Dear Libertybelle,I īm not quite sure what you think it is that I have done wrong!
I offered an opinion, (which I said was abbreviated, because it didn īt include all the īifs � and ībuts �), given by the authors of a named Grammar Book. I also submitted some relevant examples, saying that they were mine.
You will note that nowhere did I criticise you or the other Members. That is because I agree with much of what was previously said.
However, the specific query related to a Grammar Question. It often seems to me that, in their work-place, Members are faced with a "Grammar Question" and they want a "Grammar Answer", especially when it is a Question in an Examination.
One of the strengths of ESLP is that it has Members of diverse and varying abilities: Teachers and Trainee-Teachers; Qualified and Unqualified; Professors and Beginners; Parents and Students; Multi-Linguists and Mono-Linguists; individuals from every corner of the world.
This is a strength, because the Forum reflects these different viewpoints, highlights the problems that many Teachers have, and provides the Members with solutions, which everyone can read..
Whenever I answer an ESLP question, I try to remember that not every Member is as fortunate as I am. Many do not have access to dictionaries, grammar books, libraries, the Internet and other sources of information. For many, ESLP is their only Mentor, Tutor, and Guide.
The Member submitting the Question is usually not in a position to say to a Senior Member of Staff, or an Examining Body:
"This Question is stupid!"
"Ordinary people don īt speak like this!"
"The answer that a teenager will give you isn īt in any Grammar Book that I have seen".
He/she must deal with the situation as it is, not as they would like it to be.
For this reason, I try to answer the Question which has been asked.
I think that all of the Members have made valuable, helpful points, as Mietz acknowledges.
Les
