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Taka Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
Reference
The sentence:
I know somehow what "this" and "it" refer to: "this" to "that the evildoer is punished at the story's end", and "it" to "an experience in moral education". But let's suppose you are an ESL teacher. How do you explain it grammatically? I myself really don't know how.
Any suggestion?
It's not that the evildoer is punished at the story's end which makes reading fairy stories an experience in moral education, although this is part of it
I know somehow what "this" and "it" refer to: "this" to "that the evildoer is punished at the story's end", and "it" to "an experience in moral education". But let's suppose you are an ESL teacher. How do you explain it grammatically? I myself really don't know how.
Any suggestion?
Top answer
Just as you did, Taka-- it is only semantics which allows us to equate 'this' with 'that the evildoer is punished at the story's end' and 'it' with 'an experience in moral education'. I suppose that you could ask the students to examine the main clause and ask them to discover what 'is part of' what-- but I'd warrant that many students (at least many of my students) would never figure it out.
- Just as you did, Taka-- it is only semantics which allows us to equate 'this' with 'that the evildoer is punished at the story's end' and 'it' with 'an experience in moral education'.
- I suppose that you could ask the students to examine the main clause and ask them to discover what 'is part of' what-- but I'd warrant that many students (at least many of my students) would never figure it out.
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7 Answers
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Just as you did, Taka-- it is only semantics which allows us to equate 'this' with 'that the evildoer is punished at the story's end' and 'it' with 'an experience in moral education'.
I suppose that you could ask the students to examine the main clause and ask them to discover what 'is part of' what-- but I'd warrant that many students (at least many of my students) would never figure it
I suppose that you could ask the students to examine the main clause and ask them to discover what 'is part of' what-- but I'd warrant that many students (at least many of my students) would never figure it
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I'd warrant that many students (at least many of my students) would never figure it out.
Right. And that's what I'm afraid of.
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No, it can't be. 'This' is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the thesis in the main clause, while 'it' serves to refer to the whole singular noun phrase 'reading fairy stories an experience in moral education'... I think.
Maybe I'll see my way more clearly in the morning. And with luck, another mod will pop in with a lucid explanation in the meantime.
I do, by the way, spe
Maybe I'll see my way more clearly in the morning. And with luck, another mod will pop in with a lucid explanation in the meantime.
I do, by the way, spe
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No, it can't be. 'This' is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the thesis in the main clause, while 'it' serves to refer to the whole singular noun phrase 'reading fairy stories an experience in moral education'... I think.
I know. But that analysis comes from your understanding that "this" refers to the thesis while "it" does to "reading experience...", right
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My two cents.
You could use the less elegant "although it is part of it", but (don't ask me why) "it's a part of this" just doesn't work, not without some brain strain, anyway!
It may be that the demonstrative pronoun "this" does not seem right as the object of a preposition. Its main use seems to be as subject, referring back to another subject or to an entire
You could use the less elegant "although it is part of it", but (don't ask me why) "it's a part of this" just doesn't work, not without some brain strain, anyway!
It may be that the demonstrative pronoun "this" does not seem right as the object of a preposition. Its main use seems to be as subject, referring back to another subject or to an entire
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Curiously, "it" refers to something not explicitly stated.
But isn't it clearly stated in this case?
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No, I wouldn't not say that it is clearly stated.
The antecedent of "it" is "that which makes reading fairy stories an experience in moral education". I was referring to the absence of the underli
It's not that the evildoer is punished at the story's end which makes reading fairy stories an experience in moral education, although this is part of it.
The antecedent of "it" is "that which makes reading fairy stories an experience in moral education". I was referring to the absence of the underli
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