To give a lesson? To teach a lesson?

Status
Not open for further replies.

englishhobby

Key Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Could you please help me find more synonyms for "to give a lesson" which could be inserted into the following sentence:
Ann ____________ her first lesson as a trainee teacher.

1) to teach a lesson
2) to conduct a lesson
:?:
Thank you in advance.
 

JohnParis

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Member Type
Retired Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
France
For the verb teach, in the simple past, try: educate, instruct, school, tutor, coach, train; enlighten, illuminate, verse, edify, indoctrinate; drill, discipline.

For the verb conduct, again in the simple past, try: manage, direct, run, administer, organize, coordinate, orchestrate, handle, control, oversee, supervise, regulate, carry out/on.

First, you make a sentence and then we'll give you our opinion.

John
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
She gave/took/taught her first lesson/class; she taught for the first time.

She conducted her first lesson does not sound natural to me.
 

nouamaneer

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Morocco
Current Location
Tenerife
She gave/took/taught her first lesson/class; she taught for the first time.

She conducted her first lesson does not sound natural to me.


She gave/ taught her first lesson/ class are natural examples. As for the others, I have never come across them in natural speech.

'She took her first lesson' would mean that she was a student and took her first class or lesson in a certain subject.

Conducted is a lot frozen. It can't be used in a natural context.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
'She took her first lesson' would mean that she was a student and took her first class or lesson in a certain subject.
In BrE, as has been pointed out very recently in another thread, Teachers can take (i.e. teach) classes in BrE. Students can take (= attend as a learner) classes. Context makes the meaning clear.
 

englishhobby

Key Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
First, you make a sentence and then we'll give you our opinion.

I did make a sentence with one missing verb ("Ann __________ her first lesson as a trainee teacher.")

For the verb teach, in the simple past, try: educate, instruct, school, tutor, coach, train; enlighten, illuminate, verse, edify, indoctrinate; drill, discipline.

For the verb conduct, again in the simple past, try: manage, direct, run, administer, organize, coordinate, orchestrate, handle, control, oversee, supervise, regulate, carry out/on.

John, thank you for the vocabulary, but I needed the verbs to go together with the word "lesson" in the following sentence:
"She __________ her first lesson as a trainee teacher."

Now I see that verbs "give" and "teach" can be used here. Thanks to everyone who contributed to my thread.

P.S. There's one more word that I have forgotten about - "to hold (a lesson)". Does it sound natural to say :she held her first lesson as a trainee teacher?
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
P.S. There's one more word that I have forgotten about - "to hold (a lesson)". Does it sound natural to say :she held her first lesson as a trainee teacher?
Not really. We can hold a tutorial or seminar, but not a lesson, in my opinion.
 

englishhobby

Key Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Thank you! This thread has been very useful to me.:)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top