Teacher Discussion Forums

A lower-level student might worry that this is a double negative. However, the negative adverbs are contained in separate clauses.

Yes, the verbal phrase is an adverb of manner. Verbal phrases that form adverbs of reason always contain infinitives, "I called him long-distance to discuss this issue". Verbal phrases that form adverbs of manner typically contain gerunds and appear to modify the subject as adjectives, "I hurt my ba...

isn't that basically a noun + complement

I would say that it is.

These expressions are metaphors. From the trenches is a World War I expression. http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/slang.htm You could say, 'the linguist abandoned his theories in the trenches of his first teaching position.' It emphasizes real world experience vs. theoretical views. War was not ...

I assume you are teaching non-native English speakers. I would suggest that you start by associating the word "what" with non-human things, e.g. chair, book, dog, etc. Are you making this association with your students' first language? These pronouns and pro-adverbs are all beginner words, but words...

From http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/ Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers have a terrible, deep , dark secret that the article failed to uncover. A CONSERVATIVE FEMALE CANDIDATE FOR THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAS A DEEP , dark secret that could derail her nomination. The sorry pension benefit plan for pre-1977 pl...

I haven't spent much time thinking about these types of double/multiple negations. However, I think an important point might be that the infinitive phrase is complementing the adverb "too" in these structures. Leave out the word "too", and the sentences have no meaning. "No head injury is too trivia...

Fluffy, you obviously have a "judging - intuitive - extrovert" personality. You should only date "sensing - perceiving - introverts" who are water or fire signs and born in the year of the ox or the monkey.

Personality tests don't predict anything about people. http://www.psychometric-success.com/personality-tests/personality-tests-popular-tests.htm as many as 75% of test takers are assigned a different type when they take the Myers-Briggs a second time. Some of the "forced-choice" questions are totall...

This is a complex sentence with an expletive "dummy" pronoun subject. You should replace the pronoun "it" with its "antecedent". Compare, "Whoever takes the letters to the post office doesn't matter, as long as it's today." with "Who takes the letters to the post office doesn't matter, as long as it...

Well, one issue in explaining this combination of tenses is the classification of the phrase "was able to go out". I classify forms of "be able to" as phrasal modal verbs. They are usually synonymous with the modal "can". Some grammars classify "able to go out" as an adjective phrase. Compare "happy...

It is certainly acceptable American English. It's a typical combination of verb tenses for us.

My least favorite grammar topic is the use of the definite article before proper nouns. :? http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/ Geographical use of "the" There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns. Do not use "the" before: names of most countries/territories: I...

"Also" can be used as an adverb of intensity or as a disjunctive adverb. "He also read the book." (adverb of intensity) "Also, he is an associate professor." (disjunctive adverb) This means it can modify a verb or modify a clause. You may be familiar with other clause modifiers, such as "Frankly" an...

You can search "existential pronoun" for more information.


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