Ask the English Teacher

An odd English usage

Fang Yi writes:
I came across a phrase "it bears repeating," and I also looked it up in the dictionary. I still don't get it because the word "bear" has many definitions.

Here is the original sentence:

"At the same time, it bears repeating that each new set of mnemonic curriculum adaptations needs to be examined under controlled conditions before any effectiveness claims can be made."

I am not sure if "bears" here is something like "needs" to represent that there is something important and needs to be repeated.

This is a very good question.

Yes, “bear” has many meanings In this case, it simply means “carry.” When you are very unhappy about something, you say: “I can’t bear it!” The problem is too heavy for you.

So “it bears repeating” means that something is so important that we can say it more than once.

We have another similar expression, used by people in Britain more than in North America: “It doesn’t bear thinking about.” That is, we will get upset if we think about something unpleasant and dangerous: “It doesn’t bear thinking about how he fell off the cliff.” “It doesn’t bear thinking about catching a fatal disease.”

By the way, the sentence using “it bears repeating” is not a very good one! It has too much use of the passive voice. I would revise it:

“At the same time, it bears repeating that we must examine each new set of mnemonic curriculum adaptations under controlled conditions before we can say they're effective.”

"Mnemonic" (pronounced ne-MON-ic) is from a Greek word mnenomikos, from mnemon, "mindful," meaning memory. In this case, it sounds like a way to make people remember something—like "I before E except after C," or "Thirty days has September, April, June, and November."

Problems with the Past Perfect Tense

Vareok asks:
I have a problem:

Eliza remembers everything exactly as if it ______ yesterday.
A. was happening B. happens
C. had happened D. happened

I think C is right,but the suggested answer is D. I just don't know why it should be D. What's your idea about it?

I agree with you. Eliza remembers events from a long time ago, but they seem fresh and recent. So we are talking about two points in the past: long ago, and yesterday. This is when we need the past perfect tense: When he called me, I had already left (before he called).

In casual conversation, we might say “as if it happened yesterday,” but in formal speech or writing, I would say “as if it had happened yesterday.”

Singular Indefinite Pronouns

Raj asks:
Can a sentence start with a word “each”

For example, Each column was filled with pebbles.

Yes. “Each” is what we call a “singular indefinite pronoun.” Other such pronouns are:
another
any
anybody
anyone
everybody
everyone
much
nobody
no one
nothing
somebody
someone
something

You can start a sentence with any of these:
Each of the students was prepared.
Any of the students could solve this problem.
Much depends on your success.

I'll try to post a longer item soon on indefinite pronouns. They can pose a lot of problems.

The Conditional Mood

Nilesh asks:
Please can you tell me What is Conditional Tense and where it is used give me more examples where I can use them. And the uses of that tense please let me know.

Actually, it’s the conditional mood, a particular use of the verb. You can get a definition of it from Wikipedia.

We use the conditional when we’re talking about something that hasn’t happened, or that can happen only if some condition is met. For example:

You should study harder [if you want to pass the exam].
I could call my friend [if I want to learn something from him].
If we want to get home by 6:00, we should leave at 2:00.
We could have gone to the movies [if we’d planned our day better].
If you had applied in time, you would have got the job.

Note that we don’t have to include the “if” clause. It’s often understood. When you teacher says you should study harder, he doesn’t have to spell out the reasons!