Keep

Keep is a neat little word. Generally it means to hold onto something, to save it instead of giving it away. For example:

I think I'll keep this book. It's one of my favorites. 

But we also use it in many idioms and phrasal verbs: 

You can keep quiet if you don't want to speak. 

You can keep a tradition. 

You can keep a secret--if you don't tell! 

You can keep a promise (or keep your word) if you do what you said you'd do. 

Someone may tell you to "Keep a lid on it" because they don't want you to tell anyone about it. 

Some people try to keep up with the Joneses--to have everything someone else has--especially expensive things, like a car, house, etc. 

In a race, you try to keep up with the fastest runner (or the fastest driver in a car race), or to keep up with the best students in class. 

If you are lonely you may ask a friend to keep you company (spend time with you). 

If you are impatient, someone may tell you to "Keep your shirt on, I'll be there in a minute." 

My English teacher used to say "Keep your wits about you" when she wanted us to think clearly during an exam. 

I keep on trying to learn Polish. I won't give up. If you want to encourage someone not to give up, you might say "Keep on keepin' on!" 

It's hard to keep track of all my friends on Skype! Keep in mind (remember) I have a lot of them! 

He was being serious, but his expression was so funny, I could hardly keep a straight face (I almost laughed). 

Would you keep an eye on my house while I'm on vacation? 

Please keep in touch. Write again when you have time. 

It's hard to keep my cool when I'm angry. 

My neighbors are very loud sometimes. The noise can keep me up late at night. I can't sleep. 

If it was hard for you to keep up with all these examples, that's OK. Keep trying!

More verb tenses

I created these exercises (and many more) for my friend Mark. These are examples of pronouns and the verbs that go with them.

I have a red car. 

You have a green car. 

He has a brown car. 

Two years ago, I had a white car. 

Maybe next year I will have a blue car. 

I have to go to work today. 

You have to go to work today.

He has to go to work today. 

I don’t have to work tomorrow. 

You don’t have to work tomorrow. 

He doesn’t have to work tomorrow. 

I had to stay home yesterday because I was sick. 

She had to stay home yesterday because she was sick.

I give him my books after I read them. 

I gave him a book yesterday. 

He gives me money sometimes. 

I will give him a new book tomorrow. 

I have given him many books.

I have more examples. Do you want to read them?

He has a book. Simple, right?

Isn’t English crazy? 

I want to show you a simple sentence and the confusing way we change it. Sometimes verbs change depending on the context, positive or negative, and sometimes, on which side of the Atlantic is your home. 

For example, if you see Jim reading a book, you can say: 

He has a book. 

But if you see Jim without a book, you have several choices. Our British friends might say: 

He hasn’t a book.

However, Americans are more likely to say: 

He does not have a book, or 

He doesn’t have a book. 

I know this is confusing because “have” is generally used with a plural subject, and “he” is definitely singular. However, there is still another choice that is correct but I don’t hear it as often. 

If we change the negative sentence to use “no” instead of “not”, then it’s like this: 

He has no book. 

For “you” and “I”, we have another exception because again we use “have” with a singular subject: 

You have a book. You do not have a book. 

You have no book. I have a book. I do not have a book. 

Fractions

How do you pronounce them in conversation or when reading something out loud?  

1/2=one half 

1/3=one third 

2/3=two thirds 

1/4=one fourth, or 

one quarter 

1/5=one fifth 

1/21=one twenty-first 

1 1/2=one and a half 

3 3/4=three and three fourths 

As you can see in these examples, except for "one half" and "one quarter", you can use the ordinal form of the denominator (bottom number) of the fraction. 

What about decimals? 

1.1=one point one, or one and one tenth 

3.14=three point one four, or 

three and fourteen hundredths 

5.021=five point oh two one, or 

five point zero two one, or 

five and 21 thousandths 

Here are some examples of decimals used to express amounts of money: 

$1.25=one dollar and twenty-five cents, or 

a dollar twenty-five, or 

a dollar and a quarter 

$3.50=three dollars and 50 cents, or 

three fifty, or 

three and a half 

$100=one hundred dollars, or 

a hundred dollars, or 

a C note (C in Roman numerals means 100), or 

a Benjamin (Benjamin Franklin's picture is on a 100-dollar bill) 

Have you seen the American comedy TV show, Two and a Half Men? Half a man?? Hmmm..

.

Have you heard someone say, "I have half a mind to tell him to leave"? This person isn't quite sure what to do, or maybe is afraid to do it.

Have you ever seen someone who was angry or impatient "go off half-cocked" (without taking time to make sensible plans)?

What fraction of this lesson will you remember? Half of it? All of it? (100%?)

Spring

Do you have a spring in your step because spring is just around the corner? 

The "official" first day of spring for baseball fans is the first home game of the season. For our hometown Kansas City Royals, that will be April 5. 

Here in the US we were told to spring forward one hour last weekend for the start of Daylight Saving Time. So for a few weeks, the difference in time between Poland and Missouri will be only 6 hours instead of 7. 

Do you have cabin fever from being inside during this long, cold winter? Lots of people around me are eager for winter to be over. I'm in no hurry. Summer is so hot and humid here in the midwest that I really don't want to think about it. I've spent too much time in my air-conditioned office, my air-conditioned home, and my air-conditioned car. 

If I came to visit your town, would you spring for (pay for) a drink? Be ready--you never know when I might spring a surprise visit on you!

Blah

Have you ever felt "blah"? I have.

I had a headache yesterday. The pain wasn't terrible but I felt lousy all day--not much appetite, no desire to talk to anyone, and I took a long nap in the afternoon. Blah.

I didn't feel great when I got up this morning, but it was Monday so I didn't think much about it. After 3 or 4 hours at work I didn't feel any better, so I decided to go home. I felt "blah"--no specific pain or symptom. I just didn't have any energy and more than anything I wanted to take a nap. It's hard to write computer code when your brain feels like mush. Blah.

It's hard to push yourself to work or study or clean the house when you don't have the energy or the motivation to do it. I know there are times when you don't have any choice. When your baby cries in the middle of the night, he's not going to change his own diaper and get a bottle by himself. He needs your help or he will feel worse than "blah" and will let you know it! 

Maybe you don't have enough sick days to stay home from work, so you go anyway because you can't afford to lose your job. So if you're having a "blah" day, do the best you can and I hope tomorrow is a better day for you--and me!

The

I see I've been a bit lazy. I didn't add anything to this blog in the first 2 months of 2010. Oh well. 

One of my friends asked me how to decide which way to pronounce "the". Sometimes it sounds like the beginning of "these"; at other times it's more like "thus". Here's an easy way to decide: 

1) If the next word after "the" starts with a vowel sound (a,e,i,o,u), you pronounce "the" with the long "e" sound in "these". 

2) If the next word starts with a consonant sound, "the" sounds like the beginning of "thus". 

Notice I said vowel "sound" and consonant "sound". Sometimes English is tricky because some words have silent letters. For example, the word "herb" is pronounced as though the "h" weren't there. It's spelled with a consonant at the beginning, but it's pronounced as though it started with a vowel. So you would use #1 above, not #2. That's the (#1) end of the (#2) story. 

Don't forget to stick out your tongue when you say "the"--whichever one you use!