Teacher Discussion Forums

I don't think I ever use feet; I may do so sometimes but foot is definitely my standard.

Heads up English Onestop English BBC I use these sites. Heads up is for more advanced students and is free; the BBC has a lot to offer and is also free; Onestop is from Macmillan publishers and has a fairly good level range but some things you have to pay for. !Check the Onestop lessons before using...

ouyang - thanks for taking the trouble; all very helpful stuff. The thing is I find that I generally have less trouble teaching conditionals and wishes, etc., when I avoid the subjunctive. It is a similar example, given by a colleague, which led to the questions about subjunctive sentences in the fi...

ouyang - in answer to your question, I could say " If I was the boss, I would fire him", which, as far as I can tell, doesn't use the subjunctive, does it?

"For example, if I have a student who wants to know a good way to practice English out of class, and I say "watch some English movies with the subtitles turned on", is that good advice?"


My feeling is this is OK as long as the subtitles are in English.

Hello ouyang "Macavity, are you suggesting that the subjunctive is only necessary in conditionals because modals like "should" can express a similar meaning?" I'm not sure that the subjunctive is necessary at all in conditionals, though I accept that people do use it this way. "It's my understanding...

Thanks lolwhites, I can see the difference in your examples, and I think many people would insert "should" in the second sentence: "I insist that my students should be hardworking". Also I see the register angle you mention in ouyang's examples; but what I'm a little in the dark about is the questio...

Cheers ouyang,

but what's the reason for using the subjunctive in your example? If it's not some sort of "unreal" meaning as in a conditional sentence, what purpose does it serve? What would you say is the difference between " I insist that he leaves immediately" and your example sentence?

Thanks.

Hello boffins, a very nice and keen student asked me today what the difference between a subjunctive sentence and a conditional sentence was. I told her not to be silly, that I'm only an English teacher - how should I know :lol: So go on then, is there a difference between subjunctive and conditiona...

"Not everything that glitters is gold" seems to have a similar sense.

Yawn....

Have you thought of posting this tosh on the literature forum? They'll love you over there!

Hey Mikey, you wrote: But I'm sure you clearly remember your last day at school and what you learned there. No, I had tonsilitis that week! I usually take the irregular verb form where it's available because it feels more natural to me; as Woodcutter says, a British thing. Perhaps the reason that I ...

The thing about tests is that the result is only an indication of the level of ability on the day the test was taken. I can`t remember even being at uni let alone what I learnt there, if anything really

"I am wondering if this is a realistic way of making a living."



Best joke I've heard in ages! Have you heard the one about Berlusconi, The Quenn and the horse's hind quarters?