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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Why did the Skype Teacher use the Past Simple

Dear all,

I am a teacher of English in Russia. I am currently trying to write a very detailed and easy-to-understand guide to Present Perfect (unfortunately I could not find any textbooks where this tense was explained in such a way that my children got it quickly).
So imagine a situation. A Skype Teacher assigns his student with a listening task (during the class). When the student is finished, the teacher asks "Did you understand everything?". What does the teacher mean by saying this in Past Simple instead of Present Perfect? OR What is the difference in attitudes when a teacher asks you Did you understand .,, and Have you understood... My guess is that Did you understand means the Teacher is not going to clarify any further questions, the Teacher shows they are not getting back to this task in any way. But if the Teacher asks Have you understood, then he shows interest in further work. Correct me if I'm wrong please
Thank you!
Julia
  

Top answer

Hello Julia, If a student asks a teacher a question, it is the professional responsibility of the teacher to answer to the best of his or her ability. ", none of these questions has any hidden meaning or indicates any sort of attitude. Moreover, none indicate whether or not the teacher is willing to delve further into the matter.

  • Hello Julia, If a student asks a teacher a question, it is the professional responsibility of the teacher to answer to the best of his or her ability.
  • ", none of these questions has any hidden meaning or indicates any sort of attitude.
  • Moreover, none indicate whether or not the teacher is willing to delve further into the matter.
  • The difference in tense is simply another way of asking the same question.
  • It does not indicate any ulterior motive.
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1 Answers
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Hello Julia,
If a student asks a teacher a question, it is the professional responsibility of the teacher to answer to the best of his or her ability.
If a teacher asks his class "Did you understand everything?" or, "Did you understand?" or, "Have you understood?", none of these questions has any hidden meaning or indicates any sort of attitude. Moreover,

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