Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

– I think there’s one in the cupboard

Would you like a

sandwich?

– Yes, have you got one?

And we also use onewith ADJECTIVES to take the place of a noun.

Helen and the shop assistant are talking about tops; the assistant says:

That green one really suits you

and Helen asks:

Better than the blue one?

When we use a, the, this, that, theseor those+ ADJECTIVE but without the noun, we have to use one(singular) or ones(plural) instead:

167

this blue shirt

this blue one

not ‘this blue’

a green shirt

a green one

not ‘a green’

blue shirts

blue ones

not ‘blue’, not ‘blues’

these red shirts

these red ones

not ‘these red’, not ‘these reds’

Be careful!We use ones, not some, after adjectives:

 those red ones not ‘those red some’

But we can use some before adjectives: some red ones

not ‘some red some’

Exercise 5

Answer these questions using the adjectives given. You’ll have to decide whether to use oneor ones. You may also need to add the.

1

Do you want the red tie or the blue tie?

I want the blue one.

(blue)

2

Which knife shall we use for this?

Let’s ____________ .

(long)

3

Which bananas would you like?

_________________ .

(ripe)

4

Which car is yours?

_________________ .

(big red)

5

Shall I wear the brown shoes or the black shoes?

Why don’t you_________________ ?

(black)

6

What size drink would you like with your meal?

_________________ .

(large)

7

What kind of lenses have you got?

_________________ .

(plastic)

8

Do you want a hot drink or a cold drink?

_________________ .

(hot)

168

Exercise 6

Complete this conversation between Keith and Carl with oneor ones.

CARL:

Hello, Keith. I like your motorbike. I’d like to get (1) _____ like that myself.

KEITH:

That’s not all – I’ve got another (2) ____ in the garage.

Do you like my boots?

CARL:

Well, I think leather (3) ____ suit you better, like the (4) ____ I’m wearing.

KEITH:

Where did you buy them?

CARL:

In a shop on the High Street – the (5) ____ next to the music shop.

KEITH:

Oh, I know. It’s called ‘Boots & Suits’.

CARL:

No, that’s the wrong (6) ____ . That (7) ____ is further down the road. The (8) ____ I mean is called ‘Neat Feet’.

Dialogue 5

Vicki and Leasa have been clubbing.

VICKI:

Come one, Leasa – we can get a bus at the end of the road.

LEASA:

A bus? Look at the time, Vicki!!

VICKI:

[ looks with difficulty at her watch ]

Midnight – what’s the big deal?

LEASA:

We’ll never get a bus at this time of night. We’d be better off phoning for a taxi.

VICKI:

A taxi? That’ll cost a small fortune – don’t you remember where we live?

LEASA:

Listen Vicki, we can split the fare and at least we’ll get home in one piece. Now phone, will you?

VICKI:

All right, all right . . .

[ phones on her mobile ]

. . . I didn’t feel like waiting for a bus anyway.

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Idiom

• What’s the big deal?means ‘Don’t get so worried about something that isn’t important’

• cost a small fortunemeans ‘cost a lot of money’

• splitmeans ‘share the cost of . . .’

• in one piecemeans ‘safe’ or ‘unharmed’

Language point 64 – more phrases

with ‘-ing’

In Dialogue 5 Leasa says:

We’d be better off phoning for a taxi

I

you

he/ she

’d be better off

+

-ing

we

they

This is a common way in colloquial English of saying me

you

It’s better for

him/ her

to

(do something)

us

them

More examples:

Julie’d be better off staying with us tonight

I’d be better off paying for this by credit card You’d be better off going to Brighton by train today –

the roads will be bad

170

And Vicki uses another -ingphrase when she says: I didn’t feel like waiting for a bus

doesn’t/ don’t

feel like

+

-ing

didn’t

is a colloquial way of saying that someone doesn’t want to do something. More examples:

I don’t feel like watching TV tonight – there’s nothing good on Henry doesn’t feel like coming out with us this evening Gerry didn’t feel like cleaning the car this weekendAnd you can use the question form:

Do you feel like

+

-ing?

to ask someone if they would like to do something: Do you feel like going to the cinema this evening?

=

Would you like to go to the cinema this evening?

Exercise 7

Answer the questions using better off. The first one has been done for you.

1 Will James go by train?

He’d be better off going by car.

(car)

2 Will Anna come today?

__________________________ .

(tomorrow)

3 Will Fiona do the work one her own?

_____________________________ .

(with Suzie)

4 Are Andy and Bob drinking whisky again?

_____________________________ .

(mineral water)

5 Shall we phone them?

___________________________ .

(write a letter)

171

6 Will your sister sit next to Henry?

___________________________ .

(Gerry)

7 Will Jenny do the cooking tonight?

___________________________ .

(eat out)

8 Shall we go to the cinema tonight?

___________________________ .

(watch TV)

9 Shall I shut the door?

___________________________ .

(window)

10 Shall we visit Dave and Rhoda today?

__________________________ .

(tomorrow)

Exercise 8

Rewrite the sentences using feel like– the first one has been done for you.

1

Would you like to come out with us tonight?

Do you feel like coming out with us tonight?