@Amanda and @Yasmine

Thank you soooo much. I really appreciate your help. May Allah bless you.

1- Here the only reason is that this is a phrasal verb. You can find grammar rules regarding phrasal verbs but I would consider them more like vocabulary, so you have to learn them eventually.

2- The reason why you have to put <em>to </em>instead of <em>for </em>is because it's a dependent preposition. Dependent prepositions are the ones which belong to verbs, adjectives, or nouns. They don’t form a new phrase, and they are often not translated into other languages or used differently in them. You can find lists in Google. In my opinion, you have to approach them the same way you do with phrasal verbs.

3- "<em>try as I might</em>" Is a set phrase, an expression. It means that you are making a very great effort but still cannot do something.

4- Here because the sentence is negative, the question tag is positive:

No one wants to have homework, do they?

Even if the verb is positive, the meaning is that people DON'T WANT homework.

If the sentence was positive, the question tag would be negative:

They want to have homework, don't they?

The meaning of the sentence is clear, they DO WANT homework, so the question tag is negative.

Usually if the main clause is positive, the question tag is negative, and if the main clause is negative, it's positive.

5- Unless means '<em>except if'</em>, but you can also think of it as the negative form of 'if'. So unless = if not. You can rephrase the sentence like this:

You don't have to apply for a student visa if you are not from outside the EU.

You can use <em>if </em>too, you'll just have to change the negative verb into positive:

You have to apply for a student visa if you are from outside the EU.

6- Every year = routine, so we use Present Simple. The Present Perfect Simple is only used with adverbs like <em>already</em>, <em>still</em>, <em>yet</em>, etc. Also, <em style="color: rgb(0, 71, 178);">to have/get</em><em> </em><em style="color: rgb(178, 107, 0);">something </em><em style="color: rgb(0, 97, 0);">done</em> is a causative form:

I repaint my house.

If I paid someone to repaint it:

I had my house repainted.

Hope it was helpful! Good luck with the exam :)

5. Here “unless” creates two categories. One category is people who do not have to apply for a visa and the other category is people who do. What comes after “unless” defines the category. 

“If not” would not be correct in the middle of the sentence, and would usually be used when “if” has already been used to separate the categories or conditions. For example, “IF you go to the store, please buy milk. IF NOT, I will buy it later.”  

For a test, I don’t like this one because the sentence is technically grammatically correct using “if,” but the meaning changes. (“You don’t have to apply for a visa if you are from outside the EU.”) Logically there is not a country that accepts visitors from ALL countries except those in the EU without a visa.

6. This uses the phrase “to have something done” – you are not painting the house yourself, you have it painted (someone else does the work). “Do you” is already conjugated, so “have” is infinitive. Also, “do you have” is present tense, and “every year” tells us they mean now and into the future. 

“Have you got,” to me is asking if you have something that you need. “Have you got your wallet?” 

If you used it in this sentence “Have you got your house repainted?” it is not grammatically correct. You could say “have you gotten your house repainted?” – which would be past tense. 

Hope these are helpful and not confusing. :/ 

Hi

I am not a professional teacher, but I will try to help. 

#1, 2, 3 are all expressions. You just have to memorize them. 

1. “to do away with” = to eliminate or get rid of

I’m going to do away with this table 

They did away with that law (past tense)

That law was done away with (“done away with” is used as an adjective) 

2. “to take exception to” (or to take great exception to) = to (strongly) disagree with 

I take exception to this policy!

3. “try as I might” (or try as he/she/they might) = to try as hard as you can, but always implies that you were not successful

4. “They” can be used to refer to any unknown person, in place of “one.” If you have already used “someone,” “anyone,” or “no one,” you can then use “they” to refer to the generic person a second time. 

For example, “If someone wants to enter the building, they will need a key.” 

In this sentence, “do they” is added for emphasis and to confirm the statement before it. 

The sentence would still be correct without it. (“No one wants to have HW.”)

You have already used “no one,” so you can say “they” to refer to a generic person. You would NOT use a negative here, because they sentence is already negative by saying “no one” – this is why “don’t they” is wrong. 

“Don’t he” is both negative (therefore wrong) and not conjugated correctly if you were talking about a specific guy (in which case you would say, “HE doesn’t want HW, does he?”)

(see next post)