你别想知道我到底是谁
Is this sentence grammatically correct? "The biggest fear some people have who oppose Fair Play is the misconception that Fair Play will distract from competitive spirits and winning." This is an example sentence in an vocabulary learning book published by Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Press, China's most authoritative publisher in its field. But the usage of the word "distract" seems incorrect to me, doesn't it need an object after 'distract'? I can't understand the meaning of this sentence. By the way, example sentences are all articulately read by a lady who is from the UK, therefore it's most unlikely that there is any grammatical mistakes in these sentences. Would anyone tell me if this sentence is correct and briefly explain its meaning, many thanks in advance.Correct myself, not "there is any grammatical mistakes", should be "there are any grammatical mistakes".
Apr 16, 2011 12:08 PM
Answers · 6
1
The use of 'distract' is okay. What is not okay is 'competitive spirit' which is an uncountable concept and therefore should be in the singular.
April 16, 2011
1
The sentence is perfectly correct. "distract" does not require an object.
April 16, 2011
1
Is there any grammatical mistake? or Please check, is there any grammatical error?
April 16, 2011
1
This appears to be a correct sentence to me. Usually the verb 'to distract' has to take a direct object, but since the implied direct object 'attention' is included in the meaning of the word 'distract', it doesn't necessarily need to be included in the sentence here.
April 16, 2011
Many thanks to Thomas, Tiulpan, and Eliot. You all helped me out. Now i believe this book is reliable, haha. Again I got the feeling that some italki members are so knowledgeable and kind to help language learners. Lucky for me to visit here. Thank you!
April 16, 2011
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