Teacher Discussion Forums

Thanks for the reply, Woodcutter. Maybe I didn't put my question well. What I wanted to ask was this. Why do we use the same word for two different things?
e.g. I prefer lean meat. Do not lean out of the window.
I read an explanation of this years ago. Maybe you could jog my memory.

I'm not a linguist, so please be patient. The word ''smart'' has various meanings in English. ''Smirt'' doesn't exist. Nor does '''smert'' nor ''smurt''. ''Smort'' would be a good word, wouldn't it? Years ago, I read an explanation of this but have forgotten it. Please remind me. It certainly occurs...

Thanks for the reply, which makes sense.

Is there a difference between these two sentences? I think Italians are so romantic. I think the Italians are so romantic. Off the top of my head I told the student that the first might be used to refer only to the Italians the speaker had met whereas in the second sentence the speaker was referring...

Headway English uses ''changing room'' to refer to the place in a shop or store where you try on garments you are considering buying. For me this is a ''fitting room''. A ''changing room'' is where you change to do sport etc.
Who is right?

Thanks for the reply Buddha. Maybe it's just emphasis but I still think the example I cited sounds clumsy and incorrect.

I've just come across this example on p39 of ''Straightforward'' (intermediate) by Philip Kerr and Ceri Jones. They both had the same number of children. Surely this isn't correct! It's enough to say ''They had the same number of children''. Or you might say ''They both had three children''. But bot...

We would pronounce it as wed-ens-day. Maybe we're in the minority and should be teaching them your version, which I suppose is easier for them. Thanks for the reply.

A student here in Spain was asked which of these four words had a different number of syllables from the others.

Wednesday vegetables languages excited

As I have a Scottish accent, I was stumped and embarrassed when she asked me for the answer. All comments welcome.