Grammar Unleashed

(My Korean students have started developing a habit of adding “was” and “were” to any past tense statement.)

Me: “‘I walk home.’ The past is…?”

Student: “I was walked home!”

Me: “No, it’s ‘I walked home.'”

Student: “I was walked home?”

Me: “Hmm. Let me try something.”

(I draw a picture of a student walking along the sidewalk and turn back to the class.)

Me: “I walked home.”

(I draw a leash coming from the student’s neck to the hands of a larger drawn person.)

Me: “I was walked home.”

(The class gets a bit flustered and giggles at the idea of being walked like a dog.)

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