[Grammar] Is my teacher right?

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

shuei

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
I am a junior high school student in Osaka, Japan.

My English teacher told us to learn several sentences last week.
But I feel something is wrong with two of them.
But I don't know how to correct them.

The two sentences are like this.
1. It is liquid cleaning hair. (shampoo)
2. The teachers who stand there are our teachers.

(I think the latter may be correct but sounds wordy.)

I asked her, the teacher, about this. But she said there are no problem with them.

How do these sentences sound to naitive speakers?
Are they sound natural?

Thank you very much for your help in advance.
 
shuei said:
I am a junior high school student in Osaka, Japan.

My English teacher told us to learn several sentences last week.
[STRIKE]But[/STRIKE] I feel something is wrong with two of them,
but I don't know how to correct them.

The two sentences are:[STRIKE] like this.[/STRIKE]
1. It is liquid cleaning hair. (shampoo) It is shampoo.
2. The teachers who stand there are our teachers. They are our teachers standing there.

(I think the latter may be correct but sounds wordy.)Grammatically correct, but awkward.

I asked [STRIKE]her,[/STRIKE] the teacher[STRIKE],[/STRIKE] about this, but she said there are no problems with them.

How do these sentences sound to na[STRIKE]i[/STRIKE]tive speakers?
[STRIKE]Are[/STRIKE] Do they sound natural? No

Thank you very much for your help in advance.
Click to expand...
:)
 
shuei said:
I am a junior high school student in Osaka, Japan.

My English teacher told us to learn several sentences last week.
But I feel something is wrong with two of them.
But I don't know how to correct them.

The two sentences are like this.
1. It is liquid cleaning hair. (shampoo)
2. The teachers who stand there are our teachers.

(I think the latter may be correct but sounds wordy.)

I asked her, the teacher, about this. But she said there are no problem with them.

How do these sentences sound to naitive speakers?
Are they sound natural?

Thank you very much for your help in advance.
Click to expand...

***** A NON-TEACHER'S OPINION *****


Shuei,

Yes, you are correct. As Riquecohen said, they do not sound

natural to native speakers.

(1) Maybe your teacher meant:

It is hair-cleaning liquid.

I think that it is grammatically correct to express the idea of shampoo

that way, but no one would speak that way.

(2) Maybe we could change No. 2 to:

The teachers standing there are ours.


Thank you
 
I think the second sentence is much less awkward than the first, isn't it? I think I can imagine someone saying that in some very specific situation. I can't imagine anyone uttering the first one.
 
If you mean that no one would ever say that it's liquid cleaning hair, you are absolutely right. Hair doesn't do much cleaning -- mostly it does a lot of clogging.

Even calling it liquid hair-cleaner is awkward. We refer to washing our hair, not cleaning it.

Shampoo is the liquid soap used to wash hair.

As for the second, I could possibly imagine it as an answer to the question "Which ones are your teachers?" but I would find "Our teachers are the ones standing over there" a more natural response.

EDITED to fix an OMG-embarrassing typo
 
Last edited:
Well, I'd not use teachers-teachers either but is there anyone who thinks that there may be some instances where the sentence may sound natural? For instance, if you are very proud that your teachers are ones of the best teachers who you get to learn from, don't you say; The teachers who stand there are my teachers with an emphasis on the word "my" ?

Thanks for your replies in advance.
 
euncu said:
Well, I'd not use teachers-teachers either but is there anyone who thinks that there may be some instances where the sentence may sound natural? For instance, if you are very proud that your teachers are ones of the best teachers who you get to learn from, don't you say; The teachers who stand there are my teachers with an emphasis on the word "my" ?

Thanks for your replies in advance.
Click to expand...
It's possible to make up situations in which one could say almost anything. Pointing to a stage on which teachers stand during assemblies, a student could say, "The teachers who stand there are John's teachers, the teachers who stand there are my teachers...," etc.

However, for all normal situations, it is not unreasonable to say that shuei's sentence is not acceptable English. Parser's final suggestion is much more natural and likely.
 
Barb_D said:
If you mean that no one would ever say that it's liquid cleaning hair, you are absolutely right. Hair doesn't do much cleaning -- mostly it does a lot of clogging.

Even calling it liquid hair-cleaner is awkward. We refer to washing our hair, not cleaning it.

Shampoo is the liquid soap used to wash hair.

As for the second, I could possibly imagine it as an answer to the question "Which ones are your teachers?" but I would find "Our teachers are the ones standing over there" a more natural response.

EDITED to fix an OMG-embarrassing typo
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for helping me!

Hair does not clean, but it clogs.

I first thought of a strange liquid creature trying to clean our hair
when I heard the first sentence.

Now I feel relieved thanks to you all.
English is difficult but interesting.
 
euncu said:
Well, I'd not use teachers-teachers either but is there anyone who thinks that there may be some instances where the sentence may sound natural? For instance, if you are very proud that your teachers are ones of the best teachers who you get to learn from, don't you say; The teachers who stand there are my teachers with an emphasis on the word "my" ?

Thanks for your replies in advance.
Click to expand...

Yes, that works.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

R
  • Locked
why you feel that doing a teacher training course is the right choice for you ? HELP
Replies
1
Views
2K
teechar
teechar
R
  • Locked
why you feel that doing a teacher training course is the right choice for you ? HELP
Replies
3
Views
4K
Tdol
T
G
The bold sentence "He is a teacher" is a grammatical. (Punctuation question)
Replies
6
Views
156
William McNeice
W
M
Diary - Yesterday, my teacher and I discussed the impact of corporal punishmen
Replies
1
Views
152
emsr2d2
emsr2d2
E
Would you tell the teacher Darren had done it?
Replies
9
Views
283
EngLearner
E
Back
Top