Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner12]

Hello, teachers!!

(1)
When an English teacher says "What is it?" showing a picture card of an apple, his/her students answer "It is an apple."
---> I understand it.

(2)
When an English teacher says "What is it?" showing a picture card of grapes, his/her students answer "It is grapes."
---> I am not quite sure. I mean, when the teacher shows a card of grapes, I think the teacher should say "What are they?", and the students should say "They are grapes."

I cannot understand (2), so would you explain it?

Thank you in advance.

[Philo Kevetch]

Hello Learner -

I agree 100%.

The teacher should ask 'What are they?'

and the students should answer 'They are grapes.'

If the teacher wants the students to answer the question 'What is it?',

while showing a 'picture card of grapes',

the teacher should first teach the students 'a bunch of grapes'.

It will then be possible to ask and answer the question in your example

#2 correctly.

A question for you Learner...

What if the students answered the question

'It is a picture of grapes.'?

Philo

[learner12]

Dear Philo Kevetch:

Thank you so much for your great explanation. I understood you.

For your question, I think that 'It is a picture of grapes' is OK. This is because the answer to "What is it?" should be "It is ......."

Anyway, your wonderful explanations are boon to me.

Have a nice day!!

[wintersweet]

I can't imagine most native speaker teachers in the US saying "What are they?" in reference to a picture of grapes. Most teachers would say "What is it?" The normal answer would be "Grapes!" or "A bunch of grapes" (since the word for many grapes that are still attached is "a bunch"). There is some inconsistency in English when it comes to small fruit that are usually eaten many at a time. For example, it wouldn't be weird if I received a gift fruit box in the mail, opened it, and said "It's cherries!" I definitely would never say "They're cherries!"
_________________
wintersweet

http://www.readableblog.com/
* Free resources for English language learners *

[Philo Kevetch]

Hello Winter Sweet -

You have made an interesting point.

Yes, you might say 'It's cherries!'.

Some things are 'understood'...not said.

'It's (a box of) cherries!'

Many of the participants in this forum will be sitting exams of various types, for various reasons.

For their purposes, I would suggest they not answer 'It is grapes.' as given in Learners' original example.

Philo

[wintersweet]

That's true. Exams tend to use unrealistic, rules-based English. If I were taking an exam, I'd probably write down "They are grapes" just to be safe. I guess it's a good example of "exam English" compared to "real-world English."
_________________
wintersweet

http://www.readableblog.com/
* Free resources for English language learners *

[lotus]

Hi,

It's hard to predict how anyone would ask or answer a question. It depends very much on the focus and emphasis of the teacher or the student. At any given moment, I might ask the question in a different way (while holding a picture of a fruit or a bunch of fruit).

What is it (a picture of)?
What is this (a picture of)?
What are they?
What are these?
What do you see?

The answers might be:

They're grapes.
It's an apple.
It's a bunch of grapes.
They're a bunch of grapes.
It's a picture of grapes.
It's a picture of an apple.

It all depends on the focus of the speaker or the respondent. They might be different.

As long as there is singular/plural agreement, I think almost any permutation of the above questions and answers would be appropriate in conversational speech. However; what the teacher expects might depend on what the students were taught.


--lotus
_________________
War does not make one great --Yoda

[learner12]

Dear
wintersweet:
Philo Kevetch:
lotus:

I appreciate your real professional explanations. I cannot thank you enough.

Thank you and have a nice weekend.