Grammar Secrets

While looking for a quick and easy explanation of the difference in usage between must and have to I came across this website which may prove useful. I'm including it with the other useful links.

Grade 2 Unit 4 You Have to Do This Worksheet

...no not really but you might find this worksheet useful. In grade 2 unit 4 the kids study the grammar of obligation using must ~ and have to ~ . I can't think of any reasonably intelligent, naturally curious children who, being introduced to this material, wouldn't wonder about the circumstances under which a native speaker would choose to use one way to express obligation over another.......So we don't have to worry about explanations. And anyway that's the job of the JTE isn't it.

But, to keep it really simple, one of the distinctions seems to depend on whether or not the obligation felt by the speaker is subjective, in which case must is the grammar of choice, or objective, calling for have to~. Which is to say whether or not the obligation arises from an internal condition, ie, knowledge of a social norm and the necessity of abiding by it, or an external condition, ie, an externally imposed rule like a deadline.
The problem with making bipolar distinctions like this is that the conditions overlap and awkward constructions are still understandable. Case in point.

There's a test tomorrow so I have to study.
Okay, an externally imposed obligation, no problem with using have to.

There's a test tomorrow so I must study.
The speaker has done badly on previous tests, this has caused him to impose a strict study-the-day-before-the-test regimen on himself. When he speaks this sentence he'll probably put extra stress on must.

(Spoken by a non-native speaker) There's a test tomorrow so I must study.
The speaker hasn't studied enough to know about the distinction between the two forms or has had the same problem as the previous speaker.
Either way his listeners know he's non-native, and understand him. Besides, it's not really a mistake, it's just not the first choice a native speaker would make. At least not me.

A little more about that here.

Is it just me or is it the case that American English speakers don't use must not and mustn't so much. It sounds oh so very British to me. The remark that speakers of British English use have got to may well be true but I know that I ( I confess I'm American) use it often.

Anyway to put in in a simple rule. Must expresses what the speaker thinks is necessary while have to ~ expresses a rule that is imposed on the speaker.


By the way, when you see this worksheet on the google docs site it might look a little off-center and otherwise skewed-up. But when you see it on the google docs print preview you can see how it will look when you print it out.

Grade 3 Unit 3 Homework to Do

Here's a worksheet that gives the kids a chance to practice some grammar from Unit 3. Work to do, book to read, letter to write, that kind of adjective. It must have a name. It's an infinitive modifying a noun so maybe it's an infinitival adjective or an adjectival infinitive. It doesn't seem to me to lend itself to a q/a format very well.

What do you have to do tomorrow?

I have a car to wash.

Sounds a little stilted. Like the kind of English you only encouter in a classroom, but that's what the JTE wants for that day, so...

There's some space on the left to add an illustration. I've been using Roy Lichtenstein prints and editing the word balloons to show example sentences. It's really easy to do with Microsoft Word but not so easy with the Google Documents. Or maybe it is and I just haven't found it yet. There's an online tutorial for Google Docs but I haven't had time to look at it yet.

Anyway. Copy the second page of the worksheet several times and cut the things to do into sections. Enough for each kid to have one. That's what he/she has to do tomorrow. Now they have to go around the room and ask the example question. They answer according to the paper slip they are holding. When the kids write down the information they have to adjust the grammar. The spoken answer may be I have a toilet to fix, but when it is recorded, Tomoyuki has a toilet to fix.

Now that they've had a chance to practice you can do a second round without having the tasks predetermined and the kids can answer according to their actual plans for tomorrow. Or, as a happyo, go around the room and ask the kids what they have planned for the next day. Doing a second round with a fresh worksheet eliminates the problem of shyness. And replaces it with the problem of having the usual suspects speaking Japanese instead of English.

Some Cool Drawings

If found this artist's blog (when I was supposed to be working ) and think the drawings are really interesting. I'm planning to use these for an exercise in story writing. I think I'll give some of these pictures to different groups of kids and see if they can make stories about them. They look like they have the power to stir the imagination-- and maybe cause some odd dreams as well.





I may not use this one but it would make an interesting translation exercise.

Grade 3 Units 2 and 3 Present Perfect Interview Sheet

Here's an interview sheet that the students can use to interview each other with questions like this:
How long have you known your English teacher

After talking to their friends and then writing down the answers in the appropriate places they then have to tell the class what they found out about their friends. The answer to the above question might be:
I have known my English teacher for two year

But when the interviewer reports he or she has to change the grammar to:
Hiroyuki has known his English teacher for two years.

It might be a good idea to break this up into two activities covering two classes. Collecting the information in the first and reporting the information in the second. Before the reports the teachers can review the grammar.