Colloquial english the complete course for beginners

Colloquial English Colloquial English provides a step-by-step course in English as it is written and spoken today Combining a user-friendly approach with a thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in English in a broad range of situations Key features include: • progressive coverage of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills • structured, jargon-free explanations of grammar • an extensive range of focused and stimulating exercises • realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of scenarios • useful explanations of idioms throughout the text • additional resources available at the back of the book, including a full answer key and lists of irregular verbs This second edition has been extensively revised and updated throughout, and includes up-to-date cultural information, an improved reference grammar and revised audio recordings Accompanying audio material is available to purchase separately on two CDs or in MP3 format, or comes included in the great value Colloquial English pack Recorded by native speakers, the audio complements the book and will help enhance learners’ listening and speaking skills Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial English is a complete English Language Course and will be an indispensable resource for independent learners and for instructors and students on TEFL and EFL courses By the end of this course, you will be at Level B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages and at the Intermediate–High on the ACTFL proficiency scales Gareth King is Series Advisor for the Routledge Colloquials Series and the author of numerous books on language and linguistics THE COLLOQUIAL SERIES Series Adviser: Gary King The following languages are available in the Colloquial series: Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic (Levantine) Arabic of Egypt Arabic of the Gulf Basque Bengali Breton Bulgarian Cambodian Cantonese Catalan Chinese (Mandarin) Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Estonian Finnish French German Greek Gujarati Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Kazakh Korean Latvian Lithuanian Malay Mongolian Norwegian Panjabi Persian Polish Portuguese Portuguese of Brazil Romanian Russian Scottish Gaelic Serbian Slovak Slovene Somali Spanish Spanish of Latin America Swahili Swedish Tamil Thai Tibetan (forthcoming) Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish Yoruba Zulu (forthcoming) COLLOQUIAL 2s series: The Next Step in Language Learning Chinese Dutch French German Italian Portuguese of Brazil Russian Spanish Spanish of Latin America All these Colloquials are available in book & CD packs, or separately You can order them through your bookseller or via our website www.routledge.com Colloquial English The Complete Course for Beginners Gareth King This second edition published 2014 by Routledge Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2005, 2014 Gareth King The right of Gareth King to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe First published 2005 by Routledge British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data King, Gareth, 1955– Colloquial English: the complete course for beginners/Gareth King – Second Edition pages cm – (The Colloquial Series) Includes bibliographical references and index English language – Textbooks for foreign speakers – Foreign speakers English language – Spoken English – Problems, exercises, etc English language – Grammar – Problems, exercises, etc I Title PE1128.K4323 2014 428.2′4 – dc23 2013028348 ISBN: ISBN: ISBN: ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-415-83139-0 978-0-415-83140-6 978-0-203-48949-9 978-0-415-83142-0 978-0-415-83141-3 (pack) (pbk) (ebk) (CDs) (MP3s) Typeset in Helvetica Neue and Avant Garde by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK I dedicate this book to the memory of my dear friend Buzz Burrell 1956–2003 who loved the English language always This page intentionally left bank Contents Acknowledgements Introduction English spelling IPA symbols Grammatical terms used in this book Pleased to meet you! In • • • • • 21 this unit you will learn how to: use the negative find out information about people talk about things that happen regularly or all the time use question words say that something belongs to someone Could you tell me where the bank is? In • • • • • this unit you will learn how to: greet people say goodbye to people introduce yourself to someone introduce someone to someone else identify people Where are you from? In • • • • • xi xii xiii xiv xv this unit you will learn how to: ask and say where things are ask the way to places in town talk about things that are happening now give and understand instructions tell people not to something 35 viii Contents Have you got any bread? In • • • • • • 104 this unit you will learn how to: talk about the future tell someone what you plan or intend to talk about necessity and having to things use state verbs Can I make an appointment? In • • • • 87 this unit you will learn how to: talk on the phone ask for permission to things use pronoun indirect objects make gentle suggestions use time expressions What date is it today? In • • • • 68 this unit you will learn how to: make suggestions to things accept and decline suggestions discuss plans ask about and talk about likes and dislikes offer people things choose between things Hello, could I speak to Vicki? In • • • • • this unit you will learn how to: use countable and uncountable nouns ask for and buy things in shops ask the price of something use numbers use British money say that you want or don’t want something What shall we today? In • • • • • • 50 this unit you will learn: how to make appointments over the phone how to use ‘can’, ‘could’ and ‘should’ how to use two verbs together more about state verbs 125 ix Contents I’ve lost my passport! In • • • • • • this unit you will learn how to: talk about things that have happened recently talk about a sequence of events ask people about events that have already happened form and use the past simple form and use the present perfect use some time adverbs 10 Which you prefer? In • • • • 204 this unit you will learn how to: talk about what you and others have to say that you’re not sure about something talk about possibilities and probabilities use the TO-FORM after different types of word 13 The people we met were fantastic! In • • • 185 this unit you will learn how to: make arrangements with people tell the time use other time expressions buy tickets for public transport use prepositions in wh-questions 12 You can’t be serious! In • • • • 164 this unit you will learn how to: compare things express preferences compare and contrast what people use adverbs of degree 11 I’ll see you at half past five! In • • • • • 144 this unit you will learn how to: use who and that in longer sentences use prepositions in longer sentences use more adverbs 222 294 Reference grammar These spelling rules apply: ing-form: s-form: ed-form and 1, and These are the TENSES of the verb covered in this book, illustrated with I: I ask I’m asking I speak I’m speaking I asked I was asking I spoke I was speaking I’ve asked I’ve been asking I’ve spoken I’ve been speaking PAST PERFECT I’d asked I’d spoken FUTURE I’ll ask I’d ask I’ll speak I’d speak PRESENT SIMPLE PRESENT CONTINUOUS PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS PRESENT PERFECT PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS CONDITIONAL [The present simple uses the S-FORM for the present simple he/she/it – the verbs be and have have irregular S-FORMs The future can also be expressed in English by the present continuous, the present simple and going to – these are not interchangeable and are associated with different meanings of the future.] As well as the STATEMENT forms above, all verbs have QUESTION and NEGATIVE forms: PRESENT SIMPLE PRESENT CONTINUOUS PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS PRESENT PERFECT PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS PAST PERFECT Question Negative I ask? am I asking? I don’t ask I’m not asking did I ask? was I asking? I didn’t ask I wasn’t asking have I asked? have I been asking? had I asked? I haven’t asked I haven’t been asking I hadn’t asked 295 Reference grammar will I ask? would I ask? FUTURE CONDITIONAL I won’t ask I wouldn’t ask Question Negative I ask? am I asking? did I ask? was I asking? have I asked? have I been asking? had I asked? will I ask? would I ask? I don’t ask I’m not asking I didn’t ask I wasn’t asking I haven’t asked I haven’t been asking I hadn’t asked I won’t ask I wouldn’t ask Verbs are either ACTION or STATE – action verbs can form all tenses, but state verbs don’t usually form the continuous tenses Even in colloquial English, verbs normally need to have a subject expressed Summary of verb constructions used in this book • base-form after: can could must would will/’ll may might Shall we ? Why don’t you/we ? Let’s Why not ? Will you ? had better had better not Examples: I can speak English and Russian Shall we wait for the others? Could you help me? Why don’t you order the fish? We must go now 296 Reference grammar Let’s go out for the evening Gerry would never agree to that Why not buy a new phone? I’ll phone tomorrow Will you arrange the meeting for me? You may miss the bus We’d better wait till Andy gets here Suzie might want to come with us You’d better not tell Dave • to-form after: want would like have (= must) remember forget Would you like ? ought prefer can’t wait need Examples: I want to go home now Would you like to share my ice-cream? I’d like to see the manager We ought to tell Mary what’s happened My brother has to paint the house I’d prefer to wait inside You must remember to lock the door I can’t wait to see them again! Don’t forget to phone when you get there Alice needs to find her passport • ing-form after: good at feel like I like Do you like ? How about ? can’t help Examples: I’m not terribly good at swimming Do you like sitting in the garden? I feel like having a day off 297 Reference grammar How about coming with us to the beach? I like watching films Terry can’t help offending people describe the manner (how), the time (when) or the place (where) an action or event happens Manner adverbs are normally formed from adjectives by adding -ly (spelling rule applies); time and place adverbs have to be learned ADVERBS The most common PREPOSITIONS are: about, across, after, against, at, before, behind, below, between, by, during, for, from, in, into, of, on, over, than, through, till, to, under, until, with, without When used with PRONOUNS they are followed by the OBJECT form: with him not ‘with he’ The normal order of elements in a basic statement or negative sentence in English is: subject (aux) Gerry ’s (neg) She We The students verb rest of sentence going to London tomorrow the paper every day the bus after all the lesson very well reads ’re not n’t catching understand subject verb rest of sentence Did you Could you see help are has going bought the film? me with these bags? to with it? a clockwork parrot? For a question sentence: (wh-word) What Why aux we Justine Irregular verbs – alphabetical list Base-form Past simple Past participle arise be beat become begin bend bind blow break bring build /bild/ burn buy cast catch choose come cost cut /k t/ deal /di l/ draw drink drive eat fall feed arose was/were beat became began bent bound blew broke brought /brɔ t/ built burnt bought /bɔ t/ cast caught /kɔ t/ chose came cost arisen been beaten become begun bent bound blown broken cut dealt /dεlt/ did drew drank drove ate /εt/ (or /εit/) fell fed brought built burnt bought cast caught chosen come cost cut dealt /dεlt/ done /d n/ drawn drunk driven eaten fallen fed 299 Irregular verbs – alphabetical list Base-form Past simple Past participle feel fight find fit fly forget get give go grow hang have hear hide hit hold hurt keep know lay lead learn leave let lie light lose /lu z/ make mean /mi n/ meet pay put /pυt/ read /ri d/ ride ring rise run felt fought /fɔ t/ found fit flew forgot got gave went grew had heard hid hit held hurt kept knew /nju / laid led learned left let lay lit lost made meant /mεnt/ met paid put read /rεd/ rode rang rose ran felt fought found fit flown forgotten got given gone / ɔn/ grown had heard hidden hit held hurt kept known laid led learned left let lain lit lost made meant /mεnt/ met paid put read /rεd/ ridden rung risen run 300 Irregular verbs – alphabetical list Base-form Past simple Past participle say /sεi/ see seek sell send set shake shoot show shut /ʃ t/ sing sink sit sleep speak spend spread /sprεd/ stand steal stick strike swing take teach tell think throw understand wake wear win write said /sεd/ saw /sɔ / sought /sɔ t/ sold sent set shook shot showed shut sang sank sat slept spoke spent spread /sprεd/ stood stole stuck struck swung took taught /tɔ t/ told thought /θɔ t/ threw understood woke wore won /w n/ wrote said /sεd/ seen sought sold sent set shaken shot shown shut sung sunk sat slept spoken spent spread /sprεd/ stood stolen stuck struck swung taken taught told thought thrown understood woken worn won /w n/ written Irregular verbs by type Base-form Past simple Past participle No change in form cast cost cut /k t/ fit hit hurt let put /pυt/ read /ri d/ set shut /ʃ t/ spread /sprεd/ cast cost cut fit hit hurt let put read /rεd/ set shut spread /sprεd/ cast cost cut fit hit hurt let put read /rεd/ set shut spread /sprεd/ Vowel change in past simple bind feed find get hear hold lay lead light meet sell shoot bound fed found got heard held laid led lit met sold shot bound fed found got heard held laid led lit met sold shot 302 Irregular verbs by type Base-form Past simple Past participle sit stand tell understand win sat stood told understood won /w n/ sat stood told understood won /w n/ bent built burnt dealt /dεlt/ felt kept learned left lost meant /mεnt sent slept spent bent built burnt dealt /dεlt/ felt kept learned left lost meant /mεnt/ sent slept spent Past tense in -t bend build bild burn deal /di l/ feel keep learn leave lose /lu z/ mean /mi n/ send sleep spend Past simple in -ght bring buy catch fight seek teach think brought /brɔ t/ bought /bɔ t/ caught /kɔ t/ fought /fɔ t/ sought /sɔ t/ taught /tɔ t/ thought /θɔ t/ brought bought caught fought sought taught thought Vowel u in past simple hang stick strike swing stuck struck swung stuck struck swung 303 Irregular verbs by type Base-form Past simple Past participle Vowel a in past simple, vowel u in past participle begin drink ring run sing sink began drank rang ran sang sank begun drunk rung run sung sunk Past participle ends in -n arise be beat blow break choose draw drive eat fall fly forget give grow hide know lie ride rise see shake show speak steal take throw wake arose was/were beat blew broke chose drew drove ate /εt/ (or /εit/) fell flew forgot gave grew hid knew /nju / lay rode rose saw /sɔ / shook showed spoke stole took threw woke arisen been beaten blown broken chosen drawn driven eaten fallen flown forgotten given grown hidden known lain ridden risen seen shaken shown spoken stolen taken thrown woken 304 Irregular verbs by type Base-form Past simple Past participle wear write wore wrote worn written became came did went had made laid paid said /sεd/ become come done /d n/ gone / ɔn/ had made laid paid said /sεd/ Miscellaneous become come go have make lay pay say /sεi/ Grammar index Numbers refer to pages Life and Living themes are in SMALL CAPITALS a/an 16 a-adjectives 197 active versus passive 269–70 adjectives, comparative 166 adjectives, superlative 166 adjectives in -ed 139 adjectives in -ing 139 adjectives with prepositions 101 adverb position 235 after 199 another 63 article, indefinite 16 as soon as 93 auxiliary did 55 commands 36 comparative 16 COMPUTERS 219 conditionals 241, 249 could 127 Could you ? 37 countable nouns 51 base-form 29, 37, 95 before 199 bet 252 better off -ing 178 bring 119 EATING OUT C1 conditional 241 C2 conditional 249 can 127 can’t 127, 208 can’t have 212, 266 certainty 208 choosing 81 degree words 173 did auxiliary 55 direct object pronouns 91 do, versus make 232 Don’t 36 don’t think 61 85 -ed adjectives 139 ed-form 151 either 170 else 136 empty it 108 for (time) 192 forms of the verb 29 future 105, 111, 199 genitive 39 get 46 306 Grammar index going to 105 goodbye 20 had 156 have 58 have to 206 46 201 HIGH STREET HOLIDAYS if 130, 245, 252 if only 252 in case 254 indefinite article 16 indirect object pronouns 91 indirect speech 260 -ing 43, 134, 178 -ing adjectives 139 ing-form after verbs 134 introducing people it, empty 108 Let’s 14, 71 likes and dislikes 77 liking doing things 79 liking things 75 make, versus 232 may 208 may have 266 May I ? (formal) 95 might 208 mine, yours, etc 32 MOBILES 219 MONEY 65 must 206 must have 212 my, your, etc 11 needn’t have 266 negative short forms 22 NETWORKING 219 nouns, countable 51 nouns uncountable 51, 60 n’t 22 NUMBERS 65 object pronouns 91 obligation 206 of genitive 39 offering 75, 76 one 63, 175 other 63 passive 269–70 past continuous 158 past perfect 257 past simple 55, 151, 153, 156 PEOPLE AND POPULATION 237 personal pronouns phone language 89 phrasal verbs 41, 114 pointing out 13, 81 position of adverbs 235 possessive adjectives 11 possessive pronouns 32 possibility 208 prepositions after adjectives 101 prepositions at the end with whwords 190 prepositions in relative clauses 227 present continuous 43 present perfect 145, 153 present simple 24, 93, 130, 199, 241 pronouns, object 91 pronouns, personal pronouns, possessive 32 quantity 51 questions with be quite 173 273 relative clauses 224 READING 307 Grammar index relative clauses with prepositions 227 reported speech 260 saying goodbye 20 ’s genitive 39 SEASONS 122 Shall I ? 37 short forms short forms, negative 22 should 127 since 192 some 175 SPORT 142 state verbs 117, 132 suggestions 71 superlative 166 suppose 267 tags, questions tag responses take 119 TELEVISION 182 telling the time 186 that relative 224 that’s with wh-words 263 this, that, these, those 13 time 186 time expressions 97, 161,196 to-form 29, 134, 214 to-form after verbs 134, 214 too 173 uncountable nouns 51, 60 unless 254 verb, forms 29 verbs, state 117, 132 very 173 was 156 weak forms 27 WEATHER 122 were 156 What for? 245 What if ? 130 when 199, 245 which 169 who relative 224 wh-questions 30, 190 wh-words 30, 190, 214 Why don’t you ? 95 will-future 111 wish 252 wonder 267 would 249 ... forms: the SUBJECT and the OBJECT FORM: FORM SUBJECT FORM OBJECT FORM I me you you he him she her we us they them We use the object form of a personal pronoun when it is the OBJECT of the sentence... these things as the course goes on – all you have to for now is remember the names of the forms and what they look like with a regular verb In this unit we have seen the BASE-FORM and the S-FORM... subject – the doer of the action in a sentence: the postman delivered the letter; compare object superlative – the form of the adjective that shows the highest degree: the cheapest, the biggest, the