Contention in the classroom.

[Dauvit Anthony Tetreau]

I had an argument in my collage classroom today over what the subject of the sentence: "The last person who stole our jagermeister was eaten by marmots." which is it?

 

[Barb_D]

Full subject: The last person who stole our Jagermeister
Simple subject: person

 

[Dauvit Anthony Tetreau]

THANKYOU! Why is it that some teachers WILL NOT take any correction from students... -.-

 

[Barb_D]

Um... why is that?

 

[Dauvit Anthony Tetreau]

She (my teacher) insisted that the marmots were the subject and whenever I tried to get her to explain how; she'd use a different example that had nothing to do with what I was talking about.

 

[Barb_D]

When you have a passive sentence, the grammatical subject receives the action. The "do-er" (or agent, or whatever you want to call it) is not the grammatical subject.

Show her a simpler sentence: My chocolate bar was eaten by my classmate. The grammatical subject is "My chocolate bar." The "do-er" was your classmate, but don't confuse that with the grammatical subject.

 

[Dauvit Anthony Tetreau]

That was my understanding but what this teacher was saying totally confused that. I kept thinking "how can a marmot eaten something? lol

 

[Dauvit Anthony Tetreau]

Does changing the the sentence from passive to active like: "A marmot ate the last person who stole our jagermeister." make marmot the subject? That's the way I remember it working.

 

[Barb_D]

Exactly. In the active voice, the grammatical subject is "do-er" of the action. In the passive voice, the grammarical subject is the recipient of the action.

 

[Tdol]

Does changing the the sentence from passive to active like: "A marmot ate the last person who stole our jagermeister." make marmot the subject? That's the way I remember it working.

Yes, it does, but, a Barb said, it does not make it the subject of the passive sentence. The purpose of the passive is to have a different subject and focus from the active.

 

[TheParser]

Why is it that some teachers WILL NOT take any correction from students... -.-

NOT A TEACHER


Hello, Mr. Tetreau:

If I restrict my remarks to language, I think that I will be allowed to comment on your question.

1. For many years, a teacher's role has been to be "the sage on the stage." That is, a very wise person who

stands in front of the students and gives the correct answers to be memorized.

2. In recent years, some educational experts have suggested that a teacher's role should be "a guide on the

side." That is, a person who does not tell you what you should know but a person who is always there to discuss with

you any questions that you may have.

3. Thus, maybe -- as you say -- some teachers have a problem in taking correction from students because they find it

difficult to move from "sage on the stage" (where they are the "stars") to "a guide on the side" (where they are available

to discuss any questions that you may have about what you are studying).

P.S. Because of my old age and my personality, I still prefer "the sage on the stage." For example, I wish someone

would just tell me what the adverb "really" modifies in every single sentence. But I have learned "a guide on the side"

can help me with some ideas, but it is my responsibility to decide what it modifies in a particular sentence.


HAVE A NICE DAY!

 

[charliedeut]

I had an argument in my collage classroom today over what the subject of the sentence: "The last person who stole our jagermeister was eaten by marmots." which is it?

Hi,

Completely off-topic, but Jägermeister - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia you forgot the capital "j" and the umlaut. Jägermeister can indeed produce those effects :drinking:;-)

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER

Yes, it is a bit (but not "completely") off-topic, for many of us had never of "Jagermeister" or "marmot" before.

Therefore, thanks for the link.

Well, I shall stop now. I suspect that this thread may be closed at any time. :lol: