Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

PAUL:

What’s that?

DAVE:

I can’t find out how to switch it on.

Idioms

• dead easymeans ‘really easy’ or ‘extremely easy’

• I’ll say!/`ɑilsεi/ is a way of strongly confirming what the other person has just said, or of giving a strong ‘yes’ to a question: This place is packed out!

– I’ll say!

Is Henry very rich?

– I’ll say!

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Language point 74 – more about the

to-form

The TO-FORM of the verb is very important because it’s used in so many situations and with so many other types of word. Let’s see what combinations there are in Dialogue 5:

• ADJECTIVE + to-form:

Is it easy to use?

It was dead easy to set up

ADJECTIVE + to-form phrases are usually easy to understand: The computer is easy to use

means ‘Using the computer is easy’

It was hard to find so much money

means ‘Finding so much money was hard’

Some adjectives describing a state of mind are always followed by the to-form:

pleased:

I’m pleased to see you

happy:

We’re so happy to be here

keen:

I’m keen to visit the new art gallery

eager:

Dave is eager to get started at his new job

• NOUN + to-form:

There’s just one problem to sort out

This means ‘There’s just one problem that has to be sorted out’.

But the NOUN + to-form structure can have other meanings as well.

Here are some examples:

Can I have a book to read?

= ‘Can I have a book that I can read?’

That is a difficult question to answer

‘= Answering that question is difficult’

• VERB + to-form:

I arranged to pay for it

you decided to buy it

In Language point 50 we saw the ING-FORM is used after some verbs, and the TO-FORM after others. You have to learn what form to use

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with each verb – good learners’ dictionaries will tell you. Here are some more that are followed by the to-form:

agree:

Brian agreed to change the schedule

ask:

Shall we ask them to come back later?

( can’t) afford:

I can’t afford to miss this lecture

expect:

We’re expecting to see the family at Christmas

fail:

Suzie failed to get the results she needed

help:

Will you help me to tidy the room

offer:

Shall we offer to do the washing-up?

refuse:

I refuse to listen to this nonsense!

want:

What do you want to do?

• WH-WORD + to-form: I can’t find out how to switch it onWe can use most question words with a to-form after verbs describing:

knowing

understanding

thinking

finding out

deciding

saying

telling

Here are some more examples:

I don’t know where to park

= I don’t know where I should park

Pete told me what to write down

I can’t decide who to invite

They didn’t say when to come

I need to know how many to order

But we can’t use whywith a to-form:

‘He doesn’t know why to do it’

He doesn’t know why he should do it

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Exercise 6

Rewrite the ing-sentences as to-sentences, and vice versa. The first one has been done for you.

1 Speaking Vietnamese is hard.

→ It’s hard to speak

Vietnamese

2 Eating chocolate is nice.

→

3 It’s unpleasant to have injections.

→

4 It’s annoying to get phone bills.

→

5 Swimming underwater is fun.

→

6 It’s nice to get birthday presents.

→

7 It’s easy to speak colloquial English. →

8 Writing thank you letters is polite.

→

9 Painting pictures is relaxing.

→

10 Drinking the water here isn’t safe.

→

Exercise 7

Complete these sentences using the correct WH-WORD. The first one is done for you.

1 I don’t know howto get to the cinema.

2 Can you tell me ____ to do?

3 I don’t know ____ to buy her.

4 We need to decide ____ to invite.

5 Do you know ____ to drive?

6 I’m not sure ____ to park the car.

7 Can you tell me ____ to do it?

8 Terry doesn’t know ____ to put the luggage.

9 We’d better find out ____ to ask.

10 I don’t know ____ to say to them.

Exercise 8

Complete these sentences by adding a WH-WORD and one of the verbs from the box. Use each verb only once . The first one has been done for you.

1

I’ve written a letter telling people what to bringon the trip.

2

I’ve no idea __________ to the airport on time.

3

Do the children know ________ the video?

4

Let’s discuss ________ on holiday this year.

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5

Can someone tell me ________ this form?

6

I’ve told everyone _________ at the station.

7

Tom isn’t sure _______ the roses this year.

8

I’ll show you ______ your bags.

to be

to put

to get

to work

to fill in

to plant

to bring

to go

Phrasal verbs

find out– ‘discover’; we often use this phrasal verb with wh-words.

pack up– ‘stop working (machines)’; this phrasal verb is similar to break downthat we saw in Unit 10 – but it’s often used about smaller machines, such as computers: we say The car’s broken down, but The computer’s packed up. We also use pack upto talk about people stopping work: When are you packing up today?means ‘What time are you stopping work today?’.

set up– when we talk about setting up a home cinema system (for example), we mean doing all the things necessary to make it work and placing all the component parts (e.g. the screen, the DVD-player, the speakers) in the right places.

Life and living – computers

You’re never very far away from a computer in the UK – everyone seems to have one these days, either at home or at work (or both!).

They’re very versatile, of course, and quite user-friendly. We call the machine itself and its associated equipmentthe hardware.

Hardware includes things like the monitor, the keyboard, the printer, the hard diskand the floppy disks– all things that you can touch . The programsthat make the computer work by giving it instructionsand so allow you to use it in different ways are called the software. The most popular and widely used programs are for word-processing, spreadsheetsand games. And of course you can always use your computer to accessthe Internet. On the World Wide Web you can visit a huge number of websitesrepresenting and dealing with everysubject and fieldof interest under the sun, and you can use special websites called search engines to help you navigateyour way to particular sites – just type in a few keywords