Was he wearing long hair?

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

Test No. [color=blue]errors/advan-8 “Admire his Achievement”, question 4

Did you notice any particular characteristics about the thief - was he wearing long hair?

(a) Did
(b) notice
(c) characteristics
(d) was he wearing

Test No. [color=blue]errors/advan-8 “Admire his Achievement”, answer 4

Did you notice any particular characteristics about the thief - did he have long hair?

Correct entry: did he have
The error was: (d) was he wearing

About "Did you notice any particular did he have about the thief- was he wearing long hair ?

Hi Alan !

Thank you very very much for your previous answer.
Could you please explain me more about this sentence- and the phrase “did he have” in particular ?

Thank you very much in advance for your help

Marc “from Marseille”

PS : I’ve aimed too high, haven’t I?

2

Dear Marco,

You are referring to this sentence, aren’t you?

Did you notice any particular characteristics about the thief - was he wearing long hair? (Errors in Sentences, Advanced Level, Question 4)

ERL/EFL test Admire his Achievement[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: An outdoor market[YSaerTTEW443543]

3

Yes, I am
Have a nice Sunday

Marc

4

Marco,

Instead of saying ‘… was he wearing long hair?’ it’s better to use ‘… did he have long hair?’ because the verb to wear goes together with clothes as in ‘… he was wearing a white T-shirt and a baseball cap.’

Does this answer your question?[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Viewing the city skyline[YSaerTTEW443543]

5

Hi Torsten!!

Thank you for your prompt reply and OK for your explanations - but
where you wrote what should had been the right answer you placed “did he have” just before “about the thief!!!” That’s why I didn’t understand!!
Please have a look on it !!!
Am I wrong ?
Thank you again for your quick reply (It’s Sunday To-day !!)

Nice evening

Marc

6

Hi Marc,

Now I got your point. Please check again. Thanks for your support.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Workers on the side of a building[YSaerTTEW443543]

7

But why shouldn’t we write “Did you notice any particular characteristics OF the thief” => isn’t “about” wrong? :open_mouth:

8

Hi Nessie

I’d say ‘of’ would definitely be the more commonly used preposition. ‘About’ would be very common in a sentence worded like this:
Did you notice anything about the thief?

I’d say it may have been the word ‘any’ in the test sentence that triggered the author’s use of the word ‘about’.

9

Thanks a lot, Amy, I agree with you that “about” is quite all right in your sentence (“Did you notice anything about the thief?”) but I still feel the sentence “Did you notice any particular characteristics about the thief” so strange…
May I have Alan’s idea, please?
Many thanks to you both :slight_smile: