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chinatimes
Joined: 27 May 2012
Posts: 478
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 Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:41 am Post subject: |
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| Alright, it was just that your responses of "Yea? And?" and "Oh yea? How?" seemed argumentative. |
Ok, I'll explain. You have to read both the comments and the replies.
Denim-Maniac: Complete the following sentence using the correct form of the verb in brackets. I have .............. (to study) English for 5 years.
chinatimes: Yea? And? (as in "Yea, I understand the problem, and how do you propose we solve it?") It would make more sense to say "but" if I spelled out the sentence. But "Yea? And?" is also an inviting response we give when we want to get more information. We want the person to continue. At this point, I had no idea of the possibilities nor did I know what Denim's ideas were.
Denim-Maniac: It can be two possible answers!'.
chinatimes: Oh yea? How? (I saw 3, maybe more), so I wanted to know which 2 he had isolated. Perhaps the 3rd I had was incorrect or maybe I thought of an additional possibility.
At this point we both had some ideas and I was trying to determine which ones seemed more valid than the others. |
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choudoufu
Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 3325
Location: Mao-berry, PRC
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| Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:03 am Post subject: |
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read the hole post, please........
| probably another chinese spy wrote: |
Complete the following sentence using the correct form of the verb in
brackets. I have .............. (to study) English for 5 years.
................
.......the entire lesson was about the use of progressive forms, and that
each student was given a verbal instruction prior to the task to complete
each answer using the progressive form where possible.
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it'snotmyfault
Joined: 14 May 2012
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:59 am Post subject: |
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One of the students asked me this week:
Which one is correct?
We will fly at 30,000 feet
We will be flying at 30,000 feet
It's a question in their Chinese text book and they have to pick the "right" answer. I've no idea, they both sound OK to me. They both express certainty about the future.
If I had to choose I'd say the second one, purely because that's how I often hear pilots describe flights. It's less of a statement and has more of a put your passengers at ease feel to it. A lame answer maybe!!
But from a grammar point of view, I don't know, would more context help?
Last edited by it'snotmyfault on Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Javelin of Radiance
Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West
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| Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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| looks like a future continuous to me. Will be + -ing. in the middle of doing something at a specified time in the future. |
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Denim-Maniac
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238
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| Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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More context required I think it'snotmyfault.
Normally, but not always, the question will be part of a chapter / topic, or part of a series of questions. That might give an indication of which answer they expect the student to choose.
Both can be grammatically correct. I would guess that the future continuous answer is the answer expected by the book / author etc. Generally, Future 'will' is often taught as having the function of a spontaneous action rather than a confirmed plan and so is the least likely option in the question posed. |
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wangdaning
Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 3154
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| Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:23 am Post subject: |
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| chinatimes wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Alright, it was just that your responses of "Yea? And?" and "Oh yea? How?" seemed argumentative. |
Ok, I'll explain. You have to read both the comments and the replies.
Denim-Maniac: Complete the following sentence using the correct form of the verb in brackets. I have .............. (to study) English for 5 years.
chinatimes: Yea? And? (as in "Yea, I understand the problem, and how do you propose we solve it?") It would make more sense to say "but" if I spelled out the sentence. But "Yea? And?" is also an inviting response we give when we want to get more information. We want the person to continue. At this point, I had no idea of the possibilities nor did I know what Denim's ideas were.
Denim-Maniac: It can be two possible answers!'.
chinatimes: Oh yea? How? (I saw 3, maybe more), so I wanted to know which 2 he had isolated. Perhaps the 3rd I had was incorrect or maybe I thought of an additional possibility.
At this point we both had some ideas and I was trying to determine which ones seemed more valid than the others. |
And you just explained why I asked if you had read the post. The actual idea of the post was not in the question. There are more than three possibilities. The idea was that answering the question is often part of a lesson in which the students need to use a certain tense, or other criteria, for their answer.
I think this is an important note for all teachers. When a student asks a grammar question, reply with "in what situation?"
"Can I use the first person in a report?" What is the situation? |
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Mr. English
Joined: 25 Nov 2009
Posts: 298
Location: Nakuru, Kenya
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| Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:36 am Post subject: |
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We will fly at 30,000 feet
We will be flying at 30,000 feet [during our flight]
Grammar Express (Fuchs & Bonner) says that future continuous is used "to talk about things that will be in progress at a specific time in the future" [Robo will be taking the dog for a walk at noon] and plain old future "will" is used, among other things, "to talk about information about the future" [Each lecture will last for one hour]. If you assume the bracketed phrase above then the continuous form is fine, but "will" alone is fine too. |
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it'snotmyfault
Joined: 14 May 2012
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:49 am Post subject: |
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| Mr. English wrote: |
We will fly at 30,000 feet
We will be flying at 30,000 feet [during our flight]
Grammar Express (Fuchs & Bonner) says that future continuous is used "to talk about things that will be in progress at a specific time in the future" [Robo will be taking the dog for a walk at noon] and plain old future "will" is used, among other things, "to talk about information about the future" [Each lecture will last for one hour]. If you assume the bracketed phrase above then the continuous form is fine, but "will" alone is fine too. |
Thanks for that. I'll just give her a breakdown of the grammar and she can choose for herself.
I agree with Denim that more info is needed though, such as, is it from a lesson on future continuous.
Thanks for the replies though. |
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tsinita
Joined: 12 Mar 2013
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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| choudoufu wrote: |
read the hole post, please........
| probably another chinese spy wrote: |
Complete the following sentence using the correct form of the verb in
brackets. I have .............. (to study) English for 5 years.
................
.......the entire lesson was about the use of progressive forms, and that
each student was given a verbal instruction prior to the task to complete
each answer using the progressive form where possible.
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TO STUDY is not a VERB
to + Simple verb form is an INFINITIVE and is used as a Noun. |
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muffintop
Joined: 07 Jan 2013
Posts: 803
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| Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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| tsinita wrote: |
TO STUDY is not a VERB
to + Simple verb form is an INFINITIVE and is used as a Noun. |
Really?
I am going to eat an apple.
So...to eat is a noun? |
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Denim-Maniac
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238
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| Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:47 am Post subject: |
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| tsinita wrote: |
TO STUDY is not a VERB
to + Simple verb form is an INFINITIVE and is used as a Noun. |
I did write something else but I thought I would edit it because In the context of the whole thread, it doesnt matter and you're missing the point.
Useful first post though.  |
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latefordinner
Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Posts: 973
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| Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 11:22 am Post subject: |
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I have some material that one day a student may bring to you with a question that is something like this:
Complete the following sentence using the correct form of the verb in brackets. I have .............. (to study) English for 5 years. |
Two possible contexts.
1 I was caught stealing a kiss from the policeman's daughter, and was given a choice: either marry her, or study English for 5 years. Boy did I make the wrong decision! Now I have to study English.
2a I was caught stealing a kiss from the policeman's daughter, and was given a choice: either marry her, or study English for 5 years. Boy, did I make the wrong decision! After trying to answer a thousand questions like this, I repented and begged to marry her. For a while there, I had to study English.
2b but she wouldn't have me, so I had to study English for 5 years. And now I teach it. |
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