|
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 > help me please
help me please
|
|
yanogator
|
|
Les �s explanation is thorough (as always) and correct.
Bruce |
26 Sep 2013
|
|
|
Jayho
|
|
Les, I �ve missed your excellent explanations. Welcome back! |
26 Sep 2013
|
|
|
|
|
Terri Lawson
|
|
Hi Les, a very hearty welcome back to you - we �ve all missed your brilliance!!!! |
26 Sep 2013
|
|
|
KoreGuney
|
Woods is a correct answer too. It means a � forest � in this sentence (actually smaller than a forest) used as an uncountable noun. So, woods is not plural like forests. For plural I �ve seen usages like �wooded areas �.
The woods near our village is beautiful.
The wooded areas near our village are beautiful.
|
27 Sep 2013
|
|
|
almaz
|
|
Agreed, KoreGuney � most usage guides consider singular woods to be a relatively well-defined forested area ("larger than a grove, smaller than a forest") although plural woods can refer to the forest generally. |
27 Sep 2013
|
|
|
cunliffe
|
|
KoreGuney is right about everything except the agreement. Woods are.
Hello, dear Les, you have been really missed; wonderful to see you posting and of course, your explanation is both thorough and absolutely correct.
Lynne x |
27 Sep 2013
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
Dictionary.com agrees with Les
| woods (wʊdz) |
|
| � pl n |
| 1. |
closely packed trees forming a forest or wood, esp a specific one |
|
27 Sep 2013
|
|
|
almaz
|
|
Oooooh, Lynne...careful! Here �s O �Conner and Kellerman from the excellent Grammarphobia blog on singular woods (quoting Merriam-Webster �s Dictionary of English Usage):
However, Merriam-Webster�s says the plural �woods� is sometimes used in the same way as the singular �wood��that is, as a delineated forested area of medium size. When �woods� is used this way, according to M-W, �it is usually (though not always) construed as singular.� Full article here. Having said that, it �s not a particularly common usage in the UK ( a woods), as far as I know.
|
27 Sep 2013
|
|
|
ueslteacher
|
|
Hello, Alex, You always manage to go beyond regular usage and dig deeper and present us with very enriching linguistic nuances. I would NEVER have thought that it is possible to use woods in singular. BTW to my mind, neither did the author of the test/exercise from which this sentence is taken. What would you say to your students who you were preparing for an exam? Do you think we should share all the possible choices there are with our students, or will this confuse them or even cause a lower grade on an exam? Sophia
|
27 Sep 2013
|
|
< Previous
1
2
3
Next >
|
