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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Can anybody help me, please?
Can anybody help me, please?
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steelcity
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and another thing... don �t always take for granted the:"our teacher told us last year" or "we didn �t do that with our teacher last year"...it �s often not true... it �s not a lie...they just tend to forget or interpret things the wrong way...
well... it �s not that big a deal... correct them, explain why it �s not possible to have want �s in a sentence and move on...
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25 Aug 2012
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DaniBH
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manonski, it �s just a way to express myself. Of course I didn �t cry, but it isn �t really nice to say "he taught you the wrong way", and of course I need to correct them. I just didn �t know how to say it.
But thanks everybody. |
25 Aug 2012
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cunliffe
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Hi Almaz - the apostrophe marks omission as well as possession, of course, which is what teachers try to teach, hopefully. I really don �t think youngsters get it wrong because of a mix-up made by 19th century grammarians! I think they get it wrong because of the reason I stated - teachers can �t really be bothered much with it. I don �t necessarily blame them, but the rules are not unclear or confusing.
Of course it doesn �t make me want to thump a poor innocent wall! No wall has ever harmed me, that I can think of . Next time I use a phrase like that, I will put a little wink, so you know I am not absolutely serious. Walls should be left well alone, in my opinion, to get on with their own business.
Edit - It�s the 1960s, 1960�s isn�t the plural, btw.
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25 Aug 2012
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almaz
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Lynne, you �re obviously entitled to your opinion - with or without any backup evidence - but I can �t let you away with "It�s the 1960s, 1960�s isn�t the plural, btw". I �m afraid there �s too much (easily-available) evidence supporting both usages which suggests you didn �t really bother checking the literature before you made the claim, but I can give you a quote from the first source I checked: Michael Swan �s Practical English Usage (Second Edition): "Apostrophes are used in the plurals of letters, and often of numbers and abbreviations." He then gives as an example, it was in the early 1960 �s. (or ... 1960s)
It may not be as common as it used to be - or even necessary, when you think about it - but that doesn �t make it any less of an acceptable plural marker.
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26 Aug 2012
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