Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

A teacher in our school taught us the setence below. I'm not sure if that's correct.

He's tall enough to *jump* a ball.
(I think she really mean sto *dunk*?)

Thanks

[bud]

Hi Missdaredevil,

In basketball, you dunk a ball (with an article) and you also jump ball (without an article). A jump ball is when neither team has possession of the ball. One player from each team faces the other. The referee stands nearby and tosses the ball into the air above them. They both jump for the ball and try to hit it to one of their teammates. The chosen players are usually the tallest, so your teacher probably meant:

He's tall enough to jump ball.

That's my best guess, anyway. Hope that helps.

[missdaredevil]

However, it was clearly not what she meant.
Anyway.
Thank you for the otherwise would-mean usage.(Is that phrased correctly? Meaning it otherwise would mean something else?)

[bud]

Ok, then you must be correct about what she meant.

"Thank you for the otherwise would-mean usage." - "Would-be" works better than "would-mean." They have the same construction, but "would-be" is an accepted adjective, while "would-mean" is not.