trying to ignore me...

English as a Second Language English Teacher Explanations (ESL Tests)
1

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #257 [color=blue]“Noun and Verb Opposites (3)”, question 6

He pretended not to notice me, but I could tell he was trying to … me.

(a) ignore
(b) see
(c) find
(d) increase

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #257 [color=blue]“Noun and Verb Opposites (3)”, answer 6

He pretended not to notice me, but I could tell he was trying to ignore me.

Correct answer: (a) ignore
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why not: see?-maybe it’s better opposite to ,not to notice ‘’ than ,to ignore’'…
thanks!

2

Hi Saneta,

‘Notice’ in the sense of ‘take notice of’ has greater significance than ‘see’. ‘Not to notice’ distinctly means ‘ignore’.

Alan

3

I was going to choose ‘‘ignore’’ but I thought that since it’s supposed to be the opposite of ‘‘not to notice’’ I should select ‘‘see’’.
By the way, if you replace ‘‘not to notice’’ with ‘‘ignore’’ then you get ‘‘He pretended to ignore me, but I could tell he was trying to ignore me’’.

4

Yea, the choise “ignore” which is similar to “not to notice” is quite strange since the task is to find opposites, I think.

5

Hi DEA38RU!
I have also learned Russian for 3 years, can you help me improve it.
Hope your reply.

6

not to notice - not be aware of
ignore - to deliberately disregard

The difference comes in the deliberation of the act. The first is not deliberate, the second one is.
The ‘he’ appeared not to be aware of the speaker accidentally, but in reality the speaker felt it was a deliberate act of disregard.

I can see why on first read-through the use of ‘but’ there would lead you to think you should choose an opposite, though. It is tricky.