descriptive or prescriptive

I was taught not to use the superlative form when comparing only between two things. Just my two cents though.

TeoI am a teacher of English. When my students say or write, "Alice is the tallest of the two girls". Should I correct them? This problem doesn’t relate to what grammar your students are using. It relates rather to whether they are fool or not.

paco

Hi,

To put it another way, I think it depends on what level they are at. If they are very much beginners and have many other grammar problems, I'd probably let it go. If they are advanced, I'd correct it. If they are neither one extreme nor the other, you have to decide.

It's not practical to correct every error, every time a student opens their mouth.

Best wishes, Cliv

I concur with Clide, although if you want your students to be taught the proper way, the superlative of tall should not be used in:

"Alice is the tallest of the two girls." "Between you and I." etc.

CliveIf they are very much beginners and have many other grammar problems, I'd probably let it go.

Which does very much modify, beginners or are?

Thanks very much for your reply.

TeoI am a teacher of English. When my students say or write, "Alice is the tallest of the two girls." "Between you and I." etc. Should I correct them?



Thank you very much for your advice.

(Whispered), "Between you and me, I thought Alice was the shorter of the two girls."

Hi,


If they are very much beginners and have many other grammar problems, I'd probably let it go.

Which does very much modify, beginners or are?

In terms of meaning, my intention was to modify 'beginners'. In the singular, we'd say 'He was very much a beginner'.

Bes

I agree with Mr Pedantic -- fully!!! Since the students are learning English, and Teo, the writer, is the teacher, then an error in English usage by the former must be corrected by the latter where he finds it. The point is that the use of "tallest" and "I" in those sentences is wrong -- grammatically wrong!!! I can't find any pedagogical or linguistic or politically-correct excuse for tolerating

I do not have too much of a problem with "the tallest of the two" in anyone's speech, and not a lot more in writing, although I prefer to see it avoided in a more formal text. After all, no ambiguity is ever going to arise, not that that it necessarily a valid consideration. I have always felt that the distinction was not a useful one, although that is not a valid consideration either, but