Session 7: Friday, April 13th 2012


On this unlucky Friday the 13th, we talked about Murphy´s law: that is, 

"If something bad can happen, it will".

This is the law that tells us that:

If we clean the car, it´ll rain

If you meet someone you like, they won´t be single

We looked at how to make sentences to describe a possibility. In the part of the sentence after if the verb is always in present simple, and in the other part of the sentence the verb is in the future, with will or won´t + verb.


This form is called the first conditional.


Then, we looked at some of the most confusing verbs in English. We discussed:


Why you wear a coat and carry a bag...
Why the bank lends you money, but you borrow from the bank...(Try an exercise)
Why you earn money at work, but win the lottery...
Why you meet someone for the first time, but know them for many years...
Why you watch a football game, but look at a photograph...(Try an exercise)
and why you do the housework and an exam, but make dinner. (Read a list of expressions)


Next, we watched a  video of some frightened tourists who were attacked by a grizzly bear in the USA.


What would you do? 

Well, according to a survival expert, the best thing to do if this bear attacked you would be to lie very still and pretend to be dead!


Luckily, this is a very improbable situation, at least in Antofagasta.


Remember, when talking about an improbable situation, we use:


If (verb in past simple) I would (verb in infinitive)


So...

If I saw a bear, I wouldn´t run away

If I saw a crocodile, I´d hit it in the face

This form is called the second conditional. Not that you´d be thinking about grammar if a bear was chasing you!


Finally, we talked about how we make a decision. Some people are very indecisive and change their mind all the time. Others are decisive and make up their minds quickly. 


Remember, when we can´t decide, we use may and might. Remember, both of these modal verbs have more or less the same meaning: we use them to say "Maybe I will". May is more formal, and more common in writing. Might is more common when we speak. 

A: "Are you going to the party?"

B: "I don´t know, I might go, or I might not."

A: "And what are you going to wear?"

B: "I may wear a dress, or I may wear jeans."