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Mr. Tom Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Be all ears...

Hi

Can the idiom be all ears be used imperatively?

[Teacher to students]

I'm going to tell you an interesting story. You must be all ears.

or

Unless you all are all ears, I won't tell you anything.

Thanks,

Tom
  

Top answer

Mr. Tom Can the idiom be all ears be used imperatively? It sounds more like a theoretical possibility to me rather than anything else.

— CalifJim

  • Mr.
  • Tom Can the idiom be all ears be used imperatively?
  • It sounds more like a theoretical possibility to me rather than anything else.
  • I don't believe I've ever heard the expression used as an imperative.
  • CJ
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5 Answers
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Mr. TomCan the idiom be all ears be used imperatively?
It sounds more like a theoretical possibility to me rather than anything else. I don't believe I've ever heard the expression used as an imperative.

CJ
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Mr. TomCan the idiom be all ears be used imperatively?
I've found only one sentence with the imperative usage of that in the FrazeIt website:

You'd lock that one inside the memory vault and be all ears if your buddy the Rocket shared it. (timesunion.com)
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tkacka15imperative usage
Sorry. ... [woul]d ... be all ears ... doesn't count as an imperative.

But to be fair, neither is it an imperative in either of Mr. Tom's examples, so maybe your example is the sort of thing he's looking for.

CJ
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CalifJim tkacka15imperative usageSorry. ... [woul]d ... be all ears ... doesn't count as an imperative.But to be fair, neither is it an imperative in either of Mr. Tom's examples, so maybe your example is the sort of thing he's looking for.CJ
Thank you for improving my understanding of English. It seems that I've misread that sentence. As I understand that now
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tkacka15and [you'd] be
Exactly! You've got it! Emotion: smile

CJ
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