Bill the English Teacher

juan carlo luna October 2, 2009 13:07

hi bill.
i want to improve my oral and written communications skills i am hoping that you can help me.. i want to become an educator someday but because of some personal and financial problems i was not able to continue my college education. so i am hoping that through this site i will learn the English language tnx
Tanya October 1, 2009 16:02

Dear Bill! Hope you don't mind my asking you about grammar. You see, since my early childhood I have been told to say "at school" and my first teacher was a native speaker. However, in time I started seeing and hearing "in school". I do feel difference but I can't explain it. Will you be that kind to explain me this moment with examples, please?
Ruzan September 28, 2009 8:00

Hi Bill,
How was your weekend,how is your great family doing?
I spend a really wonderful time in San Francisco.I stayed two months there with my daughter.She got an excellent Finance internship there and after she got a job offer from that company!I posted my new pics on EC.
Do you like San Francisco?
Have a nice day!
Ruzan
Lynne September 27, 2009 13:08

Good day!!!

-Lynne-
angelstar September 27, 2009 8:32

thank you very much teacher.ı am very hard study an englısh but ı am affraid. ı am very love englısh lesson.you are wonderful person because you are englısh teacher......
angelstar September 26, 2009 20:55

hi how are you ? my name is angel. ım seventeen years old. ı live turkey in konya.ı want to be an englısh teacher
Jing September 26, 2009 13:59

hi teacher bill
Have a nice day to you teacher bill, it's my pleasure that you accept me as your student, friend and be you daughter. once again thank you. i am happy that you know some korean language coz of your korean friend there. it's a difficult to learn korean language.
Lynne September 26, 2009 1:30

Hello,
Nice to hear from you, Bill.
Hmmmmm... about my English, I think I need to learn more... :-) I am feeling that it's not enough, Bill. There's still a lot more to learn, I know.
I'm super happy that you're back with us here again.
How is you wife, Bill? I'm quite sure she's fine by now.
Please send my regards to her.
Good day!
God Bless!
-Lynne-
Lynne September 25, 2009 10:04

Hello Bill,
Just dropped by to say "Hello!"
Thanks for being a super friend and teacher, Bill. :-)
Have a nice day!
-Lynne-
Oscar Agudelo September 21, 2009 14:45

Good day, teacher Bill. I really hope you are the finest !!!

OK, first of all, I want to say that I also knew that "chulo" means "pimp", but I didn´t like the idea of describing that job. Anyway, Only did I know that meaning because of movie films. Here in Colombia, there are no chulos "managing" corners or streets. Never have I seen one !!! (Am I using inversion well?)

Second, I´ve just read the articles about inversion you sent me. Wow, you really showed me the light once again. I want to say THANX A LOOOOOOT !!!
However, I´ve just read your example about the million dollars and I have a new question.
Verb "Have" in spanish has 2 meanings. The first one, and the most commonly used, is "Tener" and we use it to say that we "own" something. That something is under our possesion. We can use with the same meaning of "got" or "obtained". So, if I bought a car with my money, or if someone gave me a car, the car would be mine; then, I can say : I have a car. I got a car. I obtained a car.

"I have a car" means "Yo tengo un carro"

"Tengo" is the first conjugation of verb "Tener"

The other meaning of "Have" is "Haber", and can ONLY be used as an auxiliary verb, that means for us, Spanish native speakers, that if we use it, we have to use another verb describing the main action. We call that second verb "The main verb" and it must be conjugated in past participle tense (Exactly as is in English).

Example :

Yo he estudiado mucho = I have studied a lot.

In this case, "he" is the first conjugation of verb "Haber" in Spanish.

We can never use verb "haber" without a main verb in the sentence. I couldn´t say : "Yo he mucho" because I would be saying that I have DONE something but I haven´t said what I have done ( In this case, that I have "studied"), so the sentence is not giving a complete message.

In English, if I read "I have a lot", I wouldn´t see a mistake at the first sight because I would understand that someone is the "owner" of many things. I wouldn´t need a "main verb", at most, I would like to know what kind of thing you have in large quantities ( cars, shirts, debts...).

OK. Now, let´s go to the main situation. You wrote :

If I had a million dollars...In this case, had is a verb. It is the past tense of have, but it´s NOT working as an auxiliary. I mean, if you want to make a negative sentence, you must use DID (an auxiliary), example :

If I didn´t have a million dollars...

For questions is the same...

Did I have a million dollars ?

I have learned that if you use "have" as a verb, you will need auxiliaries for negatives and questions. Examples :

DO you have / She doesn´t have / Did he have / They didn´t have /

BUT, if you use "Have" as an auxiliary, you wouldn´t need another auxiliary. Example :

They have studied a lot.

Have : Auxiliary. Studied : Main verb

Interrogative and negative :

Have they studied a lot? / They haven´t studied a lot.

Incorrect sentences :

Do they have studied a lot? / They don´t have studied a lot.

When you write "I had a million dollars" you are using had as a verb and not as an auxiliary, so, if you want to make a question you should write :

Did I have a million dollars?

Had I a million dollars? should be considered incorrect.

However, I´ve seen that some people (specially people from the UK) don´t see a problem with that. When I´m teaching "present perfect and past perfect tense" where the auxiliary is the verb "Have". I taught my pupils that they don´t need do-does-did auxiliaries for negatives or questions, but some weeks later when I want them to write "They don´t have the book" (Simple present), they write "They haven´t the book"...And I have to explain again that sometimes have is a verb and it needs an auxiliary.

Once again, dear Bill, text books say so. If have is used as a verb, it has to be used with an auxiliary for -/? sentences.

Now, I want your opinion, because sometimes I say to my pupils "If you go London one day you can say "I haven´t money" but in my class you have to say "I don´t have money" !!!

Thanks a lot in advance, teacher Billie, and please, forgive me if I write that looooong !!!

God bless you and all of those who have read this short comment.

P.S : What´s the difference between "all of my friends" and "all my friends" ? Are they both correct?