Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Freaka]

We ______ that concert.

A) were disappointed by
B) were disappointed of
C) were disappointing
D) were disappointing in

The correct answer is clearly A. But if your student chose B, how would you explain to your student why A is the correct answer and B is the wrong answer?

________ they are widely perceived as gentle creatures, hippopotamuses are responsible for more human deaths in Africa than any other animal.

A) Despite of
B) Even though
C) In spite of
D) Nonetheless

The correct answer is clearly B. But if your student chose D, how would you explain to your student as why B is the correct answer and D is the wrong answer?

Mr. Johnson has lived here ________ ten years.

A) for
B) during
C) since
D) while

The correct answer is clearly A. But if your student chose C, how would you explain to your student why A is the correct answer and C is the wrong answer?

Do you have __________ to do this afternoon?

A) many work
B) much work
C) many works
D) much works

The correct answer is clearly B. But if your student chose A, how would you explain to your student why B is the correct answer and A is the wrong answer?

[Ozabout7or8]

Hi Freaka, there is a discussion board called "Help Centre" under the students section of this site. This is a place where students post questions such as yours and ESL teachers such as myself and others post answers.

I think your post is more appropriate there. You will have to apply to be a member of that board tho and it will take about 24 hours.

For your questions tho...

1. "be" denotes the correct causal relationship, but "of" and "in" do not. Draw a picture showing that the concert causes the disappointment.
2. Nonetheless must follow the clause it refers to, it cannot start a sentence, ever.
3. "Since" refers to a specific point in time which ten years isn't;
4. Because work is an infinitive count noun (can refer to more than one instance of work) therefore cannot be used with "many" which must be used with non-count nouns such as "truck" or "man".

[Freaka]

[Ozabout7or8]

Yeh, you will need to expand on the explanations using pictures and examples.

1. Draw a picture and show the of and in do not denote a causal relationship FROM the concert to the person. By (subject) implies that the subject caused something. This will also teach the student the other uses of by something like the "work was done BY him" and they wil understand graphically the he did that work.
2. Nonetheless - just tell them it can never start a sentence, and it must follow the clause it is referring to. Tell them it is pretty much the same as but and this also must follow the clause it is contradicting/csontrasting.
3. Since - Show students example references to a specific point in time and show that this is OK to go with since, but references to open-ended time periods cannot. Give them some examples to check understanding.
4. Work - I would draw up a table with count nouns on one side and non-count nounds on the other.

Students will understand quite easily, especially if you use diagrams and tables to show what can work and what cannot in English. I am taught the same way at the Korean School I go to and it is pretty easy to understand. Grammar is a set of rules and students do not have to understand exactly why something is like it is, but just what is the rule and when to apply it.

[Freaka]