Fixing the Scrambled Sentences
At Shimane Junior High, students are practicing sentence order. The teacher writes three problems on the board.
Problem A: Put the words in order. too / this / for / is / heavy / me / box / to / carry
Problem B: Put the words in order. the / is / who / girl / my / talking / cousin / to / teacher / the
Problem C: Combine the two sentences using who. I have a friend. She lives in Okinawa.
Ken writes: A: This box is too heavy to carry for me. B: The girl who talking to the teacher is my cousin. C: I have a friend who she lives in Okinawa.
The teacher says Ken's answers have the right ideas but three small structural mistakes. Ken asks, 'What exactly is wrong with each one?'
1. Correct Problem A and explain the position of 'for me'.
Read the worked answer
Correct order: This box is too heavy for me to carry. The pattern is too + adjective + for + person + to + verb. 'For me' must come before 'to carry' because it tells who would find the box too heavy. Ken's 'too heavy to carry for me' puts the phrase after the infinitive, which is not the natural pattern.
2. Correct Problem B and explain why Ken's version is wrong.
Read the worked answer
Correct: The girl who is talking to the teacher is my cousin. Ken wrote 'who talking'; the relative clause needs a verb. 'Who' replaces 'she' as the subject, so the verb must be 'is talking.' Also, 'who' connects the clause to 'the girl'.
3. Correct Problem C and explain the mistake with 'who she'.
Read the worked answer
Correct: I have a friend who lives in Okinawa. In the relative clause, 'who' is the subject of 'lives.' Ken added 'she,' so the clause has two subjects: who + she. English does not repeat the subject pronoun after 'who.' If you keep 'she,' you need two sentences: I have a friend. She lives in Okinawa.