying when she reads sentimental poetry.

IV. Translate these sentences into English, using the patterns from Units One and Two:

1. He беспокойся, ребенок не был бы таким веселым, если бы он был серьезно болен, 2. Тебе не пошло бы, если бы ты носил бороду я усы, ты бы выглядел гораздо старше своих лет. 3. Было бы лучше, если бы они не позволяли детям смотреть телевизор так поздно. 4. Было бы естественно, если бы дети спросили меня об их новой учительнице, но никто не задал этого вопроса. 5. На твоем месте я ела бы поменьше сладкого, ты располнеешь. 6. Было бы естественно, если бы он стал ученым, ему хорошо давались точные науки в школе, но он стал актером. 7. Ты бы давно закончила этот перевод если бы не болтала по телефону. 8. Ты бы не забыла мне позвонить, если бы не была такой рассеянной.