choose a sentence

Hm, a few choices have suddenly a different meaning with changing
words.

1 ) A dashing car whizzed by. meaning: great looking

A shooting car whizzed by. meaning: a car driving fast

2) There was a mass of clothes left. I'd choose this one

There was a heap of clothes left. heap is used for cooking references

3) He died leaving a will. meaning: He died an left a will

He died leaving a legacy. meaning: He left an impression (philosophical)

He died leaving a testament. I'd choose this one

4) I was trembling. one is trembling out of fear

I was shivering. one is shivering when he/she feels cold

5) They were nonchalant about that. meaning:casual, easy going

They were indifferent about that. meaning: not interested, not sympathetic

6) A disordered heart beats. wrong choice of words. Irregular would
be right - irregular heart beat.

An upset heart beats. see above

A disorderely heart beats. see above

Heap of clothes sounds right to me. I've never used the word "mass" outside of a physics class, unless you're talking about a religious ceremony. Also, I'm not sure you can be nonchalant about something, you just have to be nonchalant, and you would be indifferent to something, not about it.

Re: choose a sentence
1 ) A dashing car whizzed by.

A shooting car whizzed by.

Here I'd substitute a speeding car whizzed by -- dashing can mean stylish but as a verb for speed would be applied to a person but not a car and shooting stars but not shooting cars - it sounds odd.

2) There was a mass of clothes left.

There was a heap of clothes left.

now here I'd say a heap if they were left in a pile on the floor or somewhere but a simply a lot if you are just talking about quantity. Not a mass of clothes - mass is volume.

3) He died leaving a will.

He died leaving a legacy.

He died leaving a testament.

Here I think the meaning you are looking for would use 'a will'

4) I was trembling.

I was shivering.

Trembling with fear or shivering with cold? different adjective for each

5) They were nonchalant about that.

They were indifferent about that.

nonchalant is an air of confidence + indiference to the opinion of others but doesn't quite work as phrased

the second one implies that they didn't care - possibly in a cold and uncaring sort of way

really it is the 'about that' that doesn't quite work in either phrase

ie he was indifferent to fashion

6) A disordered heart beats.

An upset heart beats.

A disorderely heart beats.

an erratic heart beat


hope this helps

Well Vivien, mass does not equal volume -- I'm sure you meant to say instead that mass implies a non-zero volume (because density is non-zero).

Navigator, I have noticed you have a tendency to use the word mass awkwardly.

Mass can be used to describe a large quantity of something:

"He handed me a mass of papers"

Or it can be used to describe a collection which is tangled up in itself so that the individual collection elements are no longer distinct:

"A mass of hair"

"A mass of writhing worms"

Medusa had a mass of writhing hair, and ended up with a dashing trim. She looked far better without her head.

rufio, you can certainly be nonchalant about something, i.e. I am earnest about my work, but nonchalant about doing laundry. However, I am not indifferent to doing laundry.

The word "that" is still the problem with the original sentences. Nonchalant and indifferent have different meanings, and in order to be clear, "that" needs to be replaced by something specific.

Thank you all .I found out that there is a difference between nonchalant and indifferent.Nonchalant is not taking care of something but not in purpose , or I don't mean that unlike indifferent.I go with cav. in this .You are right stuh , I do tend to use mass always .It's the first word to jump in my mind.I really like the way Calamity put the whole things in .You should be a teacher.Thanks Viv. :wink: