English Grammar Online is intended for the general reader who wishes to familiarize himself with the basic elements of English grammar and improve his English language skills.
To be sent to Coventry
Meaning: to be banned, greeted with a chilly silence.
The popular story is that the people of Coventry were at one time so hostile to soldiers that any woman seen talking to one was ostracized. Thus, any soldier unfortunate enough to be sent to Coventry was cut off from all friendly or social intercourse.
Kick the bucket
Idiom meaning: to die (very informal, humorous, euphemistic).
We do not like the explanation usually given that the phrase evolved from the action of a suicide, who had stood on a bucket to fit the noose of a rope round his neck, and then kicked the bucket away, so that he hanged.
Before doing grammar exercises it’s useful to repeat the basics.
Complex Subject is a combination of a noun/pronoun and an infinitive. The predicate is placed between the noun and the infinitive.
The rules of the sequence of tenses are mainly observed in subordinate object clauses.
The rules of the sequence of tenses are not observed in the following two cases:
1) when the verb of the object clause expresses a universal truth or facts that hold true always (see dialogues 1, 2, 3);
The rules of the sequence of tenses are not compulsory (may be observed or not) when reference is made to:
Not enough room to swing a cat in | You cannot swing a cat (here, there, etc.).
Idiom meaning: have very little physical room to move about / very little space available / the place is very small.