Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

not

‘To who were you talking?’

What shall I pay for this with?

not

‘With what shall I pay for this?’

What is she looking at?

not

‘At what is she looking?’

181

When shall I get these to you by?

not

‘By when shall I get these to you?’

Be careful!You may see prepositions in front of wh-words at

the start of sentences in formal written English, but you won’t usually hear this in normal conversations and speech.

Remember that it is CORRECT to end a sentence with a PREPOSITION in English!

Exercise 3

Aunt Aggie is rather deaf – every time you tell her something, she misses part of the information and asks a question. Write out her questions – the first one has been done for you.

1 YOU:

Gerry’s looking for a new house.

AUNT AGGIE:

What is Gerry looking for?

2 YOU:

I’m writing a letter to Liz.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh_______________________ ?

3 YOU:

The cat’s looking at some birds in the garden.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh_________________________ ?

4 YOU:

Suzie’s worried about her exams.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh_________________________ ?

5 YOU:

I’m going to the party with Hannah.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh_________________________ ?

6 YOU:

Stuart plays football for England.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh______________________ ?

7 YOU:

Miranda works for a film company.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh______________________ ?

8 YOU:

Otto comes from Austria.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh_________________ ?

9 YOU:

Terry and June live next door to the

Simpsons.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh____________________ ?

10 YOU:

I’ve got to be home by ten.

AUNT AGGIE:

Wh_____________________ ?

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Dialogue 3

Gerry spots Sophie sitting on her own in the coffee shop, looking at her watch .

GERRY:

Hello Sophie – who are you waiting for?

SOPHIE:

Leasa. We were meant to meet up here at one, but I got here late. I’ve been waiting for about half an hour, but I’m wondering if I’ve missed her, or if she just didn’t show up. You haven’t seen her, have you?

GERRY:

Not since yesterday, no.

[ Suddenly Leasa arrives ]

LEASA:

Hi, you two! Sorry I’m so late, Sophie. I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam since a quarter to one. Have you been sitting here for ages?

SOPHIE:

No, it’s all right – I haven’t been here long. I got here late myself, so I’ve only been here about twenty minutes. And I had Gerry here to talk to.

LEASA:

Let me buy us all coffee and some cakes!

Idioms

• on her ownmeans ‘alone’ – we change the middle word according to the person: on my own, on his own, etc.

• we were meant/mεnt/ tomeans ‘we had arranged to’ or ‘we had expected to’

• stuckmeans ‘unable to move’ or ‘unable to get out/away’

Language point 67 – ‘for’ and ‘since’

When we talk about the length of time that we have been doing something, we use sinceor for– they mean different things:

• sinceis used with a point in time (or a block of time) in the past

• foris used with a period of time from past to present

183

Compare what Sophie and Leasa say in Dialogue 3:

SOPHIE:

I’ve been waiting for about half an hour

LEASA:

I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam since

a quarter to one

Half an houris a period of time; a quarter to oneis a point in time.

Here are examples of words and phrases used with for: an hour

three minutes

a week

ages(= ‘a very long time’)

a month

a long time

six years

a short while

And here are the types of words and phrases we find with since: 1953

half past three

last Tuesday

the end of the war

February 14th

Christmas

yesterday

the summer holidays

Sinceand forare used with the PRESENT PERFECT (Language point 53): John and Fiona have lived here since June 2001

John and Fiona have lived here for three years

or with the PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS – this is formed as follows: have/ has been

+

-ing

I’ve been waiting here for an hour

I’ve been waiting here since ten o’clock

Suzie’s been working in the garden for three hours Suzie’s been working in the garden since early this morningNotice that we don’t say:

‘I am waiting here since ten o’clock’

‘Suzie works in the garden since early this morning’

184

• We always use the PRESENT PERFECT or the PRESENT PERFECT

CONTINUOUS with since, not the present or present continuous.

• With forwe use the PRESENT PERFECT or PRESENT PERFECT

CONTINUOUS, or the PAST SIMPLE – but there is a difference in meaning:

(a) Dave’s lived in Brighton for three years

(and he still lives there now)

(b) Dave lived in Brighton for three years

(some time in the past – he doesn’t live there now) Sentence (a) uses the present perfect, because it describes a period of time that started in the past but has continued to the present and has not finished . Sentence (b) uses the past simple, because it describes a period of time that started and finished in the past.

Exercise 4

Complete these sentences using foror since.

1 Dave’s lived in Heathfield ____ last July.

2 We haven’t see Gerry ____ at least two years.

3 Justine’s been at the dentist’s ____ ages.

4 My car’s been in the garage ____ a week.

5 These people have been waiting ____ four o’clock 6 This parcel’s been here ____ last week.

7 We’ve been coming here every year ____ 1997.

8 I’ve waited here ____ an hour, and now I’m leaving!

9 This place has changed a lot ____ we were here last.

10 I’ve been learning English ____ a long time.

Exercise 5

Choose the correct verb from the brackets for each sentence – the first one has been done for you.

1

We (live/’ve lived) here since December 1999.

2

I (lived/’ve lived) in Italy for three months in 1988.

3

Suzie (’s been learning/’s learnt) French since last year.

185

4

How long (have you been working/have you worked) in the garden today?

5

We (haven’t seen/didn’t see) Fiona since yesterday.

6

(Have you been/Are you) waiting here long?