English question!!

[beavereater]

I am an English teacher but sometimes I get stumped too, sometimes the answer is right there but it just doesn't sound right. Anyway, if anyone out there could tell me what they think, here are the 2 questions IN question;

Q: What is the strangest food you have eaten? How was it?
Students Answer: It is blah blah.

Now, I said she should say: The strangest food I have eaten is blah blah

The student asked me why...and I couldn't answer right away and said I would do a little research. So...I come to DVDRHELP. The second question is:

Where.................................?
The Kiwi fruit comes from.............?

You have to fill in the blanks. I would say:

Where does the kiwi fruit come from?
The kiwi fruit comes from NZ.

Again, students where confused as to why I chose this...but I am right aren't I!?

[Conquest10]

Yeah, you're right. Its called forming a complete sentence.

[Hardcoreruss]

Again, students where confused as to why I chose this...but I am right aren't I!?

Apart from the bold text your English is perfect but the above is probably just a spelling error should be "were", you knew that already though

[Rookie64]

I am an English teacher but sometimes I get stumped too, sometimes the answer is right there but it just doesn't sound right. Anyway, if anyone out there could tell me what they think, here are the 2 questions IN question;

Q: What is the strangest food you have eaten? How was it?
Students Answer: It is blah blah.

Now, I said she should say: The strangest food I have eaten is blah blah

blah blah is describing how the food tasted - not what the food is

If so, I've never heard of any food called blah blah


Her answer is right is she is telling you the food is gross or horrible

Your answer is like saying - The strangest food I have eaten is gross or horrible


Is that what you're trying to say or are you trying to actually name what the strangest food is that you've eaten?

The second question is:

Where.................................?
The Kiwi fruit comes from.............?

You have to fill in the blanks. I would say:

Where does the kiwi fruit come from?
The kiwi fruit comes from NZ.

Again, students where confused as to why I chose this...but I am right aren't I!?

The kiwi fruit comes from NZ - is this a statement or a question

You have a question mark for it with the blank

so I'd say, The kiwi fruit comes from where?
or
Where does the kiwi fruit come from?

Though kiwi tells you the answer to that question already


That is like saying - The Japanese fruit comes from Japan or asking where does the Japanese fruit come from?

You're asking a guestion that already tells you the answer


Not sure if that's what you're trying to do...but I can see why your students are confused


Your English is correct but your meanings might not be.

[northcat_8]

she should respond in a past tense.

It is blah blah....doesn't sound proper for the question:

"What is the strangest food you have eaten? How was it?"

she should have said: "It was blah blah" or "It tasted Blah blah"

Now I are a math teacher and any and I do mean ANY advice I give regarding the english language...you take at your own risk.

[flaninacupboard]

Q: What is the strangest food you have eaten? How was it?
Students Answer: The strangest food I've eaten was pickled herring. It was bland and rubbery.

Where do kiwi fruits come from?
Kiwi fruits come from New Zeland.

That's just the way i'd say it.

[Doramius]

I am an English teacher but sometimes I get stumped too, sometimes the answer is right there but it just doesn't sound right. Anyway, if anyone out there could tell me what they think, here are the 2 questions IN question;

Q: What is the strangest food you have eaten? How was it?
Students Answer: It is blah blah.

Now, I said she should say: The strangest food I have eaten is blah blah

The student asked me why...and I couldn't answer right away and said I would do a little research. So...I come to DVDRHELP. The second question is:

Where.................................?
The Kiwi fruit comes from.............?

You have to fill in the blanks. I would say:

Where does the kiwi fruit come from?
The kiwi fruit comes from NZ.

Again, students where confused as to why I chose this...but I am right aren't I!?

You're bringing me back to my English from my college days as a broadcasting major.

It is proper in any language (that I am aware of) to respond to the question with the same subjects used to ask the question. As time passed, people realize the redundancies and drop them to make their conversation quicker. That doesn't mean it's proper. However, if you do not understand the proper english portion, it becomes harder to understand context in certain circumstances, or things in the conversation might get confused or misinterpreted because the proper response of subjects was not used.

Q: What is the strangest food you have eaten? How was it?

THe proper response is:

The strangest food I have eaten is blah blah

However, this statement is still hanging as the second question is not addressed.

How was it?

A response might be:

The Blah Blah was blah.

These sentences are proper.

Where does the kiwi fruit come from?
The kiwi fruit comes from NZ.

It could have easily been said:

From New Zealand.

But if someone caught the conversation mid way through, the thought left hanging is, "What's from New Zealand?" These are called danglers or hangers. Danglers and hangers are not a part of proper english.

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Join us next time as we discuss - CONTRACTIONS: The short way to improper english.

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[flaninacupboard]

These sentences are proper.

Where does the kiwi fruit come from?
The kiwi fruit comes from NZ.

It could have easily been said:

From New Zealand.

But if someone caught the conversation mid way through, the thought is left hanging is, "What's from New Zealand?" These are called danglers or hangers. Danglers and hangers are not a part of proper english. [/b]

Not sure that's right.

Where does the orange come from?

indicates a source for a specific singular orange.

The orange comes from spain.

correct for a singular orange.

Where do oranges come from?

Oranges come from Spain.


perhaps a difference in common usage in our countries, or perhaps our languages are different on this point.

[Doramius]

These sentences are proper.

Where does the kiwi fruit come from?
The kiwi fruit comes from NZ.

It could have easily been said:

From New Zealand.

But if someone caught the conversation mid way through, the thought is left hanging is, "What's from New Zealand?" These are called danglers or hangers. Danglers and hangers are not a part of proper english. [/b]

Not sure that's right.

Where does the orange come from?

indicates a source for a specific singular orange.

The orange comes from spain.

correct for a singular orange.

Where do oranges come from?

Oranges come from Spain.


perhaps a difference in common usage in our countries, or perhaps our languages are different on this point.

His question for Kiwi Fruit is singular.

DOES - KIWI FRUIT

KIWI FRUIT - COMES

All showing singular.

Your orange examples are both showing correct for singular and plural, though.

[flaninacupboard]

so is it "where does the strawberry come from?" or "where do strawberries come from?"
They seem different questions in my mind. like "where does the baby come from?" is different to "where do babies come from?" would get totally different responses from me.

on the kiwi front "where does the kiwi fruit come from?" i would respond "Tescos, they're cheaper than sainsburys" and "where do kiwi fruits come from" i would respodn "from New Zeland."

[Doramius]

so is it "where does the strawberry come from?" or "where do strawberries come from?"
They seem different questions in my mind. like "where does the baby come from?" is different to "where do babies come from?" would get totally different responses from me.

on the kiwi front "where does the kiwi fruit come from?" i would respond "Tescos, they're cheaper than sainsburys" and "where do kiwi fruits come from" i would respodn "from New Zeland."

It is very true, as even here there is context left out to make the questions simple. I could give an answer like, "The strawberry comes from a garden, or plant."

The point is you're stating the subject of the asked question, and that's proper. The response is the opinion of the the person answering, but they should still include the original question's subjects, which can also be an identifier to the asker of the question to clarify if the response was not understood properly. For english in school rooms they are basically looking for the response to show the subject of the asked question. In normal conversation you might end up with this:

1: Where do strawberries come from?

2: Strawberries come from a garden.

1: I'm sorry. I meant, "Where is a strawberry grown from?

2: A Strawberry is grown from a plant.

1: Where might I find strawberries? (The garden issue was already addressed so the redundancy is removed for CONTEXT, which would be proper for the conversation as a whole, but improper if left separate)
2: You may find strawberries at Tescos, and they are cheaper than Sainsbury's. ('AND' is used to identify that Sainsbury also carries the product which is proper over using 'BECAUSE' since the subject Sainsbury had not yet been introduced.)

Also in the conversation, the subject (or noun) strawberries could have been replaced with 'THEM', but in an extended conversation could get confusing if someone come mid way through. The hanging question would be, "Who is 'THEM'?" which would make 'THEM' an improper item to use in this context. Everybody uses a bit of improper english, but still carries a basic understanding due to context. This follows something like Short Hand in writing. If you understand most of the meaning and follow the subject properly. The part that makes it improper is if someone catches the conversation mid way, they wouldn't have an understanding and would be left hanging. It all roots back to respect. To be respectful of others, you do not leave them out. If they are left out, the respect is lost. Disrespect is improper, therefor anything left hanging or dangling in language is improper.

[offline]

Ok. It is not law but convention to include the question in the
answer. This both helps students form sentences and also
helps them make sure that they are answering the question
correctly.

[beavereater]

OK...I apologize for all the errors I am making while asking these questions Shows why Japan has such shit scores in English...shit teachers. Anyway...the questions were from a sheet. and I asked them to respond in a complete sentence. When they didn't I explained the proper way to say it. Then they ask if what they wrote/said was grammatically correct. It sounds funny to me when they answer the way they did...

First, my choice of using blah blah wasn't meant to be taken as (not tasty) but as me filling where her answer was.

Anyway...I think I figured it out. Thanks for your help everyone!!