Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

which?

/wtʃ/

(this word is used

to identify things)

Because they all begin with wh-, the questions they ask are called wh-questions. There is also a question word that doesn’t begin with wh-, which is how?,but we include it in the WH-WORDs anyway.

We’ve already met what?and who?in Unit 1 when we were talking about finding out people’s names:

What’s your name?

Who’s that over there?

Here are some more examples with the verb be: What’s the time?

Why is James late?

Where are my gloves?

Whose car is that over there?

Which is mine?

If we use the present simple after these words, we need do/ does, because this is how we form questions with the present simple.

Where do you live?

– I live in Heathfield

What do you think?

– I think it’s a great idea!

How does this work?

– It works on batteries

Which do you prefer?

– I prefer this one

30

Exercise 4

Complete these sentences with the correct wh-word.

1 Wh___ knows the answer?

2 Wh___ does this word mean?

3 Wh___ shall I put these bags?

4 Wh___ does the next train leave?

5 Wh___ is he looking at me like that?

6 Wh___ dress do you like?

7 Wh___ do they live now?

8 Wh___ book is this?

9 Wh___ do you think of that idea?

10 Wh___ is that man’s name?

Exercise 5

Match the meanings of these wh-words with the words in the box.

1

What?

is used to identify a thing

2

Who?

is used to identify ______

3

Where?

is used to identify ______

4

When?

is used to identify ______

5

Why?

is used to identify ______

6

Whose?

is used to identify ______

7

Which?

is used to identify ______

8

How?

is used to identify ______

a place

an owner

a time

a person

a choice

a thing

a reason

a way/method

Language point 16 – mine and

yours

In Dialogue 7, Fred says That’s mine, meaning That’s my latte.

Look at these two sentences:

This is my coffee

This coffee is mine

not

‘This coffee is my’

31

And these two:

Is this your coffee?

Is this coffee yours?

not

‘Is this coffee your?’

myand yourare POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES (Unit 1) and are used before the noun ; but mineand yoursare POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS and stand alone. Here are the others:

Adjective

Pronoun

her

hers

his

his(no difference)

our

ours

their

theirs

Other possessives have the same form whether they are adjectives or pronouns:

This is Anna’s coffee

This coffee is Anna’s

We will meet the possessive ’sin the next unit (Language point 19).

Be careful!Although my, your,etc. are adjectives, they can’t

be used with a, some, this, that, these, or those– instead we have to use of+ PRONOUN after the noun. So, in Dialogue 3, Jo calls Di a friend of mine, not ‘a my friend’.

Here are some more examples:

this house

this house of yours

not

‘this your house’

not

‘your this house’

some friends

some friends of ours

not

‘some our friends’

not

‘our some friends’

those children

those children of hers

not

‘those her children’

not

‘her those children’

32

Exercise 6

Correct the following sentences. Be careful! One of them doesn’t need correcting.

1

I’m pleased with my present, but are you pleased with yours?

2

Where do you want to go – my place or your?

3

Is this book his or her?

4

This drink is your and that one’s my.

5

I’ve forgotten mine mobile phone.

6

His workbook is not as neat as my.

Exercise 7

Look at the possessive adjectives and nouns and rewrite them as a phrase. The first one has been done for you.

1

this + your good news

this good news of yours

2

that + his kind mother

____________________

3

some + our close friends

____________________

4

a + my great idea

____________________

5

those + her friends

____________________

6

this + their stupid idea

____________________

Exercise 8

Listen to the audio of this group of friends deciding what to order at the café, then fill in the details of the orders next to the names.

Drink

Food

Henry

_________

_________

Dave

_________

_________

Su

_________

_________

Kath

_________

_________

3 Could you tell

me where the

bank is?

In 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 do something

Dialogue 1

Jac stops a passer-by to ask the way.

JAC:

Excuse me, could you tell me where the bank is?

PASSER-BY:

The bank? It’s just over there, next to the supermarket.

JAC:

Ah yes – thanks very much.

Dialogue 2

Meanwhile, Nina can’t find the tourist information office.

NINA:

Excuse me – could you tell me how to get to the tourist information office?

PASSER-BY:

Hang on1 . . . let’s see now. Right, go back to the post office and turn right. And then go along the road till you get to a big supermarket. The tourist information office is opposite.

NINA:

And what’s the supermarket called?