Grammar Stand-Offs!
A hazard of being a teacher, and particularly one in a fraught environment of North American English vs English English, is that grammar arguments crop up regularly. Too regularly, really. I have just spent the last ten minutes debating which of the following sentences is correct:
a) My school starts at 8am
OR
b) School starts at 8am
Surprisingly, a Canadian came to my assistance in opting for the second. We felt that the 'my' would denote a possession that doesn't exist. But, in true crazy grammar style, the more you think about a grammatical point, the more you get swayed towards the opposing argument, just because you can't come up with any real viable reasons to support your own.
I had a really great weekend on Muui Island with Kevin, my workmate Colum and lots of Kevin's friends. We waded through mudflats and Colum was unceremoniously nipped by a territorial crab. We had 4-wheeler races (and got quite competitive). And we sat on the beach and played drinking games whilst fireworks whistled disconcertingly past. The last time I was on an island off the coast of Incheon, with Freeman, Aoife and Loz, I was hit by a firework. I now cower whenever anyone even has a sparkler.
It is my birthday this week and Annabelle, my friend with the child sized hands, has her birthday one day before mine - we are planning an epic double celebration. All I can say is MID TWENTIES NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I don't want to be 24!
a) My school starts at 8am
OR
b) School starts at 8am
Surprisingly, a Canadian came to my assistance in opting for the second. We felt that the 'my' would denote a possession that doesn't exist. But, in true crazy grammar style, the more you think about a grammatical point, the more you get swayed towards the opposing argument, just because you can't come up with any real viable reasons to support your own.
I had a really great weekend on Muui Island with Kevin, my workmate Colum and lots of Kevin's friends. We waded through mudflats and Colum was unceremoniously nipped by a territorial crab. We had 4-wheeler races (and got quite competitive). And we sat on the beach and played drinking games whilst fireworks whistled disconcertingly past. The last time I was on an island off the coast of Incheon, with Freeman, Aoife and Loz, I was hit by a firework. I now cower whenever anyone even has a sparkler.
It is my birthday this week and Annabelle, my friend with the child sized hands, has her birthday one day before mine - we are planning an epic double celebration. All I can say is MID TWENTIES NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I don't want to be 24!
posted by Korrena at 3:50 AM
1 Comments:
Mine's next Monday, I dread it. It's all downhill from here: liver spots and porcelain hips and pig hearts ahoy
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