Johanna - I do!

from the trenches,
Marcia Alessi
6th Grade Language Arts
Los Angeles
On Sep 28, 2005, at 9:19 AM, Johanna Rubba wrote:

> It should be easy for students to find "be" verbs in a sentence, even 
> if they don't know they are forms of "be". Tell them to put a 
> contracted negative "-n't" in the sentence. If there is a form of "be" 
> in the sentence, that's what they'll attach it to.
>
> It's true, isn't it, that the negative marker always attaches to the 
> finite element of the verb phrase? Since the contracted negative 
> marker attaches directly to the finite element, it is very useful, 
> even if not preferred in formal writing. It's just a device for 
> finding things.
>
> As to figuring out whether and which tense the form is marked for, ask 
> students to put a time adverb in the sentence: "now", "then". "Now" 
> will usually indicate present and "then" past.
>
> Does anyone on this list actually try this stuff?
>
> Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
> Linguistics Minor Advisor
> English Department
> California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> Tel.: 805.756.2184
> Dept. Ofc. Tel.: 805.756.2596
> Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374
> URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
>
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>
Marcia Alessi
Language Arts & Social Studies
Sixth Grade
St. Paul the Apostle School
Los Angeles, California

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