Alemão Assimil: Recent Episodes

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To get

1. Let's look at some expressions with the verb "to get".
2. These expressions are very common, and you already know a few.
3. Here are some more. Try and learn them.
4. He gets up at half-past seven every morning.
5. The train gets in at eleven thirty.
6. It took him a long time to get over his illness.
7. Let's go home. It's getting dark.
8. Speak louder. She's getting very deaf.
9. These records are cheaper than those, but they are still quite expensive.
10. Please, go and get me a paper, I'm too busy to go myself.
11. The burglar got into the house through a small window.
12. Take a number thirty-seven bus and get off at Charing Cross.
13. Everyone was trying to get on the bus at once.
14. What's the matter? - I've got a headache, a toothache, a sore throat and a cold,
15. and nobody asks me how I feel!

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1. Men speak of women as the "fair sex" or the "gentle sex" or the "weaker sex".
2. Women rarely speak of men as the "stronger sex".
3. Some men think they are considered as the "paying sex".
5. My wife dreams every night that she's married to a millionaire.
6. You're lucky. Mine dreams she's married to a millionaire in the daytime!
8. Nature has given us ears which are always open
9. and a mouth which it is often better to keep shut.
11. Two proud parents were showing their son his new brother.
12. The boy looked at the baby for a minute and then started crying.
13. The parents smiled. "What's the matter? they asked.
14. It's got no hair or teeth", the child sobbed.
15. It's not fair. It's an old baby."
17. We do not ask you to learn the irregular verbs in two or three days
18. but only to repeat them when we meet them.

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Your body

1. There are many words in English which include parts of the body.
2. For instance: When I have the 'flu, I keep a supply of paper handkerchiefs.
3. You look very busy. Can I give you a hand?
4. Mr. Marsden is head of the board of directors.
5. He is too nosy. He is interested in anything that doesn't concern him.
6. Teacher. - Is "trousers" singular or plural?
7. Pupil. - Please sir, singular at the top and plural at the bottom.
8. That was a cheeky answer.
9. The two runners were very close, they were almost neck and neck.
10. When you are driving, always keep the spare wheel handy.
11. And, of course, when you are drinking your beer, you can say "Chin chin!"
12. Other parts of the body are the arms, the elbows and the fingers.
13. Lower, we have the legs, the knees, the feet and the toes.

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A touch of 'flu

1. David woke up with a headache and a sore throat.
2. He called Joan and told her he felt ill.
3. She took his temperature and saw it was 102 (one hundred and two degrees) so she called the doctor.
4. David was sleeping when the doctor arrived.
5. Hello. What's the matter with you?
6. He felt David forehead and listened to his chest.
7. Then he said: "It's touch of 'flu, nothing serious.
8. Take these tablets and keep warm. You'll soon be on your feet."
10. That doctor put me on my feet very quickly.
11. Oh, how did he do that?
12. I had to sell my car to pay the bill!
14. On the face, you have the eyes, the nose and the mouth.
15. My head aches and my hands are cold.
16. I think I have a touch of 'flu or a cold.

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1. When I was in America, I took some very good photos.
2. Hello, how are you? - I'm tired. I only came back from my trip yesterday.
3. That was my wife's car you saw me with.
4. We heard about his trip and the things he did. It was very interesting.
5. How about a glass of beer? - No thanks, I'm not thirsty.
6. Did you see him yesterday? - No, I didn't.
7. He didn't pay his bill because he didn't have any money.
8. Who was that lady I saw you with last night?
9. That wasn't a lady, that was my wife.
10. We thought he had understood.
12. Mother. - What did you do on your first day at school?
13. Child. - I learnt to write.
14. Mother. - Already! Well, what did you write?
15. Child. - I don't know. I can't read.

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1. Tell me more about your trip.
2. Well, Peter and I took a plane to San Francisco. We stayed there for two days and went down to Monterrey.
3. There we saw Cannery Row. - Didn't someone write a book about that?
4. Yes, John Steinbeck wrote one. They also held a pop festival there in the sixties.
5. Then we drove to Los Angeles and visited Disneyland. Peter knew it already.
6. I thought Disneyland was fantastic. It reminded me of the "Conciergerie" in Paris.
7. What an educated person!
8. It was my birthday last week. - How old were you? - Oh, at least thirty-two.
10. The ten best years of a woman's life
11. are those between twenty-nine and thirty.
13. Shopkeeper. - Your bill isn't paid yet.
14. Customer. - Didn't you receive my cheque?
15. Shopkeeper. - No, I didn't.
16. Customer. - I'll post it at once.

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Difficult to please

1. A man is trying to entertain his guest in a club.
2. Would you like a Scotch? - No, thank you.
3. I tried it once and didn't like it. I never tried it again.
4. Well, have some beer. - No, thank you.
5. I tried some once and didn't like it. I never drank it again.
6. How about a game of billiards? - No, thank you.
7. I played it once and didn't like it. I never tried it again.
8. Well, a game of chess? - Again, no thank you.
9. I played it once and didn't like it.
10. But here is my son. He's an excellent player.
11. Your only son, I presume?
13. What did you do in America? - We rented a car and visited the West Coast.
14. Did you see the Grand Canyon? - No, we didn't have time.

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1. Here are a few more examples of regular verbs in the present, in the past and with the past participle:
2. I hope, I hoped, I have hoped. He lives, he lived, he has lived. We finish, we finished, we have finished.
3. They talk, they talked, they have talked. She changes, she changed, she has changed. You play, you played, you have played.
5. Let's practise the past of "do":
6. Does he smoke? Did he smoke? We don't ask questions; we didn't ask questions.
7. What do you do? What did you do?
8. Does he wait? Did he wait? She doesn't answer. She didn't answer.
9. "Can" and "will" are irregular and become "could" and "would" in the past. They have no past participle.
10. I can begin now. I couldn't begin yesterday.
11. He wouldn't work this morning, but he will now.
12. I have (I've), I had.
13. I am (I'm), we are (we're), I was, we were, I have been.

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More past tenses

1. Was he at home yesterday? - I think so, but I didn't phone.
2. He called yesterday, but he didn't see me. - Did he phone? - I don't think so.
3. These are the interrogative and negative forms in the past.
4. You do not change the verb, you simply put the auxiliary "do" into the past "did":
5. I did not (didn't) like the food. He did not (didn't) phone. We did not (didn't) like him.
6. Questions are easy, too: Did he like it? Did she phone?
8. Did you like the play last night? - I didn't see it.
9. But did you go to the theatre? - Yes, but I was so tired I closed my eyes.
10. Tell me, was the play interesting? - I didn't understand very much, it was in Greek.
11. Then why did you go? - I liked the main actor.
12. Did he act well? - I didn't watch the acting. I looked at him.
13. What did you do after the play? - I dreamed about the actor!
14. He did not, He didn't; he didn't like the play.
15. Did they... ?; did they phone you?

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Revisions and Notes

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1. How far is it to the station? - Oh, not too far.
2. It takes about ten minutes on foot and only two by car.
3. Shall I call you a taxi? - No thanks, I'll walk. I have plenty of time.
5. A sociologist is studying the average height of the English.
6. Do you know, he says to hes girlfriend, only one Englishman in nine hundred twenty (920) is six feet tall?
7. Yes, says the girl, but it's always him
8. that sits in front of me in the cinema.
10. A businessman is writing to an competitor who is very dishonest:
11. "As my secretary is a lady, she cannot tell you what I think of you,
12. and as I am a gentleman, I cannot even think it;
13. but as you are neither one or the other,
14. I hope you understand!"

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The past tense

1. We worked hard yesterday, and today we must look at something new.
2. You looked at the lesson and listened to the records (or tapes), so now you are ready to learn the past tense.
3. It is very simple. You add "ed" to the infinitive if it ends in a consonant;
4. and simply "-d" to the infinitive ending in "e".
5. For example: to look, I looked; to work, he worked;
6. To like, they liked; to smile, we smiled.
7. There are, of course, some irregular verbs, but they are not too complicated.
8. Lit's look at our old friends "to be" and "to have".
9. "To have" is extremely simple. It becomes "had": you had, he had.
10. "to be" has two forms: I was, he was; and; you were, they were.
11. You see how simple it is!
12. We had dinner at eight o'clock, John and Peter were there.
13. I had a cold last week and I was quite ill.
14. We hoped to see her but she was busy.

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1. An Englishman and a Frenchman are discussing their respective countries.
2. Of course, says the Englishman, you Frenchmen are not gentlemen.
3. And why not? replies hes friend, slightly annoyed.
4. Well, for example, if you enter a bathroom by mistake,
5. and you see a young lady washing, what do you say?
6. We say "Excuse me, madam".
7. Exactly, says the Englishman, but a gentleman says: "Excuse me, sir."
9. A gentleman is a person capable of two things:
10. He can describe a pretty girl without using gestures,
11. and he always hears a funny story for the first time.
13. Two English gentlemen are eating a meal in their club.
14. They taste the soup with great interest, and one says to the other:
15. It's an interesting soup, but not a great soup.