|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > dear teachers
dear teachers
|
Arrows
|
dear teachers
|
|
Is it true that we can�t use mess in te plural in the following sentence ? when children are very small, you need to take care of their daily needs: you need to feed them, dress them, clean up their (messy) ��������. , and put them to bed. I suggested using it in the plural. What do you think?
|
18 Nov 2017
|
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
Definitely "clean up their messes". Bruce |
18 Nov 2017
|
|
|
cunliffe
|
|
I wouldn �t use it in the plural! �Clean up their mess �. |
18 Nov 2017
|
|
|
ldthemagicman
|
|
I agree with Lynne Cunliffe, I would say: "Clean up their mess!" This implies cleaning up ANY type of mess, untidiness, or dirtiness, no matter how or when it was caused by the children. If I said: "Clean up their messes!", to me, this specifically means cleaning up the piles of faeces that the children have done on the floor, because they were unable to use the toilet. I may be wrong, but I don �t think that these words convey what the writer really intended to say. Les Douglas
|
18 Nov 2017
|
|
|
yanogator
|
|
Maybe it �s a US/British thing. Children generally make more than one mess a day, and mothers don �t like to let them accumulate, so I would definitely say "clean up their messes". Bruce |
18 Nov 2017
|
|
|
cunliffe
|
Yes then, it must be a Br/Am thing. I have rarely heard �messes �, if ever. If I did hear it, it would mean what Les has said.  |
18 Nov 2017
|
|
|
douglas
|
|
Must be, because I �m with Bruce 100% on this one. |
20 Nov 2017
|
|
|
Jayho
|
|
Must surely be an Br/Am thing then. I �m with the Brits on this. |
20 Nov 2017
|
|
|
