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ESL forum > Ask for help > Nothing I did was part of my job.    

Nothing I did was part of my job.



lofthanzaaa
Germany

Nothing I did was part of my job.
 
Dear teachers,

"Nothing I did was part of my job".

One of my elementary students show me this sentence in a story. She was confused why "did" and "was" were used that way. She could not understand the sentence. Any ideas to break the sentence down for her.

9 Jan 2012      





lofthanzaaa
Germany

showed me*

9 Jan 2012     



class centre
Belarus

I didn �t do anything that was part of my job.
Nothing ( of what I did) was my job...
I did something that was not my job...
Hope it �ll help

9 Jan 2012     



Mariethe House
France

Example:I cared , I listened, I helped :

              I DID( r�sum� of all the actions ) that( care/ he/ listen)

               That was not part of my job.

               That = What I did
                                              
        So: WHAT I DID        was not part of my job
              Not a thing I did was ....
              Nothing I did      was

9 Jan 2012     



yanogator
United States

It could also help to put it in the present tense.
I have a ridiculous job, because nothing (that) I do is actually part of the job. My boss has me making coffee for him and running his personal errands.
 
So, "Nothing I do is part of my job."
 
Wait, I no longer have that job. When I did have it, "Nothing I did was part of my job."
 
Does that help?
 
Bruce

9 Jan 2012     



meriem12
Tunisia

none of my dids was part of my job

9 Jan 2012     



yanogator
United States

I think you mean "deeds", rather than "dids".
 
Bruce

9 Jan 2012     



Olindalima ( F )
Portugal

Nothing I did was part of my job.

Everything I did ...was  not my job.

It was  not supposed me having to do all those tasks. I had tasks which were nor mine
. Someone else should do them.


My two pence worth,,,,,, not native, not an expert, but, at first sight, your sentence had a clear meaning, for me, probably  not the right one.

Hope you get it.


Linda

10 Jan 2012     



moravc
Czech Republic

Nothing I did was part of my job.

sounds correct to me.

The tasks I did weren �t part of my job.
Yesterday tasks weren �t part of my job.
None of yesterday tasks were part of my job.

eg: I was a secretary but I had to water the flowers, cook dinner, buy presents for the wife of my boss, look after his kid...

Nothing I did /=subject of the sentence/ was part of my job.

Similar structure:


Nothing I did was right.
Nothing I did was wrong.
Nothing I did was good enough.
Nothing I did was difficult.
Nothing I did was working.

10 Jan 2012     



MoodyMoody
United States

Linda and moravc have it exactly right. I especially like moravc �s example of the secretary. To continue, the secretary could also have surfed the web (called cyberslacking), filed her nails, and texted her boyfriend.

10 Jan 2012     



Zora
Canada

Hi there,

I think the problem here is the "did" next to the"was". The student is probably confused as to why there are two conjugated verbs next to each other.

The reason for this is that "Nothing I did" is actually the subject of the sentence and the other part "was part of my job" is a predicate.


10 Jan 2012     

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