Teacher Discussion Forums

[Itasan]

Are the following used and do they mean the
same thing as below?
1. He a big devil!
2. He a big fool!

a. He is a big devil.
b. He is a big fool.

Thank you.

[keith]

1 and 2 are grammatically incorrect as they do not contain a verb.

a and b are correct.

You may hear 1 and 2 used as slang, and in this case, the meaning would be the same as a and b.

Keith
http://www.eslbase.com

[emile]

"He a big fool"

You will hear sentences like this spoken in the black community in America. Some people call this way of speaking 'Ebonics' and are trying to push for it to be recognised as a legitimate dialect of English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics

One aspect of ebonics is to leave out the 'be' verb:

He a big fool.
You wrong!
Where you at?





my site: www.roadtogrammar.com

[sbourque]

You will also hear this used by Asian speakers. At least, I heard it in China, and a Vietnamese stand-up comic uses this kind of language when he's doing a Vietnamese accent.