Learn about using the impersonal "there"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalie: Good morning! |
| Braden: Braden here. There's Always Something to do in Washington, D.C.! |
| Natalie: Hi, my name is Natalie. And I’m joined by Braden. |
| Braden: Hello, everyone! Welcome back to EnglishClass101.com! |
| Natalie: What are we learning today? |
| Braden: In this lesson, you'll learn using the impersonal “there” |
| Natalie: This conversation takes place on the plane during the shift. |
| Braden: And it’s between David and Ashley. |
| Natalie: David and Ashley are friends and are speaking casually. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| David: Where are we going now? |
| Ashley: Well, the next city on our route is Washington, D.C. |
| David: No no, where are we going now, here in Houston? There's got to be something fun! |
| Ashley: You know David, I'm pretty tired. I think I'm just going to turn in. |
| David: What about Matthew? |
| Ashley: Matthew is coming down with something and Jessica is going to spend the evening Skyping with her husband. |
| David: Oh! Okay. No problem. I'll just find something to do on my own. |
| Braden: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| David: Where are we going now? |
| Ashley: Well, the next city on our route is Washington, D.C. |
| David: No no, where are we going now, here in Houston? There's got to be something fun! |
| Ashley: You know David, I'm pretty tired. I think I'm just going to turn in. |
| David: What about Matthew? |
| Ashley: Matthew is coming down with something and Jessica is going to spend the evening Skyping with her husband. |
| David: Oh! Okay. No problem. I'll just find something to do on my own. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Washington, D.C. |
| Natalie: Washington DC is the federal capital of the United States and has an estimated population of 620,000 people. The Washington Metropolitan area has a population of nearly 5. 6 million. |
| Braden: The centers of all 3 branches of the federal government are located in Washington DC including the Congress, president, and Supreme Court. Because of this, and somewhat obviously, the largest employer in the region is the federal government accounting for almost 30% of all jobs in the region. |
| Natalie: The gross metropolitan product is estimated at $425 billion annually which makes it the 4th largest metropolitan economy in the United States. |
| Braden: Washington DC also hosts in the 240 embassies and international organizations such as the World Bank, the international monetary fund, and the Pan American health organization. |
| Natalie: Many people are unaware that during the war of 1812 British forces invaded the capital and burned the Capitol building the treasury and the White House to the ground. |
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: The first word we're going to look at is... |
| Natalie: route [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a way or course taken in a journey |
| Natalie: route [slowly - broken down by syllable] route [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: spend [natural native speed] |
| Braden: pay out (money) in buying |
| Natalie: spend [slowly - broken down by syllable] spend [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: own [natural native speed] |
| Braden: particular to the person mentioned |
| Natalie: own [slowly - broken down by syllable] own [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: tired [natural native speed] |
| Braden: the state of being in need of sleep or rest |
| Natalie: tired [slowly - broken down by syllable] tired [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: Skyping [natural native speed] |
| Braden: the act of using the software program Skype |
| Natalie: Skyping [slowly - broken down by syllable] Skyping [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. |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the word “skyping.” |
| Braden: This word means that she will be using “Skype” to call her husband. So when someone says that they are “skyping” that means "they're making phone calls via Skype." |
| Natalie: This verb is technically not a word. However, it really depends on who you ask. |
| Braden: The problem is that “Skype” wasn't an English word until recently. “Skype” has been incorporated into the English language because so many people use Skype. |
| Natalie: In fact, so many people use Skype that even though “Skype” is a registered trademark and therefore a “noun” it has now become a verb. |
| Braden: This happens often, and easily, in the English language. However, if a registered trademark becomes an official part of the English language then the company will lose its trademark rights. |
| Natalie: Which is something that “Skype” does not want to happen. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) skyping |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) skyping |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “turn in.” |
| Braden: Now the phrase “turn in” is actually a phrasal verb. It's an informal phrasal verb that means "to go to bed in the evening.” |
| Natalie: However, this phrasal verb has a few other possible meanings. One of which is to “hand someone over to the authorities.” |
| Braden: For example, "My brother got turned in to the police.” This means that my brother is now in jail. |
| Natalie: Another meaning is to give something to the authorities. For example, while at school students will often say, “I need to turn in my paper by Friday.” |
| Braden: This means that they need to give their paper to their teacher (the authority) by Friday. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) turn in |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) turn in |
| Braden: Excellent! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: So Natalie, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Natalie: The focus of this lesson is the impersonal "there" |
| Braden: In the dialogue we heard the phrase |
| Natalie: There’s got to be something fun! |
| Braden: Normally, the word “there” is a location determiner. |
| Natalie: For example, “here” is where you are and “there” is everywhere else. |
| Braden: That’s right. However, the word “there” can be used in an impersonal way. This occurs most often when the word “there” is in the subject position of the sentence. |
| Natalie: When the word “there” is in the subject position, the sentence is usually an “impersonal sentence.” |
| Braden: An “impersonal sentence” is a sentence that has no natural subject. |
| Natalie: In this lesson, you will learn about when to use “there” in impersonal sentences. |
| Braden: Rule – The rules for using “there” in impersonal sentences states – “the impersonal 'there' is used to say that something exists in a particular place." |
| Natalie: There are 2 ways to do this. The first way is when referring to a singular item in a particular place. For example – |
| Braden: “There is a vase on the table.” – A “vase” is a type of container usually used for flowers. |
| Natalie: So, in this sentence “there” is used in an impersonal way. It does not directly refer to any particular natural subject. |
| Braden: It's also important to note the conjugation of the verb “is.” Remember that when talking about a singular item, you need to conjugate the verb in the singular form. |
| Natalie: Another example would be – “There is a new restaurant on Center Street.” |
| Braden: In this sentence, “there” is again used in an impersonal way. And again, since there is only one “new restaurant” the verb “is” is conjugated in the singular form. |
| Natalie: The second way to use “there” in any impersonal sentence is when talking about more than one item. |
| Braden: Just so we’re clear, the “there” doesn't change. However, since there is now more than one item, the verb needs to be conjugated to its plural form. |
| Natalie: For example – “There are two trees in my yard.” |
| Braden: Here, the “there” is used in the same impersonal way as in the singular form. The difference is in the conjugation of the verb. |
| Natalie: In this sentence, it was “there are” and not "there is.” This was done because there are two trees and not just one. |
| Braden: Another example could be – “There are over 300 million people in the United States.” |
| Natalie: In this sentence, again the “there" is used in an impersonal way and the "are” is used because of the plural nature of the number of people. |
| Braden: Should we review this lesson? |
| Natalie: Yes we should! Let's review this lesson. |
| Braden: Okay so, normally, the word “there” is a location determiner. For example, “here” is where you are and “there” is everywhere else. |
| Natalie: That's right. However, the word “there” can also be used in an impersonal way. This occurs most often when the word “there” is in the subject position of the sentence. |
| Braden: When the word “there” is in the subject position, the sentence is usually an “impersonal sentence.” |
| Natalie: There are 2 types of impersonal sentences that use "there,” singular impersonal sentences and plural impersonal sentences. |
| Braden: Use "there is" with singular sentences and "there are" with plural sentences. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening. |
| Natalie: Thanks for listening! |
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