cover off this mobile, come apart

[user_gary]

I didn't get the cover off this mobile. So I gave it to my friend to get the cover off this mobile. And he pulled so strong that all the parts of the mobile came apart.

Please correct these sentences.

[Casiopea]

Try,

Ex: I couldn't get the cover off my cell phone, so I gave it to my friend to do, and he pulled so hard that the entire phone came apart in pieces.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Niall Beag

"came apart in pieces" suggests breaking it down bit-by-bit, not all at once. (No occurences in the BNC, but Google comes up with several examples that support this.)

Then, could you provide them?

[Casiopea]

Thank you, but not one of those examples states or implies this meaning, bit-by-bit. Niall, you'll need to provide support for your statements, please. Otherwise, your advice serves only one purpose, to mislead our readers.

[Casiopea]

There's nothing wrong with drawing on speaker intuition, Niall. In fact, it's what most of our members count on. But if you are going to use it, you're going to need to make it clear to the readers that what you are advising is your interpretation. Empower the readers.

The statement you made (See below) is unsubstantiated. Which dictionaries support your finding? If dictionaries are behind the times, then provide examples that explain the usage, but make sure those examples do just that. Implication and inference are two things learners get enough of in the classroom--which is why they come here: for answers that not only make sense to them, but that empower them.

So, you can either evidence it up (to adopt the slang of the day) or say that it's an interpretation based on speaker intuition. Either way, you are responsible for what you advise. (I understand you are a new teacher. See this forum as a means to making you a better teacher. ; -))

Originally Posted by Niall Beag

"came apart in pieces" suggests breaking it down bit-by-bit, not all at once. (No occurences in the BNC, but Google comes up with several examples that support this.)

[Anglika]

"came apart in pieces" suggests breaking it down bit-by-bit, not all at once.

I cannot agree with this statement. If you break the casing of an electronic item, it will often come apart in pieces as the internal workings are held together by the casing. Having tried to repair something of this kind, I know how difficult it is to get all the pieces back. It certainly does not to me imply "breaking down bit by bit", which would indicate taking each element of the workings out individually.

"Fell to pieces" is a good possible alternative.

[MrPedantic]

I think I would say "...that the whole thing came to pieces".

In any event, it was a very unfortunate incident.

MrP