Tag Archives: grammar

Why punctuation is important

Posted on November 20, 2012 by

At least its importance was what I was trying to convey to my students yesterday. And I truly believe the exercise I gave them to do really drove home the point. I asked them to punctuate the paragraph pictured above, … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, school, Teaching | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Yesterday morning and last night

Posted on June 27, 2012 by

I received the following text from my son who is presently teaching English in Japan: A student wrote, “I cleaned my room last morning” and my JTE corrected it to “yesterday morning.” So then the student asked, why “last night” … Continue reading →

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“The Return of the Subjunctive” by Tamara Madison

Posted on November 22, 2011 by

Oh, the Subjunctive, May it make its bold return! May it ride back proud In liveried coach, May its two fine horses snort And paw the ground, And, escorted by its staunch Attendants If and Whether, May it descend in … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, poetry | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Could you describe what a transitive verb is?

Posted on June 15, 2011 by

My son applied to the JET Program this winter and much to his surprise he was accepted. He actually had an excellent interview, lots of laughs and conversation well past the time allotted for it. But at the end he … Continue reading →

Posted in family, grammar, Japan, school | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Preposition by Sally Van Doren

Posted on May 11, 2011 by

The before took us right up to the after, even though under meant we should not try over, from being stronger than to, xxxxx up shying from its ascent in the face of down. I held on to you and … Continue reading →

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Symbolic stage directions for language

Posted on February 3, 2011 by

Punctuation marks are the symbolic stage directions for language. These “stage directions” tell us to pause or use a specific inflection, to soften or emphasize, to slow down or to speed up. They help us to make sense of and … Continue reading →

Posted in collections, grammar, humor, movies, performance, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

First Stack of Papers

Posted on September 14, 2010 by

I’m sitting here diving into my first stack of serious papers for the year and immediately knew this was the video to commemorate the event.

Posted in grammar, short films, Teaching, videos, writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments