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geaaronson
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City
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 Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:40 pm Post subject: dunhhhh? grammar, not again!! |
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With my most recent new topics post re:tongue twissssters I was hoping to get the posts back to what we do best, namely teach English. Now to that end, I will add this new topic, namely, those most difficult grammar points that people slip up on.
And so I am soliciting exercise questions that would be difficult even for an experienced native speaker. Here goes.
Do we say?
I am he or I am him
She gave herself her own expensive birthday present or She gave to herself her own expensive birthday present or She gave her own expensive birthday present?
He gave him his own key back or He gave his own key back.
So far, easy. Anyone come across more difficult exercises? Bring them on. |
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wildchild
Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 519
Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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| have you studied Syntax? It would help you to analyze these sentences. |
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notamiss
Joined: 20 Jun 2007
Posts: 908
Location: El 5o pino del la CDMX
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:28 pm Post subject: Re: dunhhhh? grammar, not again!! |
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| geaaronson wrote: |
I am he or I am him |
According to the prescriptivists, we should say the first, but the second is pretty well embedded in the language as she is spoke.
| geaaronson wrote: |
| She gave herself her own expensive birthday present or She gave to herself her own expensive birthday present or She gave her own expensive birthday present? |
The first is clearest. The second is awkward and not the way it would normally be said. If we worded it that way, we would put "to herself" at the end of the sentence, but it would still not be very natural. The third suggests a different meaning; i.e. that she gave the present away.
| geaaronson wrote: |
He gave him his own key back or He gave his own key back.
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Either can be said, but they imply different meanings. In the first, I interpret the key as belonging to the sentence's object, and in the second as belonging to the subject, although both are ambiguous.
OK, teachers, how did I do? |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject: Re: dunhhhh? grammar, not again!! |
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| geaaronson wrote: |
With my most recent new topics post re:tongue twissssters I was hoping to get the posts back to what we do best, namely teach English. Now to that end, I will add this new topic, namely, those most difficult grammar points that people slip up on.
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This forum is to discuss jobs in teaching English. You know which schools are good, bad, which cities have the most jobs, what qualification you need to work in what country, etc.
Dave's have another section with forums to talk about things like grammar. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:59 am Post subject: Re: dunhhhh? grammar, not again!! |
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| MELEE wrote: |
| This forum is to discuss jobs in teaching English. You know which schools are good, bad, which cities have the most jobs, what qualification you need to work in what country, etc. |
Not to mention such on-topic threads as 'Coffee' or 'Should I pretend to be Catholic?"... |
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notamiss
Joined: 20 Jun 2007
Posts: 908
Location: El 5o pino del la CDMX
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:30 am Post subject: Re: dunhhhh? grammar, not again!! |
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| ls650 wrote: |
Not to mention such on-topic threads as 'Coffee' or 'Should I pretend to be Catholic?"... |
...or dogs, ferrets and formas migratorias.
Actually, if a relative newcomer may be permitted to differ, I'd say these subjects are relevant to the experience of living in Mexico, and (as evidenced in some other current threads) life isn't all inside the classroom; the total experience has to be livable for a successful stay or life here (as the case may be). So I'd consider the coffee and Catholic threads quite relevant; especially the latter since it pertains to Jetgirly's relationship with her administration and students. |
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Samantha
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: Mexican Riviera
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Oreen Scott
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
Posts: 179
Location: Oaxaca, Mexico
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:19 pm Post subject: Re: dunhhhh? grammar, not again!! |
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| notamiss wrote: |
| ls650 wrote: |
Not to mention such on-topic threads as 'Coffee' or 'Should I pretend to be Catholic?"... |
...or dogs, ferrets and formas migratorias.
Actually, if a relative newcomer may be permitted to differ, I'd say these subjects are relevant to the experience of living in Mexico, and (as evidenced in some other current threads) life isn't all inside the classroom; the total experience has to be livable for a successful stay or life here (as the case may be). So I'd consider the coffee and Catholic threads quite relevant; especially the latter since it pertains to Jetgirly's relationship with her administration and students. |
Well said. I would say you took the words right out of my mouth, except it wouldn't be true because you expressed my sentiment far better than I could have. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Uh oh. I thought I'd put out that the boundaries on what is or isn't appropriate for this forum tend to rather blurred. It wasn't my intent to offend. |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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For the record
I think all things related to immigration, finding housing, the Mexican lifestyle, what to bring or not to bring, what you can buy and where, what to do in your free time, ARE related to getting a job and keeping a job in Mexico.
But there are other forums to talk about what goes on in EFL classrooms all over the world as really those topics are not related to Mexico.
There is also another website that has general teaching forums with no referece to job specific posts. |
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GueroPaz
Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 216
Location: Thailand or Mexico
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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Could we however, mention how teaching English in Mexico affects our own use of English? For example, this use of standard English "She gave herself her own expensive birthday present" is correct, except that it is unclear. "She gave to herself her own expensive birthday present" resembles the Spanish use of 'to' when the indirect object is personal, as well as sounding more reflexive than normal English.
I find that even when teaching non-Spanish native speakers, it helps to explain how English limits the use of -self more than Spanish does. |
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notamiss
Joined: 20 Jun 2007
Posts: 908
Location: El 5o pino del la CDMX
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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| (I mean this in a positive, supportive way, not a critical way.) Perhaps the best place for discussions about how Spanish vs. English contrasts and comparisons affect teaching would be the general Latin American forum. |
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