Hippos are excellent swimmers.

Meaning: Hippos are skilled at swimming and can stay underwater for up to five minutes.

Choice of Words: Excellent means very good or outstanding. Swimmers are people or animals that can swim.

Alternative Expressions

Hippos are great at swimming.

Meaning: This sentence means that hippos are very good at swimming. They are able to move through the water quickly and easily.

Choice of Words: Great is an adjective that means very good or skilled at something. Swimming is a verb that describes the action of moving through water. When you put them together, "Hippos are great at swimming" means that hippos are very good at moving through water.

Hippopotamuses are excellent swimmers.

Meaning: This sentence means the same thing as the first sentence. It is just using different words to say the same thing.

Choice of Words: Hippopotamuses is another word for hippos. It is a more formal word that is sometimes used in scientific writing. Excellent is an adjective that means very good or outstanding. When you put them together, "Hippopotamuses are excellent swimmers" means that hippos are very good at swimming.

These large animals can swim very well.

Meaning: This sentence is a bit longer than the first two, but it is still saying the same thing. It is just providing more detail about hippos and their swimming abilities.

Choice of Words: These is a pronoun that refers to hippos. Large is an adjective that describes something that is big. Animals is a noun that refers to living creatures. Can is a verb that means to be able to do something. Swim is a verb that describes the action of moving through water. Very is an adverb that means to a great degree or extent. Well is an adverb that means in a good or satisfactory manner. When you put them together, "These large animals can swim very well" means that hippos are big animals that are able to move through water in a very good way.

Related Expressions