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Should I correct a French teacher who teaches English ?


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Both, although I would tend to use the first as a sentence in itself, and the second as the first phrase of a complex sentence, such as:

'She has green eyes, blonde hair and a lovely smile'.

http://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-2/exercice-anglais-2360.php

In the negative and interrogative you need the auxiliary 'does' or 'doesn't' if you choose the simple 'have' form:

'Does she have?'

'She doesn't have'

Whereas with has got you can use a simple negative or question form:

'Has she got?'

'She hasn't got'

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I would use 'She has green eyes'.

I have green eyes, they have brown shoes, she has ginger hair, we have two children etc.

I don't use 'got' in written or spoken English.

However, it's acceptable to use 'got'. I wouldn't correct the French teacher who teaches English.
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I was always taught that there is no such word as got; however with common usage, today there certainly is such a word and it is widely used,

I would therefore have to accept that both are currently correct.

As to the question of if you should correct the teacher, that can be a difficult situation, depending on the teacher.

A friend's daughter in Germany corrected her teacher of English. When asked to provide the plural of:

The student did his homework

the teacher insisted that the correct answer was

The students did their homeworks

He would not accept that homework does not accept an "s" in the plural and gave said friend's daughter the equivalent of a detention for her trouble.
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Whilst it seems the general concensus is that these days using got is OK, to me it seems too american ...personally I would not use it if it is not needed.  Keeping things simple is the best option ....

In the green eyes example above, has green eyes states the possession, thus using got as well is superfluous.

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There was this chap called Shakespeare wrote a piece about some lovers:

Paris. Poor soul, thy face is much abus'd with tears.

Juliet. The tears have got small victory by that,

    For it was bad enough before their spite.

Good enough for him.
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[quote user="Buzzard"]There was this chap called Shakespeare wrote a piece about some lovers:

Paris. Poor soul, thy face is much abus'd with tears.

Juliet. The tears have got small victory by that,

    For it was bad enough before their spite.

Good enough for him.[/quote]

He only wrote those words to make them fit the rythm with which he was so firmly stuck.

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Trouble is, if my girl writes/says 'got' in front of my mum she would get a sharp reply as well. The poor girl can't win.

I have come to the conclusion that the word 'got' is similar to tu/vous in French in the sense of how you would use it in a given situation.

I would not go up to someone who is older than me and say 'have you got the time' ?. I would say, 'do you have the time please' ? 'Got' is casual or colloquial.

So in that respect, I have to correct her.

Am I right ?
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This is not a question of grammar; it is a question of psychology. You can teach your daughter what is best for an English speaker, but retain her good relationship with her teacher by not mentioning it.
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Hopefully a teacher in the région Parisien will be a bit more open but around here were you to do the same you would have condemned your daughter who no doubt speaks much better French than the (French) English teacher to getting lower marks than the majority of her classmates, a teacher at the lycée where I help out told me she was intimidated to have a native English speaker (not me, a new student) in the class [:(] I admire her honesty but how sad [:(]

 

He has visited me and he has had a hard ride in his education in France, he speaks far better French than me and better English as well yet he has never been awarded more than 15/20 in English, those that repeat the teachers errors as gospel get  20/20.

 

And this is a bright lad, mature but not précoce and very discreet, he told me that he had been given a detention for correcting a teacher because she would say "shut up!" in situations when she really meant "please be quiet", he was concerned she would mis-use the phrase in the UK, I said "but you must never correct one of these teachers in front of the class" (they even insist that I dont yet that is exactly why they want me in the classroom) he told me that he waited till after all the students had left and politely informed her, his reward, a detention and to be marked down in future.

 

FWIW I see nothing wrong with either has or has got in current speech, it does not clash with me, even when i hear something that clashes I will think twice before correcting a French person, so many wont use what they have because their confidence has been dented, if other people use the same speech I may say that it would be understood, not wrong as such but it is more correct to say.............

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Can so!

 

Your mother has got it wrong [:P]  - you get me?

 

My knowledge of the English language is appalling following the worst of a 70's progressive comprehensive education innit!

 

French English teachers have taught me far more about my native language than the dope smoking in front of the class hippys ever did, ironically its usually when they are asking me how to correctly say something, I am at best unsure and may know what to say but not why, at worst I am wrong and they end up correcting me.

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[quote user="nomoss"]

He only wrote those words to make them fit the rythm with which he was so firmly stuck.

[/quote]

I don't think so. Here's a bit of Hamlet, and it's not verse, and what's more Horatio is reading out a written letter:

Horatio. [Reads.] 'Horatio, when thou shalt have overlooked this, give these fellows some means to the king: they have letters for him. Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour, and in the grapple I boarded them: on the instant they got clear of our ship; so I alone became their prisoner.

Sorry about all the messy formatting - can someone tell me how to edit it out?
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Good job Horatio was better in battle than writing in English otherwise we would all be speaking French.

Call me Mr Picky, but there is no other verb before 'got' so in this case it matters not. Although Horatio could have rephrased that better and not look like he went to the same comprehensive school as Chancer.
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Call me picky................

yes there is... "has" - to have.

Does the teacher actually have green eyes? Just curious.

I'm with the earlier poster: its about psychology not grammar. As with any relationship, sometimes you can be right, sometimes happy, but often you cannot be both.

I'll get me coat. I have got me coat. I have my coat

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I was talking about Horatio yapping on about his life...as posted in an earlier thread Yonner..keep up !!!.

"on the instant they got clear of our ship; so I alone became their prisoner"

Not an expert but could you not substitute 'got' for 'were'.

'Go get your coat'...your fired !
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In this context "got" is perfect.  They were clear of our ship would not have the same sense of action and urgency.  "Got" here implies an effort to get away, to leave the ship.  Without knowing the story, I would say that there was probably a bit of a tussle, maybe even a fight, in order for them to "get clear" and escape.

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