Learn how to use the conditional in positive and negative forms
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| Jonathan: In this lesson, we will learn to use metonyms. Metonyms are words that are used to represent something they are related to. |
| Jonathan: We’ll hear a conversation inside a hallway in the US Capitol building. |
| Dede: This conversation takes place between Dave and Sheila. They’re discussing their work. |
| Jonathan: Since Dave and Sheila are friends, they’ll be speaking very casually. |
| Dede: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| Dede: |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Sheila: Oh, hey, Dave, I'm so sorry to hear that you got mugged. That's terrible. |
| Dave: Yeah, I'll be okay, though. The police officer was really cute too—I think I am going to ask her out. How's your work going? |
| Sheila: You dog! Work is all right. I'm super busy, though. I'm on my way to meet with the Congressional Research Service right now. |
| Dave: Really? You're going over to the Library of Congress? What for? |
| Sheila: I'm writing this big memo for next week's hearing about Wall Street. The White House is coming over to meet with us, and K Street keeps trying to sneak their way into the discussions. |
| Dave: Geez, sounds crazy! |
| Sheila: It is. Ugh, I am so stressed out. If I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier. |
| Dave: If I were you, I wouldn't whine. It sounds like really interesting work. |
| Sheila: I know... But if I didn’t have so much work, I wouldn't be so annoying! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sheila: Oh, hey, Dave, I'm so sorry to hear that you got mugged. That's terrible. |
| Dave: Yeah, I'll be okay, though. The police officer was really cute too—I think I am going to ask her out. How's your work going? |
| Sheila: You dog! Work is all right. I'm super busy, though. I'm on my way to meet with the Congressional Research Service right now. |
| Dave: Really? You're going over to the Library of Congress? What for? |
| Sheila: I'm writing this big memo for next week's hearing about Wall Street. The White House is coming over to meet with us, and K Street keeps trying to sneak their way into the discussions. |
| Dave: Geez, sounds crazy! |
| Sheila: It is. Ugh, I am so stressed out. If I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier. |
| Dave: If I were you, I wouldn't whine. It sounds like really interesting work. |
| Sheila: I know... But if I didn’t have so much work, I wouldn't be so annoying! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jonathan: Oh those lobbyists from K Street… Always trying to get into meetings and doing anything to meet with Congresspeople… |
| Dede: I’m sorry, I didn’t really get that… What’s K Street and what’s a lobbyist? |
| Jonathan: We’ll get to that more in the Vocab section, but lobbying is a huge industry in Washington, D.C. Lobbyists are people paid by interest groups like industries, organizations and unions to try and convince US Congresspeople to pass laws that they support and block legislation they oppose. |
| Dede: Hmm… So what exactly do they do? |
| Jonathan: They do this by meeting with US Congresspeople and their staff. Lobbyists have usually worked as government staff members so the Congresspeople and staff they want to meet with are often their previous coworkers and friends. They try to meet them to present their proposals and convince them to support their ideas. |
| Dede: Hmm… That sounds… Difficult. |
| Jonathan: Haha, it is… Large industries, like pharmaceutical companies or the financial services sector spend tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars every year on lobbying. |
| Dede: That’s a ton of money! |
| Jonathan: It is, and it’s a big point of controversy for those who believe the money is corrupting politicians and feel that politicians can be “bought”. |
| Dede: I can definitely see that… |
| Jonathan: One thing that they can’t corrupt though is… Vocab! Ready? |
| Dede: (laughs), why not? |
| Vocabulary and Phrases |
| Dede: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Jonathan: ask out [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to ask someone on a date with you |
| Jonathan: ask out [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: ask out [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: hearing [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a meeting of a Committee where experts on an issue are questioned |
| Jonathan: hearing [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: hearing [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: sneak in [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to gain access to something secretly |
| Jonathan: sneak in [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: sneak in [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: the Library of Congress [natural native speed] |
| Dede: the national library of the United States and the largest library in the world, also the home for all Congressional research |
| Jonathan: the Library of Congress [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: the Library of Congress [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: Congressional Research Service [natural native speed] |
| Dede: a governmental organization that provides unbiased research requested by the Congress to see the potential impact of legislation, it is based in the Library of Congress |
| Jonathan: Congressional Research Service [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: Congressional Research Service [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: annoying [natural native speed] |
| Dede: bothersome, troublesome |
| Jonathan: annoying [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: annoying [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: whine [natural native speed] |
| Dede: to complain |
| Jonathan: whine [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: whine [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: K-Street [natural native speed] |
| Dede: A street in Northwest Washington D.C. famous for being the headquarters of many lobbying firms. Lobbying firms try to influence Congresspeople on behalf of their clients' interests. |
| Jonathan: K-Street [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: K-Street [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: Wall Street [natural native speed] |
| Dede: A street in New York City famous for being the headquarters of many US and world financial institutions. |
| Jonathan: Wall Street [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: Wall Street [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Jonathan: the White House [natural native speed] |
| Dede: the house where the US president lives |
| Jonathan: the White House [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jonathan: the White House [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Dede: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Jonathan: The first word/phrase we’ll look at is.... |
| Dede: That’s it for the vocab for this lesson. Now let's take a closer look at some of the phrases from this lesson.The first one is quite long, so listen closely! |
| Jonathan: Yeah, OK, can you tell us what it is? |
| Dede: Oh boy… here goes… Sheila says “I'm writing this big memo for next week's hearing about Wall Street. The White house is coming over to meet with us and K-Street keeps trying to sneak their way in to the discussions.” |
| Jonathan: Great… |
| Dede: I have to admit, I still have no idea what that meant. |
| Jonathan: Well, remember in the vocab section when we talked about K Street, Wall Street, and the White House? |
| Dede: Sure, like it was yesterday! |
| Jonathan: We can use the names of the locations of some important businesses and government organizations to represent them as a whole. That is what it means when we say we are using metonyms. |
| Dede: Ahh, I see. So Sheila meant that… there is a hearing about the financial services sector next week and the President is coming over to meet with Sheila’s office, but lobbyists keep trying to get into the discussions? |
| Jonathan: Exactly! There are a huge amount of metonyms and jargon that are used in government. Let’s look at some other ones. |
| Dede: OK. |
| Jonathan: This is one that I think everyone knows. Hollywood. |
| Dede: Ah, that must be the movie industry. |
| Jonathan: That’s right! Can you figure out what we say when we are talking about the Pentagon? |
| Dede: Well, I know the Pentagon is a big building near D.C. I think the Army works there? |
| Jonathan: Yup! The Pentagon is the headquarters of the US military. So we can talk about the military as a whole by calling them the Pentagon. |
| Dede: Check out the Lesson Notes for even more examples of common metonyms that you can use! |
| Jonathan: I feel like we should be getting to the grammar though. |
| Dede: Me too, let’s do it! |
Lesson focus |
| Jonathan: This lesson's grammar point is something most of you are probably already familiar with. |
| Dede: The conditional tense is used when we want to express what we would do if something were to be true. |
| Jonathan: There are three lines from the dialogue that use the conditional tense. |
| Dede: Let’s take another listen to them. |
| (FROM DIALOGUE) |
| Sheila: "It is. Ugh I am so stressed out. If I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier |
| Dave: If I were you, I wouldn't whine. It sounds like really interesting work. |
| Sheila: I know... But if I didn’t have so much work, I wouldn't be so annoying! |
| Jonathan: In this example, we first see the conditional used for a positive statement. If something is true, then I would do something… |
| Dede: Right, Sheila says “If I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier.” |
| Jonathan: After that, Dave responds with a mixed statement. If something is true, then I wouldn’t do something… |
| Dede: Hmm, I see “If I were you, I wouldn’t whine” |
| Jonathan: And lastly, we see a negative statement. If something is false, then I wouldn’t do something. |
| Dede: Yeah- “If I didn’t have so much work, I wouldn’t be so annoying” |
| Jonathan: The negative or positive doesn’t really change the structure of this grammar though. |
| Dede: I think it’s just important for understanding what they are saying. |
| Jonathan: That’s right. It always follows the same pattern though “If” followed by a past tense verb and then “would” or “wouldn’t” followed by infinitive verb. |
| Dede: Right, let’s show some examples. |
| Jonathan: OK, If I got a million dollars I would eat sushi every day |
| Dede: If I didn’t have a job, I wouldn’t have to get up early. |
| Jonathan: If I didn’t like meat, I would be a vegetarian. |
| Dede: If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t do this podcast. |
| Jonathan: Aww, so you do like me? |
| Dede: (laughs) there is one exception to this rule though. |
| Jonathan: That’s right, Dave said “If I were you, I wouldn’t whine” |
| Dede: Hmmm, why isn’t it “was” |
| Jonathan: Because it’s the conditional, for “to be” we always use "were." |
| Dede: Can you tell me an example? |
| Jonathan: Of course. If I weren’t so short, I would play basketball. |
| Dede: How about one more? |
| Jonathan: If lobbying were outlawed, Washington, D.C. would be a better city. |
| Dede: Ah, I understand. |
| Jonathan: Yup, it’s not too difficult, just remember to use “were” instead of “was” for "I" and "he/she/it" |
| Dede: Alright! |
23 Comments
HideHello Listeners! What would you do if you won 1 million dollars in a lottery?
Hello Frank,
Thanks for getting in touch.
In relation to your question:
"If I hadn't experienced that I wouldn't have made such a decision" - is correct. Otherwise you could say "If I didn't have that experience, I wouldn't have made such a decision."
I hope this is helpful to you. 😄👍
Sincerely,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hello Daniel,
Thanks for taking the time to write and share this with us.
We will review it and take relevant action.
I hope you're enjoying your studies with us.
Regards,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
I'm not sure, but to me the audio is different than text in 2 spots.
Text - The police officer was really cute too
Audio - The police officer was actually really cute.
Text - It sounds like really interesting work.
Audio - It sounds a really interesting work.
Am I right?
Hello thanks in advance for your help.
The question is:
What's better:
1. If I hadn't experienced that I wouldn't have made such a decision
Or
2. If I didn't have experienced that I wouldn't have made such a decision
Or
3. It's the same
Thanks again.
Frank
Hello Carlos,
Thanks for writing to us. 👍
Yes, you are correct. An infinitive verb is the base verb (run, drink, swim) with the word "to" in front.
"If I were you, I wouldn't whine" is considered 'mixed conditional tense.' "If I were you...." (being the 'if' statement in past tense) and "I wouldn't whine..." (being the 'then' statement with the negative form of 'would').
"If I were you, I wouldn't whine" - In this sentence, we are talking about a hypothetical condition happening in present (first conditional), so then we use past in the main clause (second conditional).
I hope this makes it clearer to you.
Enjoy your studies!
Regards,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Hello,
What infinitive verb means is "to + verb", right?
In the conversation host 1 said that “If” followed by a past tense verb and then
“would” or “wouldn’t” followed by infinitive verb.
So why is "If I were you, I wouldn't whine" instead of " If I were you, I wouldn't to whine".
Hoping for your explanation.
Best,
Carlos
Hello Tanioka,
Thanks for the question.
The word "though" can be used as a conjunction meaning 'despite the fact that' or it can be used as an adverb meaning 'however' or 'nevertheless.'
In this case it is being used as a conjunction.
Let us know if you ever have any other questions!
Cheers,
Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
I was wondering what chilla means with the THOUGH at the end, "I'm super busy, though."
Hi there Ahmad,
Thank you for your message.
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Éva
Team EnglishClass101.com
Must i pay money for rest of studies??