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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009what does the teacher recommend and the students do?
Hi, Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, if the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the single thing is that the teacher recommends and the students do? > Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, if > the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the single > thing is that the teacher recommends and the students do? No, this sentence asks two questions, not one. It asks: (1) What the teacher recommends (2) What the students do. Your model sentence is complex for two reasons: (a) Both main verbs use the auxiliary verb do/does (b) The main verb of case (1) is singular in number (recommend) but case (2) is plural in number (do), correctly following the numbers of their subjects (singular teacher and plural students.) The sentence is correct vernacular English (i.e. breaks no rule of grammar) and is grammatically complex as stated. Neither truth is conditional on the "intended meaning."  SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) > > Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, if > > the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the single [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > of grammar) and is grammatically complex as stated. Neither > truth is conditional on the "intended meaning." I agree that it's okay in vernacular. In formal writing, it would have to be something like, "What is the course of action that the teachers recommend and the students follow?" In my opinion. -- Jerry Friedman >Hi, > >Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, if >the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the single >thing is that the teacher recommends and the students do? No. The separate parts that are being put together are: --What does the teacher recommend?-- --What do the students do?-- The first "does" agrees with the singular number of "teacher" but not with the plural number of "students". You could say "What does the teacher recommend and the student do?" or "What do the teachers recommend and the students do?", but both sound clumsy. SignatureJohn >> Hi, >> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > "What do the teachers recommend and the students do?", > but both sound clumsy. Yes. To avoid sounding clumsy you need to repeat the "what": What does the teacher recommend, and what do the students do? That sounds fine and natural for colloquial English, but might need rewriting for a more formal context. Signatureathel >>> Hi, >>> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > That sounds fine and natural for colloquial English, but might need > rewriting for a more formal context. What Ray seems to want to ask is "What single recommendation of the teacher's do the students follow?" My guess is that it's intended as a comprehension question about a reading passage: it's quite hard to think of other circumstances in which we'd ask for that information. I'm imagining a story in which a teacher's pupils ignore almost all his advice. SignatureMike. > Hi, > > Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, if > the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the single > thing is that the teacher recommends and the students do? It is possibly "correct", but it reads uncomfortably. Changing the "and" to "that" looks like an improvement to me. >> Hi, >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > to > "that" looks like an improvement to me. ...as long as a comma is inserted between "recommend" and "that". > "grabber" wrote: >>> Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, >>> if the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > ...as long as a comma is inserted between "recommend" and "that". Yeah, but those changes give it a different meaning. SignatureSkitt (AmE) >>>> Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, >>>> if the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Yeah, but those changes give it a different meaning. Without the comma, you are right. With it, I think it means what the OP stated. >>>>> Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, >>>>> if the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Without the comma, you are right. With it, I think it means what the > OP stated. Actually, a comma does not belong there, especially so when the "and" is changed to "that". SignatureSkitt (AmE) No NESsie, but oh, so close ... > Hi, > > Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, if > the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the single > thing is that the teacher recommends and the students do? No. "What is it that the teacher recommends and the students do?" is the most natural way I could think of to express it while staying close to your original. Also technically correct is "What does the teacher recommend, that the students do?", but that would confuse many readers who would miss the significance of the comma. Or you could change the order: "What do the students do that the teacher recommends?", which changes the emphasis slightly. Both of those could refer to more than a "single thing". I prefer the version I gave first. SignatureRegards John for mail: my initials plus a u e at tpg dot com dot au |
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