Correcting an Exchange Student's Email for Grammar and Politeness
An exchange student has drafted an email to a host family in England. The draft says: 'Dear family, I am living here since two months. I look forward to meet you. Can you borrow me a bike? I need it for go to school. Also, I want that you tell me what I should bring.' The student wants the email to sound friendly but not overly formal. The coordinator will not rewrite it for the student; she will only mark problems and ask for explanations. The student must decide which problems are grammar errors, which are vocabulary choices, and which are matters of politeness or register. The host family speaks only English, so the message must be clear on first reading.
1. Identify and correct the tense/aspect error in 'I am living here since two months', and explain why the correction works.
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'I am living here since two months' is wrong because the present continuous describes an action in progress now, not an action that began in the past and continues. Correct: 'I have been living here for two months' (or 'I have lived here for two months'). 'Since' is used with a point in time ('since May'), while 'for' is used with a duration ('for two months'). The present perfect continuous is the natural choice because the living arrangement is temporary and ongoing.
2. Explain the difference between 'borrow' and 'lend' and rewrite 'Can you borrow me a bike?' politely.
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'Borrow' means to take something temporarily and return it; 'lend' means to give something temporarily. The draft says 'Can you borrow me a bike?', which would mean 'Can you take a bike for me?' The intended request is 'Can you lend me a bike?' More polite: 'Could you lend me a bike?' or 'Would you mind lending me a bike?' The modal 'could' and the phrase 'would you mind' soften the request without making it too formal for a host family.
3. Improve 'I need it for go to school' and 'I want that you tell me' so they are grammatical and appropriately friendly. Keep the meaning.
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'I need it for go to school' is ungrammatical because 'for' is a preposition and needs a noun or gerund: 'for going to school.' More natural: 'I need it to get to school' or 'I need it to go to school.' 'I want that you tell me' is not English; 'want' does not take a 'that' clause here. Use 'I would like you to tell me what to bring' or 'Could you tell me what I should bring?' The second is friendly and direct; 'I would like you to' is slightly more formal but still appropriate.