Forum newsfeeds 
|  | | Notices | You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly at the top of your post. Please note, all posts are moderated by our in-house language experts, so make sure your suggestions, help, and advice house the kind of information an international language teacher would offer. If not, and your posts do not contribute to the topic in a positive way, they will be subject to deletion. | 
21-Jul-2003, 11:40
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: armenia
Posts: 837
Current Location: france First Language: armenian Thanks: 67
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| |  I teach like him
Consider the following:
What does John do for a living?
1-He teaches English like me.
Does 1 necessarily imply that he teaches English in the same manner as I do, or could it just mean that he teaches English for a living and so do I?
As in: 2-He teaches English, like me.
(In other words, could the context permit us to take off the comma without changing the meaning?) |
21-Jul-2003, 13:04
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 13,057
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Thanks: 58
Thanked 684 Times in 616 Posts
| |
The presence or absence of a comma makes a difference in the meaning of the sentence. In sentence one, "like" means "in the same manner as".
__________________
~R |
21-Jul-2003, 13:06
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: armenia
Posts: 837
Current Location: france First Language: armenian Thanks: 67
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: I teach like him
Thanks! |
21-Jul-2003, 13:10
| | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 13,057
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Thanks: 58
Thanked 684 Times in 616 Posts
| | Re: I teach like him
Welcome!
:)
__________________
~R |
22-Jul-2003, 00:37
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 25,137
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Thanks: 2
Thanked 246 Times in 235 Posts
| |
However, given the context, I'd say the answer is that he does the same job- the question doesn't call for a description of the way. As punctuation standards are so low and mixed in English, BE at least, then I'd plump for this answer regardless. I can't see the speaker meaning the opposite, but then we BE speakers are a bit sloppy.  |
22-Jul-2003, 14:39
| | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 13,057
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Thanks: 58
Thanked 684 Times in 616 Posts
| |
Quote: |
Originally Posted by tdol However, given the context, I'd say the answer is that he does the same job- the question doesn't call for a description of the way. As punctuation standards are so low and mixed in English, BE at least, then I'd plump for this answer regardless. I can't see the speaker meaning the opposite, but then we BE speakers are a bit sloppy. | I agree with everything you said. (Sometimes I am too picky about punctuation.)
__________________
~R |
22-Jul-2003, 20:23
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 25,137
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Thanks: 2
Thanked 246 Times in 235 Posts
| |
And I'm a BE speaker. The comma is a hit and miss affair for most here. |
23-Jul-2003, 12:30
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: armenia
Posts: 837
Current Location: france First Language: armenian Thanks: 67
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: I teach like him
It is a well known fact that native English-speakers are sloppy when it comes to using commas in writing (and not only native English-speakers). But I think if you listen to them, you'll be able to hear the commas, and they are used correctly. |
23-Jul-2003, 16:31
| | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 13,057
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Thanks: 58
Thanked 684 Times in 616 Posts
| | Re: I teach like him
I wouldn't ordinarily have thought of punctuation as something that occurs in speech.
__________________
~R |
28-Jul-2003, 21:10
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 25,137
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Thanks: 2
Thanked 246 Times in 235 Posts
| |
It does, though. | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
Posting Rules
| You may post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT. The time now is 07:34. | |
