Learn about using verbs exceptions to the simple present tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden: No News is Bad News in this American Office |
| Braden: In this lesson, you’ll learn about Verbs exceptions to the simple present tense and Tag questions. |
| Barbara: This conversation takes place at work in the afternoon. |
| Braden: And it’s between Mitch and June. |
| Barbara: The speakers are co-workers, therefore they’ll be speaking semi-professionally. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mitch: Hello, Ms. June. |
| June: June is fine. |
| Mitch: No, it isn't actually. You see, as the new assistant manager and your boss, it's my duty to inform you that I've had several complaints from customers about you. |
| June: Oh you have, have you? |
| Mitch: Not specifically, no. But I haven't had any compliments either, and in my book that's the same thing. Okay? |
| June: Mitch, we just talked about this yesterday. Big John: gave me the assistant manager position, not you. When are you going to stop pretending to be the assistant manager? |
| Mitch: When I get some respect! I just want some respect. |
| June: Mitch, you did say that you were trying to strike fear into the hearts of your co-workers, didn't you? |
| Mitch: Well, yes. Why else would they respect me if not for fear? |
| June: Mitch, people tend to respect individuals who have attributes they admire. |
| Mitch: Like Superman? |
| June: Let's go with someone real, shall we? How about Einstein? |
| Mitch: I like Einstein. |
| June: Exactly! Einstein is respected all over the world because he was brilliant and also because he was a nice person. Had he been brilliant but trying to "strike fear" into the hearts of everyone around him, then he wouldn't be as respected. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Tag questions. |
| Barbara: A tag question is defined as “a grammatical structure in which a statement is turned into a question by adding an interrogative fragment.” |
| Braden: So, in the dialogue we heard the phrase, “Let's go with someone real, shall we?” Here the “shall we?” Is the tag question. |
| Barbara: Tag questions are most common in spoken English and rarely seen in formal written English. |
| Braden: First we'll look at Balanced vs. unbalanced tags - A balanced tag question is when the statement is positive and the question is negative or vice versa. For example, from the dialogue, we heard the phrase... |
| Barbara: “You did say that you are trying to strike fear into the hearts of your coworkers, didn't you?” |
| Braden: That was just a simple question. To add an extra tone of irony, suggestion, or confrontation use unbalanced tag questions. |
| Barbara: An unbalanced tag question is when both the statement and the question are positive or negative. |
| Braden: For example, “Oh you have, have you?” |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is: |
| Barbara: integrate [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to include in a process |
| Barbara: integrate [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: integrate [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| assistant [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a person who helps (assists) |
| assistant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| assistant [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: specifically [natural native speed] |
| Braden: clearly defined or identified |
| Barbara: specifically [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: specifically [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| realize [natural native speed] |
| Braden: become fully aware of something |
| realize [slowly - broken down by syllable] realize [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: compliment [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a polite expression of praise or admiration |
| Barbara: compliment [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: compliment [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| respect [natural native speed] |
| Braden: high regard |
| respect [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| respect [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: real [natural native speed] |
| Braden: actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not |
| imagined or supposed |
| Barbara: real [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: real [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| brilliant [natural native speed] |
| Braden: exceptionally clever or talented |
| brilliant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| brilliant [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard the word “compliments.” |
| Braden: “Compliment” has a very similar pronunciation to |
| 5the word “complement.” However, their meanings are very different. |
| Barbara: A "compliment" is a form of praise. A "complement" is something you have in addition to some other thing. For example, "You are amazing." is a compliment and "Ketchup is a great complement to a hotdog." |
| Braden: Could you break down compliment which means praise? |
| Barbara: compliments (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: compliments (fast) |
| Braden: Now, could you break down complement as in an "addition?" |
| Barbara: complement(slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: complement (fast) |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Barbara: Our next phrase is "in my book." |
| Braden: “In my book” is another way of saying "in my opinion." You could remember this one by thinking of it as a “book of rules” that each individual uses to guide their life. |
| Barbara: This phrase is also a synonym for “To me...” |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: in my book (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: in my book (fast) |
| Braden: Great! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: Barbara, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Barbara: The focus of this lesson is verb exceptions to the simple present tense. |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase... |
| Barbara: When are you going to stop pretending to be the assistant manager? |
| Braden: One of the most frustrating things about learning English is that pretty much every rule has an exception. In this lesson we're going to cover some exceptions to the simple present tense. |
| Barbara: Usually the simple present expresses Habitual actions, Opinions and preferences, and Truths and facts. |
| Braden: The standard constructions are “Tom goes to the beach on Saturdays.” for positive sentences, “Mary doesn't like to eat fish on Fridays.” For negative sentences, and “Do they work in New York?” for interrogative sentences. |
| Barbara: In this lesson, you’ll learn exceptions to this simple present conjugations. |
| Braden: Exception 1 - Adding Stress – So, in order to add stress to a positive sentence we can use the auxiliary verb "to do". We often use this exception in response to something previously said. |
| Barbara: For example, “I don't think Laura wants to come with us to the concert.” and the response would be, “Laura does want to come.” |
| Braden: Now on to Exception 2 - For the Future – The simple present can also be used for the future! We use the simple present to express future-scheduled events with verbs that express beginning and end, or departure and arrival. |
| Barbara: For example, Someone asks, “When does the train for Paris leave?” and then someone responds, “It leaves at 7 tomorrow morning.” |
| Braden: On to Exception 3 - When then? – We use the simple present in time clauses when talking about future events. The “when” is expressed with the simple present. |
| Barbara: The “result” is expressed with a future form, usually the future with "will." Time clauses are introduced by time signifiers such as when, as soon as, before, after etc. |
| Braden: The construction is the same as the first conditional except that we use a time signifier such as "as soon as" instead of "if". |
| Barbara: For example, someone says, "When are you going to come and see the new house?” and you reply, “We will come as soon as we finish the Smith project.” |
| Braden: And to finish things off, Exception 4 - Writing a Biography – We often use the simple present when we write time lines or biographical outlines - even if all the events take place in the past! |
| Barbara: For example, "1971 - Alex Wilson is born in Seattle, Washington.” then “1989 - Alex begins to play video games” “2000 - Alex is discovered by Blizzard Entertainment and work begins on World of Warcraft” |
| Braden: Now we'll take a look at Time Words -Time words cause a great deal of confusion for English learners. |
| 8Here are some exceptions concerning time words. |
| Barbara: First are Adverbs of frequency - Adverbs of frequency such as regularly, usually, normally, always, often, sometimes, never etc. are generally put before the main verb. |
| Braden: However, they can also be put at the beginning or end of a sentence. |
| Barbara: For Example - John usually arrives home at 5 o'clock. |
| Braden: The verb "to be" also causes special problems. |
| Barbara: If the adverb of frequency is placed in the middle of the sentence (as is usually the case) it must follow the verb "to be". |
| Braden: For Example, a Regular phrase would be "Fred often eats in a bar and grill." With the To be verb it would |
| be "Fred is often late to work." |
| Barbara: Last of all, remember that negatives first cause questions. |
| Braden: That's right. Negative adverbs of frequency used in the initial position of a sentence must be followed by question word order! |
| Barbara: These adverbs include rarely, never, and seldom. For example, a Regular sentence would be "Patricia rarely finishes work before 7 p.m." and initial placement would be "Seldom does John play volleyball." |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening. |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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