English Teachers: Please Help Me!!

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

TO -- Most of your idea is excellent, but adding an -ing with a form of "to be" makes a verb present participle. The active verb is present or past since they don't have a form of "to be" with them. Using a form of "to be" makes a verb passive. The present participle means that something is ongoing in the present. "I am loving it" means the person is loving it for a quite a while now. "I was loving it" means that a person was loving it for quite a while in the past. Isn't this stuff confusing? Luckily I was forced to teach traditional grammer in college for about 3 semesters so I learned a whole lot of grammer. I even know what a particle is.:biggrin1:

So do you agree that I was right when I said somewhere many moons ago at the beginning of this thread that the difference between "I love it" and "I am loving it" (or the equivalent "I'm loving it") is that

"I love it" means "I do love it now"

while

"I am loving it" means "I have been loving it for an unspecified period of time"?

Bitteroldhag: Please :help:

This thread has wondered all over the universe (as threads so often do, as if they were alive), but the main question of the thread is here to be answered. Please give me a definitive answer. I beseech you.

[Loving-It 0]

I think that "I'm Loving It" is used in the commerical because it sounds better when sung....sang....singed? It sounds better with the jingle.

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

I think that "I'm Loving It" is used in the commerical because it sounds better when sung....sang....singed? It sounds better with the jingle.

I know that, but many people have started talking that way in everyday life, and there is no music played while they are speaking. :faint:

[TommyO 5]

I am terribly concerned with the Nuclear power industry in the U.S.A. apparently there are people who have not been properly trained in emergency response. As a Canadian who lives along the Border with the U.S. (As most Canadians do) it scares me that the only training received was being told that "You can't add to much water".

T.O.M I think you need to lighten up a bit if you think that that story is a convincing argument for using proper English then I truly believe you are unwilling to look at the big picture but rather you choose only to make statements to validate your opinion. If that story is true then language was not the issue, the real issue was that there are idiots managing the nuclear power industry down there.

Well I must be off to get ready for work. I must shower first but I have a problem, when I was young my Mother often said "You can't use enough soap when you wash" Oh no what will I ever do!!!!

[BJean 16]

TommyO: I got a big kick out of your post! And that's a Good Thing!

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

Yes, the nuclear power industry is run very poorly, but the need for proper English is still important even at a gas fired, coal fired or oil fired electrical generation station and in everyday life.

[onlygo 0]

Last year for thanksgiving my daughter and I decided to cook and give my mom a break . WE wanted to cook the turkey and dressing just like hers . My daughter called her to get the recipe. WE made the dressing just to her instructiions but it didnt taste right. My mother said it had too much poultry seasoning, but my daughter cried" You said you cant put to much poultry seasoning,so we put a lot." MY mom said "I meant you CANT put TOO MUCH POULTRY SEASONING."

[TommyO 5]

Who or should I say Whom shall be given the power to decide? One of the key features of the English language has been it's ability to adapt and evolve. 3 Mile Island and over seasoned turkeys not withstanding understanding is the crucial component. That being said my message remains proper English does not imply understanding but rather it only ensures adherence to conformity.

What I mean is, if'n you do undustand wut I be sayin then the comunication be workin. If on the other hand you are unable to comprehend my words our discourse has most assuredly failed.

Cheers

TommyO

[Tired_Old_Man 1]

But, you cna't tlak taht way!

[TommyO 5]

Well said, I think I'm going to turn off spell check

TommyO

[GeezerSue 7]

... it's amazing to me how poorly the quality of writing has become.

"...how POOR..."

It modifies "the quality of writing," which makes it an adjective. When the "ly" is added, it becomes an adverb, which cannot be used here.

I'm just sayin'...

[GeezerSue 7]

"Ebonics" is not "slang" spoken by young black kids. We call THAT something else; we call it "slang spoken by young black kids."

"Ebonics," among other things, utilizes a different grammar. It is consistent. It doesn't change with fads and mean one thing this week and something else next week. If you don't enjoy reading about grammar, this will probably not thrill you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics

The link keeps fizzling out. Well, go to wiki and search on "Ebonics."

[GeezerSue 7]

BTW...anyone se habla Gullah? Also not slang...

http://www.bcgov.net/bftlib/gullah.htm#Examples

[Carlene 12]

"Ebonics" is not "slang" spoken by young black kids. We call THAT something else; we call it "slang spoken by young black kids."

"Ebonics," among other things, utilizes a different grammar. It is consistent. It doesn't change with fads and mean one thing this week and something else next week. If you don't enjoy reading about grammar, this will probably not thrill you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics

The link keeps fizzling out. Well, go to wiki and search on "Ebonics."

Wiki calls Ebonics a dialect. Not everyone would agree, however. From the much-publicized school board debate...

(CNN) -- So far it's little more than a vague idea, but a proposal by a California school board last week to recognize Black English as a second language has already sparked a firestorm of debate.

"I am incensed," said poet Maya Angelou, who recited one of her poems at President Clinton's inauguration. "The very idea that African-American language is a language separate and apart can be very threatening, because it can encourage young men and women not to learn standard English."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson also blasted the proposal, which was announced Wednesday by the California School Board to officially recognize Black English, also know as Ebonics, a term combining "ebony" and "phonics."

"While we are fighting in California trying to extend affirmative action and fighting to teach our children so they become more qualified for jobs, in Oakland some madness has erupted over making slang talk a second language," Jackson said in a statement.

"You don't have to go to school to learn to talk garbage," he said.

[GeezerSue 7]

Wiki calls Ebonics a dialect. Not everyone would agree, however. From the much-publicized school board debate...

(CNN) -- So far it's little more than a vague idea, but a proposal by a California school board last week to recognize Black English as a second language has already sparked a firestorm of debate.

"I am incensed," said poet Maya Angelou, who recited one of her poems at President Clinton's inauguration. "The very idea that African-American language is a language separate and apart can be very threatening, because it can encourage young men and women not to learn standard English."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson also blasted the proposal, which was announced Wednesday by the California School Board to officially recognize Black English, also know as Ebonics, a term combining "ebony" and "phonics."

"While we are fighting in California trying to extend affirmative action and fighting to teach our children so they become more qualified for jobs, in Oakland some madness has erupted over making slang talk a second language," Jackson said in a statement.

"You don't have to go to school to learn to talk garbage," he said.

Just because they are Black does not make them experts on the topic.

And I'm not proposing it be "taught," any more than I'd propose that Gullah be taught in public schools. But there is an enormous difference between a dialect and slang. Many miss that point.

Too bad some Black leaders think that ANY dialect of English, or any language, is garbage. Ignorance defined, I guess.

I don't speak Pidgin English, either. But it communicates. And whether I understand it or not, it is of value to millions. If I work in a community of people who communicate via Pidgin English, I'd be wise to acknowledge the effectiveness of that mode of communication and a fool to try to tell them to stop talking that way. I might even be a HERO if I can help them add standard English to their repertoire...but I won't get there by telling them that the language that they and millions of others use is garbage. They know better.