Wednesday Homework

Today we finished up Unit 7, did Exercise 3 in class.

A couple of points which came up (which were) unrelated to relative clauses were negative questions and using "do" with questions.

1  Although it is more logical answer a negative question such as "Didn't you do your homework?" with a positive "Yes(, I didn't do my homework), it's rare that a native speaker will do so.  The typical American native speaker of English will respond, "No, I didn't do my homework." 

We seem to transpose negative questions to the positive.  Here are some more examples.

A:  Don't you like Korean food?   B: Yeah, I love it!
A:   Won't you join us?                 B:  Sure, I'll come with you!
A:  Isn't that my pen?                    B:  No, it's my pen!

I recommend that in speaking with native speaker Americans, you "Do in Rome as the Romans do" to avoid confusion.  To be clear, add a phrase that completes the thought.  For example, if someone asks, "Shouldn't we leave now?"   reply by saying not only "Yes," but also "we should (leave)."


We also discussed "me neither" and "me either."  I thought that both were OK in colloquial (spoken , informal) English, although "me neither" is more accepted.  There seems to be some controversy about this.

Basically,  "Me neither" is a very informal way of saying "Neither do I"  and "Me either" is an informal way of saying "I don't either."   I wouldn't recommend either (!) expression in formal situations, and certainly not in academic written English.

Some people claim that "me either" is used in U.S. English, but "me neither" is used in UK.  Both sound right (for use in informal English) to me.  I guess this is just another strange point.  I was wrong in thinking that "me neither" is more formal than "me either," although other people think so too.  It seems that they are equally informal, both common in US English, but not advisable in formal English.


And in questions like "Which is correct?" we don't need to use a "do" verb.  If the subject is the relative pronoun ("which, what, who, where, etc.") you can use a be verb, and in the case of "which," other verbs can be used.  For example:

   "There are six phones here.  Which (one) rang?"
   "There are ten students in the classroom.  Who is the best?"
  
If the relative pronoun is an object you should use "do."

  "There are two phones here.  Which do you usually use?"
   "There are ten students in the classroom.  Who(m) do you think is the best?




OK, the homework is Exercises 4 and 5 on page 143.  You should hand in Exercise 4 but it's OK to do exercise 5 in your notebooks.

Also, please read the copies that I gave you (From Eyes on the Street to Safe Cities).  You don't have to do the written work, but be prepared to discuss the main points and bring questions about vocabulary, structure, main points and details if you have any!