Gareth King - Colloquial English - A Complete English Language Course

=

What did you do that for?

Why is he here?

=

What is he here for?

But what for? can’t be used with negatives: Why didn’t you tell me?

not ‘What didn’t you tell me for?’

Why isn’t he here?

not ‘What isn’t he here for?’

and it can’t be used when the why?question asks about a reason rather than purpose:

Why are the summers getting hotter?

not

‘What are the summers getting hotter for?’

Why does wood float?

not

‘What does wood float for?’

Exercise 6

Some of these why?questions can be rewritten with what for?

Decide which ones can, and rewrite them. The first one has been done for you.

1 Why is John carrying that brick?

What is John carrying that brick for?

2 Why didn’t you phone me?

________________________________

3 Why did your sister leave early?

________________________________

4 Why does the sun rise in the east?

________________________________

5 Why did the Romans invade Britain?

___________________________

6 Why did the Roman Empire collapse?

___________________________

7 Why haven’t you bought any tickets?

__________________________

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8 Why is English a world language?

___________________________

9 Why did Sweden win the ice hockey?

___________________________

10 Why are you watching the ice hockey?

___________________________

Idiom

• Like hell!Justine says If I play, I might win, and Ann replies Like hell!We use this phrase to express disagreement with what’s just been said. It is very informal, but is not rude. Here are some more examples:

Do you think Arsenal will

– Like hell!

win tonight?

or

– Like hell they will!

We’re going to get a pay

– Like hell!

rise.

or

– Like hell we are!

Simon says he paid the bill.

– Like hell!

or

– Like hell he did!

Amy says she wasn’t rude

– Like hell!

to Gerry

or

– Like hell she wasn’t!

• Be careful with this idiom when a tag is added:

Like hell he will!means He won’t!

Like hell we are!means We aren’t!

Like hell she wasn’tmeans She was!

But there is also a phrase the hellwhich we use as an intensifier, particularly with question words (but not whose?or which?), and in this use it is usually rather rude, or at least abrupt: Who are you?

Who the hell are you?

What’s wrong?

What the hell is wrong?

Why are they here?

Why the hell are they here?

Where are my keys?

Where the hell are my keys?

How should I know?

How the hell should I know?

It’s safer not to use the hellwith people you don’t know, unless you want to be rude, of course!

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Dialogue 2

Gillian finds Lauren in the canteen at work and sits down next to her.

LAUREN:

Hello, Gillian. Aren’t you having lunch?

GILLIAN:

No – I just wanted to ask: have you seen James today?

LAUREN:

No, I don’t think so. Why?

GILLIAN:

I need to talk to him quite urgently about something.

If you see him, will you tell him to phone me?

LAUREN:

I’ll certainly tell him if I see him. But listen . . . why don’t you phone him yourself on his mobile?

GILLIAN:

If I knew his mobile number, I would.

LAUREN:

Ah. [ thinks for a moment ]

. . . Wait a minute! What about his friends?

GILLIAN:

What about them?

LAUREN:

Well – if you phoned one of James’s friends, perhaps they could tell you his mobile number.

GILLIAN:

Great idea! Good thinking, Lauren – I knew I’d get everything sorted if I sat next to you!

Idiom

• I’d get everything sortedmeans ‘I’d solve all my problems’; get something sorted(or sorted out) can also mean put right, put in orderor arrange. More examples:

Have you got the dishwasher sorted out?

= ‘Have you fixed the problem with the dishwasher?’

This room is chaos – how are we going to get it sorted?

= ‘This room is chaos – how are we going get it organised?’

We’ll need to get the tickets sorted by the weekend

= ‘We’ll need to have booked the tickets by the weekend’

Language point 82 – C2 conditionals

The verb pattern for C2 conditionals is:

if-clause PAST SIMPLE – main clause would/ ’d+ BASE-FORM

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You might like to review the PAST SIMPLE in Unit 9 – remember that many common verbs (the strong verbs) have irregular past simples that have to be learnt.

Let’s remind ourselves of C1 and C2:

[C1]

If I see Amy, I’ll tell her

[C2]

If I saw Amy, I’d tell her

Remember that the first example is talking about an event that is possible in the future, while the second one is talking about an event that the speaker doesn’t expect to happen.

So in Dialogue 2, Gillian says to Lauren If you see him . . ., because she thinks that is a possibility, but she says If I knew his mobile numberbecause she doesn’t know the number.

Here are some more examples:

[C1]

If the train arrives late, we’ll have to get a taxi from the station

[C2]

If the train arrived late, we’d have to get a taxi from the station

[C1]

If I become world president, I’ll stop global warming

[C2]

If I became world president, I’d stop global warmingThe last pair of examples shows very clearly the difference between C1 and C2 – If I become world president . . .could only be said by someone who was in the running for the office, someone who had put himself up for election; If I became world president . . ., on the other hand, is what all the rest of us would say, because we don’t expect it to happen to us.

Be careful!It is wrong to use the conditional form would/ ’d

in the if-clause:

If he ate the cake, he’d be sick

not

‘If he’d eat the cake’