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NEWS
- I gave a master class at the Conservatory of Amsterdam – we worked on lyrical analysis, grammar, and songwriting tips and tricks. We laughed almost as hard as we worked – which was a LOT!
- I went from Kanye and Jay Z one night (which was excellent, one of my favorite ones is here (one of my favorite lines: Cruisin’ down 8th St., off white Lexus/ Drivin’ so slow, but BK is from Texas) to the premiere of The Little Mermaid musical the next night. My friend Doug wrote the script and it was an honor to be his date for the evening. After the show, I talked to the head of music at Disney who told me that what I heard was actually a ‘virtual orchestra’ – that means that ‘instruments were playing other instruments’ whoah!
- I work at 3 colleges which means I get the chance to correct LOTS of exams….good thing I love what I do….but still. This is taking valuable time away from me watching football! 😉
YOUR QUESTIONS
Someone asked me: ‘What’s the difference between ‘I have never met him’ and ‘I never met him’?
Good question! I see these mixed up all the time, in lyrics, in normal conversation, and in written English. It’s easy. If you use the Present Perfect – I have never met him- (which is chapter 5 in my course) this means that you can STILL meet him. The situation is not finished yet. So you haven’t met him up until now, but this form of grammar means that it can still happen sometime in the future. So basically, he is alive but your paths have not crossed yet. If you use the Past Simple – I never met him – (which is lesson 3 in my course) this means that the situation is over. It’s finished. It’s not going to happen again. So, basically, you will never meet him again. He’s dead. So be careful when using this form. Don’t murder someone without meaning to! Remember folks, bad grammar can KILL! 😉
TIPS DU JOUR
A weekly round up of my Tips Du Jour on Twitter – follow me here!
- Where do you working? Is always wrong. Don’t go there! ‘Do’ and ‘ing’ are never together. Ever. It should be ‘Do you work…?’ or ‘Are you working…?’ Don’t cross-pollinate!
- Watch your prepositions! There’s a huge difference between ‘I’m looking for my children’ and ‘I’m looking after them’. Please don’t give me a heart attack!
- FOR or SINCE? For is used for a period of time – ‘I have known him for 3 years.’ Since is used for the day, date, or time the action started. ‘I have known him since 2009.’ (Both are used with the Present Perfect here, meaning that the action is not finished. See unit 5 in my course for more information.)
- More pepper in your soup: Don’t forget to work on descriptive language to strengthen the visual imagery in your English. Use all 5 senses to describe things – it adds more color to your language!
- Don’t translate literally! Someone said to me recently – ‘This school is very heavy.’ I replied, ‘I wouldn’t know – I’ve never tried to lift it up!’ (I think he mean that his school was tough, difficult, or challenging.)
GIGGLE TIME
WARNING: Do not watch this if you are a child, pregnant (as they say on the video, which is funny all by itself) or are drinking coffee (as I say, because you will spit up laughing)….Just in case you were Korean and needed to know how to swear in English….don’t say I didn’t warn you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3v7xOEZwAA
THANK YOU. I love what I do, and I do what I love, especially when someone mails me: ‘Dear Buffi, thank you for being such a wonderful couch.’
HAVE A GREAT WEEK, PEOPLE!
Don’t forget to follow me on twitter or Facebook – looking forward to hearing from you!
Sending you all champagne and oysters….in my head,
buffi