used to

“Used To” has two meanings: Something that happened many times in the past, that doesn’t happen any more: I used to drive to Boston every day. (But I don’t any more.) I used to visit my uncle in Peabody on Sundays. (But I don’t any more.) Something that you are accustomed to: Isn’t the weather in Boston cold? Yes, but I’m used to it. I get up at 4 AM every morning. At first it was tough, but now I’m used to it. I have to get up at 4 AM every morning. No matter how long I do it, I’ll never get used to it. Are your eyeglasses uncomfortable? Not at all, I’m used to wearing them. Notice the difference between: I used to wear glasses. I’m used to wearing glasses. The sound is very similar, but the meaning is quite different!

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Should and But

Handout for March 23, 2009, “Should and But“. You can say many useful things with “should” and “but”. Some rules: If “should” is on one side of the sentence, then it isn’t on the other side. If a negative (“not”) is on one side, then it isn’t on the other side. If “should” is on one side, then the negative is on the other side. If “shouldn’t” is on one side, then neither “should” nor the negative are on the other side It isn’t necessary to repeat the verb in the second half of the sentence. Even though the rules are there, don’t worry about them! Just practice the examples, until the structure comes naturally.

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First rule: If “should” is on one side of the sentence, then it isn’t on the other side.

Should on one side:

should	but
I should study	but	I don’t.
He should be wearing boots	but	he isn’t.
They should visit their cousins.	but	they don’t.

Should  on the other side:

	but	should
I don’t study	but	I should.
He doesn’t wear boots	but	he should.
They don’t visit their cousins	but	they should.

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Second rule: If  a negative (“not”) is on one side, then it isn’t on the other side.

Negative on one side:

	but	negative
I should study	but	I don’t.
He should be wearing boots	but	he isn’t.
They should visit their cousins.	but	they don’t.

Negative on the other side:

negative	but
I don’t study	but	I should.
He doesn’t wear boots	but	he should.
They don’t visit their cousins	but	they should.

Practice:

	but
They should _____________the violin every day		they ________________.
We don’t     _______________  in the morning		we _________________.
He doesn’t ________________ his dog every day		he _________________.

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Third rule: If “should” is on one side, then the negative is on the other side.
Should on the left, negative on the right:

should	but	negative
I should study	but	I don’t.
He should be wearing boots	but	he isn’t.
They should visit their cousins	but	they don’t.

Should on the right, negative on the left:

negative	but	should
I don’t study	but	I should.
He doesn’t wear boots	but	he should.
They don’t visit their cousins	but	they should.

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Fourth rule: If “shouldn’t” is on one side, then neither “should” nor the negative are on the other side.

Shouldn’t on the left:

shouldn’t	but
I shouldn’t sleep in class	but	I do.
He shouldn’t be wearing sandals	but	he is.
They shouldn’t drink too much whisky	but	they do.

Shouldn’t on the right:

	but	shouldn’t
I sleep in class	but	I shouldn’t.
He is wearing sandals	but	he shouldn’t be.
They drink too much whisky	but	they shouldn’t.

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Fifth rule: It isn’t necessary to repeat the verb in the second half of the sentence.

	but		unnecessary
I sleep in class	but	I shouldn’t.	sleep in class.
I shouldn’t sleep in class	but	I do.	sleep in class.
I don’t study English at home	but	I should.	study English at home.
I should study English at home	but	I don’t.	study English at home.

Many Uses of “got”

Handout 2 for November 2, 2009. _ “Got”, from the verb “to get”, is very common and has many meanings: Something happened to you Many kinds of movement You received something You arrived somewhere You must do something Here are some examples:

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Something bad happened:	Afterwards something good happened:
He got shot.	He got treated at the hospital. (somewhere)
I got fired from my old job.	I got hired at my new job. (opposite)
She got stuck in traffic.	She still got to work on time. (arrived)
The coyote got caught.	He got away again. (escaped)
The house got hit by a car.	The house got fixed up, again. (by a carpenter)
They got in an accident.	But they got away without injury.
They got hurt.	They got treated at the hospital. (same as shot guy)
We got sick.	We got better. (opposite)

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Many kinds of movement Combined with different prepositions:	Received Something
Got up. Got out of bed. Got to the bus stop, but missed the bus. Got on the bus, but couldn’t find a seat. Got to work, but was late. Got in the car, but couldn’t find my keys! Got home, but couldn’t open the door. Got into bed, but had to get up again.	I got a new stereo. They got another car. She got an extra bagel. We got a gift card for $50. He got a new bike for Christmas.

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In Fast Speech, to mean “must”   Native English speakers use “got to” very quickly, usually to mean “must”. Compare to the standard form:
Fast Speech	Standard English
Gutta go!	I have got to go. (I must go.)
Ya gutta move yer car!	You have got to move your car. (You must..)
I gutta getta new job!	I have got to get a new job. (I must…)
We gutta getoutta here!	We have got to get out of here. (We must…)
They gutta get goin!	They have got to get going. (They must…)

Present Continuous and Past Continuous, More Examples

Handout for November 2, 2009, “Present Continuous and More“. _   Below are more examples of the present continuous (I am going), and a few examples of the past continuous (I was going). The past continuous is used to describe something that was happening in the past, when something else happened to interrupt. The interrupting action is in the simple past. Example:  I was watching TV when he called.

 

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1.	What is she ordering from the waitress right now?	A muffin and coffee
2.	What are you doing right now?	I’m thinking about dinner!
3.	When is the teacher leaving?	At 8 o’clock.
4.	Where is the teacher going?	To the next room.
5.	Who is the teacher talking to?	To Fernando.
6.	Why is the teacher crying?	Because he banged his leg on the desk!!
7.	Why is the student laughing?	Because she thinks the joke is funny.
8.	Why did the student laugh?	Because she thought the joke was funny.
9.	Where is Ruth meeting Harry?	At the mall.  (present continuous)
10.	Where was Ruth going when she met Harry?	To the mall.  (past continuous!)
11.	Where did Ruth meet Harry?	At the mall.  (past tense)
12.	Where is Ruth going to meet Harry?	At the mall.  (future!)
13.	Where are you going?	To class.
14.	Where did you go yesterday?	To the store.  (past)
15.	Where were you going when I saw you yesterday?	To the library.  (past continuous)
16.	Where are you going to go tomorrow?	To work.
17.	What is your boss telling you?	To work harder.  (present continuous)
18.	What did your boss tell you?	To work harder.  (past)
19.	What was your boss telling you, when the fire alarm went off?	To work harder.  (past continuous)
20.	What is your boss going to tell you tomorrow?	To work harder.  (future)
21.	What were you doing when you heard the news?	I was playing basketball in the park. (past continuous)
22.	Who were you talking to when I saw you at the restaurant?	To my friend. (past continuous)
23.	What were you talking about?	We were talking about the Patriots game. (past continuous)

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Pronunciation of Similar Past Tenses

A few common verbs that look different in the present tense, look similar in the past tense:

think	I think about my future.	thought	I thought about my past.
teach	I teach a class.	taught	I taught a class.
fight	I fight the enemy.	fought	I fought the enemy.
bring	I bring the coffee.	brought	I brought the coffee.
buy	I buy the newspaper.	bought	I bought the newspaper.

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In American English, the pronunciation of these past tenses is open and long. Something like this:

• thawwwt
• tawwwt
• fawwwt
• brawwwt
• bawwwt

Also, notice the spelling difference between “taught”, and the other verbs. The sound is the same, even though the spelling is different (“au”, and “ou”).

Try to open your mouth and make a long “awwww” sound when you pronounce these words.

Short Sentence Practice

Handout for October 26, 2009.   Below are more examples of the difference between “say” and “tell”. as well as other common verb forms. Verbs include, tell, say, bring, believe, think, talk, leave.

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I told him to bring the book, but he didn’t!

Did he bring the book? No, he didn’t!

I said to him, “bring the book”! But he didn’t.

He said he lost it.

He told me he lost it.

He said, I brought it here yesterday, but you weren’t here.

He told me he brought it yesterday, but I wasn’t here.

I don’t think he really did. I don’t believe him!

I talked to him about it.

He told me he forgot about the book.

He left it on the table.

He promised to bring it next week.

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More short sentences, including some common uses of the future.

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She told me they’ re building a new CVS in Peabody.

It’s going to be the biggest one in the area!                       (future)

I can’t believe they’re building it.

They shouldn’t build another one. There are already enough!

There are too many Dunkin Donuts too. It seems like there’s one on every corner.

Who buys all those donuts? Who buys all that coffee?    (or eats, drinks)

He said once he ate twenty donuts.      (or “He told me…..”)

I don’t believe it!              (negative)

It’s going to be very crowded in Salem next week.   (future)

I won’t be able to find a parking space!   (future)

I would have gone to class last week, but I was too tired.    (many answers)

You shouldn’t have eaten before class, but you did.

I asked the teacher for more time!

The teacher said “Sorry, you already had plenty of time!”

I had to leave early. I had an appointment with the doctor.

At the doctor’s I always have to wait.

He’s always late. It drives me crazy!

He told me it’s because he’s busy, but I don’t believe him!

Opposite Actions with “back”

Handout for Monday, Oct. 19, 2009   We practiced these in class again. Any questions, please ask! Many action phrases have an opposite action phrase, that uses “back”.

 

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Take them.	When you’re done, put them back.
She went out of the room.	Later, she came back in.
He left the room.	Later, he came back in.
He got up early but felt sick.	So, he went back to bed.
She took the book from the shelf.	When she was done with it, she put it back.
We went to Boston.	We came back at 8:30. (Or: We got back at 8:30.)
Last week I lent Pete  $20.	Yesterday he finally paid me back.
The boy took the ball.	He didn’t put it back.
The boy took the ball from me.	He didn’t give it back.
My nephew went to Gloucestor.	Now it’s late, and he still isn’t back! (Or: …hasn’t come back.)
Sandra dropped out of school.	She isn’t going back in the fall.
Mary is home for the summer.	Next month, she’s going back to school.
Teacher, Frannie took my pencil!	Make him give it back to me!
I left my cell phone at the store.	So, I went back to look for it.
I’m leaving soon. Bye!	I’ll be back later!
They left Germany in 1939.	They stayed in Canada. They never went back to Germany.
Yes, you can borrow the book.	Next week, don’t forget to bring it back!
We left Spain ten years ago.	Have you been back since then?
They went hiking in the mountains.	It was too far, so they turned back.
I visited Haiti last year.	It was awful. I’m never going back.

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Say and Tell

The meanings of “say” and “tell” are very close. The best way to learn the difference is with examples.

Grammatical difference:

tell	Usually, “tell” answers the question:    Who?	Wrong:
	I told him about the change.	I told to him…
	She told them to meet her at the station.	She told to them…
	They told me they would be late.
	He told me to bring the key, but I forgot.	He told to me…
	Every morning, I tell Sam to finish his breakfast.
	The manager told me to do it again.
say	Usually, “say” answers the question:    What?
	He said he would be late.	He said me…
	They said it didn’t matter.	They said me…
	Then he said, “I don’t want to drive”.
	Using “said”, you can also say to whom you are speaking. In that case, you use “to”. Compare the following correct examples:
	Then he said, “I don’t want to drive”.
	Then he said to me, “I don’t want to drive”.	Then he said me…
	I said, “How’s the weather?”
	I said to the man with the wooden leg, “How’s the weather?”

Common Mistakes:

He said me….	Wrong!
He said to me…	right
She told to me.	Wrong!
She told me.	right

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Pronunciation:

“Said” is a common word. The vowel sound is short, not long. Pronounce it correctly:

Redhead Ted said “bed, wed, fed”.

More Examples:

I told him to get ready but he didn’t.	I said, “Get ready”!  But he didn’t.
Last week the teacher told the class a joke.	The teacher said a joke to the class. (Wrong!)
The teacher told us to study page 65.	The teacher said to study page 65.
He didn’t tell me what happened.	He didn’t say what happened.
She told me about the new store.	She said “Hey, there’s a new store!”
The salesclerk told me they were all out.	The salesclerk said they were all out.
He told me he would look again.	He said he would look again.
He told me I stepped on his foot.	He said I stepped on his foot!
She told her she was sorry.	She said she was sorry.

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un

un

Boredom and Confusion

“I am boring” and “I am confusing” are grammatically correct, but probably not what you want to say. Probably what you want to say is “I am bored” or “I am confused”. You can say that someone or something else is boring or confusing, but avoid saying that about yourself.

	Meaning
I am boring.	People think that I am not interesting.
I am bored.	My situation right now is not interesting. (Kids say this.)
I am confusing.	People think that I am not making any sense.
I am confused.	I do not understand.

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Examples:

	Meaning
The book is boring.	The book is not interesting.
I am bored by the book.	same
The book bores me.	same
The book is bored.	Wrong—a thing can’t be bored.
Angry teacher, to sleeping student: Am I boring you?	Do you think I am not interesting?
I‘m bored, mommy!	I can’t think of anything interesting to do. (Kids say this.)
Only boring people are bored!	(Mother’s response to kid.)
The book is confusing.	I do not understand the book.
I am confused by the book.	same
The book confuses me.	same
I am confused.	I do not understand.
The book is confused.	Wrong—a thing can’t be confused.

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Contractions

In some contractions, the letter replaced by the apostrophe can be in two different places. The meaning is the same. Use whichever one is easier for you:

The frog isn’t yellow.  = The frog’s not yellow.

They aren’t. =  They’re not.

We aren’t =  We’re not