English check

DannyinJapan

DannyinJapan

Joined
Oct 9, 2003
Messages
5,594
Sometimes the Japanese teachers dont believe me when I make corrections to their english textbooks.
Would you native speakers have a look at these sentences and fill in the blanks?
(If you feel other changes would be necessary to make these sentences as natural as possible, feel free to do so. they are not all fill in the blank.)

1 ________ is stronger, Godzilla or King Kong?

2 Elliott and E.T. flew as high as a bird and went ____ ____ forest.

3 Good friends will always be ____ our minds.

4 E.T. is the most moving movie in the world.
 
I speak colloquial English (American that is) and didn't study for this test...

1. "Who"
2. "over the"
3. "on" (and in our hearts)
4. False, but it is a good movie. The sentence would stand as is in standard "American"...we are pretty adaptable.

I was just yesterday reading about TEFL in Japan...looks like a tough gig.
 
1 ________ is stronger, Godzilla or King Kong?

2 Elliott and E.T. flew as high as a bird and went ____ ____ forest

1. "Which" - since monsters aren't people.

2. "over the" - can't remember the movie, but you're already flying.

___


Bonus questions: "Pass the _______ wasabi." :D

"Imperialist aggressor _______ atom-bombed this country for no reason." :grumpy:


Mike :foot:
 
would proper english be "whom" for #1

and now way #4 is right-that would be either "rio bravo" with john wayne or maybe "saving private ryan" with tom hanks or "joe dirt" with david spade
 
keep in mind the american education system-lol

#1-whom is stronger
#2-over the
#3-on
#4-not a chance
 
Nasty siad it already. I just repeated his response.
 
nobody has a problem with using "in the world" to describe a movie?
I was thinking " ever made" would be a better choice.

Also, I felt that "Who" was appropriate for #1 because godzilla and king kong are used as names, not nouns. IF I were to use which, I'd need to say "a/the godzilla" and "a/the king kong"
 
Those little grammar rules that are totally unnatural for non-english speakers.

I will have to remind those before my English classification test.
 
Number #2 seems unnatural.

I've never heard someone say "flew as high as a bird", maybe "flew as high as the sky" or "as high as the clouds"
 
I would have said, 'over the forest'

"into' the forest is better than 'in',


Note to Nordic Viking; it's possible the age, and the people who commonly said, 'high as a bird', are no longer with us. I haven't heard it in a long time.



munk
 
1 Which is stronger, Godzilla or King Kong?

2 Elliott and E.T. flew as high as a bird and went over the forest.

3 Good friends will always be on our minds.

4 E.T. is the most moving movie in the world. (I disagree, but the sentence structure is OK. Just because I don't like the repetition of "moving movie," I'd prolly say "most moving film." )

Oh, and if I meant sauntering among the trees, it would be "into the forest." If I meant going to a parking lot beside the trees, it would be "to the forest."

t.
 
1. _Who_
2. _over the_
3. _on_
4. ? - 'in the world' is fine, if colloquial, though more idiomatic would be to say 'the best X in the world'

Would you "go to a forest" or "go into the forest" ?
Click to expand...

either, but with different meanings. 'go to a forest' focusses on the movement from somewhere to the forest (though possibly only to the edge); 'go into the forest' focusses on movement into the forest.

It's easier to see a difference with 'house': e.g., 'I went to Bob's house' vs. 'I went into Bob's house' - both are fine, but they don't mean quite the same thing.


cheers,
B. (erstwhile ESL teacher)
 
1"Who" or "Which" is stronger, Godzilla or King Kong? (The names "Godzilla" and "King Kong" are both proper names, but the entities named are not people, either is correct.)

2 Elliott and E.T. flew as high as a bird and went soaring over the forest. (It is bad form in writing to use two different forms of the same word in the same sentence unless it is unavoidable. The specific choice of variation is up to the writer...)

3 Good friends will always be on our minds. (The only proper choice as this is an idiom, developed over time and accepted in common practice.)

4 E.T. is the most moving movie in the world. (Again, poor form to use this kind of repetition. If the author can come up with something which would express the thought using two different words, they would get marks for increased vocabulary and imagination. Perhaps this would sound better - "E.T. is the most moving/sentimental/emotional/expressive/... picture in the world." Just depends what the author is trying to say.)

Hope this helps....

Andy
 
Whom is vestigale, it is passing out of the english language, to the point now that english profs will not doc you marks for using it. Personaly I would use which as I do not consider Godzilla a person, mayb king kong though.
 
Re the forest:
Headed that direction but not yet under the trees-- 'going to the forest.'

Once I come to the trees, then I'm 'going into the forest' (until I pass the halfway point, then I'm 'going out')
 
munk said:
Note to Nordic Viking; it's possible the age, and the people who commonly said, 'high as a bird', are no longer with us.
Click to expand...

You mean Hippies at Woostock :D

Seriously though, then it should be "Elliot and E.T. flew as high as a birds" not bird, IMO.
 
1 who's stronger, Godzilla or King Kong? (whom is pedantically correct but modern usage dictates 'who', "who's" would be more likely in conversational english and godzilla is much stronger)

2 Elliott and E.T. flew as high as a kite and then they went into the forest.

3 Good friends will always be on our minds and in our hearts.

4 E.T. is the most stirring movie in the world.

ah thawt 'bout learnin' y'all how to speak southron english, but figgered thats fer the advanced course.
 
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