Living English Episode 11: Sarah offers to help Anne.
SARAH
Can I help you find your brother?
ANNE
You’re very kind. But it’s not your problem.
SARAH
I want to help. What can I do?
ANNE
Well, maybe you could get some copies made of this photograph.
She shows SARAH the PHOTOGRAPH of her brother.
SARAH
Sure. I’d love to. Anything.
She looks closely at the photograph.
SARAH
He’s very good looking. Such a nice smile. Is he tall?
ANNE
Fairly tall.
SARAH
He looks very fit. Does he play a lot of sport?
ANNE
No, he used to.
SARAH
What does he do? Is he a student?
ANNE
He’s not really academic. He’s clever, but he prefers to do things with his hands.
SARAH
He sounds nice. I’m looking forward to meeting him.
ANNE smiles at the encouragement.
| 1. OFFERING HELP | |
| When we offer to help someone we say Can I help you…? Can I help you wash the dishes? Can I help you do the shopping? Can I help you with anything? | |
| It’s polite to not immediately accept an offer. When someone asks if they can help, it’s polite to say: You’re very kind. or No, there’s no need.
Can I help you wash the dishes? | |
| You then offer again by saying: Can I help you wash the dishes? No, there’s no need. I want to help. | |
| SARAH Can I help you find your brother?
ANNE SARAH | |
| 2. ADJECTIVES | |
| Adjectives are used to describe people and things. He’s tall and handsome. It’s a red ball.
Adjectives are the words that tell you what colour something is: What size something is: | |
| You use adjectives to express your opinion about something: A beautiful ball An ugly ball | |
| And the type something is: A plastic ball A leather ball | |
| Adjectives often go before the noun, or the thing they describe. A tall building (adj) (noun) A clever idea (adj) (noun)
Adjectives don’t always come before the noun, or the thing described. | |
| They can also come after the noun and a verb, especially the verb is/are. The building is tall (noun) (verb) (adj) Your ideas are clever (noun) (verb) (adj) | |
| 3. DESCRIBING PEOPLE | |
| When we are describing people or ourselves, we often use a pronoun (I, he, she, we they),is/are/am and then the adjective: I am tall. She is clever. | |
| Usually we say and write I’m tall. She’s clever. | |
| ANNE He’s clever, but he prefers to do things with his hands. | |
| Other verbs used before adjectives and after pronouns are look and sound : You look wonderful. You sound tired. | |
| SARAH He sounds nice. | |
| Questions When you are asking about someone, you change the word order so the pronoun comes after is/are: He is tall. (statement) Is he tall? (question) | |
| SARAH He’s very good looking. Such a nice smile. Is he tall? | |
| We describe people’s complexions, or whether their skin is dark or light She has a fair complexion. She is fair. | |
| Their hair: She has blonde hair. She’s blonde. | |
| And eye colour: She has blue eyes. Her eyes are blue. | |
| Their build: He has a slim build. He’s slim. | |
| Their height: He’s tall.
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| 4. A BIT, VERY, FAIRLY, QUITE | |
| We can modify the meaning of adjectives by using words such as a bit, fairly, very and quite. | |
| We can use the adjective hot to describe the temperature It’s hot | |
| We change or modify the meaning of hot like this: It’s a bit hot. It’s fairly hot. It’s very hot.
Fairly hot means hot, but not very hot. | |
| Another word we use to mean the same is quite: It’s quite hot. It’s fairly hot. | |
| SARAH Is he tall?
ANNE |