Learn how to use the prepositions "for" and "since"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: The American Traffic Jam to End All Traffic Jams. John Here. |
| Becky: Hey I'm Becky. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn the prepositions “for” and “since”. The conversation takes place in a car. |
| Becky: It's between Rachel and Sean. |
| John: The speakers are co-workers, and they’ll use both formal and informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Rachel: Hi Sean, have you made it to your destination yet? |
| Sean: No, I've been in a traffic jam for three hours. |
| Rachel: Really? |
| Sean: Yes, I've been here since 1p.m. |
| Rachel: You will be late for the appointment. |
| Sean: I called the client and apologized. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Rachel: Hi Sean, have you made it to your destination yet? |
| Sean: No, I've been in a traffic jam for three hours. |
| Rachel: Really? |
| Sean: Yes, I've been here since 1pm. |
| Rachel: You will be late for the appointment. |
| Sean: I called the client and apologized. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Wow, that sounds like a crazy traffic jam! |
| Becky: Yeah, three hours! I’d be going crazy. |
| John: And it’ll make Sean late for his appointment, but at least he called ahead and apologized. |
| Becky: That’s the right thing to do. If you get something wrong or cause offense, then apologize. |
| John: I think that people can be forgiving if it’s an honest mistake and your apology is sincere. |
| Becky: I think so too. Fake apologies can make the situation worse though, so make sure you mean what you’re saying! |
| John: You should apologize even if your actions aren’t intentional. |
| Becky: Like Sean in the traffic jam. He didn’t mean to be late, but he is, so he should apologize. |
| John: Apologizing is easy, you can just say “I’m sorry for…” or “I apologize for…” and then fill in the blank as to why you’re sorry. |
| Becky: Or you can say “I’m sorry for causing you trouble.” |
| John: Yes, that’s a good phrase that works in many situations. |
| Becky: Or, “I apologize for upsetting you.” |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Becky: to make [natural native speed] |
| John: to arrive at a place or time |
| Becky: to make [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to make [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: destination [natural native speed] |
| John: the place that you are going to |
| Becky: destination [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: destination [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: yet [natural native speed] |
| John: up until a certain time |
| Becky: yet [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: yet [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: traffic [natural native speed] |
| John: vehicles driving on the road around the same area |
| Becky: traffic[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: traffic [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: jam [natural native speed] |
| John: things that are stuck |
| Becky: jam[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: jam [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: hour [natural native speed] |
| John: a period of sixty minutes |
| Becky: hour[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: hour [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: really [natural native speed] |
| John: truly, in actual fact |
| Becky: really[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: really [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: late [natural native speed] |
| John: recently, over the last few days |
| Becky: late[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: late [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Becky: to apologize [natural native speed] |
| John: to say that you are sorry for a mistake or incident |
| Becky: to apologize[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to apologize [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Becky: traffic jam |
| John: ...meaning "the situation of having too many cars on the same road, making movement slow or difficult". What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: This phrase has two words. The first word is “traffic,” which means the vehicles traveling down a road. |
| John: The second word is “jam,” which in this case means things that are stuck. |
| Becky: So it literally means vehicles stuck on a road. |
| John: This is usually due to a traffic accident or too many cars on the road. |
| Becky: You can use “jam” to describe other things that are stuck, such as a “paper jam” in a printer. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “If we leave at 5am, we can avoid any traffic jams.” |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: To apologize |
| John: meaning "to say that you are sorry for a mistake or incident." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: This is a verb. We talked about this a lot earlier this lesson. |
| John: That’s right. It means to say that you are sorry. |
| Becky: There is also the noun, “apology.” |
| John: “He owes you an apology.” |
| Becky: Good example! |
| John: Can you give us an example using “apologize”? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “She apologized for being late, but we had already missed the bus.” |
| John: ...which means "She said she was sorry for being late, but we had already missed the bus." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about the prepositions “for” and “since”. Two more prepositions for this lesson! |
| Becky: Shall we jump straight in? |
| John: I think we should! The first preposition is “for.” |
| Becky: This is a preposition of time. We use this to say how long something has lasted. |
| John: It is used for a period of time, such as “for three hours.” |
| Becky: An example sentence is “I have been waiting for one hour.” |
| John: That means that for one hour, she’s been sitting there waiting. |
| Becky: So rude to keep me waiting! |
| John: It is! Another example is “He worked at the company for 10 years before finally being promoted.” |
| Becky: And here’s one last example - “I was in Canada for one year.” |
| John: Let’s move on to the next preposition, “since.” |
| Becky: “Since” is also a preposition of time. It’s used to say when an action started. |
| John: So you don’t use it with a period of time, but a point in time. |
| Becky: For example, “since this morning”, or “since yesterday”, or “since 2002.” |
| John: Sentences using “since” are usually in the present perfect or past perfect tenses. |
| Becky: Right, let's look at some examples! |
| John: “I haven’t slept since yesterday.” |
| Becky: “I’ve studied English since last year.” |
| John: “I’ve been waiting for a phone call since Tuesday.” |
| Becky: Do you want to hear an idiom with “since”? |
| John: Yes, please! |
| Becky: You might hear the idiom “greatest thing since sliced bread.” |
| John: What does that mean? |
| Becky: It means a great thing, a great innovation. |
| John: An example is “3D printers are the greatest thing since sliced bread.” |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Becky: Bye! |
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