Comments on: Amn’t I?

By: tannenwalde

tannenwalde — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:01:07 +0000

Thank you for the clarification. This is a very useful piece of information, and as I’m a teacher of English too, I will use it as a good reason in my teaching process in the future.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:47:29 +0000

I love the question “why” because I ask them myself.

Grammar doesn’t exist in books, it exists in each individual’s head. It’s your idiolect. The only thing that makes you intelligible to your neighbour is convention. The further you are away (on all the social and physical levels you can think of) the more likely your idiolect is different. You teach the grammar that is appropriate to the learner’s aspiration.

By: Conor Dunne

Conor Dunne — Thu, 07 May 2009 02:27:41 +0000

I am an English teacher in Japan , and I'm from Ireland. Today i told my class of Junior high school students that ''amn't'' is bad grammar. They asked why!! I was stumped and said it was just a rule!! I say ''amn't'' myself but would never write it. They use American English anyway so i think i was correct to say it was wrong but maybe I should have rebelled !!!! But i couldn't tell them ''why'' , i fear the question ''why?'' when trying to teach grammar!!!

By: admin

admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:53:31 +0000

You just go right ahead there Ken, I’m not sure I’ll start using it though – it’d sound odd coming from me.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:42:10 +0000

Yes, “amn’t” is in general usage here in Ireland.
In fact, “aren’t I?” sounds strange to our ears.

Actually, a friend of mine recently pointed out to me that it isn’t Standard English when I wrote it in a letter to him, but despite knowing that it’s Hiberno English, and not Standard, that won’t deter me from continuing to use it. I suppose it’s all a matter of what one is used to. Amn’t I right?

By: Mara

Mara — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:01:41 +0000

oh!