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ESL forum >
Ask for help > BELIEFS OR BELIEVES???
BELIEFS OR BELIEVES???
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roxette
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BELIEFS OR BELIEVES???
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hi everybody!!
I have a doubt and I �d like to read your wise opinions or ideas..please
I �m still studying at university (I also work as a teacher in a private school) and I got a teacher that always makes me doubt...
She says that according to the "ROYAL ENGLISH ACADEMY" about ten years ago declared that the noun BELIEFS in the plural form could then be BELIEVES....  She said that because of the plural changing form of a noun : -F= VES
then she crossed my word BELIEFS by BELIEVES in a test  NOW I �ve surfed the net and I can �t find a thing about the "ROYAL ENGLISH ACADEMY" nor about that new form of spelling...
the worst thing of all...is that in her class I can �y contradict her...She gets angry easily (she did in fact, when I asked her about BELIEVES)
please I need your help!!!
thanks in advance.
Greetings from Peru!!!!  |
20 May 2010
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a isabel
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I would say"beliefs"-noun he believes=verb.
Let �s wait for more comments!
Hugs!
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20 May 2010
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Zora
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I think your teacher is pulling a power trip... "beliefs" is the plural noun form. "Believes" is the verb form. And truthfully, I have never heard of such an institution... if anything a good dictionary will suffice to "prove" you are right. It is beliefs and not "believes".
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21 May 2010
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L. habach
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Let her be angry then. I agree with both my colleagues (belief plural is beliefs) |
21 May 2010
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licatri
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that �s right..the plural form is "beliefs"
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21 May 2010
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aliciapc
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One more who agrees with all the colleagues here ... |
21 May 2010
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melahel7
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Never heard of � �believes � �... But I believe your teacher demonstrates a poor mastery of the english language. My guess is that she �s self-conscious about it and that �s why she �s throwing fits. Keep questioning, that �s how you become less ignorant. |
21 May 2010
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lshorton99
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I absolutely agree with all the above comments. The plural of the noun �belief � is �beliefs �. �Believes � is the third person singular in the present simple of the verb �believe �. Were you to write �believes � as the plural noun form in any external exam, for example First Certificate (Paper 3 has a Word Formation section where this type of issue could likely arise) you would not get a mark.
I �d like to add that, unlike many other countries, England does not have a �Royal Academy � responsible for updating the English language. There is, in fact, not an �official body � that does this, although the makers of the Oxford Dictionary are generally considered our experts. I �m not great at recognising flags - are you from Peru? If you are from a Spanish speaking country then it would actually explain your teacher �s remark. Spain does have the �Real Academia Espa�ola � which is responsible for regulating the Spanish Language. Translated it would be the �Royal Spanish Academy �. Someone ignorant of the slightly more flexible approach adopted within the English community might assume that the equivalent would be the �Royal English Academy � and then cite it to explain lapses in their own knowledge. Basically, your teacher is lying.
Sadly, there is very little you can do about this. Proving her wrong would do nothing but make you more unpopular in her class and if she is the kind of person who is vindictive then I �m sure she �d find a way to get back at you on another occasion. My advice - take comfort in the fact that you know she is wrong and you are right and don �t take anything she says at face value in the future. A good teacher should be willing to acknowledge gaps in their knowledge and try to remedy them. I �m a native speaker and I freely admit to my advanced students that there is a lot I don �t know about the English language. I remember one of my students asking me to explain inversion in my first month of teaching - I hadn �t a clue!
Good luck and I hope you find a way to work with this woman!
Lindsey
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21 May 2010
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roxette
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wow!! I truly believe this is a great community!!
with 8 answers based on truth and knowledge now I know what the answer is
thank you Lindsey for your valuable support and advice...you are right ..I also took the FCE and I don �t remember any "BELIEVES" ..now I know what I can do
this reminds me of one saying:
THE MEDIOCRE TEACHER TELLS,
THE GOOD TEACHER DEMONSTRATES,
THE EXCELLENT TEACHER INSPIRES....!!!
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21 May 2010
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