Asking For And Giving Permission,Talking About Favorite Things,Telling The Time,Making Offers,Asking for and Giving advice

Asking For And Giving Permission

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Asking for and giving permission:

When you ask for permission to use something that belongs to someone else you have to do your best to be polite. It is desirable to use the word "please."

Asking for Permission:

• Can I go out, please?
• May I open the window, please?
• Please, can I have a look at your photo album?
• Please, may I taste that hot spicy couscous dish?
• Do you mind if I smoke?
• Would you mind if I asked you something?
• Is it okay if I sit here?
• Would it be all right if I borrowed your mobile Phone?

Giving Permission:

• Yes, please do.
• Sure, go ahead.
• Sure.
• No problem.
• Please feel free.

Refusing to give permission:

• No, please don’t.
• I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.
• I'm afraid, but you can't.

Dialogue:

Liza, eight years old, is asking her mother for permission to use the computer...

Liza:	Please mum, can I use the computer?
Her mother:	No, dear you can't. It's time to go to bed.
Liza:	May I read a story before I sleep?
Her mother:	Sure! But try to sleep early.
Liza:	Thanks a lot mummy.

Talking About Favorite Things

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Talking about favorite things

When you talk about your favorite things you talk about the best liked or most enjoyed things.
Examples:

• "What's your favorite color?" "Green."

Study the dialogue:

Leila is talking to her new friend Cathy:

Leila:	What kind of films do you like best?
Cathy:	Science fiction. And you?
Leila:	Comedy. And who's your favorite actor?
Cathy:	Tom Cruise.
Leila:	I like Robert de Nero most.

Asking about favorite things:

• What's your favorite sport?
• What sport do you like best?
• What sport do you like most?
• What kind of sport do you like best?
• Who's your favorite football player?

Responding:

• My favorite sport is football.
• I like football best.
• I like football most.
• My favorite football player is Ronaldo.

Things to remember:

• "Favourite" is British spelling.
• "Favorite" is American spelling.

  Telling The Time

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  How to tell the time in English?

  

  There are two common ways of telling the time in English. For 2:40 you can use one of these two ways.
  

  • Digital: the easier way - "Two forty "
  • Classical: you say the minutes first then the hour - "twenty to three"

  Here are the different ways to ask for and tell the time.
  

  Asking about the time:

  What	time is it?
  	time do you make it?
  	's the time?
  Have you got	the right time?

  Telling the time:

  Digital	It's ...	It's ...
  2.00	two o'clock	two
  2.06	six minutes past two	two oh six
  2.09	nine minutes past two	two oh nine
  2.12	twelve past two	two twelve
  2.15	a quarter past two	two fifteen
  2.20	twenty past two	two twenty
  2.25	twenty-five past two	two twenty-five
  2.30	half past two	two thirty
  2.35	twenty-five to three	two thirty-five
  2.40	twenty to three	two forty
  2.45	a quarter to three	two forty-five
  2.50	ten to three	two fifty
  2.55	five to three	two fifty-five
  2.57	three minutes to three	two fifty-seven
  2.58	nearly three o'clock	two fifty-eight
  3.00	three o'clock	three

  Example:

  Question:	What's the time, please?
  Answer:	It's two o'clock.

  Making Offers

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  How to make offers in English?

  It is common that English speakers make offers in conversations in order to be polite and helpful. When they do so they use these expressions:
  

  Can I… ?
  Shall I… ?
  Would you like … ?
  How about ...?

  English learner must be able to make offers as well as accept or reject them. The following are useful expressions to do so.

  Making offers:

  Can	I	help you?
  Shall		get you some juice?
  Would you like		a glass of water ?
  How about		some pizza?

  Examples:

  • "Can I help you?"
  • "Shall I open the window for you?"
  • "Would you like another cup of coffee?"
  • "Would you like me to clean the board?"
  • "How about a juice? "

  Remember:

  • Shall, can and will are followed by the verb without to.
    Example:
    "Can I help you?"
    "Shall I bring you the mobile phone?
  • Shall is more formal than can.
  • Would you like… is followed either by a noun, or by the verb with to.
    Example:
    "Would you like some tea ?"
    "Would you like to drink some coffee?

  Responding to offers

  Accepting	Declining
  Yes please. I'd like to. That would be very kind of you. Yes please, that would be lovely. Yes please, I'd love to. If you wouldn't mind. If you could. Thank you, that would be great.	It's OK, I can do it myself. Don't worry, I'll do it. No, thanks No, thank you

  Examples:

  • "Can I help you?"
    "No thanks, I'm just having a look." (With a shop assistant.)
    
  • "Can I help you?"
    "Do you know where the post office is."
    
  • "Shall I help you with your maths problem?"
    "Yes, please. That would be very nice of you."
    
  • "Would you like a cup of tea?"
    "No thanks." Or, "No thank you."
    
  • "Would you like another piece of cake?"
    "Yes please, that would be nice ."
    "Yes please, I'd love one."
    
  • "Would you like me to do the the ironing for you?"
    "If you wouldn't mind."
    "If you could."
    
  • "I'll do the washing, if you like."
    "It's OK, I can do it."
    "Don't worry, I'll do it."
    "Thank you, that would be great."

Asking for and Giving advice

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Expressions

Asking for advice:

• I've got a bad toothache. What do you suggest?
• What do you advise me to do?
• What should I do?
• What ought I to do?
• What's your advice?
• If you were me what would you do?

Giving advice

• If I were you, I would go to the dentist.
• Why don't you go to the dentist?
• You'd better brush your teeth regularly.
• You ought to/should avoid eating sweets.
• If you take my advice, you'll go to the dentist.
• It might be a good idea to brush your teeth on a regular basis.
• I advise you to brush your teeth on a regular basis.
• Have you thought about seeing a dentist.

Declining to give advice

• I don't know what to advise, I'm afraid.
• I wish I could suggest something, but I can't.
• I wish I could help.
• I'm afraid I can't really help you.

Things to remember about asking for and giving advice:

1. "Advise" is a verb.
Example:
"I advise you to learn English. You will undoubtedly need it in your higher studies"
2. "Advice" is a noun.
Example:
"My father gave me this piece of advice when I was young: never give up"
3. "Ought to" has nearly the same meaning as "should". The only difference is that "ought to " refers to a moral or external obligation but should is more of an advice.
Example:
"You ought to stop smoking."
"You should stop smoking."
4. "You'd better" is the short form of "you had better"
Example:
"You'd better see a doctor!" = "You had better see the doctor"

Study the dialogue:

Student:	I'm terrible at English and I think I should do something about it. What do you advise me to do?
Teacher:	I think you should try this website. It's a fantastic website for beginners.
Student:	I've heard about it, but what do you think I should start with?
Teacher:	You'd better start with the lessons.Then, try the exercises.