Correct these sentences

Question

After she lies the eggs the hen sets on them

Rover_KE · Accepted Answer

This is not a free homework service.

CalifJim · Answer

After the hen lays the eggs, she sits on them.

CJ

Rover_KE · Answer

Rover_KEThis is not a free homework service.

Or maybe it is.

CalifJim · Answer

Rover_KEOr maybe it is.

Asking for a correction of a sentence is at least 75% of the posts on this forum. What made you think this one was homework?

CJ

Rover_KE · Answer

'Correct these sentences' sounds like an instruction at the head of a textbook exercise, not a polite request for our help.

CalifJim · Answer

Yes. It sounds like that because that's what the student is reading in his textbooks and hearing from teachers all the time. Not being good at English yet, and having no idea that these are imperatives, nor that imperatives can sound impolite when used in the wrong social setting, students believe this is how you express the idea in English — anywhere, any time, including on a forum.

This is sometimes called 'a teaching moment', an opportunity to explain that the correct way to express the idea is "Could you please help me correct this sentence?" If you don't explain what the error is, you're sure to see it again and again!

(Sorry if I seem to be 'lecturing'.

)

CJ

Correct these sentences

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