Teacher Discussion Forums

Now that the issue of "hits" has been clarified. There remains the philosophical discussion of the role of ESL and grammar teachers. Our students need langage that is widely used and accepted. They do not have the time for esoteric, exotic or controversial usages. They rely on their teachers to give...

Give it up. If your only hope of defending bad English is through an internet search, where anyone can post without editing, then you have no hope at all. In addition, 450,000 hits seems pretty low for a "word". One major story released from the World Bank and repeated on the BBC would generate thou...

of course:

"Did you eat dinner yet? "
- and -
"Did you eat yet?"

are both correct!

But I wouldn't say: "Whatever it is that you need eating."

The original dialogue item is incorrect. Rude or whatever, Tom and Tara are correct. We can understand: "Whatever it is that you need explaining", and it's probably good dialogue for real characters in movies or on TV, but it is actually a combination of two correct forms: "Whatever it is that needs...

When in doubt, write the next few lines: "All of a sudden, there was a bottle breaking on the table." - or - "All of a sudden, a bottle broke on the table." "I looked up. A huge red-faced lumberjack loomed over us. Shards of glass were tearing through the bearded man's throbbing fist. The woman my f...

I'm afraid that I would have to mark both the BBC and the World Bank with big red markers. Both are incorrect. Someone might have "less" money than you. One price could be "less" than another. But, you cannot "lessen" a price. (Unless you are intending to insult someone's prices and theirby diminish...

Try this conversation for sentence two: What will we do? We have a huge mailing going out tomorrow. In two weeks we'll be swamped with BREs. Our office staff is overworked. I don't think we can find enough at-home computer people to fill the gap. Don't worry. Just call Chuck in H.R. outsourcing. The...

"lessening prices" is incorrect
"lowering prices" is incorrect

try "falling prices" or "declining prices" instead

But what do I know. I spend all day "lessoning students."

Thar, that'll larn ya!

Here is how I see it: 1. (correct sentence) "Two genes located physically close together on a chromosome nearly always end up in the same gamete." (closely is incorrect) 2. (correct) "A rain forest receives over 100 CENTIMETERS of rain, distributed throughout the year." (distributes and meters are b...

Ms. Geffner is only relating a general viewpoint held by a society, in this case, Americans in general. It may not be her personal viewpoint, but it is a widely held, cultural mindset in America, and in most of the world. It is probably also true that the "respected" individuals that you mention are...