Mr. K's Grammar World: English

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Monday, September 2, 2013

The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part I)

As every child knows, it’s awesome when your parents let you eat ice cream, but not so much when they make you eat things like brussels sprouts, liver, or in Japan, that gawd-awful substance known as natto. For those of you who have never had the “pleasure,” count your blessings. If you can get past the stinky-shoe odor or the slimy over-cooked ocra texture, the strings of goo that will cover your face will leave you with a particularly “wonderful” reminder for the rest of the day, especially, if like me, you have a beard. (So, of course, my sons LOVE the stuff and always try to kiss me after a big heaping bowlful. I love them, but not that much.)

What most children don’t know, however, is that make and let are also known as causative verbs. How we allow our children to enter the first grade without this knowledge is a mystery to me.

And what any student who has made it to at least the intermediate level of English knows is that causative verbs are a major pain in the okole. (That’s the Hawaiian word for the part of your body that you sit on.) And they aren’t much easier in other languages either. I’ve been studying/speaking Japanese for over twenty years and I still can’t use the causative ~saseru properly. Don’t get me started on the causative passive ~saserareru.

However, like anything else, with practice, causative verbs don’t have to be the nightmare they seem to be for most students. All you really need to know to master causative verbs is how to use them (their patterns), when to use them (especially choosing the right one for the situation), and maybe most importantly, when NOT to use them.

Infinitives

The first key to understanding causative verbs is an understanding of infinitives. By the time they begin learning causatives, all students should know what a basic infinitive is. An infinitive is simply to plus the base form of a verb.

to sing
to run
to jump
to scream in frustration when you study English

However, what many students don’t know is that there is a second kind of infinitive: the bare infinitive. Just like bare feet means without shoes, a bare infinitive is an infinitive without “to”. In other words, a bare infinitive is the same as the base form of a verb. The difference is, you NEVER add ~s to a bare infinitive the way you would a regular verb that follows he, she or it or add ~ed in the past tense. Bare infinitives never change.

The Most Common Causative Verbs: Make and Let

The two most common causative verbs are the ones used in the example above, make and let. Grammatically they are the same and both are very informal and conversational, but their meanings are completely opposite.

Make and let both use the same basic patterns.

make / let someone do something
make / let something happen

In a causative sentence, you always need two verbs. The causative verb is the main verb of the clause. The second verb, usually an action verb, is always a bare infinitive form.

I made my brother hit himself.
Sometimes, I let my son win.

In these examples, the first noun (the subject I) is the person who controls the situation. The second noun (the objects brother and son) are the people who will do the action, the hitting and the winning.

(I loved making my brother hit himself when we were kids. I could usually get in three or four shots before his screaming brought our parents running. Unfortunately, he got much bigger and stronger in high school, so I can’t do it anymore.)

To summarize, make and let are the same grammatically. They both use the same patterns with bare infinitives and they are both informal and conversational.

Their differences, on the other hand, are much more important.

If someone lets you do something, you are happy. It is something you want to do. However, you must get permission from someone, like your parents, your boss or a teacher.

Our teacher lets us use dictionaries on tests.
My parents let me borrow their car on Saturday.
My boss let me go home early today.

Two helping verbs that are very similar to let are can and may, which you use to ask for permission.

“May we use our dictionaries on the test?”
“Can I borrow your car on Saturday?”
“May I go home early today?”

Conversely, if someone makes you do something, you are probably going to complain about it. You don’t want to do it. However, you have no choice because your parents, your teachers or your boss have control over the situation. They have authority. You can’t say no.

My teacher makes us type everything.
My parents make me do chores around the house.
My boss made me work late every day this week.

Two helping verbs that are similar to make are must and have to, which you use to give orders.

Teacher: “You must type all of your homework assignments.”
Parents: “You have to do the dishes and clean your room.”
Boss: “I’m sorry, but you must work late again tonight.

In other words: let = happy / make = unhappy.

Other Causative Verbs: Require and Allow

Two other common causative verbs share the same similarities and differences as make and let. They are require and allow.

Require and allow are more formal. They should be used in writing and professional discussions. Also, they have a different pattern. They both need the full infinitive with to.

require/allow someone to do something
require/allow something to happen

Allow, however, has the same meaning as let. It is used to give permission, which makes you happy.

The school lets students wear shorts and slippers at school.
The school allows students to wear shorts and slippers at school.

As you might guess, require has the same meaning as make, and is used to give orders, or things you have to do.

Most Asian schools make their students wear uniforms.
Most Asian schools require their students to wear uniforms.

In this case, I much prefer the second sentence. Make just seems too strong. Require makes it sound like it's a rule, but it's an accepted part of life.

Common Errors

The most common error is a simple one. Students will often use the full infinitive (with to) with make and let.

My father made me to wash his car.
My mother let me to have ice cream for dessert.

Asking why this is wrong is like asking why it’s wrong to steal. The only answer that matters is because it is. I’m sure there is some reason going back to the 1500s and farmers in northern England or Scotland (I’m making this up, of course), but it’s just not important. The only thing learners have to do is learn it, and to learn it, you must practice it. In other words, just do it. (Don’t you hate it when you ask your father why and he says “Because I’m your father.” Same principle, same frustration.)

The second most common error is a much bigger problem. It combines the ideas of permission and happiness. (Remember that let = happy, make = unhappy.) If you ask your wife if it is ok to go to Las Vegas with your friends and she says “yes,” then you are happy, right?

My wife let me go to Las Vegas with my friends.

However, if she says “no,” then you are unhappy, right? Therefore, you need the causative verb make, right? But you still can’t go, so you need the negative not somewhere, right? So, it must go with the infinitive, right?

My wife made me not to go to Las Vegas with my friends.

WRONG!!! The mistake is only thinking about happy and unhappy, which is a good rule of thumb. However, you also have to think about the other rule of thumb: let = permission and make = order. This situation is still all about permission. The problem is that my wife won’t give me permission. Therefore, regardless of yes or no, let is still the correct causative verb for this situation.

My wife won’t let me go to Las Vegas with my friends.
My wife wouldn’t let me go to Las Vegas with my friends.*

When Should You Use a Causative Verb

There is a simple guiding idea that I use when I write and I advise all of my students to keep in mind when they write: Remember the KISS principle - Keep It Simple, Stupid. It is best not to use a causative verb if you don’t have to. For example, the following sentences have basically the same meaning:

I have to read this book for English class.
My English teacher is making me read this book for English class.

Both of them mean I think the book is REALLY boring. The first sentence simply shows my opinion of the assignment. I would only use the causative verb make if it is important to say who is in charge, or who made the decision.

In other words, if who gave the order, if who gave permission is important, then use a causative verb. Otherwise, use a simple sentence with the helping verbs can, must, or have to.

Simple, right? We've only scratched the surface, ya'll.

(I really appreciate questions, comments and suggestions. Feel free to post them in the Commestions and Comments link below or join my Facebook group Mr. K's Grammar World.)

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*The first sentence with will shows that the trip to Las Vegas that I REALLY want to go on is still in the future. The second sentence with would shows that the Las Vegas trip is over. My buddies went and had a great time.

(I really appreciate questions, comments and suggestions. Feel free to post them in the Comments section below. However, I don't often see them right away. Instead, you can use the Questions and Comments link below or join my Facebook group Mr. K's Grammar World.)

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The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part III - Passive Voice)

I feel sorry for the passive voice. The feeling of many English teachers toward the passive voice is almost racist. (Grammarist?) Unfortunately, parents don’t always understand their own prejudices. There are parents who won’t allow their children to marry the person they love just because they are of a different racial or religious background. A parent might not allow their child to go to a sleepover at their best friend’s house because that friend has two daddies. Fortunately, the children usually see the error of these decisions and grow up to see people just as people and understand how wrong their parents were.

Well, this is the case with the passive voice. For years, English teachers have been telling their students “Don’t use the passive voice. It’s not good.” Well, I’m here to say it loud and say it proud. I LOVE THE PASSIVE VOICE! I don’t care who knows it. (You can read my love letter to the passive voice in another blog entry.) I bring this up because the passive voice is commonly used with causative verbs.

The Causative Passive

In Part I of the Causative Verbs series, I cautioned against overusing causative verbs. They should only be used when the decision maker, the person giving the order or giving permission, is important.

Just as children get more responsibilities and privileges as they grow older, language students can use more “grown-up” patterns in their speech as their English gets more sophisticated. (No parent would allow a three-year-old to run with scissors or wield a sharp knife. Similarly, as a language teacher, I don’t allow students to use certain grammar before they are ready. To my low intermediate students: “Don’t use the past perfect (had done). You’re just going to hurt yourselves.")

So, how do you make the passive voice with causative verbs? Since there are two verbs in all causative statements, there are two ways to make the passive voice. (To see diagrams that illustrate these patterns, click here.) Look at the following causative sentence.

The school allows students to wear shorts and slippers* at school.

Because the word students automatically refers to school and we don’t know exactly who made this rule (and because the word school is being used twice in this sentence) the subject school is unnecessary. To get rid of it, follow the basic rules of passive transformation. Move the object students** to the subject position and change the verb by adding the correct form of the “be” verb and changing the main verb to the past participle, which leaves you with:

Students are allowed to wear shorts and slippers at school.

Notice that nothing has changed in the infinitive phrase. In the immortal words of MC Hammer, “You can’t touch this.” Now, look at a more specific situation.

Mid-Pacific Institute allows students to wear shorts and slippers at school.

Now you have a specific subject, the name of a specific school. Therefore, if you change this to the passive voice, you must keep Mid-Pacific Institute. With causative verbs, you can’t just add a prepositional phrase with by at the end. It really seems weird. (Students are allowed by the school.) My reaction to this statement: "Eeeeewwwww." This brings us to the second passive pattern for causative verbs.

Although students SEEMS to be the object of the causative verb, the object is really the entire infinitive phrase. (For the real grammar geeks out there, go on to Part V for an explanation.) Therefore, students is the subject of the infinitive phrase and to wear is like the main verb. Look at the following examples.

MPI allows students to wear shorts and slippers at school.
MPI allows shorts and slippers to be worn at school.

This time, nothing about the subject and verb of the main clause changes. All the changes happen in the infinitive phrase. The object shorts and slippers becomes the new subject and the infinitive changes to its passive form by adding “be” and changing wear to worn. Notice that students has been eliminated. (If you want to keep students in the sentence, don’t use this pattern.)

There are two causative verbs, however, that can’t (or at least shouldn’t) be used in the passive voice: make and let.

XXX I was made to stay after school. XXX
XXX I was let to go to the movies with my friends. XXX

Again, my reaction to both of these sentences is “Eeeeeeeeewwwwww.” The first sentence, with make, is not horribly terrible and is grammatically correct. It is, however, very formal and probably not a good choice for everyday English. The second one, with let, on the other hand, is just plain awful. Don’t even think about it.

Alas, nothing can ever be this simple in English. There is, of course, an exception to these rules, a third passive voice pattern for the causative verbs have and get.

The first pattern, changing the subject and verb of the main clause, doesn’t work. For example:

I had my son mow the grass.
XXX My son was had to mow the grass. XXX

Not now, not ever is this passive construction acceptable. Don’t even go there. Forget you ever saw this monstrosity of a sentence. So, how do you make the passive structure?

Like Pattern 2, the passive change happens in the bare infinitive phrase, the object of have. Look at these examples.

We had a professional photographer take our family portrait.
We had our family portrait taken (by a professional photographer).

The only real difference between other causative verbs and have and get is that the “be” verb is not used (to be taken) as it would be with the others.

Masa wouldn’t allow people to take his picture.
We had a photographer take lots of pictures at our wedding.

Masa wouldn’t allow his picture to be taken.
We had lots of pictures taken at our wedding.

This can be confusing at first, but with time and practice, it’s not so bad. To help you practice, I have made a series of exercises and posted them on my web site Mr. K’s Grammar World.

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*Slippers, also known as slippahs, is the local way in Hawaii to describe that wonderful footwear that people on the Mainland refer to as flip-flops.

**In reality, the entire infinitive phrase students to wear... is the object and students is really the subject of the infinitive phrase.

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The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part II - Other Causative Verbs)

Make, let, allow and require are probably the most common causative verbs. There are, however, several others that are useful. Like so many other groups of similar words in English, knowing the subtle differences between words can be tricky, but also very important.

Have, Get and Ask

Two causative verbs that are similar to make or require are have and get. However, unlike make or require, which often mean someone is unhappy, have and get are fairly neutral.

Have is used in the pattern have someone do something, which requires the bare infinitive. (Don’t add to.) To see the difference, look at the following examples.

I made my son carry our bags to our hotel room.
I had the bellman take our bags to our hotel room.

In the first sentence, no doubt my son is grumbling under his breath. “How come I have to do all the work. Why cant HE carry his own stupid bags?” (Son. You need to understand that your job is to do all the stuff that I don’t want to do. That’s why we didn’t sell you to the circus years ago. When you have your own children, you’ll understand.)

The bellman, on the other hand, happily (I hope) takes us to our room. Why? Because it’s his JOB. I’m not asking him to do anything unusual. (And he’s expecting a tip.) Have is used to describe actions that are part of everyday life and usually there is some sort of payment involved. Look at the next pair of example sentences.

I made a student stay after school to finish his homework.
I have my students do homework two or three times a week.

In the first sentence, this is a punishment. The student didn’t finish their homework on time, so now they are suffering the consequences and are not happy about it. On the other hand, homework in general is a regular part of the academic process. It’s the students’ JOB. Their reward is an education (and a good grade). Have is most commonly used by a boss or a customer asking for service but is also commonly used to describe teachers and students and parents and children for things like chores. (Contrary to popular belief among youth, having your children wash the dishes and vacuum the living room is not child abuse.)

Get is very similar to have, with a couple of differences. First, the pattern is get someone to do something (with the full infinitive). Second, it is informal and conversational, and not as good as have when money is involved.

Get is usually used to describe favors between friends and acquaintances. I would use this to describe friends who helped us move, or a student who erased the whiteboard for me after class.

I got a friend to help me bring our new sofa into the house.
I got a student to go to the school store to get me some new markers.

They are doing me favors. All my friend needs in return is a couple of slices of pizza. And when my friend needs help with something, I’ll be there. The student is just being nice (or desperately needs to get out of my boring class).

With both have and get, the reason I get the help is because I asked. (With the exception of my son carrying the bags, which was simply a statement. “Boy! Carry the bags.”)

Could you take our bags to our room, please?”
Could you give me a hand with my new sofa on Saturday?
Would someone go to the school store and get some new whiteboard pens, please?

The basic pattern is ask someone to do something with the full infinitive. It can be used in place of have or get and is a little more polite. Ask is good to use with friends and children to parents. Ask is friendly, but polite.

Cause vs. Make

Another useful causative verb is the (obvious?) cause and is quite similar to make, which was discussed in the previous blog, though there are three differences to keep in mind. First, they have different patterns. You can make someone do something or make something happen, both with bare infinitives (without to). For example:

The coach made the players run five miles.
The strong wind made the windows shake.

Cause, on the other hand, requires the full infinitive (with to), as in:

The dust in the air caused me to sneeze.
The strong wind caused the windows to shake.

This also illustrates the two other differences. Make is much more informal and conversational. Cause is much better for formal situations. Also, and more importantly, make is used when a person has control or authority. Cause is used to simply describe an action and reaction. Therefore, the following sentence is incorrect.

The coach caused the players to run five miles.
The coach made the players run five miles.

The coach has authority over the players. The coach ordered them to do this. The players had to run. The wind did not order the windows to shake. It just happened.

Encourage and Help

As any parent knows, you can’t make your children do everything. For many things, they have to make their own decisions. My oldest son will be graduating from high school in June 2014 and then he’s off to college. The decision of what college to attend is his. However, I can give him advice. I can encourage him in one direction or another.

Encourage is used to show a suggestion and is very similar to the helping verb should. However, the other person must make the final choice. The basic pattern is encourage someone to do something, with a full infinitive. For example:

I think my son should try out for the swim team.
I will encourage my son to try out for the swim team.

While encourage is more passive (I’m standing on the side watching my son), help is another causative verb that is more active. When you help someone, you participate in the activity, but the final product is theirs.

Skyler helped his mother make dinner.
Kai helped me to wash the car.

The chef of the meal is Skyler’s mother. The person responsible for the cleanliness of the my car is me.

Among this group of causative verbs, help is unique. While all of the others are limited to one strict pattern, either with a full infinitive or a bare infinitive, help can be followed by either.

A student helped the teacher straighten up the desks after class.
A student helped the teacher to straighten up the desks after class.

Both are considered correct, but the first one (without to) is probably most common in American English and the one that I find myself using most often.

Force

The last causative verb I would like to discuss is also the strongest. Force is used in extreme situations, situations that could end in injury or death – a threat that violence, possibly with a weapon, might be used. Force is used to show that there was no other choice, no matter how difficult the decision was or how much trouble was caused by the decision. For example:

The armed bank robber forced everyone in the bank to lie on the floor.
The heavy snow forced officials to close the airport.

In the first example, everyone lies on the floor because the robber has a gun. If they don’t, they might get shot and killed. In the second example, closing an airport is an extreme decision that will affect thousands of people, but it has to be done to keep everyone safe. They don’t want to do it, but they have no choice.

As you can see from the examples, the basic pattern is force someone to do something with a full infinitive.

Learning the basic patterns (with or without to) is fairly easy and can be done with a little bit of practice. However, knowing when to use a causative verb and which one is best is the ultimate goal for language learners.
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The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part IV - Adjectives and Verbs)

As children grow up, they begin to experiment with more and more complex language structures. My four-year-old son’s language development is a great example of the scientific method. He hears new language and forms his own hypotheses. Then he tests these hypotheses by using this new language and finally judges the results by the reactions he gets from the adults around him and modifies his hypotheses when things don't seem right. This process is very logical and research has found a standard order that is more or less followed by all native-speaker children. There’s a reason why Skyler doesn’t use the past perfect. He doesn’t need it yet and won’t for many years.

Similarly, ESL students need to adopt this same approach. There are certain advanced structures that they just don’t need at a basic or intermediate level. Be patient and be satisfied with what you can do rather than worrying about what you can’t do in English.

The following is an explanation of an advanced structure with causative verbs. If you are ready for it and can learn to use it, your English will make a big leap very quickly. If you don’t get it right away, don’t lose any sleep. You will be ready someday.

SVOC Clauses with Make

This structure begins with a basic SVOC clause with the causative verb make.

Remember that a complement is a word that describes another word within the clause. The most common clauses with complements are SVC clauses.

I am sleepy.
I feel sleepy.
I’m getting sleepy.

In all of these sentences, the adjective sleepy is the complement. The complement sleepy describes the feeling of the subject, I. Complements are connected to a clause by a relatively small group of verbs called linking verbs. In the above sentences, am (the “be” verb), feel and get are examples of linking verbs.

A more advance clause with complements is the SVOC clause.

Warm milk makes me sleepy.

In this example, the complement sleepy is describing the feeling of the direct object me. The warm milk is what causes this feeling.

Unlike most causative patterns, the bare infinitive (be or feel) is understood but doesn’t need to be written or said. Very often, the adjective complement in this pattern is in the comparative form (w/ ~er or more).

Lifting weights will make you stronger.
Using English regularly will make you more confident.

The comparative form is used to show that something is increasing. I am already strong, but I want to get stronger. The speaker already has some confidence, but they need more.

Causative Verbs from Adjectives

Students will often spend lots of time, especially in vocabulary classes, studying prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are added at the beginning of words to change or add meaning to the original word. For example, the prefix un~ means not. If something is so amazing it is not believable, you can also say it is unbelievable. The prefix re~ means again. If you made a mistake when you did something the first time, you might have to redo it.

Suffixes, on the other hand, are added to the ends of words and are used to change parts of speech. For example, the suffix ~able means something can be done.

Even though there is a hole in the sleeve, I can still wear this shirt.
Even though there is a hole in the sleeve, the shirt is still wearable.

Both of these sentences mean the same thing, but by adding ~able to the verb wear, the verb becomes and adjective.

Similarly, adjectives can be turned into causative verbs. This change begins with simple SVOC clauses. For example:

I need to make my lunch hot.
I need to heat up my lunch.

I want to make the room cooler.
I want to cool down the room.

In the first examples, a microwave will do the trick. In the second, I need a fan or an air-conditioner. In both of these examples, the advective hot and cool already have causative verb equivalents: heat and cool. (Sometimes you get lucky and both forms are the same.)

In other cases, you have to “make” your own verbs with suffixes. For example:

The construction workers are making the road wider.
The construction workers are widening the road.

Illustrations in books can make explanations clearer.
Illustrations in books can clarify explanations.

You can use your computer to make digital copies of music.
You can use your computer to digitize your music.

These three pairs of examples show the most common suffixes that can be used to make causative verbs from adjectives. Other examples include:

~en -- weaken / strengthen* / worsen
~ify -- beautify / purify / unify
~ize -- modernize / maximize / publicize

(Click here for a more extensive list of causative verbs from adjectives and exercises to help you learn them. If you can think of any that should be added to this list, please email me.)

How to Practice

Like everything else in life, practice makes perfect. To learn to use these causative verbs, I recommend a three-step process. Start by making a simple SVOC clause with the verb make.

Planting flowers will make your garden more beautiful.

Next, change the adjective to its causative verb form. In this example, beautiful becomes beautify. Then, simply replace the verb make with the new verb.

Planting flowers will beautify your garden.

Finally, change this new sentence to the passive voice following the basic rules.

Your garden will be beautified by planting flowers.

Here is another example:

This toothpaste will make your teeth whiter.
This toothpaste will whiten your teeth.
Your teeth will be whitened with this toothpaste.

Twenty-five years of teaching have taught me two things. First, most students are very confused by this at first. Second, if they spend time practicing this three-step transformation exercise, they figure it out fairly quickly. To help you on your way, here are some online exercises.

In the immortal words of Porky Pig: B-dee-b-dee-b-dee-b-dee-b-That’s all folks!

Good luck and happy trails.

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The Devil Made Me Do It: Causative Verbs (Part V: Geek Edition)

Where Does the Causative Pattern Come From?

This entry is for the true grammar geeks out there. In fact, I may be the only one who finds this interesting, but here it is anyway.

There is a theory of grammar (not just English grammar) called Transformational Grammar. The simplest way I can describe it is to say that everything comes from a clause. For example, look at the sentence The books sitting on the table are mine. Because there are two verbs, there must be two clauses.

The books are mine.
The books are sitting on the table.

Then, by following the rules of transformation, you make two changes. First, the books is changes to that in order to make an adjective clause.

The books that are sitting on the table are mine.

Next, following the rules of reduction (making the sentence shorter by taking away unnecessary words), the pronoun that and the helping verb are can be eliminated, leaving you with the core sentence.

The books sitting on the table are mine.

You can use the same kind of transformation to explain causative verbs. In the sentence, My wife made me sleep on the couch, there are two clauses buried in the structure.

My wife made me do something.
I slept on the couch.

First, you must plug in the parts of the second clause into the pattern of the first clause. I becomes me, slept becomes sleep because you need a bare infintive in this statement. The rest stays the same.

My wife made me sleep on the couch.

It is important to note that the object of made is not just me. The object is the entire infinitive clause and me is actually the subject sleep.

If you want to add information about why, you can add a third clause.

My wife made me sleep on the couch.
I was snoring loudly.

To connect a reason, you can use the conjunction because.

My wife made me sleep on the couch because I was snoring loudly.

If you want to take the transformation a step further, which may or may not be a good choice. (It’s the writer’s decision) Since snoring can also be a noun, you can use the preposition because of instead of the conjunction. In order to keep the ideas of I and loudly, they must be changed into forms that can connect to a noun. The subject pronoun I becomes the adjective pronoun my and the adverb loudly become the adjective loud.

My wife made me sleep on the couch because of my loud snoring.

Congratulations for making it this far.

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Mystery of the Random “Be” Verb in Japan and Korea

The majority of my career as an ESL teacher has been spent teaching Japanese students. First, I spent twelve and a half years living and teaching in Japan. Then, after moving to Hawaii, I spent ten years teaching in an ESL program that usually had between eighty and ninety percent Japanese students.

For years I couldn’t figure out why the "be" verb would often find it’s way randomly into sentences, like:

I am like sports.

I was played soccer last weekend.

They are study in the library.

Then, as I taught more Korean students in Hawaii, I began to see this mistake in their writing as well. Finally, one day a discussion in class led me to this discovery. The "be" verb is traditionally taught WRONG in Korea and Japan.

I don’t blame the teachers. I have met and worked with many dedicated hard-working Japanese teachers who only want the best for their students. I have also met enough Korean teachers to know that this is true for them as well. The problem is a monolithic education system that prescribes everything from what and how teachers teach to the size of desks and chairs in the classroom.

Although it is less true today than it used to be, when I was in Japan in the late 80s and 90s, it was said that you could go into any fourth grade classroom in Japan and they would be teaching the same lesson in the same way from the same textbook, down to the page. The English problem is exacerbated by the fact that the Japanese Ministry of Education has decided that all English language textbooks for Japanese students must be written by Japanese authors. A book written by a native-speaker cannot be used in a Japanese public school classroom. Furthermore, even the few books that are allowed all refer back to the same Ministry source on what and how to teach. It’s my understanding that this source has not been updated in perhaps 100 years.

Since the Korean education system is so similar to the Japanese education system and since both languages are so similar, my discovery leads me to think the educational root is the same in Korea. The linguistic root is definitely the same.

To understand the root of the problem, you need to understand a little about the two languages. English is an SVO language, meaning the standard clause structure first has a subject, followed by a verb and finally the direct object, if one is needed. Japanese and Korean, on the other hand, are SOV languages, meaning the verb comes last and the direct object goes in the middle. Look at these two sentences, the first in Japanese, the second in Korean.

Watashi wa hon o arimasu.
Na nun chek ul kajida.

If they were transcribed literally into English, without changing word order, they would read:

I book have.

Both languages also have features not found in English. The original Japanese sentences has five parts whereas the English sentence only has three. There are two additional "words" in Japanese. The first is wa, which is called the subject marker. This is how the subject is connected to the sentence. The second is the object marker, which is o. There is a third marker, ga, which is extremely confusing to non-native speakers like me, that can be substituted for either the subject or object marker. Similarly, the Korean subject marker is a variant of nun, depending on the final consonant of the subject, and the object marker is ul.

Here is where the mistake comes from. In both countries, students are taught that the subject markers wa or nun indicate the use of the "be" verb. Therefore, students would translate these sentences as:

I am have a book.

This is completely and totally WRONG. There is absolutely no correlation between wa/ga or nun and the "be" verb in English. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, they have no counterpart in English at all. Therefore, they are untranslatable and should just be ignored for acquisition purposes.

The "be" verb, does, however, have a fairly direct counterpart in both Japanese and Korean: the last word of the sentence.

Take for example the following sentences, first in English, then in Japanese and Korean.

I am cold.
Watashi wa samui desu.
Na nun cha da.

Since the verb is the final word of the sentence in Japanese and Korean, then the "be" verb is indicated by the final word of these sentence, i.e. desu in Japanese and da in Korean.

Although this is not universally taught in Korea and Japan anymore, I still run across enough students who tell me they learned this way to think it still happens often enough to be an ongoing issue.
Any thoughts or comments?

Sunday, June 9, 2013

That Crazy Little Thing Called the “Be” Verb (Part I)

(I wrote this blog entry almost a year ago, and then life got in the way. I have since left California and moved my family back to Hawaii. Now I'm just a few weeks away from going to Saudi Arabia to start a new job. This is proof of the old saying: "Life is what happens while you are making plans.")

For years in my writing class, I would tell my students two things that they never believed. First, when you know how to do it, writing is easy. Second, after you learn the fundamentals of writing, writing is actually fun. I would also tell them that, while I would never sit down on a Friday night and write and essay for fun, when I need to write something for work, I look forward to it. Well. I was wrong on that one. I actually do sit down on a Friday night and write for fun. It has become a hobby, and with a little luck, maybe a second job someday.

This past year, when I moved to California and began teaching at a new school, has been full of interesting challenges and opportunities to expand as a teacher. But it has also been insanely busy. Therefore, writing for fun had to be sacrificed. I can’t believe it’s been nine months since my last blog posting. However, with summer finally here and a less crazy schedule in the fall*, I can look forward to more time to do the things I love. I will have more time to spend with my family. I will be able to take Skyler to the pool every morning and train our new puppy. I will watch every Yankees game and read, read, read. But what is the one that keeps coming up in my mind? I get to write again.

I have a list of blog topics as long as my arm, but I thought I would relaunch my online ramblings from the beginning. That tiny little word that causes so many gigantic problems for second language learners: the "be" verb.

The "be" verb is one of the most common words in English, and even though it is the most irregular verb in English, most students learn how to use it correctly very quickly.

Forms of the Be Verb
Every verb in English has five forms*: the base form, simple past, past participle, gerund and infinitive. Regular verbs are very simple and although irregular verbs are frustrating, with a little time and effort, they are fairly simple as well.

Regular Irregular

Base study take

Simple Past studied took

Past Participle studied taken

Gerund studying taking

Infinitive to study to take

The only time you have to worry about the subject is with the 3^rd person singular in the simple present tense. If the subject is he, she or it, you need to add ~s to the base form of the verb.

The "be" verb, on the other hand, has three forms in the simple present (am, is and are) and two in the simple past (was and were). Which form you use depends on the subject.

Present Singular Present Plural
1^st person I am We are
2^nd person You are You are
3^rd person He/She/It is They are

Past Singular Past Plural
1^st person I was We were
2^nd person You were You were
3^rd person He/She/It was They were

However, as I said earlier, with a few weeks of solid practice, this becomes very natural.

Questions and Negatives
Now for the good news. The "be" verb is the easiest verb to use in questions and negative statements. To make a negative statement, all you have to do is put not after the verb. All of the negative forms, except I am, have a shorter form, which is called a contraction.

Present Singular Present Plural
1^st person I am not We are not (aren’t)
2^nd person You are not (aren’t) You are not (aren’t)
3^rd person He/She/It is not (isn’t) They are not (aren’t)

Past Singular Past Plural
1^st person I was not (wasn’t) We were not (weren’t)
2^nd person You were not (weren’t) You were not (weren’t)
3^rd person He/She/It was not (wasn’t) They were not (weren’t)

To make a question, all you have to do is switch the subject and the "be" verb. (Put the "be" verb in front of the subject.)

John is here. Is John here?
I am hungry. Are you hungry?
Everything was ready. Was everything ready?
They are playing... Are they playing...?

The only weird thing related to the "be" verb is with imperatives***. For example, if someone were being noisy, you could say to them "Be quiet." However, a negative imperative is made by putting don’t in front of the main verb, like "Don’t drop that!" The correct negative form with the "be" verb is Don’t be...

Don’t be shy.
Don’t be so noisy.

These are the basics of how to use the "be" verb. Now, it is even more important to know WHEN to use the "be" verb.

-- Go on to Part II --

-- Click here for "be" verb exercises online. --

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*I finally have my dream schedule. I am going to be a full-time grammar teacher. While this might be hell for many teachers, it’s heaven for me.

**I would argue that there is a sixth form in English, the present 3^rd person singular, which is formed by adding ~s or ~es to the base form.

***Imperatives are like orders. The subject is always you, so it’s not necessary to say or write. Therefore, the first word of an imperative sentence is the verb.

Stand up!
Open your books.
Don’t do that!