L A N G U A G E G U I D E

L E S S O N 5

BE GOING TO (PRESENT AND PAST)

:: USE AND STRUCTURE

• Use

Be (in the Past) Going To → It refers to plans and intentions in the past that were not accomplished.
Be (in the Present) Going To → It refers to plans for the future or predictions based on evidence.

• Structure

Whether the speaker refers to the present or to the past, the sentence structure is the same.

Affirmative: Subject + Verb To Be (Present or Past) + Going To + Main Verb

Negative: Subject + Verb To Be (Present or Past) + Not + Going To + Main Verb
Interrogative: Verb To Be (Present or Past) + Subject + Going To + Main Verb

Now, let’s compare Be Going To in the present and the past.

On Wednesday:
Anthony is going to travel with his friends next weekend.
(He has the money, he has the time, and he plans to travel in the future.)

On Friday:
Anthony was going to travel with his friends next weekend, but now he has to work.
(He planned to travel, but something happened and he won’t go anymore.)

:: EXAMPLES IN CONTEXT

Arranging the Kids’ Visit

Mark – Hi, Anna, are you going to do anything special with the kids this weekend?
Anna – Well, I was going to take them to a park and watch a movie. Why?
Mark – I was wondering if I could have them this weekend. It’s my nephew’s birthday.
Anna – Oh, I guess it’s all right. I thought you were going to be away for a few weeks.
Mark – I was going to visit some clients, but the company canceled the trip until
further notice. So, I’m going to pick them up tomorrow at three p.m., OK?

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CONDITIONALS: REVIEW
:: USE AND STRUCTURE

• Use

→ Hypothesis
Conditionals → Conditions
→ Uncertain Events or Situations

• Structure

Zero Conditional

If + Simple Present + Simple Present

If you press this button, the machine starts.

First Conditional

If + Simple Present + Will

If Mark comes for dinner, I'll bake a pie.

Second Conditional

If + Simple Past + Would

If Tyler took some days off, he would be more

productive.

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Third Conditional

If + Past Perfect + Would + Perfect

If you had played against me, you would have lost.

Modal Verb Should as Conditional

Used to suggest that something is unlikely, or not very probable.

Should + Subject + Verb + Imperative

Should you see Joana, tell her I said hi.
Should you pass by a drugstore, bring some painkillers.

:: EXAMPLES IN CONTEXT

Anna – Don, are you going to the supermarket later?

Don – I'll go, if you need anything.
Anna – Well, if the children come for dinner, I'll bake a strawberry pie.
So I need some strawberries just in case.
Don –  No problem, I'll go there. But what if I don't find strawberries?
Anna – If you don't find strawberries, then bring me some apples, please.
Don – OK. I'll go in a minute.

:: COMMON MISTAKES

INCOR RECT CORRECT

If you will eat junk food, you don't lose weight. If you eat junk food, you don't lose weight.
If you will study more, you will learn faster. If you study more, you will learn faster.

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L E S S O N 5

IMPLIED MEANING: JOKES

:: USE AND STRUCTURE

Implied Meaning → What is said in between the lines; the meaning behind the words that are said.
→ Can be understood from cultural reference, body language, and tone of voice among
other resources.
→ Commonly present in jokes and irony.

Normally based on implied meaning and cultural reference.

Aims at provoking laughter through the ridicule, absurdity, and misunderstandings.

Take a look at some jokes and the meaning behind them.

Example 1

Judy – Doctor, will I be able to play the piano after the operation?
Dr. Moore – Yes, of course.
Judy – Great! I never could before!

The doctor answers responding to the results of the operation assuming the patient already
knows how to play the piano, but the patient takes it as he’d gain a new skill.

Example 2

Why couldn't Cinderella be a good soccer player?

She lost her shoe, she ran away from the ball, and her coach was a pumpkin.

This joke plays with words and requires not only the knowledge of the meaning of the words ball
and coach but also the knowledge of the Cinderella story.

Example 3

Lilly – Meet my newborn brother.

Tess – Oh, he is so cute! What's his name?
Lilly – I don't know. I can't understand a word he says.

This joke implies that it is rather obvious that it is not the baby who will tell the name so the sibling
should know.

Example 4

Tom – When does the (English) alphabet have only 25 letters?

Leo – At Christmas time, because it is the time of Noel.

In order to understand this joke, one needs to have the knowledge of a cultural element and the
English alphabet and pronunciation. L is a letter, Noel is pronounced the same way as “No L”.

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Example 5

This joke presents a cultural misunderstanding between a native speaker of Spanish and a speaker of
English who’s learning Spanish. When the Spanish says it’s feminine, it refers to the word, not the fly.
However, this feature of grammar doesn’t exist in English and the Englishman thinks the Spanish one refers
to the gender of the fly not the word itself.

:: STAY ALERT
Jokes might be offensive, like this one:

Teacher – Today, we're going to talk about the tenses. Now, if I say, "I am beautiful," which tense is it?
Student – Obviously, it is the past tense.

The student implies that the teacher isn’t beautiful anymore.

Or, they might use cultural stereotypes that can also be offensive. So, be careful when telling jokes around.
Here’s a nice joke about Italians.

Jim – What do you call an Italian with his hands in his pocket?
Tony – A mute.

Italians are known for gesturing a lot while they speak.

Now, an offensive Swedish joke about Norwegians.

Martin – How do you say “genius” in Norwegian?

Samuel – Tourist.

Swedes usually refer to their fellow Scandinavian pals as being inferior in intelligence.

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RELATIVE PRONOUNS: REVIEW

:: USE AND STRUCTURE

• Use

→ People
→ Places
Relative Pronouns → Used to refer to nouns previously mentioned → Things
→ Dates
→ Ideas

• Structure

People: Who, Whom, That

My sister, who lives in London, is coming to see us. (referring to my sister)

My sister, to whom I talked yesterday, is coming to see us from London. (referring to my sister)
My sister that lives in London is coming to see us. (referring to my sister)

Places: Where, Which

Our first stop was in San Francisco, where I met some nice people. (referring to San Francisco)
Our first stop was in San Francisco, which I simply loved! (referring to San Francisco)

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Things: Which, That

Junk food, which is usually appealing to children, can be very unhealthy. (referring to junk food)
Even junk food that claims to have natural ingredients is bad for children. (referring to junk food)

Dates: When

Our wedding anniversary is in August, when we'll go for a second honeymoon. (referring to August)

Possession: When

That man, whose wife is pregnant, lives in my neighborhood. (referring to that man's wife)

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:: EXAMPLES IN CONTEXT

Invitation to a Party

Emily – Hi, Will! It's Emily. Listen, it's my birthday next Saturday.
I'm throwing a party and I'd love if you and Cynthia
could come.
William – How nice, Emily! We just have to find someone that
can babysit the kids. Kelly, our neighbor, who usually
babysits for us, is not in town.
Emily – Oh, please, feel free to take the kids. I'm putting up a
kid's area where they can play. And I'm also preparing
a special menu, which will only be served to the kids.
William – That's awesome, Emily. Thank you! We'll certainly be
there.

:: COMMON MISTAKES

INCORRECT CORRECT
New York is a city where I love. New York is a city which I love.
New York is the city which I live. New York is the city where I live.
My sister, whom is a doctor, is in Africa. My sister, who is a doctor, is in Africa.

STRESS AND MEANING

:: USE AND STRUCTURE

Stress → Refers to how strong or weak the pronunciation of a word in a sentence or of a syllable in a word is.

Word Stress

The way you pronounce the syllables may cause two situations.

1) Stressing the wrong syllable may make the word incomprehensible.

Murray – Can you REpeat the proBLEM?

Mary – I’m sorry, I don’t understand.

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2) Stressing the wrong syllable may confuse the listener because of another word.

DESert (arid and hot place) vs.
CONtest (a competition) vs.
PERmit (a license) vs.
PROduce (fruits and vegetables) vs.
REcord (a music album or a note) vs.
ADdress (house location) vs.
EXtract (a piece of a text) vs.
desSERT (sweet treat after the main dish)
conTEST (to disagree)
perMIT (to allow)
prodUCE (to bring out)
recORD (to keep record or save sound or image)
adDRESS (to speak to someone directly)
exTRACT (to remove something)

Sentence Stress

A neutral sentence, preserving its original meaning, will normally be stressed as follows:

Stressed: Content words (verbs, nouns, adjectives)

Unstressed: Structural or Linking words (articles, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary and modal verbs)

However, speakers may choose to infer different meanings according to how they pronounce the
words in a sentence. Take a look:

Dialogue 1 → Neutral. Nick is distracted; Julia is trying to catch his attention, but in a gentle tone.

Julia – Nick, look at me.

Nick – What?
Julia – I’m talking to you.

Dialogue 2 → Nick is distracted, but seems annoyed to be called on and Julia points out she’s talking.

Julia – Nick, look at me.

Nick – WHAT?
Julia – I am talking to you.

Dialogue 3 → Julia is annoyed because Nick isn’t paying attention to her.

Julia – Nick, look at ME.

Nick – What?
Julia – I talking to YOU.

:: EXAMPLES IN CONTEXT

An Italian Date

Mario –
Janet, after the pizza, will you have DEsert?
Janet –
What?!
Mario –
You are not FAT, you can have DEsert.
Janet –
WHAT do you MEAN?
(Starting to show irritation)
Mario – I mean, you will love the chocolate pudding.
Janet – Oh! You mean desSERT. OK, I’ll have some.

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