BBC Learning English

How to …
react to someone’s bad news
Quiz

For each question choose the one correct answer.

1: A: I haven’t seen her for five days!

B: ___________
a: Awful!
b: That terrible!
c: That’s awful!

2: You ________________ absolutely awful!

a: must be feeling
b: could be feeling
c: feel

3: I'm so _____________ about what happened.

a: sorry to hear
b: sorry
c: sorry hearing

4: Any time you want to talk __________________.

a: just say the word
b: just tell me the word
c: let me know the word

5: If there’s anything I ______ do, just let me know.

a: would
b: could
c: can

How to … © BBC Learning English 2007

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ANSWERS

For each question choose the one correct answer.

1: A: I haven’t seen her for five days!

B: ___________
a: Awful!
Wrong – Unlike very positive adjectives, we can’t use words like ‘awful’ on their own
b: That terrible!
Wrong – You need a verb here
c: That’s awful!
Correct – this is a very natural way to react to someone telling you some bad news

2: You ________________ absolutely awful!

a: must be feeling
Correct – You can use this to guess your friend’s feelings
b: could be feeling
Wrong – You need to express more certainty about your friend’s feelings
c: feel
Wrong – You aren’t describing your friend’s feelings, but making a guess

3: I'm so _____________ about what happened.

a: sorry to hear
Correct – this is a good way to start talking about a topic
b: sorry
Wrong – This is correct English, but wrong for this situation. You aren’t apologising but
sympathising
c: sorry hearing
Wrong – You need to use an infinitive after ‘sorry’

4: Any time you want to talk __________________.

a: just say the word
Correct – this is a common phrase
b: just tell me the word
Wrong – You’ve used the wrong verb for this phrase
c: let me know the word
Wrong – ‘let me know’ by itself would be correct, but you need a different verb if you want to
use ‘the word’

5: If there’s anything I ______ do, just let me know.

a: would

How to … © BBC Learning English 2007

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Wrong – This isn’t an English phrase
b: could
Wrong – This is in the wrong tense
c: can
Correct – this is a good way to offer help

How to … © BBC Learning English 2007

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