Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

or ‘I think you should come back . . .’

. . . ’d betterworks like the other auxiliaries in this Language point

– it’s followed by the BASE-FORM, and it doesn’t change for he/ she.

More examples:

You’d better phone her

We’d better leave now

I’d better do my homework

The negative simply adds not:

You look ill – you’d better not go to work tomorrowThe doctor also says:

I want you to take a green one . . .

121

We can say what we want someone else to do (or not do) by using: I want

I’d like

you

+

to-form

I don’t want

Exercise 1

Change these sentences to canor be able– the first one has been done for you.

1

Julie can swim.

Julie is able to swim.

2

Can they speak English?

_________________ ?

3

Dave isn’t able to come.

_________________ .

4

Can you see the screen?

_________________ ?

5

Are they able to walk?

_________________ ?

6

Suzie’s not able to make the

appointment.

_________________ .

7

I can’t advise you on this.

_________________ .

8

Can Julie and Simon come

tonight?

_________________ ?

Exercise 2

Write what you would say in these situations, using ’d better (not)

– the first one has been done for you.

1

You and Fiona are late for an appointment.

(hurry up)

We’d better hurry up.

2

Suzie is carrying an expensive vase very carelessly.

(drop)

____________________________________________________

3

Someone is coming to buy your car. But it’s

very dirty.

(clean)

____________________________________________________

4

Barry’s late, but you and Jenny don’t want to go

without him.

(wait for)

____________________________________________________

5

You’re trying to read, but it’s getting dark.

(turn on)

____________________________________________________

6

Someone’s broken into Henry’s house.

(phone)

____________________________________________________

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Language point 48 – ‘what if . . . ?’

In Language point 41 we saw how the PRESENT CONTINUOUS is often used in English to mean the FUTURE. Sometimes we use the PRESENT SIMPLE in the same way, as for example when Maria says in Dialogue 2:

What if I run out . . . ?

She is talking about something that might happen in the future . We use the present simple after What if . . . ?to ask about something that we think is possible in the near future. Here are some more examples:

What if we arrive late?

What if Dave doesn’t want to come with us?

What if the bus is late?

What if the guests don’t like the food?

This is a short way of saying:

What shall we do if . . . ?

We don’t usually use the present continuous or the future after What if . . . ?

What if we arrive late?

not

‘What if we’re arriving late?’

not

‘What if we’ll arrive late?’

Exercise 3

You’re having a very pessimistic day. Respond negatively to each of Brenda’s suggestions with a What if . . . ?question. The first one has been done for you.

1

Let’s go to the cinema!

(We won’t like the film)

What if we don’t like the film?

2

Let’s go shopping in town!

(The shops will be shut)

__________________________ ?

3

Let’s go for a ride in the car!

(The car will break down)

__________________________ ?

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4

Let’s listen to my new CD!

(The neighbours will complain)__________________________ ?

5

Let’s go to a club!

(The doorman won’t let us in) __________________________ ?

6

Let’s order some Vietnamese food!

(The waiter won’t understand

us)

__________________________ ?

7

Let’s paint the house

(The neighbours won’t like

the colour)

_________________________ ?

8

Let’s phone Ozzy Osbourne!

(He won’t answer)

_________________________ ?

Dialogue 4

Jane is expecting to meet Debbie and Sarah for coffee, but only Sarah arrives.

JANE:

There you are, Sarah – hello!

SARAH:

Hi. Sorry I’m a bit late.

JANE:

Where’s Debbie? She normally comes for coffee with you.

SARAH:

Not today, I’m afraid. She’s not feeling very well.

JANE:

What’s wrong with her?

SARAH:

She’s got a headache and she’s feeling a bit sick.

JANE:

Has she seen the doctor?

SARAH:

She’s seeing him later on.

Dialogue 5

Scott is having trouble persuading Justine to go out for the evening.

SCOTT:

Do you fancy going out tonight?

JUSTINE:

OK – where do you want to go?

SCOTT:

How about a film? I can’t wait to see the new Johnny Depp film.

JUSTINE:

I hate watching action movies – they always seem to be the same. Can’t you arrange to see it with someone else another time?

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SCOTT:

OK, OK. Well . . . we could go to Maria’s party.

JUSTINE:

That’s fine, but only if you promise to be nice to her.

SCOTT:

I’ll try, but it’s very difficult. I just can’t help laughing at her pictures.

JUSTINE:

You’ll have to avoid looking at them, or pretend to like them. If you can’t manage to do either of those, then I’m not coming.

SCOTT:

You’re really putting me off going now, Justine.

JUSTINE:

OK, what else could we do?

SCOTT:

Well, why don’t we just decide to stay in? I don’t mind ordering a pizza for us. Besides, Maria’s parties are usually pretty useless, aren’t they?

JUSTINE:

True.

Idiom

• pretty uselessmeans ‘not very good’ or even ‘quite bad’

Language point 49 – more about state

verbs

In Language point 45 in the last unit we saw that state verbs in English describe a situation that exists permanently or for a long time , and that these verbs usually don’t appear in the present continuous:

I like curry

not

‘I’m liking curry’

This book belongs to me

not

‘This book’s belonging to me’

Seeand feelare on the list of state verbs in Language point 45, but in Dialogue 4 of this unit Sarah uses both of them in the present continuous:

She’s not feeling very well

She’s seeing him later on

In the first sentence Sarah is talking about a temporary situation –

a situation that won’t last long; so the usual STATE meaning of feeldoesn’t work here and we can use the present continuous.