Please help me to get the skipping ropes from the PE store room."

  1. The Physical Education (PE) teacher asked Robin, “Please help me to get the skipping ropes from the PE store room.”

  2. The Physical Education (PE) teacher asked Robin, “Please get the skipping ropes from the PE storeroom for me.”

Which sentence is used by native speakers if the PE teacher does not help the pupil in any way in getting the skipping ropes or go with the pupil to the storeroom?

Thanks.

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Hello, Kohyoongliat,

The PE teacher is not asking anything.

The teacher said to Robin, “Could you (please) get me the skipping ropes from the store room?”
or
The teacher asked Robin if he could give him the skipping ropes.

Tom

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Hi Tom,

I wonder if your answer is correct.

Kohyoongliat

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In this case the teacher asks the student (or pupil) to assist him (the teacher) in fetching the ropes from the store room. In other words, both – the teacher and pupil are working together.

In this case the teacher asks Robin to fetch the skipping ropes from the storeroom for him (the teacher). So, in this case only the student named Robin is doing the work.

Hope this helps.
Torsten
PS: Where do you get those questions from?

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Thanks, Torsten.

The sentence is from my son’s English homework.

The interesting part is our school teachers and most of us use the first sentence with the meaning that the teacher will not be helping in any way. The student understands that he or she alone will go to the storeroom to get the skipping ropes for the teacher.

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That’s very interesting. Why not use materials created by native speakers – stuff we call ‘authentic materials’?

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Thanks, Torsten.

I have not yet found materials created by native speakers which contain errors.

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So, you are looking for materials that contain errors your students can identify and learn from?

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I read the local newspapers and, if I find any sentence which I suspect contains error or errors, I will post it to the forum. I seldom post questions for the benefit of my students.

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As for me, I find slight difference between the two sentences.

Please help me to get the skipping ropes from the PE store room. (This suggests that the teacher expects Robin’s assistance to get the ropes, in which case both of them might go to the storeroom)

Please get the skipping ropes from the PE storeroom for me. (Here the teacher expects Robin to fetch him the ropes, in which case Robin alone is going to the storeroom)

So, if the PE teacher does not help the pupil in any way in getting the skipping ropes or go with the pupil to the storeroom (as you have warned), they will most likely use the second sentence with the verb fetch: Please fetch me the skipping ropes from the PE storeroom.

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