Hello and Happy Halloween! Halloween is a holiday that is popular in English-speaking countries, particularly in the US. It's also becoming more and more popular in other countries like Costa Rica. It's common for people to go to parties and wear costumes to celebrate the holiday, and children go trick-or-treating, where they go from door to door in their neighborhoods to ask for candy.
I found this good, brief video that talks a bit about Halloween on History.com. It has information about customs, traditions, and history associated with Halloween. Check it out:
Also, if you click here to go to the video's page, you can also find lots of other cool videos related to Halloween.
If you are going to celebrate Halloween, have a good time and be safe! Thanks for reading!
As you may know, I'm currently taking a Chinese course and I'll be visiting China soon. So naturally I've been interested in Chinese language and culture. I've come across a few resources recently and I thought I'd share them here. They're all in English (at least the explanations), so even if you don't know a word of Chinese they may be interesting for you.
The first resource is actually my teacher Elizabeth. She's sent a lot of videos, and some of them may be interesting for you. This is one about Shanghai:
Finally, the language blogs at Transparent are usually pretty great and they post frequent updates, and the Chinese one is no exception. A few days ago they had one that described the parts, history, and evolution of Chinese characters. It's pretty cool, so check it out!
I hope something here is interesting for you. Thanks for reading, and have a good one!
Good Evening! As you probably know, I focus mostly on English here at Sitzman ABC. I do that mainly since it's my native language, and because there's a lot more demand for English than any other foreign language here in Costa Rica. However, I actually studied German, not English, and I have a special place in my heart for German-- a dark, somewhat scary place in my heart, but a place nonetheless.
I've been teaching a few German classes lately and I came across a few interesting links and resources that I thought I'd share. If you're learning German, it may help out, but even if you're not, the explanations are often in English, so they can help you practice English, also!
Gender (aka "German Word Sex")
First of all, I found this page with tips about German genders. As you may know, some languages have "gender" for their nouns. Spanish, for example, has masculine (el) and feminine (la). German takes the fun to the next level! It has masculine (der) and feminine (die), but it also adds a third one called "neuter" or "neutral" (das). The worst part is, there's no clear-cut way to know what gender a word is. In Spanish most words that end in "-o" are masculine and most that end in "-a" are feminine...but that doesn't work at all in German. However, there are a few general tendencies that you can find, and these pages help you sort them out:
Deutsche Welle is awesome in any language, but it's best in German. It's like the BBC's continental cousin that always wears black, even on hot days. It's got all kinds of information and news, and it has a whole section about learning German. It also has extensive cultural articles, like this one about Ostfriesland, one of my favorite parts of Germany.
And Another Video
In class this week we were talking about seasons (all of which are masculine words in German, by the way), and I found two videos about Der Sommer. The first is at the top of this post, and the second is here:
Hello! It's very late on Thursday night, but technically it's Friday (very early Friday morning) so I'm going to post this video now since I'll be traveling later "today."
The video is for a song called "Tongue Tied" by Grouplove. The lyrics aren't very amazing, honestly, and the video is strange, but the song's title has "tongue" in it and for "Taste" week, that's good enough for me! Plus it has a good beat:
If you didn't know, "tongue tied" generally refers to a person who is not able to speak because he or she is nervous or has something else preventing him or her from speaking. Another common phrase for that is "the cat's got your tongue." Yeah, I know, it's weird, but that's English. And that's how Fun Friday works.
Hi Everyone! It's Fun Friday, but only for 20 minutes more (I'm writing this at 11:40 pm). I thought this would be a good occasion to post two of my favorite videos for songs about smell. The first you've probably heard if you listened to any popular music in the last 20 years. It's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana (and if you can understand the lyrics without looking at this site, then your English is better than mine!):
In any case, the video was very popular when I was in junior high school, but I still like the song even now. And since you've seen that video, now you can watch the Weird Al Yankovic parody of the song called "Smells Like Nirvana." Here are the lyrics, which basically joke about how hard it is to understand Nirvana's lyrics! Enjoy:
For today's Fun Friday post I was looking for a song related to sight or vision and I found this classic song by Johnny Nash. It's been redone by a few differentpeople, but this version is probably the best. I'll include the video, as well as the lyrics. I hope you like it, and I hope you have a great weekend!
Lyrics:
I Can See Clearly Now, by Johnny Nash
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day.
I think I can make it now, the pain is gone All of the bad feelings have disappeared Here is the rainbow I’ve been prayin' for It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day.
Look all around, there’s nothin' but blue skies Look straight ahead, nothin' but blue skies
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you again on Monday for the next sense in our series: hearing!
Today I want to talk about words related to the senses, since they involve a lot of good vocabulary. We'll focus on one sense per week over the next few weeks, but for today's Fun Friday video I thought it would be good to have a short introduction to the senses, so that everyone knows what we're talking about.
I found this very good video on the internet that explains how we talk about the senses in English, and it also has text, so you can find new vocabulary, also. Check it out, and next week we'll begin talking about these words and concepts:
Good evening, and welcome to Word Wednesday! Today we're going to talk about sports. To be honest, I'm not a very sporty guy. I like to do exercise and walk around and do stuff, but I just don't like watching sports on TV. It's really boring for me, although that's obviously a personal preference.
Every play in a football game is 4 "exciting" seconds of chaos followed by 5 minutes of commercials. (Photo by Ed Yourdon)
Nevertheless, a few of my students are going to do a presentation on "American Football" tomorrow, and I found myself in a position where I had to explain some of the concepts of the game to them. I was a little embarrassed that I actually know so much about the game, so please don't tell anyone!
First of all, in much of the world "football" is the sport where players kick the ball with their feet and try to get it into the goal. It has 90 minutes of excruciatingly boring play, frequently punctuated by players falling down and faking injuries like drama queens. For a few countries, though, that same sport is called "soccer." It's called "soccer" in the USA, of course, but the name "soccer" is also very common in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, since all of those countries have different sports that are referred to as "football."
In another half-second, all three of these players will be on the ground, holding different body parts, pretending to be in pain. This is the "thrill" of soccer. (Photo by Ingythewingy)
In the US, "football" is completely different. In Costa Rica and Latin America, at least, it's called "American Football," although they also say "we're all Americans," so something doesn't quite compute. But that's OK. A football game in the US has 60 minutes of excruciatingly boring play, but a game somehow takes about 4 hours to finish since the play is constantly interrupted by commercial breaks. It's really quite intolerable. The players also wear a lot more padding and equipment than in soccer. To play football without getting killed you should wear a helmet, shoulder pads, wrist tape, a mouth guard, knee braces, thigh pads, a jock strap and shoes with cleats.
Some people say that football is better than soccer because football has beautiful cheerleaders. I'll admit it: these women are more attractive than me and better dancers, too. However, if you need to look at beautiful women to distract you from the sport you're supposed to be watching, then I'm sorry, but your sport is boring. (Photo by Keith Allison)
Here's some "cheerleader math" for you: The average cost of a ticket to a professional football game is almost $77, and some are even over $100--and that's the average cost. Parking can cost around $20, hot dogs can cost $6 or $7 a piece, a pop or beer is about $8, and in the end, you may not even see a cheerleader if it's snowing. However, the price of a copyright-free picture of a beautiful cheerleader is exactly $0.00 on the internet. So which is a better deal? (Photo by Keith Allison)
On the other hand, if you want to play soccer you just need some shoes, but even that is probably optional if they get stolen or you forget them on the bus. In soccer, players try to kick a ball into a goal. There are more rules, but that's the main idea of the game. It's pretty simple.
The main idea of football is... well, it's a lot more complicated than almost any sport except cricket, chess, or assembling furniture. I think it's (much) better if I let Burt Reynolds explain it to you:
So, did you get that? Hopefully so. It's cheesy but kind of funny. I really liked this video, mainly because it had Burt Reynolds, but also because of the amazing music and breathtaking fashion trends.
Ugghhh, here we go again: a soccer player fakes an injury to interrupt Sitzman ABC. The clock is still running, but don't get your hopes up: The worst part about soccer injuries (besides the pain the players suffer) is that the referees add extra time on the clock at the end of the game to make up for the lost time treating the injury. (Photo by ecmorgan)
So which is "better": soccer or football? It's very hard to decide. In both sports grown adults run around in the grass for a few hours and get paid more money in an hour than I'll earn in my life. Both sports are really boring unless you are drunk or have a very loose definition of the word "entertainment." Football's advantage is that it has cheerleaders and Burt Reynolds supporting it, but soccer's advantage is that the games end more quickly, giving you more time to do something more interesting and productive than reading a sport. In the end the score is zero to zero, so I'll have to call it a tie!
And that's it for today. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment, either in the comment form below, or by calling Burt Reynolds directly.
Hello, and happy Fun Friday! The other day I was looking for English videos on the internet and I came across this video from the program The Kids in the Hall. Watch it and note how important tone can be in speaking a language (by the way, they use the word "mingle" a few times; "to mingle" means to go talk to different people informally in a social situation):
I think this video is great because it shows how important tone can be in a conversation. When we speak directly with someone, it's much easier to understand the tone of what he or she is saying (in other words, if we can't hear how a person says something, it's hard to know if he or she is being sincere, joking, or even sarcastic). On the other hand, if we read something, the tone is often unclear, which is why it can be difficult and problematic for beginning students to communicate with text messages, email, or instant messages.
I think this may be a problem in some of my classes, at least in lower levels, since I often like to joke around with my students and use sarcasm, but I'm not sure if they understand that I'm joking sometimes. I think the tone of what I say is often lost in translation.
Anyhow, it's something to think about over the weekend. I hope you have a great one, and we'll see you again on Monday! Thanks for reading!
I didn't put up a Word Wednesday post earlier this week because I was really busy. As I mentioned last week, my brother was visiting us here in Costa Rica, so we were spending time with him.
But, I still wanted to put up a post because, as they say, "better late than never." So here's a video that I came across this week with some good vocabulary about the environment (we're studying the environment in one of my classes now):
So, check it out--maybe there are some new words just waiting for you to discover them!
I've recently come across two videos that talk about the history of the English language, so I thought I'd share them with you here today.
My friend Juan Guillermo showed me the first one. It's pretty fast and it's funny, also. However, that may mean that it's a little difficult for English learners to understand. That's OK, but just watch it and try to see how many words you understand:
The second video is older and the speech is also clearer and less difficult. It also gives many examples of loanwords in English. You may remember that we talked about loanwords a few times (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5).
So, I hope you liked the videos and that you learned something new! Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
Since we were talking about "big" words on Monday and Wednesday of this week, I thought I'd put up a video of a "big" song today for Fun Friday.
The song is called "Big Me," by the Foo Fighters. The lyrics aren't very complex, but I really like the video. The video is a parody that makes fun of a series of 1990s commercials for Mentos mints. You can see some examples of the original commercials here (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), but be careful! If you watch them more than one time, you may actually become stupider!
Anyhow, this Foo Fighters video captures the essence of the commercials. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
P.S. - Thanks to my brother Paul for the song suggestion!
As you may know, I'm taking a Chinese class here in Costa Rica, so I've been following a blog about Chinese culture and language. There was a funny and interesting article yesterday about men in China who expose their bellies (stomachs) when it's hot. The post included the picture to the right, which I'll include in case you don't understand what I'm talking about.
Anyhow, the Chinese phrase for this action is "bǎngyé," which means "exposing grandfathers." If you want to read more, the article really is interesting, so check it out. Also, it got me thinking, since lots of men here in Costa Rica also roll up their shirts and stick out their bellies when it's hot. I think it's pretty funny, since it's usually men with gigantic bellies who do this. So, all of this inspired me to talk about a few vocabulary words and phrases related to stomach and bellies.
IMPORTANT BELLY/STOMACH VOCABULARY
First of all, stomach is another general word for the area between your chest and your waist. "Stomach" can also refer to your main digestive organ. If you feel pain because of indigestion, you can say that you have a stomachache or that your stomach hurts.
The words "tummy" and "belly" often refer to the outside part of your stomach, but sometimes they can refer to the digestive organ (these words are especially common when talking about or with children). For example, a child may say, "Dad/Mom, my tummy/belly hurts."
Belly dancing is a type of dance that's popular in some parts of the world. (Image)
Another word to describe your stomach area is "gut" or "guts," but this can also be used to refer to the inner organs in general. If you remove the inner organs from a fish, for example, you "gut it." You can also use the word gut in some idiomatic expressions; for example, if someone has a suspicion about something, he or she can say she has a "gut feeling." Also, if someone is brave (courageous), you can say that he or she "has a lot of guts" or that they are "gutsy."
A diagram of a human's inner organs or "guts." (Image)
If you're talking about the muscles in that part of the body, they're generally called the abdominal muscles or simply the "abs." A common exercise to tone the abdominal muscles is called "sit-ups." When people do a lot of these exercises, they get very strong abs, and you can say that he or she "has a 6-pack," since the muscles look like a 6-pack of beer or pop cans.
A group of students doing sit-ups to tone their abs. (Image)
Pretty soon, the girls doing sit-ups will have 6-pack abs like this guy. (Image)
Finally, when a woman is pregnant, her baby has an umbilical cord, which is a cord that provides nutrients from the mother to the growing baby. After the baby is born, the umbilical cord is cut, and later a little "hole" is formed in a person's stomach. That's called a "belly button," although the more "scientific" term is a "navel."
As I mentioned a while ago, I live in Costa Rica in a little town called Berlín. The town may be named after the German capital, but it's completely different, believe me.
Anyhow, "Berlin" is also the name of a pop band from the early 1980s, so I thought I'd share one of their videos with you. It's from the song "No More Words." I'll let you decide what you think of it, but for me it's pretty strange. It takes place in the Great Depression, and the band members are apparently part of a gang that needs to rob and steal to survive.
Here are the lyrics to the song. As you noticed, there is also an "introduction" to the story at the beginning of the video. Can you think of synonyms or definitions in English for the following words?
misery
poverty
homeless
ragged
hobo
I'd also like to know what you think of the video, so if you'd like, please leave a comment. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
I was going to put up a video related to our "downtown" topic from Monday and Wednesday, but the only songs I could think of were Prince's "Uptown" and Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl." I like both songs (although Prince's is much better), but Prince's song doesn't seem to have a video, and the video for "Uptown Girl" is objectively one of the stupidest music videos ever. So I was stuck. What to do?
After much debate, I finally decided I'd put up Bryan Adam's song "Summer of '69." I'm doing this for two reasons:
-Celine Dion is my arch-nemesis, so if I put up a Bryan Adams video, it should prove I don't hate Celine Dion because she's Canadian (I hate her because her music is awful).
-The song is filled with verbs, both in the simple present and simple past tenses. I actually used this song in a class activity earlier last week, so it's also convenient for me!
Here's the video, followed by the lyrics with an activity.
Lyrics Activity:
Instructions: Circle (or at least identify) all the verbs you can find in the song. How many verbs are there? Are the verbs in the simple present or the simple past tense? Divide them into two columns.
SUMMER OF '69 - BRYAN ADAMS
I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it 'til my fingers bled
It was the summer of ‘69
Me and some guys from school
Had a band and we tried real hard
Jimmy quit and Joey got married
Should have known we'd never get far
Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah - I'd always want to be there
Those were the best days of my life
Ain't no use in complainin'
When you’ve got a job to do
Spent my evenings down at the drive-in
And that's when I met you yeah
Standin' on your Mama's porch
You told me that you'd wait forever
Oh and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
Back in the summer of ‘69
Man we were killin' time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin' can last forever - forever
And now the times are changin'
Look at everything that's come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about you, wonder what went wrong
(repeat chorus)
So, when you've identified the verbs, you're done --you can go home and enjoy the weekend! Next week we'll look at this song and its verbs again, and we'll do a few activities with them. Until then, have a great weekend, and thanks for reading!
Bikers in downtown Fort Collins, the city I come from. Over 140,000 people live in Fort Collins, so it's probably big enough to have an area referred to as "downtown." The downtown area in Fort Collins is normally called "Old Town" since it's the historical center of the city. (Image Credit) (More information about Fort Collins)
Hello, and welcome to Word Wednesday! Today we're going to listen to a song.
But wait, that almost sounds... fun? Well, not really fun, but not boring. Right?
Hopefully! Since we were talking about how to use words like downtown on Monday, I thought I'd put up a song called "Downtown." Petula Clark sang the song in 1965, so it's not very new. It's also not very "cool," but the lyrics are clear and I still like it. So I hope you do, too!
Below is the video, and after the video I'll include an activity that you can complete with the lyrics (you don't actually need to watch the video; it's got very little action, trust me).
Lyrics Activity:
Instructions: Fill in the missing words in the blank spaces. After the lyrics, you'll find hints for each missing word.
DOWNTOWN – PETULA CLARK
When you're (1)_______ and life is making you (2)_______ You can always go - downtown When you've got (3)_______, all the noise and the hurry Seems to help, I know - downtown Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city Linger on the (4)_______ where the neon signs are pretty How can you (5)_______?
The lights are much brighter there You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares So go downtown, things'll be great when you're Downtown - no finer place, for sure Downtown - everything's waiting for you
Don't (6)_______ and let your problems surround you There are movie shows - downtown Maybe you know some little places to go to Where they never (7)_______- downtown Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova You'll be (8)_______ with him too before the night is over Happy again
The lights are much brighter there You can forget all your (9)_______, forget all your (10)_______ So go downtown, where all the lights are bright Downtown - waiting for you tonight Downtown - you're gonna be all right now
[Instrumental break]
And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you Someone who is just like you and needs a (11)_______ hand to Guide them along
So maybe I'll see you there (repeat chorus)
HINTS FOR MISSING VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. This is a word that means to be isolated physically.
2. This is a word that means to feel isolated emotionally.
3. This word describes things that cause you stress.
4. In British English, this thing is usually called a pavement.
5. This word can be the opposite of "conquer."
6. This is a (2 word) phrasal verb that means "to stay in one place."
7. A synonym for this word is "shut."
8. This is an activity that you can do in a nightclub.
9. This word rhymes with bubbles.
10. This word rhymes with stairs.
11. This word means "soft and careful."
So, I hope you were able to complete the lyrics! I'll include the answers to this activity on Friday, so if you missed any, be sure to check back then.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
[Update, May 4, 2012] Here are the missing words for this activity: 1. alone 2. lonely 3. worries 4. sidewalk 5. lose 6. hang around 7. close 8. dancing 9. troubles 10. cares 11. gentle
If you have any questions or comments about this activity, please leave a comment below. Thanks!
These chinchillas' favorite day of the week is "Fun Friday" and they're ready to PARTY! (Image)
Good afternoon, and welcome to "Fun Friday"! As usual, I'd like to offer the disclaimer that "Fun Friday" is indeed fun for me, but maybe I'm a bit of a language nerd. If you don't think Fun Friday posts are actually fun, then I'm always open for suggestions!
So, today's post is about pronunciation. My mom recently sent me a poem that she found on the internet, and the basic premise is that English pronunciation is difficult. And that's true. These pronunciation poems are actually fairly common. You can find printed examples here, here, and here. And here's an example (with subtitles) of one of these pronunciation poems:
The one my mom sent me is a bit different, but it's got the same idea. The point is that in English, it's crucial to remember that spelling and pronunciation are two different --sometimes frustratingly different-- things. If you look at the words tough, though, thought, through, and thorough, all have the letters "ough" together, but each word is pronounced differently.
These are sometimes very "advanced" language points, but you can still use this advice even if you're a beginning English learner:
4 TIPS FOR IMPROVING PRONUNCIATION
1. When you learn a word, always try to learn how the word is spelled and pronounced at the same time. It will make things a lot less difficult in the future.
2. To learn pronunciation, it can help to group rhyming words together, especially if their spelling is different. For example, if you make a "Rhyming Words List," you could include groups of words like heard, word, bird, slurred, and herd --yes, they all rhyme, and they're all spelled completely differently! If you make lists of rhyming words, they're easier to remember than trying to learn them all individually.
3. It's often useful to learn some phonetic symbols (here's a complete list). Most online dictionaries now let you click on a word to hear it pronounced, but if you only have a paper dictionary, most of them use phonetic symbols for pronunciation. It's good to know basic, common symbols like:
- /I/ as in hit, sit, and fit
- /i/ as in heat, seat, and feet
- /æ/ as in cat, fat, and Matt
- /ʃ/ (often spelled with the letters "sh") as in shock, shoe, and push
- /ʧ/ (often spelled with the letters "ch") as in check,chew, and Charlie
- /ʤ/ (often spelled with the letters "j" or "g") as in jelly, gin, and John
- /s/ (the basic "s" sound) as in silly, say, and Samantha
- /z/ as in zero, fuzz, and please (remember that the letter "s" is often pronounced like a "z" in English)
- /θ/(a "th" sound with no vibration) as in think, thanks, and bath - /ð / (a "th" sound with vibration) as in the, brother, and this That may seem like a lot of symbols to learn, but if you learn at least these basic ones, they'll help you a lot in your pronunciation studies.
4. Actively try to practice pronunciation. You can do this by speaking with native speakers and asking them to comment if you say things incorrectly. You can also read books out loud, even if you're alone. You may not have feedback that way, but it will help you get used to speaking and pronouncing words in English.
What other ways can you think of to improve pronunciation? If you have any ideas or questions, I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Hello, and welcome to "Fun Friday"! Also, welcome to this blog's 100th post! Thanks to everyone who's been following Sitzman ABC and liking it on Facebook! If you know anyone who might be interested in this site, please tell him or her about it.
Since the last two "Fun Fridays" were not especially "fun" (unless you're a geography nerd like I am!), I decided I'd put up a video today. It's a song called "The Promise" by the group When In Rome:
The song is from 1988, but it became popular again a few years ago when it was featured on the soundtrack for Napoleon Dynamite, a 2004 comedy. Let's look at the lyrics and find some good vocabulary (you can also just read the lyrics while listening to the song, since the video hasn't got too much interesting stuff going on except a lot of bad late-80s fashion):
If you need a friend, don't look to a stranger, You know in the end, I'll always be there.
And when you're in doubt, and when you're in danger, Take a look all around, and I'll be there.
(Chorus:) I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say. (I promise) I know they don't sound the way I planned them to be. (I promise) But if you wait around a while, I'll make you fall for me, I promise, I promise you I will.
When your day is through, and so is your temper, You know what to do, I'm gonna always be there.
Sometimes if I shout, it's not what's intended. These words just come out, with no gripe to bear.
(Repeat Chorus)
I gotta tell ya, I need to tell ya, I gotta tell ya, I gotta tell yaaaa ...
(Repeat Chorus)
GOOD VOCABULARY:
stranger - A stranger is a person that you have not met. It's different than a strange person; a strange person is someone who isn't normal for some reason.
Example: "A stranger walked into the room and introduced himself as 'Robby Smith.'"
doubt - My students often confuse this word with "question"; it's similar to a question, but it's not the same. If you are in doubt or if you doubt yourself, then you are not confident about your abilities or your understanding. Also, notice that the "b" is silent, and the word rhymes with "out."
Example: "It's pretty late, and I've barely started this project. I doubt I can finish it by tomorrow morning, but I'll try."
fall for (someone) - If you fall for a person, it means that you fall in love with him or her. It can be fast and sudden, but often it's a gradual process.
Example: "At first Tina thought Charlie was arrogant and mean, but after she got to know him, she fell for him and they eventually even got married!"
temper - Temper refers to your mood, but it's most common in the phrase lose (your) temper. If you lose your temper, you become angry and impatient, and sometimes begin to yell or shout.
Example: "Kate was very patient with the kids she was babysitting until one of them spilled juice on her. Kate lost her temper and sent the children to their rooms."
gripe to bear- Honestly, this phrase is very rare, and you'll probably never hear it outside of this song. But I mentioned it because it stood out and I was sure someone would ask about it if I didn't. If you bear a gripe, it means that you complain about something. The word "gripe" generally means to complain, and it's more common.
Example: "I don't mean to gripe about this, but we really need to get some new coffee mugs. All the ones we have are broken."
Finally, the band's name can illustrate an interesting vocabulary point.
The phrase "When in Rome..." is a shorter version of:
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
This phrase means that if you are visiting a different culture, you are the person who should adapt, and that you shouldn't expect the culture to adapt to you.
For example, if you go to Japan and notice everyone bowing as a greeting, instead of shaking hands or kissing on the cheek, you can say, "Well, when in Rome..." and bow like everyone else:
An American military officer bowing in Japan, following local customs. (Image credit)
So, that's it for today. I hope you liked the song. If you have any questions or comments, please join in the conversation by leaving a comment. Have a great weekend!
It's hard to find pictures to illustrate grammatical concepts, so here's a nice flower.
Hello, and welcome to "Fun Friday" on Sitzman ABC! Today we'll talk about the Third Conditional in English.
"Wait!" you're possibly thinking, "That doesn't sound like fun!" Good point. I know that grammar can be difficult and complicated, but it's also very important to learn how to use grammar correctly, especially if you want to be an advanced English speaker. So, I'll try to make this post interesting, at least, but you'll have to forgive me if you don't think it's fun.
You might remember that late last year we talked about the 1st and 2nd conditionals in English, and I had meant to write a post about the 3rd conditional immediately after those. However, I had trouble finding a song I liked that used the 3rd conditional. Some English sites mention that Taylor Swift's song "Should've Said No" is good, and it does have some examples of 3rd conditional, but it's not a good song. I just don't like it, so sorry (you can still check it out here if you want). A few songs by artists like Meat Loaf and Rancid use a little bit of third conditional, but Meat Loaf's song only uses it once, and Rancid's song is difficult to understand and a bit too vulgar for a "family" language site like Sitzman ABC.
But then I finally noticed a Journey song that uses the 3rd conditional! You can listen to the song here and read the lyrics below, or you can go to the video's YouTube page to see the lyrics.
So, where is the 3rd conditional in this song? We'll identify that in a moment, but first let's do a quick review about when we use the different conditionals:
1st Conditional: real, probable situations
Example: "If I still feel hungry after dinner, I'll order a piece of pie for dessert."
(In this case, there's a definite possibility that I will feel hungry, so I can use the first conditional.)
2nd Conditional: unreal, improbable situations
Example: "If I were a cat, I would sleep all day."
(This is obviously an unreal situation: I'm not a cat, and I'm not going to be a cat unless a science experiment goes terribly wrong.)
Now, for the 3rd Conditional:
3rd Conditional: unreal situations in the past
Example: "If I hadn't missed the bus, I could have arrived to class on time."
(This is how we can speculate about past events that could have happened differently. In this sentence, I missed the bus, but I'm imagining a different past condition and result.)
The 3rd conditional is structured very similarly to the 2nd conditional, except that the 2nd conditional talks about the present and the future, but the 3rd talks about a fictional past. It also has two parts:
1. The "if" part (also called the "if phrase," "if clause," or "condition")
2. The "fantasy" part (also called the "would clause" or "result")
Let's look at another example:
If I hadn't come to Costa Rica, I might never have learned Spanish.
I can say this sentence in the 3rd conditional because I'm speculating about the past. I did come to Costa Rica, obviously, but I'm just imagining what my life might be like if I hadn't come to Costa Rica. We can usually invert the two parts, like in the other conditional tenses:
I might never have learned Spanish if I hadn't come to Costa Rica.
Both sentences mean the same thing, and the condition and result are the same in both.
Forming sentences in 3rd Conditional:
The structure of a 3rd conditional sentence is very similar to a 2nd conditional sentence, with one important difference:
In the third conditional, the condition is written in a past perfect tense ("had / hadn't" + past participle), and the result is written using would / could / might / should + "have" +past participle.
Here are some more examples:
If Shelly had known Mike was a vegetarian, she wouldn't have cooked steaks.
If Jim hadn't traveled to India, he wouldn't have met his wife in Bangalore.
If Ryan had thought this would be so complicated to explain, he wouldn't have written this post.
No one would have believed it if Costa Rica had won the 2006 World Cup.
We might not have had transmission problems if we had changed the transmission fluid earlier.
They probably wouldn't have gotten hypothermia while camping if they had brought warmer clothes.
In other words:
If (had/hadn't) + (past participle),(would/could/might) + (have) + (past participle)
Notice that in many cases, like in the Journey or Taylor Swift songs, we often only say the result, and the condition is often implied or not mentioned.
Can you complete the following phrases?
Roger might have gotten a better grade on his exam if ___________ .
Elaine would have felt happy yesterday if ___________ .
If Timothy had read his email, he ___________ .
If the baby hadn't spilled its juice in the car, the parents ___________ a new car seat.
(You can find many more 3rd conditional exercises here, here, here, and here.)
For more practice, listen to the song again and try to find some phrases that use the third conditional (remember that in this song, it only uses the result, and not the condition). Here are the lyrics (I'll put the third conditional phrases at the end of this post so you can check your answers):
Journey - "It Could Have Been You"
We were so close yet so far away I'd reach out, you'd be gone Moments that still take my breath away There's so much more to life than loving you You don't need me, no...
I can't wait all my life, on a street of broken dreams It could have been you my love (where are you now) Oh I still wonder if you remember the night It could have been you
Time washes over memories I can't look back no more Change has forsaken our promises There's someone else for you to hold again So please stop your crying
I can't wait all my life, on a street of broken dreams It could have been you my love (where are you now) Oh I still wonder if you remember the night It could have been you
Remember, remember, girl I remember I can't wait all my life, on a street of broken dreams It could have been you my love (where are you now) Oh I still wonder if you remember the night It could have been you (where are you now) Should have been you my love (where are you now) It could have been you my love (where are you now) remember...remember...remember
Aah! An 80s pop song about heartbreak, regret, and lost love... the perfect place to use third conditional! Any time you talk about a past action that you wish you had done differently (a regret), then the third conditional can be your grammatical weapon of choice!
So, what phrases did you find in the 3rd conditional? Yep, they're basically "It could have been you" and "It should have been you." So as mentioned before, we often only use one half of the third conditional.
That's about it for today-- maybe it wasn't "fun," but at least you got to listen to some Journey!
As usual, if you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below or contact me.
