Grammar~

I'm...chinese educated~since primary school. I found this article from The Star where the questions he/she asked....some how make me confused!!!!!!
the Star had help he/she corect the sentences~

**read when u are free or willing to learn! full of text**

Read below:
1. I attended a party last night.
1. This sentence is correct.

2. I am having a shower now OR I am taking a bath now.
2. You say “I am having/taking a shower now” if you are actually using a shower to clean yourself in the bathroom. Otherwise you say: “I am having/taking a bath now.”
- means you are using nozzle to clean yourself, use 'shower; If you were using bathtub or other than nozzle, then is called 'Bath".

3. Your sister is riding her bicycle now OR Your sister is playing with her bicycle now.
3. We usually say: “Your sister is riding her bicycle now.”

4. She goes to school by bicycle OR Every day, she goes to school by bicycle.
4. We say “She cycles to school.” You don’t have to add “every day” to the sentence, because it is understood from the tense (present simple) of the verb that this is something she does regularly.

5. Please buy the souvenirs for me OR to me.
5. You should say “Please buy some souvenirs for me.”.
You don’t use the word “the” in this sentence, because there has not been any mention of “souvenirs” before.

6. I like to watch movies OR movie.
6. You should say: “I like to watch movies.” In English, when we make a general statement, we usually use the plural form of a noun.

7. Your father visited me yesterday OR Your father came to see me yesterday.
7. You can use either sentence. The first sentence is more formal than the second sentence.

8. He was reading the newspaper when the train stopped OR He was reading a newspaper when the train arrived.
8. The correct sentence is “He was reading a newspaper when the train arrived.”, because there has not been any mention of “newspaper” before.

9. I am having my lunch now OR I am eating my lunch now.
9. Both sentences are correct.

10. I was watching TV when the clock struck eight o’clock OR I was watching the TV when the clock struck eight o’clock.
10. We say: “I was watching TV when the clock struck eight.” You don’t use “the” when you say “watching TV”, but you can use or not use “the” in the phrase “on the TV/on TV), e.g. in the sentence: “My friend appeared on TV last night because she won a singing contest.” Also, we don’t add “o’clock” to the number of the hour when we say “the clock struck eight”. We can use “o’clock” when we are actually talking about the time, e.g. “He came at eight o’clock.”

11. I have received your letter OR I have already received your letter.
11. You use the first sentence when telling someone you have received his/her letter. You use the second sentence in a situation where, for example, the person who wrote you the letter is worried that you may not have received it. “Already” emphasises the fact that you have received it.

12. Does the golf course open OR Is the golf course open?
12. The correct question is “Is the golf course open?” The statement form would be “The golf course is open.” When the main verb is “is” or another “be” verb like “am”, “are”, etc. you don’t use the “do” verb in the question.

13. For the past three years, I have driven this car OR I have driven this car for the past three years.
13. It sounds better to write: “I have driven this car for the past three years.” although the first sentence is not incorrect.

14. Since this summer began, we have already had two storms OR Since this summer begun, we have already had two storms.
14. The correct sentence is: “Since this summer began, we have already had two storms.” “Began” is the simple past tense of “begin”. “Begun” is the past participle, and it is usually used with an auxiliary verb to form, for example, the present perfect tense, as in “has begun”, or the passive verb “was begun”, etc.

15. I have watched Titanic three times OR I have seen Titanic three times.
15. Both sentences are correct, but “have watched” is more formal than “have seen”.

16. I had become a Christian already when I was a child.
16. It is better to use the simple past tense for this sentence and also to cut out “already”, i.e. “I became a Christian when I was a child.” If you want to use the past perfect tense, “had become”, you can say, for example, “I had already become a Christian by the time I was 13. “You need to specify the time in the past before which you became a Christian, in order to use the past perfect tense.

17. I have been a Christian all my life.
17. This sentence is correct

18. Since 1961, I have been a teacher. Before that, I was a student.
18. It’s better to write the first sentence this way: “I have been a teacher since 1961.” The second sentence is all right. Although you use the simple past tense and not the past perfect, you have made the distinction clear between the time before 1961 and the time after 1961.

19. There were complaints that our exhibitors ran out of leaflets. We should ask them to print more next year. (In this sentence, is There singular or plural because the answer complaints has an “s”.
19. “There” in this structure takes a plural verb because the noun “complaints” after the verb is plural. If “a complaint” were to be used in the sentence, “there” would take a singular verb, i.e. “There was a complaint ...”

20. I went to see Titanic yesterday OR I went to watch Titanic yesterday.
20. You asked a very similar question in 15, and my answer to that is applicable to this also.

21. The meaning of “being” is “sedang” in Bahasa Malaysia. Can you please give more examples for “being”.
21. “Being” does not always mean “sedang” in BM. In a sentence like “He is being examined by a doctor now.” (“Dia sedang diperiksa oleh doktor sekarang.”), “being” means “sedang”. But “being” does not mean “sedang” in a sentence like: “What’s the use of being intelligent if you don’t study hard?” (“Apa gunanya awak cerdas jika awak tidak rajin belajar?”)

22. “Buka langsir dan tutup langsir,” in English can we say: Draw up the curtain and draw close the curtains?
22. Strangely enough, we can say “draw the curtains” to mean both “buka langsir” and “tutup langsir”. But there are other expressions that distinguish between the two actions and can therefore make our meaning clearer. These are “draw back the curtains” or “pull back the curtains” to mean “buka langsir” in contrast to “pull the curtains” or “close the curtains” to mean “tutup langsir”.We don’t say “open the curtains”, though!

I cant believe I copy one sentence by one sentence and paste under each sentences. How hard working I am to let you all learn proper English.