"Began" as adverb???
John Baglow
My step-son came home with a test the other day in which the object of the
exercise had been to find the adverbs. In one of the sentences, the phrase
"began following" occurred. The student teacher claimed that "began" was
an adverb. I wrote a note back, and my step-son informed me this morning
that the teacher had "looked it up" and that it could be either a verb
(standing alone) or an adverb.
This, of course, is ignorant nonsense. What we have there is a verbal
phrase. Otherwise, "finished" [for example] would be an adverb in such
phrases as "finished working." [Why can we say "began working" or "began
to work" but not "finished to work?" But I digress.]
The difficulty now is one of process. Danny isn't sure whom to believe. I
don't know how to intervene further. But I can't let the matter drop and
have my step-son improperly instructed. Does anyone have any suggestions,
since I am new at the parent-teacher game?
--
Cheers,
John Ka whawhai tonu matou, ake, ake, ake!
Frances L. Tanner
The teacher (especially a student teacher) needs to learn face-saving ways
to come out and say "I was wrong." S/he needs to adopt the attitude that
it is the student's mastery of the content that matters, not the
teacher's feelings.
To this end, I would indeed pursue the subject. Step one, call and ask for
the student teacher; if no satisfaction at this level, the supervising
teacher, and so on.
Non-confrontational at first, such as "We all know English grammar is hard
to teach," and "goodness, those reference works can be confusing." But
there is no dictionary on god's green earth which identifies "begin" as
anything other than a verb and this teacher should not try to defend an
indefensible position. The point I would try hardest to make is that
students should not be left in error just because of one of those mistakes
we could (clench your teeth as you get this one out) all make.
My daughter, who has tried without success to convince her high school
music teacher that there is no such interval as a "diminished unison",
feels your pain.
--
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frances l. tanner
www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aa816
613-728-8728
James Owens
Frances L. Tanner (aa...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) writes:
> . . . Step one, call and ask for
> the student teacher; if no satisfaction at this level, the supervising
> teacher, and so on.
> Non-confrontational at first. . .
> . . . The point I would try hardest to make is that
> students should not be left in error. . .
> John Baglow (ai...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) writes:
>> My step-son came home with a test the other day in which the object of the
>> exercise had been to find the adverbs. In one of the sentences, the phrase
>> "began following" occurred. The student teacher claimed that "began" was
>> an adverb. I wrote a note back, and my step-son informed me this morning
>> that the teacher had "looked it up" and that it could be either a verb
>> (standing alone) or an adverb.
. . .
>> The difficulty now is one of process. Danny isn't sure whom to believe. I
>> don't know how to intervene further. But I can't let the matter drop and
>> have my step-son improperly instructed. Does anyone have any suggestions,
>> since I am new at the parent-teacher game?
Was this resolved? Frances Tanner has offered good general advice for
conflict resolution, but I would like to add something more specific.
In your initial appeal to the student teacher you should have a clear
presentation of the right answer, because as tactfully as possible you
have to teach the teacher. You should also be ready with some awkward
problems for the wrong answer.
Most good-sized dictionaries include an English Handbook. At the moment
I'm looking at Appendic EH of the New Lexicon Webster's, Encyclopedic
Edition. This explains verb phrases, which are made up of two or more
verbs. It may be just a matter of making the student teacher aware of this
grammatical element, especially if you offer to let the supervisor
arbitrate your dispute.
If the student teacher is difficult, you might pretend confusion, but then
ask Socratically why "began" modifies "following" rather than the other
way around. After a little gentle embarrassment, you could discover in the
dictionary that the gerund is especially interesting because it shares the
characteristics of a noun. As my reference says, "Gerunds are verb forms
used as nouns." Therefore, if "began" modifies "following," wouldn't that
make "began" an adjective?
As the student teacher begins to sense how deep the water is, you can
present another possible answer. In my reference the equivalent example
is, "Martha enjoys painting." In this sentence "the verb form _painting_
is used as the direct object of the [transitive] verb _enjoys_." In the
same way "following" and its attendant clause is the object of "began,"
which is the principal verb in the sentence. Mind you, "following" is
likely transitive within the clause, so to simplify matters it might be
better to think of "began following" as a transitive verb phrase. . .
When things are thoroughly mixed up, you can discover the section on
"Adverbial modifiers of gerunds," in which all the examples will use
adverbs or adverb phrases that could under no circumstances be mistaken
for verbs. Whatever the right answer may be, it should be abundantly
clear that calling "began" an adverb is an ill-informed response.
If you do all this with a good dictionary in your hands, you will make
clear the essential lesson, which is not that "begun" is not an adverb,
but that the student teacher still has something to learn about English
grammar.
--
James Owens ad...@Freenet.carleton.ca
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada