Let's take a road trip together

Same-same, though different

Such gorgeous vintage VW vans...

let's take one and go on a road trip.

They're virtually identical.

One roof rack is slightly larger, but you're travelling light anyway.

Which do you choose?

Yellow or Red?

Red or Yellow?

Personal taste aside, does it matter?

There are some hitchhikers by the roadside.

You're in a charitable hippy mood and stop to give them a ride.

Does the colour of your van matter to them?

They later recall how a friendly teacher stopped for them,

offered them a ride in a vintage Volkswagen,

made an enjoyable detour,

and took them where they had to go.

They may mention the colour of the van - or not.

It doesn't change their story

because it didn't influence their experience - nor yours.

Now, which of the following sentences do you choose?

They're all proper sentences:

• the van is vintage
• the van is a VW
• the van is moving

It depends on what you wish to express,?of course,

not unlike a personal taste in colours.

Teachers notice the grammatical details, of course.

But contextual choices aside, does it matter to learners?

• verb + adjective
• copula + noun
• helping verb + main verb

For practical purposes, they're same-same though different.

They're virtually identical: auxiliary + complement.

Our English students are hitching a ride because they want to go places.

They enjoy a scenic detour or two as much as the next person.

But they couldn't care less about the precise colour of your van.

Leon's grammarCORE bypasses the troublesome technicalities of English grammar that our students neither care about nor need.

Let's take a road trip together and make it serious fun.

Grammar should always help, not hinder.

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grammar Concept for One-Rule English