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I remember when I was in the middle school, our English teacher always said "Class begin" to start off a lesson. Usually, the students then would stand up and the teacher said "Hello students!" The students responsed with "Hello teacher!"

But now I feel "Class begin!" doesn't sound grammatical. Shouldn't it be "Class begins!" or "Classes begin!"? I'm also wondering what the teachers usually say when they want to start up a lesson in a class in the English speaking countries?

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If you really wanted to stretch a point regarding the "grammaticality" of this particular (far from unknown) usage, you could say it's a perfectly valid imperative - reduced from some "underlying" full form such as...

You [the class] [please] begin [to pay attention!]
...or the "vocative" (invocation / appeal; I don't know the specific grammatical term)...
[Let the] class begin

But honestly, in contexts like this no-one really cares about "grammar". The teacher is simply trying to get the class to pay attention because he's about to start the lesson. But I'd say that semantically the initial word Class is definitely a form of address (to get their collective attention).

It would be just a matter of opinion whether the second word might be interpreted as a cut down version of something more complex, such as [pay attention as I] begin [the formal part of this teaching period].

In my recollection (going back half a century now! :) it was common for our teachers to say things like Simmer down, now! But perhaps modern American teachers favour Listen up, now! Whatever - the idea of there being a "standard, syntactically valid" term for the context is effectively meaningless.

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    I'd agree that it's definitely a valid imperative, especially if there's a significant pause between the two words: "Class, begin!"
    – Canadian Yankee
    Commented Jan 21, 2019 at 17:59
  • @CanadianYankee But it doesn't have any pause between the two words, which sounds less imperative but more narrative. That's why I feel it should be "Class begins".
    – dan
    Commented Jan 21, 2019 at 22:03
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"Class" can be a form of address. It is how a teacher addresses the students collectively.

Class, please be seated.

Class, sit down.

class can also refer to the students collectively.

How's your class this semester?
-- I have some fast learners, some slow learners, and some in between, as always, but I seem to have more than the usual number of clowns.

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  • So, it should write : "Class, begin!", not "Class begin!" But in practice, there is no pause between these two words, which sounds more like "Class begin!".
    – dan
    Commented Jan 21, 2019 at 21:54
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    @dan: What do you mean by "in practice"? Are you referring to native speakers or to what you recall from middle school? If you're referring to native speakers of English, there is indeed a pause between "class" and "begin" or between "class" and "(please) be seated".
    – TimR
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 1:35
  • Unless the speaker has said the words so many times that they cease to be spoken naturally, and have become a mindless mechanical ritual.
    – TimR
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 1:47
  • I meant what I recall from middle school.
    – dan
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 1:58

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