Multiple choice questions (I ... to the beach with you this weekend.)

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi, please let me know your idea about these multiple choice question. Thank you in advance:

1/ I must get to bed early tonight. I sat up till the … hours to finish that report
a. late
b. last
c. small
d. deep
=> I choose a but the answer in the book is c

2/ If I had time, I … to the beach with you this weekend
a. would go
b. will go
c. will have gone
d. would have gone
=> I think b should be chosen for this question because the act of going to the beach is still in future. Is my choice right or wrong?

2

C is correct because ‘the small hours’ is an idiom.

A is correct because it’s a conditional II sentence.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Bricklaying[YSaerTTEW443543]

3

Thanks a lot for your help, Torsten (it seems to be “long time no see” :stuck_out_tongue: )

1/ what does the idiom “the small hours” mean?
2/ But the act of going to the beach has not happened it (in the future), so why isn’t it acceptable to choose b?

Many thanks
Nessie

4

.
1.
To me, saying only ‘the small hours’ is not particularly idiomatic. As I’ve heard the idiom used, people usually add something such as ‘of the morning’ to it. In addition, ‘the wee hours (of the morning)’ sounds like a more commonly used idiom to me.

Nessie, you should simply review the standard formats for type 2 conditional sentences. Though mixed conditionals can sometimes be used, you need a very specific justification for mixing them. Since both type 1 and type 2 conditionals always refer to the future, simply saying that “will go” refers to the future is not enough justification for mixing a conditional 1 with a conditional 2 sentence.
.

5

Thanks a lot, Amy :slight_smile:

And please tell me if th use of both type 1 and type 2 to refer to the future is British English or American English or both.
Many thanks :slight_smile:

6

To me, saying only ‘the small hours’ is not particularly idiomatic. As I’ve heard the idiom used, people usually add something such as ‘of the morning’ to it. In addition, ‘the wee hours (of the morning)’ sounds like a more commonly used idiom to me.

Time magazine disagrees with you, Amy:

the wee hours - 57 per 1 million words
the small hours - 75 per 1m words.

It is true that speakers tend to add “of the morning” (or use a day of the week e.g “of Tuesday morning”) but not always.

the small hours of - 37 per 1 million words
the small hours, - 14 per 1 million words

Source: corpus.byu.edu/time/x.asp

7

In native-speaker speech, I often hear this type of thing:

A: Why didn’t you do the washing?

B: Because I didn’t have time. If I had time, I would’ve done it. I’m sorry. OK?

And the mixed conditional “If I had time, I would’ve gone to the beach with you this weekend, but I never have time for such.” sounds fine to me.

A & D are possibilities, IMO.

8

My OALD says that:

the wee small hours (ScotE) (AmE the wee hours) = the small / early hours
=> what do you think?

And, dear Amy, would you mind telling me if the use of type 1 and type two to refer to the future is all right in both British English and American English?
Many thanks :slight_smile:

9

One of those adjectives seems redundant, but what the heck. That’s dialects for you.

10

And that was precisely my point, Molly.

11

Yes, it’s the same in BE and AmE.

12

Indeed it was.