Learn how to form sentences without a subject
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chihiro: Hey, everybody! Chihiro here. Going on an All-English Diet. |
| Ryan: Hey, everyone! This is Ryan. In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk to people you haven't seen in a while. |
| Chihiro: This conversation takes place in the office. |
| Ryan: The conversation is between Drew, Teddy, and Sandra. |
| Chihiro: The speakers are colleagues and friends, therefore they will be speaking casually. |
| Ryan: Let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Teddy: And look who's here! Drew! How've you been? Good to see you again! |
| Drew: Hey, Teddy! I'm good. Just arrived yesterday so a little jet lagged. |
| Teddy: Oh yeah, I know how that feels. How long did you say you were staying with us this time? |
| Drew: Looks like you're stuck with me for half a year. |
| Teddy: Really! Hey, you're with us for quite a while! |
| Sandra: Hey, Drew! Good to see you again! Heard you were coming to work with us; I didn't know it was so soon though! |
| Drew: Hey, Sandra, good to see you too! Hey, you look great! Did you lose weight? |
| Sandra: Well yeah, a whole baby's worth! The last time you saw me I was pregnant, remember? |
| Drew: Oh, right! How's your baby? |
| Sandra: Baby's great! Starting to walk and causing trouble already. |
| Teddy: I'm the one who has lost weight, Drew. I'm on this new protein milkshake diet. Didn't you notice? |
| Drew: No, not at all. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Teddy: And look who's here! Drew! How've you been? Good to see you again! |
| Drew: Hey, Teddy! I'm good. Just arrived yesterday so a little jet lagged. |
| Teddy: Oh yeah, I know how that feels. How long did you say you were staying with us this time? |
| Drew: Looks like you're stuck with me for half a year. |
| Teddy: Really! Hey, you're with us for quite a while! |
| Sandra: Hey, Drew! Good to see you again! Heard you were coming to work with us; I didn't know it was so soon though! |
| Drew: Hey, Sandra, good to see you too! Hey, you look great! Did you lose weight? |
| Sandra: Well yeah, a whole baby's worth! The last time you saw me I was pregnant, remember? |
| Drew: Oh, right! How's your baby? |
| Sandra: Baby's great! Starting to walk and causing trouble already. |
| Teddy: I'm the one who has lost weight, Drew. I'm on this new protein milkshake diet. Didn't you notice? |
| Drew: No, not at all. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chihiro: Well, I guess Teddy didn't lose enough weight! |
| Ryan: No... I guess not! |
| Chihiro: Something tells me that it's a common outcome for many dieters. |
| Ryan: Mmm, maybe. Nevertheless, controlled food intake, otherwise known as dieting, is very popular among people in the United States. |
| Chihiro: Its popularity has started many different kinds of diets, and each of them has a name. The popularity of a diet comes and goes |
| Ryan: But, these different kinds of diets are popular and Americans talk about and debate them... a lot. |
| Chihiro: Yes, they seem to be a great topic of discussion! |
| Ryan: Have you tried any diets Chihiro? |
| Chihiro: Mmm, the only diet I've tried and failed is the "I'll start tomorrow" diet. |
| Ryan: Tomorrow never came? |
| Chihiro: Never did! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Ryan: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Chihiro: jet lag [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: feeling of tiredness when traveling due to change in time and lack of sleep |
| Chihiro: jet lag [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: jet lag [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: stuck with [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: left to handle or deal with something unpleasant |
| Chihiro: stuck with [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: stuck with [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: worth [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: value of something |
| Chihiro: worth [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: worth [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: pregnant [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: of a female having a baby inside the body |
| Chihiro: pregnant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: pregnant [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: protein [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: necessary substance for proper nutrition that can be found in foods like egg |
| Chihiro: protein [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: protein [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: milkshake [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: sweet, creamy, blended drink that is made of milk and sometimes fruit and ice cream |
| Chihiro: milkshake [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: milkshake [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: weight [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: amount of heaviness, how heavy something is |
| Chihiro: weight [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: weight [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: to notice [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to become aware |
| Chihiro: to notice [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: to notice [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Chihiro: diet [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: act of modifying food intake usually by restriction in an attempt to lose weight |
| Chihiro: diet [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: diet [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Ryan: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Chihiro: The first phrase is, "And look who's here" |
| Ryan: This is a common and fun way to greet somebody. We often use it teasingly among friends, as if the person walking in deserves the attention of the room. |
| Chihiro: We usually don't make this announcement to everyone in the room though, because basically its just a friendly greeting. That's why Teddy says this when Drew walks in because he hasn't seen him for a while. |
| Ryan: Let's take a look at the phrase which is, |
| Chihiro: "to be stuck with." |
| Ryan: We usually use this phrase jokingly because it means to be left with a burden to deal with. Drew says that he'll be here for half a year, so other people are going to have to cope with him. |
| Chihiro: We can use it both as a joke and seriously, as in "I was stuck with the cleaning," meaning the person had to take care of the cleaning, which is an unpleasant task. |
| Ryan: Okay, what else do we have? |
| Chihiro: Well, it looks like the listeners are stuck with the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
| Ryan: We're going to talk about subject omission in this lesson. |
| Chihiro: And what does this mean? |
| Ryan: This means that the pronouns in a sentence can be taken out from time to time. |
| Chihiro: Now you may have heard us say before that you shouldn't leave out the subject in a sentence unless it’s a command. |
| Ryan: We're still sticking to our word on that, but we would like you to know what happens in a conversation sometimes. |
| Chihiro: Because in a conversation, it's common to drop the subject if it's clear to the listener who the subject is. Now I know you might be thinking that you've wasted your energy in always making sure you say the subject. |
| Ryan: Don't worry, because of course this is not wrong. And since you need it in writing, your energy hasn't gone to waste! |
| Chihiro: You also need it in formal speech. But just be aware that you won't always hear it when people are talking. So, for example, in the dialogue, Drew says, |
| Ryan: "Just arrived yesterday so a little jet lagged." |
| Chihiro: He doesn't say "I" at all here. This is because it is obvious to Sandra that he is talking about himself. |
| Ryan: Here are two other examples from the dialogue. |
| Chihiro: "Heard you were coming to work with us." |
| Ryan: The subject again is "I" in this sentence, and is said by Sandra, |
| Chihiro: "Starting to walk and causing trouble already." |
| Ryan: Sandra is speaking again in this sentence but her baby is the subject. Either way, the subject is clear for both Drew and Sandra. |
| Chihiro: You also hear this in command form. For example, if your father tells you, |
| Ryan: "Clean up this mess!" |
| Chihiro: You don't need him to add your name in front of the command to know he's talking to you. |
| Ryan: You may also see this on signs such as, |
| Chihiro: “Be Back in 30min” |
| Ryan: This means the people in the shop will be back in half an hour. |
| Chihiro: This is a good one to know, because even if the speaker doesn't take out the pronoun completely, they may say it very fast, fast enough to miss it. |
| Ryan: For example, if Chihiro says, |
| Chihiro: “(I'm) going for a walk outside.” |
| Ryan: You can barely hear the "I'm". So it is similar to the pronoun drop, because it's very soft. |
| Chihiro: That's why this is a good one to remember, that the speaker may not always say who, or they may say it very softly. |
| Ryan: With this said, be careful when you take out the subject, especially if your native tongue doesn't require a subject. |
| Chihiro: In other words, don't get carried away and always leave out the subject. If you develop a habit of always deleting the subject, your speech will start sounding unnatural. |
Outro |
| Ryan: That just about does it for today. |
| Chihiro: We’ll see you soon! |
| Ryan: Bye for now! |
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