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pencil box/pencil case, sharpener/pencil sharpener

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:00 pm
by simplythebest
HI!

I gave my students a test - SCHOOL OBJECTS - (a word search puzzle) .
I wonder whether I was wrong including "pencil box" and "sharpener" as I have found that "pencil case" and "pencil sharpener" are used more often (at least this is what I found - rather too late! - in dictionaries).
Are the above-mentioned words, the ones that I used, still frequently used in BE?
Do British children say"Could you give me your pencil sharpener?" or, given the classroom context, they would rather say "Could you give me your sharpener"?
Also, I asked to match the words to the pictures and one of the words was "brush" and the illustration shows the object used by an artist for painting.
My question is: was I wrong giving "brush" instead of "paintbrush"?
Our English-Romanian and Romanian-English dictionaries give you only "brush" for the object used for painting.
Can "brush" cover the meaning of "paintbrush" just as well, or should I be more specific and rewrite the test with "paintbrush"?

Thanks,
simplythebest

Re: pencil box/pencil case, sharpener/pencil sharpener

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:40 am
by Joe
Please ask separate questions in separate posts :evil:
I wonder whether I was wrong including "pencil box" and "sharpener" as I have found that "pencil case" and "pencil sharpener" are used more often (at least this is what I found - rather too late! - in dictionaries). Are the above-mentioned words, the ones that I used, still frequently used in BE? Do British children say"Could you give me your pencil sharpener?" or, given the classroom context, they would rather say "Could you give me your sharpener"?
Probably most children these days use pencil cases (soft), but pencil boxes (hard) do exist. Pencil sharpener is probably more common and certainly more precise.
Also, I asked to match the words to the pictures and one of the words was "brush" and the illustration shows the object used by an artist for painting.
My question is: was I wrong giving "brush" instead of "paintbrush"?
Our English-Romanian and Romanian-English dictionaries give you only "brush" for the object used for painting.
Can "brush" cover the meaning of "paintbrush" just as well, or should I be more specific and rewrite the test with "paintbrush"?
In an art class brush would be understood. Otherwise it might be shoe brush, hair brush, clothes brush... :mrgreen:

Re: pencil box/pencil case, sharpener/pencil sharpener

Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:19 pm
by angelabrookss
I think the pencil sharpener is use a lot among these ! Because this stationery is very important in every student life !