Proverbs & Grammar

1. Match the proverbs and meanings

Proverbs

A leopard can’t change its spots.
Kill two birds with one stone
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Out of sight, out of mind.
A double-edged sword.
A person is known by the company he keeps.
Hobson’s choice.*
A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Two’s company, three’s a crowd.

Meanings

If you can’t see someone or something, you soon forget about them.
Achieve two goals with one action.
If you want to know about someone look at his friends.
Some people never change.
No choice at all.
Sometimes it is better for one person to do something, rather than lots of people.
Something that can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.
Something dangerous, but looks innocent.
Two people can get on better when there’s no one else.
People tend to join people with similar interests /outlooks.

*A man named Hobson, who hired out his horse in strict rotation, (i.e. offering no choice) is the origin of this phrase.

2. The following structure/language points can cause problems for learners. Why are they difficult? Use the prompts to help you

I don’t want no milk. *
Turning the corner, he saw a packet in the road. (=As he turned)
‘I must go’ he said.= He said he had to go.
I saw a man standing next to me. ( = a man who was standing)
I had my car cleaned/stolen.
If I’d known, I’d have come.
Would you mind waiting a minute?
I hardly worked this afternoon. (compare: I worked hard this afternoon.)
He worked as a cricket umpire and a football referee.
She is more slower than her sister. *

*grammatically incorrect form

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What is the meaning of the double negative sentence?
Why do we use a participle? What is omitted?
Why do we use had to in the reported version?
What is missing?
What is the difference in meaning between the two examples?
What is the difference in meaning between the first and second ‘I’d’. How do you know?
What answer is expected? 8. What is the difference between hard and hardly? Why is this confusing?
Why do we use different words to describe the same job in different sports?
What is wrong with this sentence? What is the rule?

3. Match each proverb with a grammar point

A leopard can’t change its spots: ‘I must go’, he said/He said he had to go. Some people never change, and some words never change. Must does not have past tense, so we prefer had to in reported speech.
A person is known by the company he keeps: If I’d known, I’d have come. We know what people are like by the people around them. We can tell the meaning of I’d (I would or I had) by the words around it.
Hobson’s choice: Would you mind waiting a minute? This polite request form is often used as an order, and a yes/no answer is often not required, as with Hobson, there may well be no choice.
A wolf in sheeps clothing: I hardly worked this afternoon. Hardly looks like something positive in the context of work, yet I hardly worked actually it is a negative statement. It is not what it seems.
Birds of a feather flock together: He worked as a cricket umpire and a football referee. People have their own groups, so do words. Umpire collocates with cricket, referee with football.
Two’s company, three’s a crowd:*She is more slower than her sister. Two syllables are enough for short comparative adjectives eg cold+er, slow+er. If you try to add more to slower, it becomes three syllables, which is too crowded in this case.
Kill two birds with one stone: Turning the corner, he saw a packet in the road. In this construction we only need one pronoun for two clauses.
Too many cooks spoil the broth:*I don’t want no milk. Double negatives are not used in English. Too many negatives spoil the sentence!
Out of sight, out of mind: I saw a man standing next to me. The relative clause is reduced; a man standing next to me means a man who was standing next to me. Students may not realize this is a type of relative clause, because the pronoun and auxiliary are invisible, i.e. out of sight.
A double-edged sword: I had my car cleaned/stolen. This structure is used to ask someone to perform a service for you: I had my car cleaned, or it is something you did not expect to happen to you (usually bad): I had my car stolen. A double-edged sword can cut two ways, it can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.