|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > The verb to face
The verb to face
|
zvonka.rink
|
The verb to face
|
|
Hello, I hope you are enjoying your holidays and that you had a beautiful Christmas. I wonder what you think about the verb face in the sentence: -He is sitting lazily facing the sun, his feet dangling in the water. The man (in the picture) is sitting in the sun with his face turned down, looking into the water. Would you use the verb face? Thank you for your help. |
26 Dec 2015
|
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
If the front of his body is directed toward the sun, then "facing" is correct. It isn �t quite the same as "with his face turned toward the sun". Bruce |
26 Dec 2015
|
|
|
Apodo
|
|
The man (in the picture) is sitting in the sun with his face turned down, looking into the water. Would you use the verb face? If he is looking down into the water I wouldn �t use the verb face. Facing indicates the whole body turned that way. He would be facing the water, but you need more information to show he is looking down. He is sitting in the sun looking down into the water. My seat in the restaurant was facing the water so I had a good view of the boats. I was facing the water so I didn �t see her walking past on the path behind me. |
26 Dec 2015
|
|
|
zvonka.rink
|
|
Dear Bruce and Apodo, Thank you. I expected such an answer but the problem with my students is that they think that if they find the entry face the sun in a dictionary, that is a sufficient proof that this is OK in this sentence. |
27 Dec 2015
|
|
|
Apodo
|
|
I had another look at your sentence. If the front of his body is towards the sun, then I think �facing the sun � is ok. His face doesn �t have to be actually directed at the sun. . |
27 Dec 2015
|
|
|
cunliffe
|
|
However, the addition of the adverb �lazily � makes it sound as if he is actually looking at the sun, this facing the sun is something that he is actually doing, rather than being in a position where he is facing the sun as in his body is turned towards it. It �s just a minor quibble, but if his head is down, how is he lazily facing the sun?
|
27 Dec 2015
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
I agree with Lynne. Adding "lazily" changes the emphasis, so that the sentence doesn �t make sense if his face isn �t pointed toward the sun. Bruce |
27 Dec 2015
|
|
|
zvonka.rink
|
|
To make it clear, the sentence I expected is: He is sitting lazily in the sun, his feet dangling in the water. (The Bathers by Seurat) The fact is that the boy is not looking at /facing the sun but is looking at something that is happening in the river. If you look at the shadows you can see that his face is darker that his back, which makes you think that the sun is above his head. Facing is just the word used by a student, however, I don �t think it is the word that can be used in this case. |
27 Dec 2015
|
|
|
cunliffe
|
Ahem... Well, now I �ve looked at the picture, it seems to me that he is lazily facing the sun... 
Can it be that the artist hasn�t quite got the shadows right? Interesting! If it�s not copyright, I feel a ws coming on...  |
27 Dec 2015
|
|
|
Jayho
|
|
Lovely painting. When you look at the painting, he is actually facing the sun.
I don�t think that he�s really looking down into the water; he�s really staring into space or daydreaming, or perhaps contemplating, thinking, reflecting on something. He has that look of being in another world, a world of his own.
I think the sentence is ok: He is sitting lazily facing the sun, his feet dangling in the water.
Cheers
Jayho |
27 Dec 2015
|
|
|
zvonka.rink
|
Thank you all even though I see we don �t actually agree. If the boy in the picture was "facing the sun", he should have face (and his upper front part) on his back or is it ,as Cunliffe has put it, the painter who hasn �t quite get the shadows right  |
28 Dec 2015
|
|
1
2
Next >
|
