He is always complaining that "my classmates"

[alpacinou]

Hello to all,

I want to work on the present continuous tense in classroom. I have come up with this sentence:

Jack is very attractive. He is always complaining that "my classmates are sending me signals in the class and do not let me concentrate".

Is the sentence correct? I want to focus on how present continuous is used to complain about something that happens a lot and bothers you.

 

[GoesStation]

The use of the continuous in the introduction is natural, but Jack would use the present simple.

 

[alpacinou]

Jack wants to complain about something that happens all the time and annoys him.

Why is it wrong to use present continuous?

 

[GoesStation]

Jack wants to complain about something that happens all the time and annoys him.

That's a typical use of the present simple. The present continuous would work if you added the adverb always: "they're always distracting me in class." You used that word just before, though, and it would be awkward to repeat it.

Why is it wrong to use the present continuous?

The other students are not distracting him at the moment he's speaking as the continuous tense (without "always") would suggest.

 

[alpacinou]

That's a typical use of the present simple. The present continuous would work if you added the adverb always: "they're always distracting me in class." You used that word just before, though, and it would be awkward to repeat it.

The other students are not distracting him at the moment he's speaking as the continuous tense (without "always") would suggest.

How about now?

Jack is very attractive. He sometimes complains that "my classmates are always sending me signals in the class distracting me".

Is it correct to use "my"?

 

[GoesStation]

How about now?

Jack is very attractive. He sometimes complains, [STRIKE]that[/STRIKE] "My classmates are always sending me signals in the class and distracting me".

Is it correct to use "my"?

Yes, that's correct. See my suggestions above. Use "that" to introduce something he complains about, not quoted dialog.

 

[jutfrank]

This is all very badly wrong.

In my professional opinion, that's an awful example sentence. It's terribly confusing, and I believe that you are terribly confused yourself about this.

You should not use the verb complain in an example sentence. You have to show that the meaning comes from the grammar, not the word. Also, you seem to be focusing on entirely the wrong clause. The focus should be on the My classmates are always sending me signals part, not on the He's always complaining part!

Do you understand what I'm saying?

You have to simplify things, so start by getting rid completely of the He's always complaining part.

 

[alpacinou]

This is all very badly wrong.

In my professional opinion, that's an awful example sentence. It's terribly confusing, and I believe that you are terribly confused yourself about this.

You should not use the verb complain in an example sentence. You have to show that the meaning comes from the grammar, not the word. Also, you seem to be focusing on entirely the wrong clause. The focus should be on the My classmates are always sending me signals part, not on the He's always complaining part!

Do you understand what I'm saying?

You have to simplify things, so start by getting rid completely of the He's always complaining part.

I fixed it a little bit in post 5:

Jack is very attractive. He sometimes complains that "my classmates are always sending me signals in the class distracting me".

Do you still think it's awful?

 

[Tarheel]

You do know that sentence one and sentence two are not connected, don't you?

 

[GoesStation]

I fixed it a little bit in post 5:

Jack is very attractive. He sometimes complains that "my classmates are always sending me signals in the class distracting me".

Do you still think it's awful?

Jane Austen mixed quoted and indirect speech at a time when the written language was relatively fluid. Nowadays, it's just wrong. You can say "Jack complains that his classmates distract him," but you can't follow "Jack complains that" with a quotation.

 

[Tarheel]

Perhaps;

Jack complains that his classmates distract him with text messages while he is in class.

 

[alpacinou]

Yes. Our friend mentioned that. I was really tired.

Is this okay now?

Jack's attractiveness has caused him some problems at university. He sometimes complains, "My classmates are always sending me signals in the class and distracting me".

 

[Tarheel]

Yes. Our friend mentioned that. I was really tired.

Is this okay now?

Jack's attractiveness has caused him some problems at university. He sometimes complains, "My classmates are always sending me signals in [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] class and distracting me".

That's better. (I still wonder what you mean by signals.)

 

[jutfrank]

Is this okay now?

No! I don't think you understood my previous post.

GoesStation, Tarheel—would you mind if I dealt with this thread? Just because I know exactly what alpacinoutd is trying to do. He's not trying to come up with a grammatically correct and natural way to express a certain thought, but rather to construct a pedagogically useful model sentence to illustrate one of the uses of the present continuous tense.

 

[jutfrank]

Is this okay now?

Jack's attractiveness has caused him some problems at university. He sometimes complains, "My classmates are always sending me signals in the class and distracting me".

No. First of all, remove everything before the word My.

 

[GoesStation]

GoesStation, Tarheel—would you mind if I dealt with this thread?

Have at it! I'll be interested to see where it leads.

 

[alpacinou]

That's better. (I still wonder what you mean by signals.)

I mean they keep looking at him and they keep winking at him and sending signals that they are interested in him.

 

[alpacinou]

No. First of all, remove everything before the word My.

My classmates are always sending me signals in the classroom and distracting me.

Now what?

 

[jutfrank]

That's better. Can you see how much easier it is now to focus on what you're trying to teach? Personally, I'd reduce it even further. How do you think I might do that?

Can I ask you to share a little about your teaching context? Do you teach classes or individuals? Adults or children? What levels?

 

[alpacinou]

That's better. Can you see how much easier it is now to focus on what you're trying to teach? Personally, I'd reduce it even further. How do you think I might do that?

Can I ask you to share a little about your teaching context? Do you teach classes or individuals? Adults or children? What levels?

Shorter than that? I have no idea!

A classroom of pr-intermediate adults.