23.

Asking for, giving and refusing permission

23. Asking for, giving and refusing permission

English words relative and cousin are usually translated with one word ‘rođak’ in our language.
However, they have different meanings. A relative is any member of your family, and a cousin is a
son or a daughter of your uncle or aunt. Now, when you understand this distinction, do exercise 1
on page 82 in your Book. (Engleske riječi relative i cousin se na naš jezik obično prevode jednom
riječju, ’rođak’. Ipak, ove riječi imaju različita značenja. A relative je bilo koji član vaše porodice
(rođak), dok je a cousin sin ili kćerka vašeg ujaka/strica ili tetke (brat/sestra od
ujaka/strica/tetke). Sada, kad razumijete ovu razliku, uradite vježbu 1 na str.82 u Vašem
udžbeniku.)

Now focus on the pictures on the same page. Do you remeber Peggy and Tom, the couple who
had a 25th anniversary party? Do you remember Derek and Brenda Bradley, Tom’s best man and
Peggy’s bridemaid, and their son Nick? Well, Derek, Brenda and Nick are staying with Peggy and
Tom after the party. Have a look on sentences a)-f) in exercise 2 and then listen to the recording
Ask for permission (R10.7) from your CD-ROM. Complete the sentences. Then match
conversations 1-3 to pictures A-C. (sada se fokusirajte na slike na istoj strani. Sjećate li se Pegi i
Toma, para koji je slavio 25 godina braka? Sjećate li se Dereka i Brende Bredli, Tomovog kuma i
Pegine djeveruše, i njihovog sina Nika? E, pa, Derek, Brenda i Nik će ostati kod Toma i Pegi nakon
zabave. Pogledajte rečenice a)-f) u vježbi 2, a onda odslušajte snimak Tražite dozvolu (R10.7) sa
vašeg CD-ROM-a. Kompletirajte rečenice. Zatim spojite razgovore 1-3 sa slikama A-C.)

Try to do exercises 3a) and 3b) – which of responses in exercise 3a) are giving permission and
which are refusing permission; then match these responses to the questions 1-3 in 2a).
(Pokušajte da uradite vježbe 3a) i 3b) – koji odgovori u vježbi 3a) pokazuju davanje dozvole, a
koji odbijanje; zatim spojite ove odgovore sa pitanjima 1-3 u 2a).)

Asking for permission. If you ask for permission, you can use some of the following phrases
(Ako tražite dozvolu, možete upotrijebiti neku od sledećih fraza):

- Do you think I could use your mobile phone?

- May I make a sandwich?

- Can I borrow your pencil?

- Is it OK if I drink a bottle of beer?

- Do you mind if I open the window?

- Would you mind if I sent an email from your computer?

After Do you think I could …, May I …, and Can I … we use the infinitive (use , make,
borrow). After Is it OK if I …, and Do you mind if I …, we use the Present Simple, since these
sentences are 1st conditional. After Would you mind if I …, we use the Past Simple (2nd
conditional). Would you mind if I … is a very polite way to ask for permission. (Posle Do you
think I could …, May I …, i Can I … koristimo infinitiv. Posle Is it OK if I …, i Do you mind if
I … koristimo Present Simple, jer su ove rečenice oblik 1. kondicionala. Posle Would you mind if
I … koristimo Past Simple (2. kondicional). Would you mind if I … je vrlo ljubazan način za
traženje dozvole.)

1/1
23. Asking for, giving and refusing permission

Permission can also be asked for other people to do things (Dozvolu možemo tražiti i za druge
ljude):

- Is it OK if John goes with us?

Giving permission. Permission is usually given by saying (Dozvola se obično daje odgovorom)

- Yes, of course. / Help yourself. / Sure, go ahead.

To give permission for phrases Do you mind if I… and Would you mind if I … we usually say No,
not at all. It is because these phrases mean ‘Is it problem if I …?’ (Da bismo odgovorili na fraze Do
you mind if I… i Would you mind if I … obično kažemo No, not at all. To je zato što ove fraze
znače ‘Je li problem ako ja…?’):

- Do you mind if I open the window?

- No, not at all.

Refusing permission. It is not polite to say ‘no’ to refuse permission in English. The English give
a reason why they refuse permission instead, and they usually use Sorry and Actually at the
beginning of the sentence to be polite (Nije pristojno reći ‘ne’ da biste odbili nekoga na
engleskom. Englezi umjesto toga daju razlog za odbijanje, i obično koriste Sorry i Actually na
početku rečenice da budu ljubazni):

- Do you think I could use your mobile phone?

- Sorry, I think the battery is empty.

Now pass through activity 4 and do exercise 7 on page 83. Finally do exercises 1a), 2a), 2b), 4
and 5 from 10 Review, p 83.

DON’T FORGET EXERCISES FROM YOUR CD-ROM!

Key 2a).
a) emails b) books c) photos d) girlfriend e) sandwich f) washing

1C 2B 3A

Key 3a). Responses 2, 4 and 5 give permission. Responses 1, 3 and 6 refuse permission.

Key 3b). a)3 b)4 c)1 d)5 e)2 f)6

Key 5. 2b) 3b) 4a) 5a) 6b)

Key 7a).

1 May I see what you’ve written?

2 Can I use your dictionary for a moment?

3 Do you think I could borrow some money?

2/1
23. Asking for, giving and refusing permission

4 Do you mind if I take a photo of you?

5 Is it OK if I borrow your CD-ROM for a few days?

6 Would you mind if I used your mobile to call the USA?

Keys to 10 Review.

Key 1a). 1 got 2 heard 3 get 4 kept 5 lost 6 am 7 give

Key 2a).
1 agreement with another person
2 personal plan
3 agreement with another person
4 agreement with another person
5 personal plan

Key 2b).
1) was supposed to 2) was going to 3) was supposed to
4) was supposed to 5) was going to

Key 4. 1 isn’t; might be 2 must be; is 3 can’t be; must be

3/1