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Original poster

AIBU to take issue with English Teachers' bad grammar in a letter home?

78 replies

missismac · 10/01/2012 10:48

Didn't really want to post this in AIBU as it's fairly specific.

DS is in year 7 (he's 11) at a local comp. He's my 3rd child through the school. It's served well (so far) for the others & I'm generally happy with what it does for my kids.

However, we've received a letter home today praising DS2's progress in English. It details his hard work and last term and states;

"As a result he has stood out as one of the most positive, hardworking students in the class."

"has stood out"??!! WTF - how is that ever English, and should I ask his teacher about it?

I feel I am being pedantic about this, but on the other hand, correct grammar matters. DS struggles with reading & writing - if I can't trust that his teachers are teaching him correctly then how can I be confident in the education he's getting.

Should I follow this up, or am I making a fuss over nothing?

OP posts:
Spidermama · 10/01/2012 11:25

You will presumably have heard people say something 'has stood the test of time'. It also stands the test of time and once stood the test of time (but no longer does.)

Ephiny · 10/01/2012 11:28

It sounds OK to me Confused

Spidermama · 10/01/2012 11:28

Oh Scarlett the rogue apostrophy. Well spotted.

I'm rofling over this thread so thanks missi for bringing some much needed mirth into my morning.

squeaver · 10/01/2012 11:28

It does read a little clumsily (especially if you re-read it multiple times) but it is not grammatically incorrect.

Why should it say "he stands out"? You could argue that the past perfect is correct, as he is not - at the very moment you are reading the report - standing out. The standing out happened during the academic term.

Your use of Teachers' is a bigger mistake, in my opinion.

culturemulcher · 10/01/2012 11:30

I think it's clunky / inelegant rather than bad grammar.

I'd also be careful of criticising others' bad grammar when you've made a mistake with your own OP - the NM pedant police will be along to give you a dressing down in a moment, I'm sure. Wink

PostBellumBugsy · 10/01/2012 11:31

Scarlett, I thought there had to be some kind of time qualifier when you used the past perfect tense, so for example:
"As a result of his work throughout the term, he has stood out as one of the most positive, hard working students in the class."

TheScarlettPimpernel · 10/01/2012 11:31

Missi you have also commited grievous bodily harm against a semi-colon, and either mis-spelled 'ever' or drafted a really lamentably obtuse paragraph.

Just saying, like. What with grammar being so important.

Ephiny · 10/01/2012 11:32

It's one of those rules of the internet, any post criticising someone else's spelling/grammar/punctuation etc will always contain an error of its own :)

Chubfuddler · 10/01/2012 11:32

Your title contains two grammatical errors in one word. Quite an achievement. The report, on the other hand, looks fine.

TheScarlettPimpernel · 10/01/2012 11:33

Postbellum - A qualifier would make it more elegant, though this is more a matter of usage than rule. And of course it is preceded by '...as a result', so one assumes there would have been some qualifying information in the preceding clause.

The point, I suspect, is that the teacher was writing reflectively, looking back on events past.

LadyClariceCannockMonty · 10/01/2012 11:33

It's perfectly correct. As others have said, it's about the tense, nothing to do with bad grammar or informality. It's not like 'I was stood at the till', which could be called incorrect. Disclaimer: I personally don't think that example is incorrect, just informal and a feature of some regional accents.

Spidermama · 10/01/2012 11:34

It's not clunky, inelegant or grammatically incorrect.

If she'd said, 'he stands out' this would imply an on-going state of affairs. She's talking about a specific period of time in which he 'has stood out'.

ElaineReese · 10/01/2012 11:35

OP, you are in fact unreasonable, ungracious and ungrammatical - YABU x3.

AnaisB · 10/01/2012 11:36

The teacher used present perfect, rather than simple past. She did so correctly. tense information

Yorkpud · 10/01/2012 11:38

Sounds OK to me!!! As in 'he has stood out (over the term) as.....'

Bucharest · 10/01/2012 11:40

That hole the OP is digging/has dug is getting vehhhhhh deep.

LunarRose · 10/01/2012 11:41

Wow, just think op you wanted to take a teacher to task over their grammer when they were correct and being very sweetly complimentary about your child

Hmm
Spidermama · 10/01/2012 11:43

AnaisB you're right and I was wrong. It's not past perfect but is indeed present perfect.

Spidermama · 10/01/2012 11:45

Anyone else feeling a bit sorry for Missi for doing a Hyacinth Bucket.
Good comedy though.

TheScarlettPimpernel · 10/01/2012 11:46

Not really

Oh all right, slightly

A little knowledge is truly a dangerous thing.

NormanTebbit · 10/01/2012 11:46

don't you have anything more important to worry about etc etc

LadyClariceCannockMonty · 10/01/2012 11:49

Shite.

I meant regional dialects, not accents.

BalloonSlayer · 10/01/2012 11:49

Oh go on, complain. In writing.

The letter will be on the staffroom noticeboard until it goes yellow.

AuldAlliance · 10/01/2012 11:52

This is not the past perfect (had + past participle), but the present perfect.

As its name suggests, it expresses a connection between the present and the past, either because:

(i) an action began in the past and continues in the present (he has stood out since October/he has stood out for the last few months/he has always stood out)

or because:

(ii) an action that occurred in the past has consequences/effects in the present (he has stood out this term, i.e. I have a good impression of him now as a result of his good performance over the term that has just drawn to an end)

It may sound clunky, but that is rather because of the nature of the verb used, with its preposition attached, than as a result of the tense used, which is, as (ii) above shows, accurate.

If she had used the preterite (he stood out), she would have been suggesting that his good performance was rooted in the past, thereby suggesting it is finished and may not be repeated.
If she had used the simple present tense (he stands out), she would have been suggesting that this is a general rule or a habit, a characteristic of the group defined as "X" (your son). Like "water boils at 100°C" or "sheep graze on the moors."
If she had used the continuous present tense (he is standing out), she would have been suggesting that the action was underway at the time of utterance, which would be awkward here.

Perhaps she might have written "X has distinguished himself as ...", but there is nothing whatsoever wrong with her grammar and you would be ill-advised to make any comment to her on it.

LunarRose · 10/01/2012 11:53

Nope. No sympathy at all for people that nit pick when a teacher has done something special to say how well the child is doing.

Given the idea is usually so the child gets praised both at home and school for doing something well, nit picking an error that isn't really an error totally misses the value of the exercise.

One of those occasions when the old saying applies: knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing