How to ask a question...

[Fish-Addict]

OK So my new chemistry teacher is French, adn she said "OK. Write in the box, 'why it is not a percentage?'"

Well this started a whole chemistry-class debate with thirty of us against her. She said tha because she put 'why' at the start, it was a question.
Is she right? Surely if the 'It is' is that way round then it is a statement, or with the question mark, a gramatically incorrect question? She said she would talk to my English tutor, and she now claims that she told her she was right.

I am very confused!
Thanks for reading it LOL, and an answer will be appreciated!

[coach_z]

lol...i dont understand your question

edit: it does look like improper grammar, but i believe it gets the point across.

[Reefscape]

I would say its grammatical error....it does happen when english is not a persons native language...

[Fish-Addict]

lol...i dont understand your question

She said "Why it is not a question?"
And I think it should be
"Why isnt it a question?" Or "Why is it not a question?"

[paperdragon]

Yes, it should've been "why is it not a percentage?" rather than "why it is not a percentage?". I hear that particular error pretty often.

edit: ninja'd

[Fish-Addict]

I would say its grammatical error....it does happen when english is not a persons native language...

Yes I suppose so, but I think that she should have admited her mistake instead of telling us that she was the new English Master LOL

[paperdragon]

I think the big question is, why is the whole class jumping on her case over a little grammatical error when you know what she meant to say anyways?

[Fish-Addict]

I think the big question is, why is the whole class jumping on her case over a little grammatical error when you know what she meant to say anyways?

Jeez I was thinking the same thng myself LOL. I don't know, maybe because they know they can get away with shouting at her than they could other members of staff.

[bitbot]

She is wrong.
OK it is also not great to start a statement (or question) with 'OK'.
:lipssealedsmilie:

[SMinNC]

Did she write this, or say it?

If she said it. And you wrote it, with a "?". Then that would be the problem.

As in...

"OK. Write in the box, 'why it is not a percentage.'"

Thats just saying to do something, to me.

[Fish-Addict]

Did she write this, or say it?

If she said it. And you wrote it, with a "?". Then that would be the problem.

As in...

"OK. Write in the box, 'why it is not a percentage.'"

Thats just saying to do something, to me.



No she wrote it on the board too, and she intended it to be a question. Like I would say to you: 'Why it is blue?' I mean that I am asking you actually why that thing is blue.

Sorry, I'm rubbish at explaining things LOL.

[Winged]

"OK. Write in the box, 'why it is not a percentage?'"

To me, this reads as though I should do the following:
85230
(The black lines around it represent the box...)

Maybe it's because I'm a very literal person. Or maybe it's the use of the quotations. When I see that, I think that I'm supposed to write whatever she put in quotations, as that's what she said to do.

It's a grammatical error for sure. She shouldn't have used those quotation marks, but she also should have worded it something like, "In the box, explain why it is not a percentage." Notice that I used her awkward way of phrasing it, but it still makes sense, and is still like something you'd expect to find on a test, or assignment, or whatever it was.

I do, too, wonder why the class would feel the need to go off on her for it, and I also wonder why she felt it was necessary to ask another teacher. (I have issues with teachers who can't control their own students, and who involve other teachers in such issues. It makes me lose some respect for them.)

[Fish-Addict]

She was asking us to write it as a question, not to explain why it was a percentage.
I agree with you there Winged