-----------------> S.O.S.......................... Please help me!!!

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ESL forum > Message board > -----------------> S.O.S.......................... Please help me!!!

-----------------> S.O.S.......................... Please help me!!!

Miss_Alel�

-----------------> S.O.S.......................... Please help me!!!

Sorry to be such a dunce but...

I �ve been corrected in another post because I had used the expression "I have a doubt".... instead of using "I have a question" ... why is it wrong to say I have a doubt?

Here is another one:

Once my teacher at the "teacher trainee course" corrected me while he was calling the role because I said "present" instead of "here" .... Why?

Thanks in advance.

27 Mar 2009

Apodo

To answer �Present � when the roll (not role- different meaning) is being called is perfectly correct in English. Opposite �absent � or �not here �.

Doubt does not have the same meaning as question so it would depend on the context.

I have a question = You don �t know something and you would ask a question to find out the answer.

Please answer these questions:

What is your name?

What is 2+2?

Are you a student?

Where is Antigua?

After teaching something, a teacher may ask �Have you any questions? � �Do you understand? � not �Have you any doubts? � This would imply that what has been taught may be incorrect or doubtful.

We don �t usually say �I have a doubt �, but �I have doubts about that � or �I doubt it �

Can he run 2 kilometers in 5 minutes? I doubt it.

She said she is going to clean the whole house, but I doubt she �ll get it finished.

Doubt = You have some information but it may or may not be correct. You are uncertain. You will have to ask questions to find out.

27 Mar 2009

eng789

When you doubt - you aren �t sure

When you have a question - you don �t undertand something or you need more info.

27 Mar 2009

Vickiii

I doubt that is correct -
I have a question because I don �t know.

Sorry - it wasn �t a correction - just making people aware as I know that it is a common error that many teachers use in class as well - when they have english as a second language that is.

Present and here are both correct.

That is a strange correction for a teacher to make - as it is more polite to say present. If my children said present I would be very happy with them!

Cheers
Vicki

27 Mar 2009

ameliarator

In my opinion there is a difference between "I have a question" and what Spanish speakers want to say when they say "I have a doubt."

As others have mentioned, to say, "I have a doubt" sounds to an English speaker like you think there is a mistake. �If you want to say (please forgive me) "tengo una duda" in the classroom context, you could try, "I �m not sure about something," �"I �m uncertain about something" or "I �m not clear on...."

As for "here" versus "present," I agree that both are perfectly correct. (maybe your teacher just felt like correcting someone!)

27 Mar 2009

sandywu

doubt is mostly used as a verb, not a noun. You can �t say "I have a doubt" because have is a verb and you should follow it with a noun, in this case, "question" can be used a noun.

27 Mar 2009

alien boy

Well, actually, you can say "I have a doubt" because �doubt � is a countable noun in this case!

From the Merriam Webster online dictionary:

Doubt
Function: noun
1 a: uncertainty of belief or opinion that often interferes with decision-making b: a deliberate suspension of judgment
2: a state of affairs giving rise to uncertainty, hesitation, or suspense doubt>
3 a: a lack of confidence : distrust doubts about his abilities> b: an inclination not to believe or accept doubt>

To have a doubt means that there is no certainty about what is or is not correct about something/one/situation. It does not necessarily mean that you are seeking an answer to resolve the situation. A doubt may not be voiced or communicated in order to exist.

To have �a question � means that you are asking to have a point (or points) explicitly responded to and clarified. It is possible for it to be a �rhetorical question �, in which case you are not actually seeking an answer, you are just stating the question for effect.

So, in a nutshell... You may have a doubt, so you ask a question in order to clarify the situation and be able to make an informed decision.

Cheers,
AB

p.s. with regard to �present� vs �here� - I believe your instructor made a personal judgement which cannot be supported by any native English speaker that I know. �Present� is short for �I am present� the same way that �here� is short for �I am here�. You could just as easily have said �Aye� or �Yes� depending upon which form of native English you speak.

27 Mar 2009

douglas

I remember the post and wondered about the correction as well. It is perfectly okay to say "I have a doubt" and having a doubt may lead to a question. In your post you said you had a doubt and directly after that wrote-out a question, that is what made it a little strange (but not severely strange!).

In the case of your post, it would have been better to write either:

1) "I have a question: Do we say ......?" or

2) "I have a doubt about the proper way to say ..., could somebody please tell me how we say.......?"

The "mistake" was actually very minor and I was surprised someone corrected it. I would let it go even with my advanced students, unless they asked about it. It �s good they corrected it though because it led to this post which betters our understanding of English.

27 Mar 2009