Jen500 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Is the sentence grammatically correct? My first thought is that it should be 'Don't get bitten, Sam.', but now I'm confused. It's on a few questions from a first grade reading book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I think it should be bitten, too. If you rewrite the sentence: Do not get bitten, Sam, then the subject is understood to be "you" and the verb phrase is "do get bitten." "Not" is an adverb. "Sam" is a noun of direct address. That's how I would break it down, but I'm not a grammarian. Maybe others will chime in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I think it should be bitten, too. If you rewrite the sentence: Do not get bitten, Sam, then the subject is understood to be "you" and the verb phrase is "do get bitten." "Not" is an adverb. "Sam" is a noun of direct address. That's how I would break it down, but I'm not a grammarian. Maybe others will chime in. No, the subject is Sam, not "you." It's not a great sentence, grammatically, although ITA that it should be "bitten." I'm thinking it's sort of informal; it should probably be something like, "Sam, do not allow the nasty creature to bite you," but you know, you just sort of say, "Don't get bit, Sam." :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I think it should be bit, not bitten. Bitten is past tense, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Why is it not a noun of direct address? According to my Rod and Staff book "a noun of direct address names the person or thing to whom one is speaking." I would think the sentence would be (You) do not get bitten, Sam. It's a command, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 You're correct. Sam is a noun of direct address. The subject is the understood "you" of the imperative. I agree that the sentence is unfortunate either way, but "bitten" is better than "bit" if nothing else changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 This thread just got me nervous about teaching LA. I am going to need to relearn a lot, or learn this stuff for the first time. :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 You're correct. Sam is a noun of direct address. The subject is the understood "you" of the imperative. I agree that the sentence is unfortunate either way, but "bitten" is better than "bit" if nothing else changes. Thanks, abbey. I thought so, but my grammar is getting rusty now that I'm not teaching my little guy. Arliemaria, don't worry. You'll learn as you go along. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Don't be bitten, Sam. That is how I would "fix" the sentence without changing too much. Put into more complete English, I would say, "Be careful not to be bitten, Sam." I was taught (well taught is too strong a word - more like left to infer) that one should avoid the word "get". And it definately needs to be bitten and not bit, in my opinion. It has to do with the verb being passive: "He took" (active) but "He was taken" (passive) "To be taken" not "to be took" is the correct passive Active "He drove" but passive "He was driven" "To be driven" not "to be drove" is the correct passive Grammar gets complicated incredibly quickly. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 No, the subject is Sam, not "you." It's not a great sentence, grammatically, although ITA that it should be "bitten." I'm thinking it's sort of informal; it should probably be something like, "Sam, do not allow the nasty creature to bite you," but you know, you just sort of say, "Don't get bit, Sam." :D The subject of this sentence is understood you because it is an imperative sentence. Bitten is the correct form of the verb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylou Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Would love to help you, but I can't get out of my head! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Don't be bitten, Sam. That is how I would "fix" the sentence without changing too much. Put into more complete English, I would say, "Be careful not to be bitten, Sam." I was taught (well taught is too strong a word - more like left to infer) that one should avoid the word "get". And it definately needs to be bitten and not bit, in my opinion. :iagree: If you're already using the slang of "get", I suppose you might as well say "get bit". It's clearly not a formal sentence! Properly, though, "get bit" should be replaced by "be bitten". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Would love to help you, but I can't get out of my head! :lol: Baby Charlie has quite a set of teeth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Thank you everyone, I am feeling better and worse at the same time. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I think it should be bit, not bitten. Bitten is past tense, isn't it? No, bitten is most definitely not the past tense. Does "The dog bitten the child" sound OK to you??? That sentence would require the past tense and would clearly have to be "The dog bit the child". Bit is past tense, bitten the past participle. In the OP's sentence, it should be "bitten" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 No, bitten is most definitely not the past tense. Does "The dog bitten the child" sound OK to you??? That sentence would require the past tense and would clearly have to be "The dog bit the child". Bit is past tense, bitten the past participle. In the OP's sentence, it should be "bitten" I realized this after posting, and was hoping no one would notice and call me out on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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