Learn how to use the modal verb "must"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chihiro: Hey, everybody! Chihiro here. |
| Ryan: This is Ryan. You Must Talk to the Taxi Driver in English! |
| Ryan: In this lesson, you will learn how to talk to a taxi driver. |
| Chihiro: So, this conversation takes place inside a taxi. |
| Ryan: The conversation is between Drew and the driver. |
| Chihiro: They will both be speaking casually. Okay, let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Drew: Taxi! (opens door, gets in, closes door) |
| Taxi driver: Where to? |
| Drew: Can you take me to the Golden Gate Hotel? I have the address right here. |
| Taxi driver: Don't worry, I know where it is. |
| Drew: Oh, good. |
| Taxi driver: You hear what happened to the Andy Warhol painting at the MOMA? It was stolen! |
| Drew: Oh really? Wow! That's just crazy! Security must have been sleeping, or the thief must have been nimble as anything! Like in the movies! |
| Taxi driver: Yeah, probably some art lover who's athletic enough to pull such a stunt. |
| Drew: Yeah, or maybe the person just didn't think that it was modern enough to be at the Museum of Modern Art… |
| Taxi driver: We're here. That'll be $44.90. |
| Drew: Oh, here's fifty dollars. Keep the change. Thanks. |
| Taxi driver: All right. Have a nice day. |
| Ryan: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Drew: Taxi! (opens door, gets in, closes door) |
| Taxi driver: Where to? |
| Drew: Can you take me to the Golden Gate Hotel? I have the address right here. |
| Taxi driver: Don't worry, I know where it is. |
| Drew: Oh, good. |
| Taxi driver: You hear what happened to the Andy Warhol painting at the MOMA? It was stolen! |
| Drew: Oh really? Wow! That's just crazy! Security must have been sleeping, or the thief must have been nimble as anything! Like in the movies! |
| Taxi driver: Yeah, probably some art lover who's athletic enough to pull such a stunt. |
| Drew: Yeah, or maybe the person just didn't think that it was modern enough to be at the Museum of Modern Art… |
| Taxi driver: We're here. That'll be $44.90. |
| Drew: Oh, here's fifty dollars. Keep the change. Thanks. |
| Taxi driver: All right. Have a nice day. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chihiro: Okay, now, for those of you who are in countries where you can ride in the front of a taxi, in the States, you usually ride in the back. |
| Ryan: If the back is full with passengers, you can ride in the front, but you usually have to sit in the back. |
| Chihiro: Right, it’s for the safety of both the driver and yourself. Also, taxis in the states won't take more than one party at a time, so you don't have to worry about them stopping to pick up extra passengers. |
| Ryan: I know a place where they do that, it's actually a good idea to save gas! |
| Chihiro: Mmm, I agree with you. But, you know what; I can't really see it happening in the States. |
| Ryan: Yeah, me neither. It's also good to tip the driver when getting out of the taxi, usually around fifteen percent for long distances and $2-3 for short distances. But don't worry so much if you tip them somewhere in between. If the driver helps you with any of your luggage, then the tip should be a little more. |
| Chihiro: Good point, but if they're unfriendly, you can tip them less. Also remember not to tip in coins but in bills only. You can of course give them more than the amount and tell them to "keep the change" and that would be your tip. |
| Ryan: As drivers don't always know the location of places, it is better if you are ready to give directions or if you have a map handy. |
| Chihiro: And remember to speak up. You don't want to be taken to a place that's completely different. |
| Ryan: No, that would be terrible. Okay, I think that's enough tips. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Ryan: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Chihiro: Where to? [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: informal way of asking where someone would like to go |
| Chihiro: Where to? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: Where to? [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: you hear? [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: informal way of asking whether someone has heard some information |
| Chihiro: you hear? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: you hear? [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: MOMA [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: Acronym for Museum of Modern Art |
| Chihiro: MOMA [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: MOMA [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: nimble [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: able to move quickly and easily |
| Chihiro: nimble [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: nimble [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: athletic [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: having sports skills |
| Chihiro: athletic [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: athletic [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: stunt [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: difficult and dangerous action |
| Chihiro: stunt [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: stunt [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: change [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: money returned when a payment exceeds the amount due |
| Chihiro: change [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: change [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: keep the change [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: expression to leave any extra paid money as a tip |
| Chihiro: keep the change [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: keep the change [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Ryan: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase we'll look at is, |
| Chihiro: "...as anything." |
| Ryan: We use this phrase after an adjective to emphasize the meaning of the adjective. In the dialogue, |
| Chihiro: "Nimble as anything" |
| Ryan: Means that the person was very, very nimble. The thief in the story was able to steal a famous painting from an art gallery, so he or she must be very quick and athletic. |
| Chihiro: We can also use this expression with other adjectives. For example, |
| Ryan: "She's as smart as anything." |
| Chihiro: Of course, this means that she is very, very smart. Another example is, |
| Ryan: "He's as strong as anything," |
| Chihiro: which means that he is very, very strong. |
| Ryan: The second phrase we'll look at is "...to pull" as in |
| Chihiro: "to pull such a stunt". |
| Ryan: In the dialogue, this means to commit a robbery. It's a slang term and we use it in place of, |
| Chihiro: "to carry out a crime." |
| Ryan: Okay, what are we going to pull out next? |
| Chihiro: Let's pull out the grammar point for this lesson. |
Lesson focus |
| Ryan: Okay, the focus of this lesson is the modal "must." |
| Chihiro: "Must" is a modal verb, which is an auxiliary verb or helping verb. We use it before other verbs to say that something is absolute according to the speaker. It comes in front of another verb. The example sentence is, |
| Ryan: "Security must have been sleeping." |
| Chihiro: Drew is concluding that security was sleeping. |
| Ryan: "security must slept" |
| Chihiro: Is wrong. You can't use this modal with just the regular past. Okay, here's another sentence from the dialogue. |
| Ryan: "The thief must have been nimble as anything!" |
| Chihiro: Again, Drew is saying that he is convinced that the thief was nimble. Note that the word "must" is a personal opinion according to the speaker. |
| Ryan: Okay, those two examples from the dialogue are talking about something in the past. A certainty of the past. What do you think will happen when something is talked about in the present? |
| Chihiro: That's a good point Ryan brought up. Take, for example, a sentence like, |
| Ryan: “He must know about it.” |
| Chihiro: And, |
| Ryan: “He must finish the report.” |
| Chihiro: These two examples use the present tense. However, the first one talks about something Ryan is certain of that is current, while the second one talks about something that needs to be done in the future. |
| Ryan: Right, so sometimes when using "must" in the present, it can be talking about something in the present, or it can be about something in the future. Here's another example. If Chihiro says... |
| Chihiro: “He must be awake.” |
| Ryan: She's stating that she is sure that the guy is awake now. But if she says something like, |
| Chihiro: “He must take a nap”. |
| Ryan: This means that he should get some sleep in the near future. |
| Chihiro: Right, so there you have it. Either way, whether it's used for things in the past or used with the present form, "must" is giving a personal opinion. |
| Ryan: A personal opinion of something that is certain according to the individual. |
| Chihiro: Okay, I think that's enough explanation for today. Now, we must close the grammar point. |
| Ryan: I agree. |
Outro |
| Ryan: That just about does it for today. Okay, bye for now! |
| Chihiro: See you all soon! |
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