Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

6

Is Jenny coming in by car (yesterday/today)?

7

Stuart needs a lift to the office (yesterday/tomorrow) morning.

8

Ann’s working in Eastbourne (on/last) Thursday.

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Dialogue 5

Damian’s short of money – he needs a job that’ll fit in with school.

He calls at the newsagent’s, where they’re advertising for someone to deliver papers in the mornings.

DAMIAN:

I’m interested in the delivery job.

NEWSAGENT:

OK. May I1 ask you a few questions to see if you’re suitable for the job?

DAMIAN:

Of course – fire away!

NEWSAGENT:

Right – first and foremost: are you good at getting up early?

DAMIAN:

Oh yes.

NEWSAGENT:

Good. And are you afraid of the dark?

DAMIAN:

Not at all.

NEWSAGENT:

Excellent. Are you used to riding a bike?

DAMIAN:

I ride my bike all the time.

NEWSAGENT:

Good. And are you prepared to work on Sundays as

well?2

DAMIAN:

Of course. I need the money.

NEWSAGENT:

Fine. And one final question: are you good with animals?

DAMIAN:

Good with animals? Why are you worried about that?

NEWSAGENT:

Because some of our customers have vicious dogs.

DAMIAN:

Look, I’m going to think it over for a bit. Can I get back to you later?

NEWSAGENT:

OK. Don’t put it off too long, though, or someone will get in before you.

1 May I . . .?(+ BASE-FORM) is a more formal way of asking permission to do something.

2 as well= ‘also’

Idioms

• Fire away!means ‘Go ahead and ask the questions’

• First and foremostmeans ‘first of all’

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Language point 40 – adjectives with

prepositions

Some adjectives are used with PREPOSITIONs – you have to learn these uses individually. For example, in Dialogue 5 we see: interested in the job

and suitable for the job

Sometimes the same adjective is used with different prepositions depending on what type of word follows:

good with animals

(noun)

good at getting up early

(ING-FORM of the verb)

ready for dinner

(noun)

ready to go out

(BASE-FORM of the verb)

Sometimes two adjectives use the same preposition, but different forms of the verb:

prepared to work

used to working

Good learners’ dictionaries will always tell you this information for any adjective. Try making separate lists of your own to help you learn them. For example, you could make your own list of adjectives that are followed by to, and add to it as you come across new examples. Grammar books of English also often provide lists of adjectives in this way.

A lot of adjectives describing personal feelings are used with prepositions, such as afraid of the darkin the Dialogue. Here are some others:

surprised at

proud of

keen on

bored with

scared of

disappointed with/about

ashamed of

worried about

Usually these adjectives + prepositions are followed by a NOUN: I’m disappointed about the result

Gerry’s proud of his work

My sister is worried about money

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but they can often also be followed by the ING-FORM of the verb: I’m disappointed about coming last

Gerry’s proud of learning Spanish

My sister’s worried about missing the plane

Exercise 7

Complete these sentences using in, about, with, to, for, on, ofor at.

Use a dictionary if you need to.

1 Are you ready ___ another question?

2 You look bored ___ all that paperwork.

3 Are you interested ___ coming along with us?

4 This bag is full ___ doughnuts.

5 I’m angry ___ Stuart – he’s throwing chocolates at me.

6 Is Satoko good ___ speaking English?

7 Are the children ready ___ leave yet?

8 You have to be good ___ animals to work in a zoo.

9 We’re rather worried ___ Henry.

10 Gerry’s very keen ___ biscuits, isn’t he?

Exercise 8

Match the first half of the sentences on the left with the second halves on the right. The first one has been done for you.

1

The team was amazed

a

with people

2

Rosemary is terribly scared

b

for the main course yet

3

I’m so fed up

c

with the exam result

4

We were shocked

d

by the score last week

5

The room was crowded

e

with this job

6

We’re not ready

f

at the terrible news

7

I’m disappointed

g

in applying for that job

8

I hear Nigel’s interested

h

of big spiders

Phrasal verbs

fit in (with)– Does this fit in with you?means ‘Does this coincide with what you’ve already arranged?’.

get back (to)– I’ll get back to youmeans ‘I’ll contact you again soon’.

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get through (to)– ‘succeed in contacting’; I got through to him in the endmeans that I finally managed to speak to him on the phone.

go on (at)– when someone goes on at you, it means that they keep complaining to you or telling you something until you agree. Stop going on at me!means something like ‘Stop talking – I don’t want to listen!’.

put off– ‘postpone’; ‘change an arrangement ‘so that it happens later.

Don’t put it offmeans ‘Do it now – don’t delay.’

ring back– ‘return a phone call’.

switch offis what we do to lights and machines when we want them to stop working – we use the off switch. (We also say turn offto mean the same thing).

switch onis what we do to lights and machines when we want them to start working – we use the on switch. (We also say turn onto mean the same thing).

think over– when we think something over ( not ‘think over something’), we spend some time thinking carefully about it. If you make a suggestion to someone, and they say to you I’ll think it over, it means that you will have to wait and come back to them later for an answer.

7 What date is

it today?

In this unit you will learn how to:

• talk about the future

• tell someone what you plan or intend to do

• talk about necessity and having to do things

• use state verbs

Dialogue 1

James and Henry are talking about the Bank Holiday – James hasn’t thought everything through.

JAMES:

What are you doing over the Bank Holiday, 1 Henry?

HENRY:

I’m going to do up the house – we’re selling it next year. What about you and Fiona?