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Ask for help > Have breakfast or have my breakfast?
Have breakfast or have my breakfast?
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gharbi2009
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Have breakfast or have my breakfast?
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Dear colleagues, I �m wondering if you could tell me whether we use possessive adjectives with the expressions have breakfast, have lunch, have dinner or not? It is British English we teach in our schools. Thanks beforehand. Gharbi |
15 Feb 2017
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cunliffe
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Hi Gharbi. t all depends! �Let �s go and have dinner � - no. �Linda �s having her breakfast/Linda �s having breakfast � - not much difference. So, I don �t think it matters. |
16 Feb 2017
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ldeloresmoore
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In general, using possessives doesn �t have to be so confusing --- Many of my students will say "I will go to the gym to exercise my body", "I want to lose my weight", A native speaker won �t say it like this --- Here �s how I explain it to my students: I will say "I will go to the gym to exercise". I don �t need to say "my body", because I can �t exercise anybody else �s body. I will say "I want to lose weight". I don �t need to say "my", because I can �t lose anybody else �s weight. "Donna is eating her breakfast" -- this is ok to say, because it is actually possible for her to eat someone else �s breakfast. Just a general idea. Hope this makes it easier. |
16 Feb 2017
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Jayho
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Sometimes we do, and sometimes we don�t. and most of the time there is no difference. However, sometimes when we do use the possessive adjective it is to emphasise something eg: I�m having my breakfast/lunch dinner (so don�t disturb me) That�s when I have my breakfast/lunch/dinner (so, no I can�t do it then) Can we do it after I�ve had my breakfast/lunch/dinner (I really need to have my breakfast/lunch/dinner before I do it) Cheers Jayho
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17 Feb 2017
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gharbi2009
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Thanks Cunliffe, Ideloresmoore and Jayho for your help. It is really helpful. |
17 Feb 2017
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Gi2gi
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By the way, I was wondering - does anyone use the term �the conjoint form of the possesive pronouns � instead of �the possesive adjectives � (My, your, etc...) and �the absolute form of the possesive pronouns � instead of �possesive pronouns � (mine, your, etc...)? �
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17 Feb 2017
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Jayho
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Gi2gi - not anyone I know, but then teaching ESL, where immersion plays a major role in learning, may focus less on grammar than when teaching EFL where opportunities for authentic exchange is less frequent and so there is more reliance on grammar.
In addition, I can bet your bottom dollar that most Australian native speaking teachers will never have heard of conjoint and absolute forms of pronouns and they certainly don�t feature in our Australian ESL text books whereas the more commonly known terms do.
Cheers
Jayho
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17 Feb 2017
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Gi2gi
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Jayho - thanks for the message - you �ve made quite good points about ESL/ EFL teaching and grammar. Admittedly, I must have been a victim of some Soviet-era grammarians - and there are quite a few like me - who were forced to learn from their (probably bizarre) grammar books :) Giorgi |
18 Feb 2017
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