Email Draft: Choosing Verb Forms from Context
Your English teacher returns this draft of an email you wrote to a partner school in Taiwan. Four parts are blank. 'Dear Ms. Chen, I (1) ____ in the school choir for two years. Last week, we (2) ____ every day after school for the concert. (3) ____ I was nervous on stage, I enjoyed singing with everyone. Our next concert is in November. Please (4) ____ me about your school's music club. Sincerely, Kenji' The choices for (1) are am / was / have been; for (2) practice / practiced / will practice; for (3) Although / Because / So; for (4) tell / tells / telling. Your teacher says the email must show (a) how long you have been in the choir, (b) a finished past action, (c) a contrast, and (d) a polite request.
1. Choose the correct word for each blank and explain each choice using time words or sentence structure.
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- have been - The phrase
for two yearsdescribes a period continuing to now.amcannot show duration, andwaswould suggest you are no longer in the choir. - practiced -
Last weekis a finished past time, so the simple past is needed.will practiceis future, andpracticeis present or base form. - Although - The sentence contrasts
nervous on stagewithenjoyed singing.Becausewould make being nervous the cause of enjoying, which is illogical.Sowould reverse the relationship. - tell - After
Please, use the base form for a polite imperative request.tellsis third-person singular, andtellingis not a finite verb here.
2. Explain why 'Because I was nervous on stage, I enjoyed singing with everyone' is not the best choice, even though both clauses are grammatically possible.
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The grammar is possible, but the meaning is wrong. Because makes the first clause the cause of the second: being nervous would cause enjoyment. In the draft, the writer is showing a surprising contrast: nervousness did not prevent enjoyment. Although signals that contrast correctly. On an entrance exam, the connector is chosen by the logical relationship, not just by whether the sentence sounds smooth. The presence of two opposite feelings - nervous and enjoyed - is the clue for a contrast word.
3. The teacher says the email must show 'how long you have been in the choir.' Which two words in the draft provide that clue, and how do they work with your answer?
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The clue is for two years. For introduces a length of time, and two years shows the duration. That duration connects to the present because the writer is still describing the choir as current. The present perfect have been fits this meaning: it links a past start to now. If the writer had used was, the sentence would suggest a completed period in the past, which does not match the instruction to show how long the writer has been in the choir.