Teacher Discussion Forums

Which do you prefer for the blank of (1), in or for ? (1) This summer is the hottest [ ] the past 10 years. Thank you for your help Seiichi MYOGA It strikes me as odd that Present tense "is" and the Past time adverbial "past 10 years" are compatible. Wouldn't a Perfect verb express it better? (2) I...

:D I like your reasons for adopting 'pattern' over 'structure. 28 pages :!: :shock: I've yet to find my way to the Venn. :oops: Sorry. Nominal objects can be direct (DO) or indirect (IO), for example, I gave her (IO) the book (DO). They can also function as object complements (OC), They call him (DO...

B. Venn diagram of English Verb patterns sounds nice. 1. Verb+Question word+to+Infinitive decide who to employ decide what to do Hmm. Isn't it, decide on something : verb + nominal object? By the way, 'who' and 'what' are called interrogatives . :wink: 2. Verb+Object+Question word+Subject+Verb Ask ...

This is your standard smoke-and-mirrors escape, Shun. You have done nothing other than pontificate on a one-sentence basis until this point. Why move the target now? And what is the bold type supposed to prove? I'd tend to agree with you on the contextualisation point - albeit for reasons not conne...

Hello, Cas, you are here. Welcome! It seems that I cannot post new topic s in UsingEnglish.com anymore, I don't know why. Maybe you can tell me? Perhaps I pushed the wrong buttons, but I really don't know. That's news to me. :o I'd try again if I were you. :) ...Present Perfect can be said word for...

I still remember that, in one of discussions, the main point is whether "go to buy" is one action or two, using one tense or two tenses. That's a very interesting issue. In my humble opinion, given that a great many speakers have been known to utter, "go and buy"--albeit erroneously in terms of gra...

Well, if it's called a standard dialect, which, if memory serves me correctly, it is called, then it's a dialect, right?

David Crystal , expert on English, states that two forms of "or" exist. One of these is the exclusive "or": You can eat now or later, but not both. And the inclusive "or": You can eat now or later-I don't mind. He then states that the "or" in the latter example approaches "and" in meaning. this sta...

William wrote in asking if it's grammatical: 1. These uninteresting topics will hold back the students from learning English. Lorikeet added: "Those uninteresting topics will hold the students back from learning English" sounds better than "Those uninteresting topics will hold back the students from...

Do you say "Please confirm RECEIPT/RECEPTION of my message" in English?

Actually, I've never seen nor heard of either being used.

"Please confirm that you have received my message."

All the best,

Cas

Well, without thinking about it, I'd say, "Yeah, I use 'so' and 'very' as synonyms; but, after thinking about it, I'd say that 'so' and 'very' are different: She's pretty. She's very pretty. She's so very pretty. (to the extent of being almost beautiful.) It's small. It's very small. It's so very sm...

Hilary Sensei wrote: I understand that because of the language structure of Japanese, many students will say "I am boring" when they mean "I am bored". Has anyone encountered this problem? Any suggestions for tackling this communication error? With my college students, some years back, I introduced...

Is there really a subjective form of a verb, and if so, wouldn't it be "me" or "I". Hehe. Just rattling bones.

Great addition

I completely agree. However, if you're going to axe the terminology at least provide better alternatives. :wink: I'm not sure how the Scots TV show relates. Sorry :oops: If I don't understand what you're saying, Casio, it doesn't mean your pronunciation should be deemed "unacceptable", does it? Well...

Well, one way to determine whether a given pronunciation is either acceptable or unacceptable is to listen to speakers, both native and non-native who speak your own native language. If said speaker's pronunication is intelligible (able to be understood), then her pronunciation is deemed acceptable....