| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
kimchi story
Joined: 23 Nov 2006
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:22 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
| jennateacher wrote: |
| Years in the question, year in the answer if only one, years if two or more. Same for all countable nouns. |
As in: How many years old is the little sprog?
As an alternative: Is that little drooling chicken one year old? And still as ugly as bigfoot's nutsack. Hope that works itself out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
egrog1717
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Privateer wrote: |
^ Ditto for restaurants. McDonald's etc
| oskinny1 wrote: |
| little mixed girl wrote: |
i think that either one can be used.
i'me very sure that i've heard both from native english speakers. |
Nope. Years are countable. It was a native speaker who asked the question. Lots of native speakers make mistakes when speaking, for example- "There's glasses on the table." |
I don't think you can call that a mistake because it's common usage. I tell students that in contracted form it's ok to use 'there's' with plural countable nouns too. |
I student teach at a high school in Canada right now, and you wouldn't believe how many times a student has written "u" or "2" in the place of "you" and "to/too/two"... Just because it is in common usage, does not make it right...
Not sure where you would ever use "There's'"... There is' glasses on the table?... You're not discussing a possessive so why the second ' ? Unless you were saying: That glass is there's'... But that would be Their's
Should be: "There are glasses on the table"... One cannot use "is" with a plural... (much like the distinction between much and many I was referencing earlier) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
egrog1717
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kimchi story wrote: |
| jennateacher wrote: |
| Years in the question, year in the answer if only one, years if two or more. Same for all countable nouns. |
As in: How many years old is the little sprog?
As an alternative: Is that little drooling chicken one year old? And still as ugly as bigfoot's nutsack. Hope that works itself out. |
Another example to prove the point (much like the pencil example earlier)
He is one month old
He is two months old
Sally had a brother who was twelve years old
Jane had a sister who was one year old |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
oskinny1
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| egrog1717 wrote: |
Not sure where you would ever use "There's'"... There is' glasses on the table?... You're not discussing a possessive so why the second ' ? Unless you were saying: That glass is there's'... But that would be Their's |
He was saying "there's" but wrote 'there's', maybe he couldn't find the quotation mark key (which can happen with non-English keyboards.
| Quote: |
| Should be: "There are glasses on the table"... One cannot use "is" with a plural... (much like the distinction between much and many I was referencing earlier) |
I don't think anybody was arguing this point. The point he was making that it was common usage so it is ok to use "there's" for a plural...which is complete crap.
Why would one ever teach students incorrect English? I'd be quite hacked off if I found out my Japanese teacher, who is getting a lot of money from me, was teaching me incorrect usage. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| oskinny1 wrote: |
| egrog1717 wrote: |
Not sure where you would ever use "There's'"... There is' glasses on the table?... You're not discussing a possessive so why the second ' ? Unless you were saying: That glass is there's'... But that would be Their's |
He was saying "there's" but wrote 'there's', maybe he couldn't find the quotation mark key (which can happen with non-English keyboards.
| Quote: |
| Should be: "There are glasses on the table"... One cannot use "is" with a plural... (much like the distinction between much and many I was referencing earlier) |
I don't think anybody was arguing this point. The point he was making that it was common usage so it is ok to use "there's" for a plural...which is complete crap.
Why would one ever teach students incorrect English? I'd be quite hacked off if I found out my Japanese teacher, who is getting a lot of money from me, was teaching me incorrect usage. |
Does anyone else find this attitude bizarre, that if it is common, it is therefore correct? Are there no such things as "common mistakes?" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
missionshk
Joined: 09 May 2007
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I always say "years" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:20 am Post subject: |
|
|
^ It's not a mistake if it's not said out of ignorance, and maybe I'm wrong but I don't believe 'There's' followed by a plural noun is said out of ignorance. It's not a point I generally feel is appropriate to raise in class but, if it comes up, I'd hesitate to correct a student for saying something a native speaker would naturally say.
There are certain expressions in common usage which I do feel are said out of ignorance and would therefore be comfortable correcting, e.g. 'momentarily' to mean 'in a moment' rather than 'for a moment' (not that this ever comes up in class but just for example). I guess you can accuse me of subjectivity.
Seeing as we spend most of the time hammering out the basics not discussing the finer points, it's moot. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
egrog1717
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| oskinny1 wrote: |
He was saying "there's" but wrote 'there's', maybe he couldn't find the quotation mark key (which can happen with non-English keyboards. |
Ohhhh, that makes more sense  lol...
| Quote: |
Why would one ever teach students incorrect English? I'd be quite hacked off if I found out my Japanese teacher, who is getting a lot of money from me, was teaching me incorrect usage. |
Agreed |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
EzeWong
Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
He is one year old
"Year" is not plural (nor possessive lol, so I don't know where that hyphen came from whoever suggested that) when you only have one year to work with. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| EzeWong wrote: |
He is one year old
"Year" is not plural (nor possessive lol, so I don't know where that hyphen came from whoever suggested that) when you only have one year to work with. |
The hyphen comes from it becoming an adjective.
http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/040201.htm |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
little mixed girl
Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Location: shin hyesung's bed~
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
| egrog1717 wrote: |
I student teach at a high school in Canada right now, and you wouldn't believe how many times a student has written "u" or "2" in the place of "you" and "to/too/two"... Just because it is in common usage, does not make it right...
Not sure where you would ever use "There's'"... There is' glasses on the table?... You're not discussing a possessive so why the second ' ? Unless you were saying: That glass is there's'... But that would be Their's
Should be: "There are glasses on the table"... One cannot use "is" with a plural... (much like the distinction between much and many I was referencing earlier) |
i think that there's a difference between what is ok on the internet and what is ok when writing a proper graded paper.
i think that you're looking to closely at whether the "s" at the end of the word is a plural, possessive, etc.
the "s" is just there.
i don't think that "he's one years old" is wrong in spoken english. it might be incorrect in formal written english, however.
"there's 5 glasses on the table" doesn't sound any stranger than "there're 5 glasses on the table".
language is always looking for the term that's easier to pronounce.
that's why sounds from old english have dropped.
and why "there's 5 glasses on the table" is easier and more natural than "there're 5 glasses..."
say it to yourself and see!
i think that the "there/their/they're" usage is much more important than whether or not someone would tag an "s" onto year or something. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
| little mixed girl wrote: |
i don't think that "he's one years old" is wrong in spoken english. it might be incorrect in formal written english, however. |
OK, well before you teach english (sic), please read a basic grammar book, because you are absolutely wrong. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
greedy_bones
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
Location: not quite sure anymore
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
Another grammar question for you:
Who teaches "they", and who teaches "he or she"?
My textbooks all say they is incorrect, but who actually says "he or she"? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bogey666
Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Location: Korea, the ass free zone
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:49 am Post subject: |
|
|
| greedy_bones wrote: |
Another grammar question for you:
Who teaches "they", and who teaches "he or she"?
My textbooks all say they is incorrect, but who actually says "he or she"? |
????
what are you asking?
he/she (singular) teachES
they (plural) teach. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bogey666
Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Location: Korea, the ass free zone
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
| oskinny1 wrote: |
| egrog1717 wrote: |
Not sure where you would ever use "There's'"... There is' glasses on the table?... You're not discussing a possessive so why the second ' ? Unless you were saying: That glass is there's'... But that would be Their's |
He was saying "there's" but wrote 'there's', maybe he couldn't find the quotation mark key (which can happen with non-English keyboards.
| Quote: |
| Should be: "There are glasses on the table"... One cannot use "is" with a plural... (much like the distinction between much and many I was referencing earlier) |
I don't think anybody was arguing this point. The point he was making that it was common usage so it is ok to use "there's" for a plural...which is complete crap.
Why would one ever teach students incorrect English? I'd be quite hacked off if I found out my Japanese teacher, who is getting a lot of money from me, was teaching me incorrect usage. |
yeah.... you cannot say there's too many problems.
Even though you will find 90% of native speakers saying it precisely like that. I have even caught myself making this mistake when b.s.ing with friends in the US.
but it is INCORRECT.
it's our responsibility to teach PROPER English. Once it's mastered to a certain extent, they can take their chances with our "native" careless mistakes, slang, etc.
and they can give interviews saying things like "we played good" and all the writers will quote it that way precisely and no one will blink an eye. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
