Hello!
Can someone explain to me the following sentence:
We're in Class 2. Why do we write C with a capital letter? It is not classroom what is it then?
Sorry the wrong title!
Sometimes people or specific things are considered in different "classes" -- that is, different divisions, depending on a particular definition.
For example, I live in a fairly new residential area, and we have a homeowners' association. It's so new that some of the lots (pieces of land that will eventually have houses on them) are still owned by the developer (the company that originally bought the land and is dividing it up and arranging for houses to be built on those lots). So, for purposes of setting annual assessment fees, the owners of land are put into two classes: Class A and Class B. Class A is made up of all the individuals like me who have bought a house and have a specific assessment fee. Class B is made up of the developer and the builders (owners of lots that don't have houses on them yet), and they pay half of the assessment fee that homeowners do. (This will all end on 01/01/2013 when the developer figures all the lots will have been sold.)
I know that's a long, convoluted explanation for something that may seem simple, but there are all kinds of groups that have divisions for specific purposes like this.
Oh interesting! But when this word refers to classroom, to pupils what's the explanation then?
It would indicate some kind of division, but not just for a classroom. You could have a classroom where Algebra (capitalized because it's the name of a particular course) is taught, but "class" and "classroom" would not be capitalized.
Do you have an example of this use of the word "Class" in that context? I don't know of one.
This example We're in Class 2 is written in the student's book (english as a foreign language- elementary level) It is used as an example of the Present Simple Tense. So how to explain this word? It is obviously not the classroom. Could it be for example Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and so on? But why the capital letter?
Hmmm! The only thing I can think of is the different levels of EFL classes, depending on whether the students in each class are beginners or in intermediate or advanced classes.
Maybe this?
Class 1 - beginners (they know no English at all when they enter the class)
Class 2 - almost beginners (they know a little English when they enter)
Class 3 - intermediate
Class 4 - intermediate plus
Class 5 - advanced (almost ready to go into "regular" English classes
If it's referring to the classroom number, that would make sense, too, but I've never seen it used that way. It's probably supposed to be indicating a classification. Or it could be an error!
Also ... there are classifications in different branches of science, but I've never seen the word "Class" with a capital "C" ...
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/animal_classes.htm
and
http://www.mcwdn.org/Animals/Classification.html
http://www.mcwdn.org/Animals/Classification.html
It is not an error since it is used 5 times. But it is probably your above explanation! So is the group which is learning English from the beginning now at the first degree or class or level? What is correct?
I have another question. Is the plural from a French the French or French people?
So he is a French but The French love to cook or French people love to cook?
In the school where I taught, where about 25% of the students were in ESL/EFL classes, we used those five divisions, but we didn't call them Classes. We called them "Levels." Students were tested individually in reading, listening, and speaking when they entered the school and at the end of each term and then placed in a Level depending on the test results. (Those tests had no right or wrong answers; the teacher doing the testing was just trying to determine how much English (if any) each student knew.)
Here are references to a person:
He is French. (general description)
He is a French student.
He is a French teacher.
but
They are French. (general description)
The French love to cook.
Most of the French people love to cook.
They are the French tourists. (You'd use something like this if, for example, a tour group contained a mix of nationalities, and you want to identify the French tourists separate from the German tourists or the Japanese tourists.)
I think I've sent you this link before, right?
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/determiners/determiners.htm#articles