23/07/2024
I always recommend to adult ESL learners that they read children’s books to enrich their vocabulary, a wonderful example is the cherished writer A.A Milne, here I’m using an excerpt from ‘Winnie-the-Pooh'
(English grammar notes follow quote)
... As soon as he saw this, Christopher Robin called ‘Halt!’ and they all sat down and rested.
‘I think’ said Christopher Robin, ‘that we *ought to eat all our *Provisions now, so that we shan’t have so much to carry.’
‘Eat all our what?’ Said Pooh
‘All that *we’ve brought,’ said Piglet, *getting to work
‘That’s a good idea,’ said Pooh, and he got to work too.
‘Have you all got something?’ asked Christopher Robin with his mouth full.
‘All except me,’ said Eeyore. ‘As Usual.’ He looked round at them in his melancholy way. ‘I *suppose none of you are sitting on a thistle *by any chance?’
‘I believe I am,’ said Pooh. ‘Ow!’ He got up and looked behind him. ‘Yes, I was. I thought *so.’
*OUGHT TO is used when expressing an opinion on a situation which is ideal. (It’s a more formal use of SHOULD) You ought to take an umbrella, it looks like it’s going to rain
*One meaning of the noun PROVISIONS in ‘old-fashioned English’ is the supply of something for necessity, in this case food and drink
*WE’VE BROUGHT: an example of the present perfect. This type of verb is used here because it’s referring to a finished event that’s connected to now: The provisions were packed in a bag to be eaten now
*TO GET TO WORK: to start doing a job or to begin doing something, this is a phrasal verb (Note: use of GOT in the next sentence in the text means TO HAVE, an alternative is: ‘Do you all have something?’)
*I SUPPOSE is used when we think or assume something based on probability and not certainty. (Note: supposed has a different meaning and refers to something that should have happened in the past, but didn’t: I was supposed to study for the test yesterday, but I was ill, so I didn’t)
*BY ANY CHANCE: a synonym for possibly
*The use of SO at the end of a sentence: we are referring to ‘I believe I was sitting on a thistle’. Instead of repeating the entire clause, we use ‘so’. Often used when we refer to or agree with something that was said earlier: “Isn’t it John’s birthday today?” “Yeah, I think so”
