Grammar: Editing a Pear-Farm Speech
Ms. Tanaka's third-year class is editing a speech for the Tottori Pear Festival. The draft says: 'Tottori is famous for its pears. Farmers have been grown pears here for over 100 years. The pears are sweet, and many people visit in autumn to pick them. There are less pear farms than before, but the quality is high.' Ms. Tanaka gives two rules: (1) do not change the meaning or the subject of any sentence; (2) the speech will be read aloud, so use the form a careful writer would choose in a school speech. A student, Daiki, suggests changing 'have been grown' to 'have grown' and 'less' to 'fewer.' Another student says 'less pear farms' sounds natural in conversation. The class must decide which changes are required, which are optional, and how to explain the difference between grammatical error and informal usage.
1. Correct the sentence 'Farmers have been grown pears here for over 100 years' without changing the subject. Explain the error and why 'have grown' is also possible but different in emphasis.
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The correction is: 'Farmers have been growing pears here for over 100 years.'
The error is that 'have been grown' is passive, but the subject 'farmers' is the agent who grows the pears. A passive version would need a different subject: 'Pears have been grown here by farmers for over 100 years.' The present perfect progressive 'have been growing' fits because the action began in the past and is still continuing now; the phrase 'for over 100 years' supports that reading.
'Have grown' is also grammatical: 'Farmers have grown pears here for over 100 years.' The simple present perfect can emphasize a completed span of experience or a result, while the progressive emphasizes ongoing activity. In a speech about a still-active local industry, the progressive is the more natural choice, but the important error is 'been grown,' not the choice between 'grown' and 'been growing.'
2. Should 'less pear farms' be changed to 'fewer pear farms'? Explain the count/noncount rule and why a conversation might still use 'less.'
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Yes, in this speech it should be changed to 'fewer pear farms.' 'Farm' is a count noun, and the plural 'farms' refers to separate items that can be counted. Standard written English uses 'fewer' with count nouns and 'less' with noncount nouns, as in 'less water' or 'less time.'
In everyday conversation, many speakers use 'less' with plural count nouns, so 'less pear farms' can sound natural. That does not make it the best choice for a school speech read aloud at a festival. The class is following the rule for careful written English, and the sentence is formal. The change is about register and standard usage rather than a failure of meaning: listeners would understand 'less pear farms,' but 'fewer' is the form a careful writer would choose here.
3. Daiki says, 'If both forms are grammatical, the exam should accept both.' Do you agree? Use the two edits to explain.
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I partly agree, but not completely. The two edits are not the same kind of choice.
With 'have been growing' and 'have grown,' both forms are grammatical, and the difference is emphasis. An exam should accept both only if the item does not test the progressive/passive distinction. But if the item is testing whether students can keep 'farmers' as the subject and avoid the passive 'been grown,' then the correct answer must be an active form. Accepting 'have been grown' would miss the actual error.
With 'fewer pear farms,' the issue is standard written usage. 'Less' is common in speech, but the speech context calls for 'fewer.' An exam should not accept 'less' if the item explicitly tests count/noncount usage in formal writing. The key is whether the item's target is grammar, register, or meaning. 'Both are grammatical' is too broad a reason to accept both answers.