Learn how to use the English determiners "some" and "any"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalie: Hello, everyone! |
| Braden: Braden here. It's a Long Way to the Shop if you Want Some Bananas in the US. |
| Natalie: In this lesson, you'll learn about using the words "some" and "any." |
| Braden: This conversation takes place on the street in the morning before they board the plane. |
| Natalie: And it’s between David and Michael. |
| Braden: David and Michael have been working together for over a week and have become best friends. They are speaking casually. |
| DIALOGUE |
| David: Dude! The grocery store is closed. |
| Michael: Isn't there another one nearby? |
| David: I don't know. I've never been here before. |
| Michael: Check your GPS again. Are you sure you put in the data correctly? |
| David: Yes I am. The screen is marking this part of Baltimore as the end point. |
| Michael: All I wanted was some bananas. Is that too much to ask? |
| Braden: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| David: Dude! The grocery store is closed. |
| Michael: Isn't there another one nearby? |
| David: I don't know. I've never been here before. |
| Michael: Check your GPS again. Are you sure you put in the data correctly? |
| David: Yes I am. The screen is marking this part of Baltimore as the end point. |
| Michael: All I wanted was some bananas. Is that too much to ask? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, let's talk about Baltimore. |
| Natalie: Okay. Baltimore is the largest city in the state of Maryland and is a major port city. It's located in the central area of the state near the Chesapeake Bay. |
| Braden: In 2010, Baltimore had the population of 620,000 and the Baltimore metropolitan area had a population of approximately 2. 7 million. |
| Natalie: Baltimore was a major port throughout American history and during the war of 1812 was attacked by the British. |
| Braden: Francis Scott Key watched the attack and later wrote the poem “The Star-Spangled Banner” recounting the attack. This poem was later put to music and became the national anthem of the United States. |
| Natalie: Baltimore was once a major industrial center. However, modern Baltimore now has a service economy providing financial business and health services for the southern mid-Atlantic region. |
| Braden: There are many famous and respected universities throughout the city. The most famous of which are the Johns Hopkins University and the related Johns Hopkins Hospital. |
| Natalie: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Natalie: grocery [natural native speed] |
| Braden: items of food sold in a grocery store |
| Natalie: grocery [slowly - broken down by syllable] grocery [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: nearby [natural native speed] |
| Braden: near; in the immediate area |
| Natalie: nearby [slowly - broken down by syllable] nearby [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: GPS [natural native speed] |
| Braden: abbreviation for – Global Positioning System |
| Natalie: GPS [slowly - broken down by syllable] GPS [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: check [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to examine, to review, to look at, to look again at something |
| Natalie: check [slowly - broken down by syllable] check [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: data [natural native speed] |
| Braden: facts and statistics collected together for reference |
| Natalie: data [slowly - broken down by syllable] data [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: correctly [natural native speed] |
| Braden: in a way that is true, factual, or appropriate |
| Natalie: correctly [slowly - broken down by syllable] correctly [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: banana [natural native speed] |
| Braden: banana |
| Natalie: banana [slowly - broken down by syllable] banana [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: screen [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a fixed or movable upright partition used to divide a room |
| Natalie: screen [slowly - broken down by syllable] screen [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: part [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a piece or segment of something |
| Natalie: part [slowly - broken down by syllable] part [natural native speed] |
| Braden: And last... |
| Natalie: ask [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to request an answer to a question |
| Natalie: ask [slowly - broken down by syllable] ask [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 phrase "end point." |
| Braden: The phrase “end point” refers to the last stage of a journey or process. |
| Natalie: This is a very common phrase in English. It is used in geometry, chemistry, clinical research, and in travel. |
| Braden: The idea is simple, that at this particular “point” whatever was happening will “end.” |
| Natalie: In other words, something that was going will “end” at this “point.” This will be its “endpoint.” |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) end point |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) end point |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Natalie: Our next phrase is "isn’t there another." |
| Braden: What we wanted to point out with this phrase is the contraction “isn't.” It's important to use the contraction in this way. |
| Natalie: In this sentence, and in this context, if you were to say “is not there another,” it would sound very awkward and would probably be somewhat difficult to say. |
| Braden: It would be the same if you were to say “is there not another.” This sounds like you spent too much time reading Shakespeare. This is English from the 16th century. |
| Natalie: Either of these options would be grammatically correct but we don't speak like that anymore. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) isn’t there another |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) isn’t there another |
| 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 words "some" and "any” |
| Braden: In the dialogue we heard the phrase |
| Natalie: All I wanted was some bananas. |
| Braden: In this lesson we are going to introduce the words "some" and "any" which are called determiners. |
| Natalie: Determiners modify a word slightly to show amount. The determiners "some" and "any" don't show a specific amount. |
| Braden: These two words are often difficult for English learners because they are not specific. |
| Natalie: That's right. The dictionary defines the word “some” as – "an unspecified amount or number of.” Not much of a definition if you ask me. |
| Braden: (haha) The dictionary also defines the word "any" as – one or some of a thing or number of things, no matter how much or many. Not a great definition. |
| Natalie: In the dictionary's defense, how do you define something that is non-specific? I think this is what makes them so hard to use. |
| Braden: However, in this lesson we're going to look at one difference between the words “some” and “any.” This will help you use the words correctly. |
| Natalie: First, let's take a look at the word "some." |
| Braden: Okay, so, “Some” is used in positive statements. For example – |
| Natalie: “Benjamin gave Sarah some money.” |
| Braden: Here, the determiner "some" gives the feeling that the amount of money was small. Another example would be – |
| Natalie: “Renée bought some candles.” |
| Braden: Here again, “some” gives the feeling that the number of candles was more than one however not very many. |
| Natalie: And remember that the word “some” is used in positive statements. For negative statements, you'll use "any." |
| Braden: That's right. For example, the phrase "Benjamin didn't give Sarah some money.." is incorrect. You should say |
| Natalie: “Benjamin didn't give Sarah any money.” |
| Braden: Here the determiner “any” emphasizes the fact that Benjamin didn't give money to Sarah. Another example could be – |
| Natalie: “Renée didn't buy any candles.” |
| Braden: Here, “any” gives the feeling that not even one candle was purchased by Rene. |
| Natalie: Let's review this lesson. |
| Braden: In this lesson we learned about determiners. Specifically, we learned about the determiners “some” and “any.” |
| Natalie: These two determiners are frequently used in very similar sentences. However, they have different meanings and uses. |
| Braden: In this lesson we went over one specific difference between these two words. |
| Natalie: Mainly that “some” is used in positive statements and that “any” is used in negative statements. |
| Braden: In future lessons, we will review and learn more about the differences between “some” and “any.” |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening! |
| Natalie: Bye! |
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