Learn how to use the prepositions "till," "until," and "past"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Making Plans for a Friday Night in the United States. Eric Here. |
| Becky: Hey I'm Becky. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn the prepositions “till”, “until” and “past”. The conversation takes place at home. |
| Becky: It's between Kate and Sean. |
| Eric: The speakers are friends, so they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Kate: What time do you finish work on Saturday? |
| Sean: I have to work until 5 p.m. I can't work past 5 p.m. as the office will close. |
| Kate: Do you want to meet at the bar past 5th Avenue? |
| Sean: I might be busy, but I won't know for certain till Thursday. |
| Kate: Text me when you know. |
| Sean: Sure. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Kate: What time do you finish work on Saturday? |
| Sean: I have to work until 5pm. I can't work past 5pm as the office will close. |
| Kate: Do you want to meet at the bar past 5th Avenue? |
| Sean: I might be busy, but I won't know for certain till Thursday. |
| Kate: Text me when you know. |
| Sean: Sure. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Kate and Sean are trying to arrange going out on Saturday. |
| Becky: It sounded a little difficult though as Sean didn’t know his schedule. |
| Eric: Yes, Kate asked him to text when he knew. |
| Becky: Texting is really convenient, isn’t it? |
| Eric: It is. It’s so easy to send a message to someone. And, you don’t have to worry about whether they are busy at the moment, because they can read it whenever they’re free. |
| Becky: Cell phones are very popular in the US, especially Androids and the iPhone. |
| Eric: Is that how people usually contact each other? |
| Becky: Yeah, the average American sends and receives 32 texts a day! There are messaging apps, but they aren’t as popular as in some other countries. |
| Eric: Other than Facebook messenger? |
| Becky: Yeah, Facebook is still popular! |
| Eric: Do many people have landlines these days? |
| Becky: I don’t think so. More calls are probably placed via Skype, especially with young people. |
| Eric: Interesting. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Becky: to finish [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to complete, to end |
| Becky: to finish[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to finish [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: Saturday [natural native speed] |
| Eric: the day of the week after Friday but before Sunday |
| Becky: Saturday[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: Saturday [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: to close [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to shut, for a store to stop service |
| Becky: to close[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to close [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: busy [natural native speed] |
| Eric: full of activity, engaged in activity, occupied |
| Becky: busy[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: busy [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: certain [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to be sure |
| Becky: certain[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: certain [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: Thursday [natural native speed] |
| Eric: the day of the week after Wednesday but before Friday |
| Becky: Thursday[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: Thursday [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have... |
| Becky: to text [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to send an SMS message (not an email) via a mobile phone |
| Becky: to text[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to text [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last... |
| Becky: when [natural native speed] |
| Eric: used for time |
| Becky: when[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: when [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Becky: busy |
| Eric: ...meaning "full of activity, engaged in activity, occupied." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: This is an adjective. |
| Eric: How is it used? |
| Becky: It can be used to describe a situation when we are occupied. It can also be a convenient excuse... |
| Eric: What do you mean by that? |
| Becky: If you’ve been invited somewhere but don’t want to go, you can just say “I’m busy,” and it usually won’t be questioned any further. |
| Eric: Good to know. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I'm really busy this week with all the work I have to do.” |
| Eric: Which means "I’m occupied and have little free time due to all of the work I have to do." |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: Certain |
| Eric: meaning "to be sure." What can you tell us about this word, Becky? |
| Becky: This is another adjective. |
| Eric: How do you use it? |
| Becky: It’s similar to “sure,” and you can use it to say that you are sure of something. You often hear it in sentences starting “I’m certain that…” |
| Eric: Is it a formal or informal word? |
| Becky: It can be both. In informal situations, you can also use “sure.” |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using “certain”? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I'm certain that I've read this book before.” |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: To text |
| Eric: meaning "to send a message via a cell phone." |
| Becky: We heard this word in the conversation and spoke about it earlier too. |
| Eric: Right, it’s a verb you use for cell phone communication. |
| Becky: It can also be a noun, as the message we receive or send is called a text message. |
| Eric: So Sean will text Kate a text? |
| Becky: Well, you’re technically correct, but an American would never say this sentence. We would say “Sean will text Kate” or “Sean will send Kate a text.” The only thing we text are texts, so “text a text” sounds strange. Wow, that was a tongue twister. |
| Eric: (laughs) Well can you give us one last example using “text”? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I'll text you when I get home.” |
| Eric: Which means "I’ll send you a message via cell phone when I get home." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn about the prepositions “until”, “till” and “past”. We have three to discuss in this lesson, so let’s jump right in. Our first preposition is “until.” |
| Becky: This is a preposition of time. It is used to say an action is occurring up to the time or place specified. |
| Eric: Can it only be used for time or place? |
| Becky: Yes, but you can’t use it for distance. |
| Eric: Let’s hear an example. |
| Becky: “I will study until 9pm.” |
| Eric: This means that she will study, and continue studying. She will stop studying when it is 9pm. |
| Becky: Another example is “Don’t open your present until your birthday!” |
| Eric: The person might have their present already, but they shouldn’t open it before their birthday. |
| Becky: I’ll give you one more sentence. “The bus won’t stop until New York.” |
| Eric: Wait, I thought you said this couldn’t be used for distance? |
| Becky: It can’t. That sentence isn’t talking about the distance to New York, it’s talking about the action of arriving in New York. |
| Eric: It’s the same as saying “The bus won’t stop until it arrives in New York.” |
| Becky: Yes. Just quicker! |
| Eric: Next is “till.” |
| Becky: We can cover this one quickly. It means exactly the same as “until,” only it is less formal. Sometimes you’ll hear it in formal poetry, however. |
| Eric: This is when the poet wants to keep the rhythm, right? |
| Becky: Exactly. |
| Eric: The final preposition is “past.” |
| Becky: We use this as a preposition of time to mean after the time, or after a place. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Becky: “Don’t stay up past midnight!” |
| Eric: This means go to bed by midnight; don’t still be awake after midnight. |
| Becky: Or “He drove past the store.” |
| Eric: He didn’t stop at the store; he kept on driving further. |
| Becky: Listeners, don’t forget to check the Lesson Notes PDF to reinforce what you just learned. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Becky: Bye. |
Comments
Hide