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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006pay off or succeed
Hi everyone, I read a sentence from a cloze test, and I was wondering if there was another answer to this question. The sentence is read as below: To my surprise, when my speech ended, the large room was vibrating with applause. Looking out on the audience, I knew all my efforts did __ -- I had mastered my greatest fear. a) succeed b) worth it c) pay back d) pay off Tha answer is d) But I doubt if a) could also be another answer. What is your opinion? Thanks in advance. Gloria >Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >But I doubt if a) could also be another answer. What is your opinion? >Thanks in advance. The efforts did not succeed. You (the writer) did. The efforts did pay off, though.  SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL > Hi everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > But I doubt if a) could also be another answer. What is your opinion? > Thanks in advance. Two points: 1: Your "efforts" did nothing; you "did the doing", so your efforts "paid off" 2: It should be "had paid off", not "did pay off", so the test is pretty bad. I think "did" emphasizes the "pay off", so "did pay off" works Frank F. Wang > I think "did" emphasizes the "pay off", so "did pay off" works "Did" is better than "had" because, to the writer's surprise, the efforts did pay off; in speech, "did" would be stressed. SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEW lamps for OLD for email. >> I think "did" emphasizes the "pay off", so "did pay off" works > >"Did" is better than "had" because, to the writer's surprise, the efforts did >pay off; in speech, "did" would be stressed. I agree with Mark. After 'knew' I would say 'had paid off'. I know all my efforts *did* pay off - OK >>> I think "did" emphasizes the "pay off", so "did pay off" works >> "Did" is better than "had" because, to the writer's surprise, the efforts did [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > I know all my efforts *did* pay off - OK In US English, the "did" thing is likely to happen even with the past-tense verb, because the US-English subjunctive has gone strange ways, so John and Heyman are probably Leftpondian. No harm in it. Different culture, different norms. (But it still sounds stoopid to me) |
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