1

I am having a big trouble about answering questions like "Do you like swimming ?". Though, this is a very simple language, I've always thought that it is correct to answer by saying "Yes, I like swimming because..." or "No, I don't like it because...". But today, an IELTS tutor strictly underlined that I will lose mark, he said that it is grammatically incorrect to start with "Yes, I like..." Please note that the tutor doesn't claim it is not just inappropriate for IELTS, it is incorrect in general he says. I asked a native, who is also a teacher, there is a controversion as the second teacher said that it is grammaticaly correct to answer by saying "Yes, I like..." Please answer if it is grammaticaly correct or incorrect to answer a "Do you like sth/doing sth" question by beginning with "Yes, I like" in informal speaking. I'm not asking specifically for IELTS. What is the accepted view for it, what is the rule, is it really grammaticaly incorrect ? Thank you.

Improve this question
1
  • You know, you don't need a space before a question mark.
    – user150280
    Jul 17, 2022 at 8:06

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Your tutor could argue that the usage is a comma splice, where "yes/no" is the answer to the question and "I like/dislike..." elaborates on this answer in a separate clause which should be separated from the first word by a semicolon.

Yes; I like swimming because...

But I'd be surprised to see any native speaker use a semicolon in this scenario. The use of a comma here is idiomatic and in my view your tutor is wrong to deduct marks for it.

Improve this answer
7
  • Thank you but what I'm asking is completely about spoken English, especially informal speaking. I don't think the tutor mentioned the punctiation. He was a hundred percent sure it is grammaticaly incorrect to say "Yes I like swimming becausem..." just because I started with "Yes I like" and she underlined that it should be "Yes, I do" but not "Yes, I like." which doesn't make any sense to mem
    – user138449
    Mar 18, 2022 at 10:52
  • In informal speech, there's even less reason to object to it.
    – jsheeran
    Mar 18, 2022 at 10:52
  • Yes, but you know IELTS is a test to asses English level, however yes many resources say that making some mistakes are acceptable. Well, the tutor was obsessly correcting me, it was disgusting and I want to be sure if this is really GRAMMATICALLY INCORRECT to say "Yes, I like swimming because...", there was no problem about the rest of the sentence, he corrected the first part of the sentence in almost every "Do you like sth/doing sth" question
    – user138449
    Mar 18, 2022 at 10:55
  • Ask your tutor what he thinks the correct thing to say is. I suspect he may be hung up on the difference between "swimming" and "to swim", but either of those are acceptable.
    – jsheeran
    Mar 18, 2022 at 10:57
  • I don't see anything ungrammatical about it. It wouldn't be polite to answer a question with a simple "Yes" or "No", so you naturally go on to say why you do or don't like it. But if your teacher says you will be marked down for it, you'll have to accept his advice.
    – Kate Bunting
    Mar 18, 2022 at 12:27

You must log in to answer this question.