DO YOU GET “GET”?

Possession

• Absolute possession: I’ve got a pen.
• … but not here: I’ve got a car.
• Characteristic: I’ve got red hair.
• Illness: I’ve got a headache.
• Abstract characteristic: I’ve got a lot of patience.
• Qualification: I’ve got a Degree.
• Temporary possession: I’ve got your newspaper.
• Time + infinitive: I’ve got time to do it.
• Get, got, got = obtain: I’ve got a seat.
• Get, got, got = receive: I’ve got an invitation.
• Geographical possession: Alicante has got a castle.
• Appointment: I’ve got a meeting tomorrow.
• Relationship: I’ve got a sister.
• Obligation/consequence-specific: I’ve got to pay it before Friday.

Get your teeth into this!!!

I’ve got a pen.

He’s got to type it before he gives it in.

We got to the top of the mountain at six.

I got a letter from her yesterday.

Have you got this book in stock?

I got this book yesterday.

Can you get me a newspaper?

You’ll get a fine if you leave your car there.

I’ll get my own breakfast.

Do you get a lot of rain in England?

Do teachers get a lot of money?

I got ‘flu last month.

I don’t get that joke.

I don’t get what you’re trying to say.

Sometimes I think you’re getting old.

I’m getting hungry.

It’s getting cold.

It gets light at seven.

He easily gets depressed.

She’s getting better.

It’s getting warmer.

It’s getting more dangerous.

It’s getting too noisy.

This is getting interesting.

It got boring after a while.

Life is getting expensive.

Computers are getting cheaper.

He’ll soon get well.

My team’s getting better.

My cold’s getting worse.

Take an umbrella or you’ll get wet.

Use plenty of lotion or you’ll get sunburnt.

The children are getting sleepy.

Don’t get your clothes dirty.

What time does it get dark?

How did this get broken?

My team got beaten.

He got bitten by a snake.

When are they getting married?

How did his leg get cut?

How did you get your leg broken?

I’m going to get my shoes mended.

The robbers got away.

We get together at Christmas.

What time do you get up?

He got his message across well.

Run faster! They’re getting ahead.

He’s intelligent. He’ll get on.

How are you getting on?

Get on with your work!

I don’t get on with him.

He’s getting on for seventy.

Get on the next bus.

Get off at the square.

Ants have got at this cheese.

I don’t know what you’re getting at.

The thief got away with the jewels.

There’s a crisis but I think we’ll get by.

You should get down to some hard work.

The weather’s getting me down.

She got into the car.

She got out at home.

She got out of the taxi.

He got into trouble with the police.

The pilot got into difficulties while trying to land.

That girl is always getting into a mess.

I haven’t got over my cold.

The horse has got over the last fence.

I’ll be glad to get it over and done with.

I’ll never get round to learning it.

He refused but I’ll get round him.

They got round the problem easily.

He’ll never get through all that lunch.

I’ll phone you when I get through with this.

The phone’s engaged. I can’t get through.

I’m going to get ready for the party.

GET OUT!!

GET LOST!!

I’m getting cold feet.

Get some information about it.

We must get more business.

She’s out for what she can get.

I’ll get a plumber to mend it.

I’ll get him to help us.

We’d better get moving.

We’d better get a move on.

He’ll never get round to doing it.

That swimmer is getting into difficulties.

How did she get into such a mess?

Don’t get your knickers in a twist!

It’s difficult to get to that village.

I don’t get that joke.

When did that country get independence?

When I get through here, we’ll have a coffee.

How do you get up to the castle?

How did the cat get inside the wardrobe?

He got away with the crime.

The lawyer got his client off.

She doesn’t earn much but she gets by.

Cold weather gets me down.

By the time I got the car out of the garage, got in and got the engine going, I was getting pretty worried. It was easy to get trapped in a traffic jam. My boss was getting fed up with me getting into work at half past nine every day. I didn’t want to get the sack. I didn’t get a lot of money, and many of my colleagues got more than me but there were opportunities to get on, and I was getting to know quite a lot of important people.

I got going and when I got to the first set of traffic lights, I got a blast of music from the car alongside. People get their kicks in strange ways. “I must be getting old,” I thought. I got away quickly and got into the fast lane. When I got to 60 mph, I got my seat belt fastened. I didn’t want to get a fine. I got the radio tuned in to my favourite station. My team had got beaten again, and our best player got his leg broken. I was getting more depressed.

I finally got to the office. I got a one pound coin for the parking metre; I didn’t want to get a parking fine. I got out of the car. “I’m getting fat,” I thought. I got a newspaper and got a move on. I didn’t want to get into trouble with my boss. I got to my desk just before the boss got in. He must be getting on for sixty but he gets through more work than anyone.

I usually get a few calls from friends early in the morning to see how I’m getting on and to get any news. News soon gets about in this business. It was getting late. It must have been getting on for eleven when I got a call from London. People in London get more money than us. So they get a bit big-headed or a bit impatient when we don’t get on with things as quickly as them.

They wanted me to get all the information on how our company was getting on in Spain. We’ve got a big concern in Madrid, and it gets a lot of business from the Spanish government. London wanted me to get on to them if I could get through and get all the data on the latest business. The boss is trying to get me to brush up my Spanish but I can usually get over what I want to say. However it’s more difficult to get what they’re saying. We usually manage to get across more or less what we want.

When I got through, I got the operator to get me in touch with Ramón. I get on very well with Ramón because he likes to get out every night. He never gets home until it’s getting light. So he always gets to work late. He never gets into trouble, though. He gets through his work and gets plenty of clients for the company. Ramón will get on very quickly; he’ll get ahead in the promotion race. We got down to business very quickly. I got across to him the importance of our Spanish branch, and he promised to get down to some hard work. The branch was getting established, and getting new business was easier but they didn’t want to get too smug. It was easy to get into a mess, and you had to avoid getting into trouble. He promised to get in touch the next day. Before he rang off, he told me that we must get together some time before he got married in April. I promised I would try to get my boss to get me a place on a Madrid-bound plane. I thought I could get round him easily.

I got through the call at ten to twelve. It was getting on for lunch-time. I got my things together and got into the lift. When we got to the ground floor, I got out my sunglasses and walked across the road to the pub. When I got there, I got a pleasant surprise. Mary had got a table by the window. I got a nice smile from her. I got a pint and some sandwiches. When I had got sat down, we got into conversation quickly. She told me she had got a rise and now got more money than me. This got me a little angry. I was getting left behind. I wondered how I could get my boss to give me a rise.

Outside it was getting cold. I hadn’t got an umbrella. It was raining. I didn’t want to get wet. I always get a cold or flu when I get wet. It was getting on for two o’clock; time to get back to the office. I got the feeling that the work was beginning to get me down. I suddenly felt that the boss was getting on my back. The work was getting on my nerves; it was getting me down. It was all getting too much for me. I was getting too old for this sort of thing.

“Get on with your work,” a voice shrilled. It was the boss. He was getting on his high horse again. If I got him by the throat and got my fingers in his eyes, he’d never get away. The newspaper would say, “Millionaire gets murdered by crazy employee.” I would get ten years in prison or get sent to a mental hospital, or I might even get the death penalty.

“How are you getting on, Tom?” the boss said. “I’ve been getting good reports from Madrid about you. How are you getting on with your Spanish? Think you could get through to them? I’ve got an idea,” he said. “I’m getting on a bit, and I don’t get on with foreigners.

Get what I mean? What I’m getting at is that is that if we can get someone to run our operations in Spain and Portugal, we could get ahead of our competitors .We need someone with get-up-and-go. Someone who wants to get on. Do you get what I’m saying?” he said.

I got the gist. I said that if I ever got the chance to get hold of the reins of our Spanish operation, I would soon get it on its feet and running smoothly. I got on with the people there. The Spanish way of life had been getting to me ever since I got an eyeful of Spanish girls! I  got that funny feeling! I was getting to like the idea more and more. I’d get around a lot, get out and about, get to visit places all over  Spain and get to know more people.

When I got off the plane in Madrid two weeks later, I thought it wouldn’t take long to get a tan in this sunshine. Getting from the airport to my hotel was terrible. We got held up for an hour in a traffic jam. I got the feeling that the taxi-driver was getting me going, taking the Mickey but I didn’t care. When we got to the hotel, I got signed in and got my things taken to my room. I got showered, got changed and got ready to go out. I got the address of a good restaurant and got down there straight away.

After dinner I decided to get a little drunk. It wasn’t every day you got promotion. I got a taxi to get me to a fashionable pub and soon got a drink ordered. I quickly got into conversation with the waiter. According to him the pub got a lot of important clients later in the evening. I decided I’d try to get to know some of them. I was getting into the swing when I got a tap on my shoulder. It was Ramón. He had got news of my arrival and had got the name of the pub from the taxi company.

We soon got talking about business, and we were really getting into it when I got the feeling that the place was getting very hot. “Let’s get out of here,” said Ramón. “I’ll get a taxi back to your hotel. We can get a drink there. These places get too hectic on Friday nights. Well, it must have been getting on for five o’clock when I finally got to bed. It didn’t take me a second to get to sleep. That night I got a good night’s sleep. I got a call at nine the next morning from London. They wanted me to get in touch with a lawyer called Rodríguez in order to get all my documents in order. I got down his address and promised to get over to his office first thing on Monday morning. It was Saturday. I got the paper. I wanted to get to see a football match. While I was getting breakfast, I got the waiter to get me all the gen on the football matches. The hotel could get English football on one channel. They got more international football on the parabolic channels. Or else I could try to get down to the stadium and try to get ticket for the big match that day: Madrid versus Barcelona. When I had got all the gen, I got out my guide book and got out into the fresh air. It was getting warmer, and I meant to get a move on. Getting about is easy in Madrid. You can get on a bus, get on the metro or just get into a taxi or, like me, just get on a good pair of walking shoes and get walking. Getting to the stadium was easy. I got on a bus in the city centre and got off outside the stadium. I got the bus-driver to tell me when we got there. It wasn’t necessary because you get your first glimpse of the stadium miles before you get there. I got goose pimples when I got off the bus. The stadium was magnificent.

Getting a ticket wasn’t easy. Well, I could have got one at a price. One man tried to get me to pay a hundred pounds. I told him to get lost. I hadn’t come to Spain to get robbed. I went to a hairdresser’s to get my hair cut, and I got into conversation with the barber who said he could get me a ticket for fifty pounds. I got him down to forty-five. When I got out of the chair, he had already got the ticket. I didn’t get it at first. He explained that he got tickets from the players when they came to get their hair cut. He got to see all the big games that way. Anyway I thought I had got away quite cheaply. Tickets were getting sold for two hundred pounds later. When I got into the ground and got to my seat, I got a fantastic view of the pitch. I had got the best tickets in the ground. You get an incredible sensation. The ground gets to you. It’s fantastic. When the game got going and Madrid got the first goal, Barcelona got an equalizer and I thought Madrid were going to get beaten. Then a Madrid player got the ball on the wing and got the ball over into the centre. The centre forward got it on his head, and he got in a perfect header. The goalkeeper got nowhere near it.

After ninety minutes the referee got out his whistle and blew for time. As soon as I got out of the stadium, I got surrounded by a crowd. Things were getting violent .One man got punched and got a broken nose. Some people were getting angry, and I was getting frightened. Just then somebody got me by the arm and got me through the crowd to safety. I was getting my breath back when I got a good look at his face. Whoever it was had got a mask on ….. like Zorro. I got ready to introduce myself when he suddenly got onto a big black horse, and all I got was a view of his back as he rode away. I got a taxi and got the driver to get me to the station. I had to get away from Madrid. I needed time to get used to this strange land. I got a ticket for Alicante and got onto a train. I had just got into my seat when the train got going. It was soon getting a move on. After half an hour I was getting thirsty; I got up and got moving towards the bar. I got a beer, and I got something to eat. I got into conversation with some people who got English films by satellite. They were getting animated but I was getting bored. I got out my newspaper and got down to some reading. I was getting some quite good information when I got a dig in my back. I looked round and got the biggest surprise in my life. It was Mary. Mary and I had got married and then got divorced a month later because we didn’t get on. I couldn’t get over it. If I had got struck by lightning, I would have got less of a shock. We got into conversation. She had got married again to a man who was getting on for twice  her age but he got well paid, and she got plenty of time to travel, which was the only thing she got a kick out of. We were getting on very well when it began to get dark, and I got to thinking that maybe I had got things wrong when I got a divorce from her. At 7 o’clock we got into Alicante. I got my cases, got to the taxi-rank, got a taxi for Mary, got a last look at her as her taxi got away and I got another cab. I got the taxi-driver to get me to a small hotel where you didn’t get many foreigners. I didn’t want to get into conversation with Brits. I didn’t want to get into any arguments. Getting mixed up with people from London would soon get boring ……………………………………………………….

For instance, the –ence/-ance problem. Frenchified words are easy: Renaissance, nuance and so on.

Those words without this “Frenchiness” such as guidance, excellence, nuisance, intelligence and so on can be a minefield, especially for people who read little. For many, words like bourgeoisie, reservoir and cacophony strike terror into the heart. Homophones such as “through” and “threw” are other obstacles to be surmounted. The regular verbs are spelled/spelt regularly but pronounced /pronounst/ differently. Some like “traffic” change to “trafficking”.

L.A.Hill and J.M.Muir’s “English Sounds and Spellings” (Oxford University Press 1962) runs the whole gamut but doesn’t enter into the pitfalls or the reasons for bad spelling.

OFFHAND pariah / paradigm / alms / mortgage / laughter / drawer / quay / rein

gnaw / odour / hiccough / silhouette / diarrhea / wraith / manoeuvrable

original / decrepit / epoch / guile / neigh / common / women / surreptitious

English has so many diphthongs and what the purists call glottal stops and so on. Then there is elision and stress and so on. So we tend to think that spelling is a matter of self-discipline when in fact it is really a labyrinth.  There are a few rules such as “i” before “e” except after “c”. However these don’t really help much. OK we spell “receipt” with “e” before “i” because they follow “c” but where the hell does “p” come from! Why is the “c” pronounced like “s” and why is “ei” pronounced as “i” and why isn’t the “e” after “r” pronounced at all?

(receipt /riˈsi:t/)

And what about all those silent letters? Who invented them and why have we kept them?

gnarled / gnash / gnat / gnaw / gnome / knee / knickers / know / knuckle / pneumonia / pseudonym / psychology / cupboard / raspberry / receipt / shepherd / scene / scythe / acquiescence / effervesce / what /

when /  where / who / whole / write / writhing

scene / seen / scale / skill / scheme / schedule / scum / skittle / schism

Of course spelling has always been a bugbear. It is said that Churchill,  the greatest man of the twentieth century probably, couldn’t spell for toffee. Mark Twin and Americans in general have tried to introduce some common sense words like:

English American English

colour                                                  color

centre                                                  center

travelled                                             traveled

realise                                                 realize                                  …………..…but to no avail.

How’s your spelling? Here’s a test.

Concurrence or concurrance?  Audible or audable?  Havoc or havock?  Pistol or pistal?  Station or statian?  Spacious or spacous?  Flippency or flippancy?  Courteous or courtious?  Strident or stridant? Continuous or continuos?

This car’s                        worse                      than that one.

better

Is this car                        safer

longer

wider

These cars are               cleaner                    than those.

dirtier

Those cars are               faster

slower

Are these cars               heavier

lighter

This hotel is more                                expensive

the most

less

the least

dirty          dirtier        the dirtiest

heavy       heavier      the heaviest

good          better        the best

bad             worse        the worst

safe           safer           the safest

long           longer         the longest

big             bigger          the biggest

Which is the most expensive?    Which hotel is the most expensive?

Which is the most comfortable?     Which hotel is the least expensive?

This is the least dangerous

This is the least economical

This is the most expensive I’ve ever sold

This is the most comfortable I’ve ever travelled in

This is the least dangerous I’ve ever examined

This is the least economical I’ve ever seen

• My car’s more expensive than yours
• Your car’s more ergonomic than mine
• His car’s more maneuverable than hers
• Her car’s more fashionable than ours
• Our car’s more comfortable than theirs
• Their car’s more economical than ours
• My car’s more dangerous than yours
• Your car’s more flexible than his
• His car’s more reliable than hers
• Her car’s more enjoyable than ours
• Our car’s more modern than theirs
• Their car’s more streamlined than hers
• My car’s more exciting than his
• Your car’s more ecological than hers
• His car’s more dependable than theirs
• Her car’s more logical than mine

• This car isn’t as long as that one over there
• This car over here isn’t as safe as that one over there
• These cars over here aren’t as clean as those cars in the showroom
• Those cars over there aren’t as expensive as the cars on the TV
• Formula One cars aren’t as dangerous as Indi cars
• Chinese cars still aren’t so sophisticated as American cars but they’re cheaper

1. This drug is more effective than that one. It also has less side effects
2. This test is more reliable than the other one and it’s cheaper
3. This procedure is less complicated than the other one and it’s easier to carry out
4. This operation isn’t as difficult and the results are better and more long-lasting
5. The instructions are easier to follow and there are a lot less stages to complete
6. Although this method is more time-consuming, the results are clearly much more favourable for the patient
7. This treatment is more expensive and the results are less satisfactory than alternative treatments
8. This prosthesis is longer-lasting than its predecessors and much lighter and more reliable
9. This laser is much more powerful and far easier to operate as well as being more maneuverable

10. This technique is far easier to perform and it’s a little less difficult to learn

11. My new doctor is more conservative than the other one and he’s less permissive

12. Some of my new clients are more eccentric than the others and some are less honest than others

13. Young people are more destructive, less honourable and less trustworthy than my generation

14. Cats are more inquisitive than dogs but dogs are more friendly and more loyal

15. My camera’s more sophisticated than yours but yours is much less complicated than mine

16. This sport is more demanding than tennis but it’s also less popular and less expensive to watch

17. The Spanish are more superstitious than the Germans. The Germans are more serious ad more boring

18. An octopus is more interesting than a shark because octopuses are more intelligent

19. My wife is more of a hoarder than me; I’m more of a collector than she is

20. He’s more sensitive than me. He isn’t as selective as many people. He knows how to select better than you

“Sevens”

• She’s the strangest person I know and she has the weirdest ideas
• He makes the oddest noises and takes the biggest liberties
• She’s always calling people the worst names and criticizing them awfully behind their backs
• He can say the most terrible things about you and you can’t defend yourself
• He’s got the laziest son and the most stupid daughter in Alicante
• There’s the most strange-looking man outside saying the oddest things
• She’s got to wear the heaviest clothes she’s got and shout the loudest that she can

“I’m sorry for there not being any bananas in stock.”

This convoluted way of expressing the concepts of apology and existentialism with a non-finite clause form is still very common in the English language.

It could be paraphrased in the following way:

1. “Sorry, mate. We’re out of ‘em.”
2. “Sold out, luv.”
3. “Ain’t got none left, luv.”
4. “We only do bananas at week-ends.”
5. “We’re right out of them, I’m afraid.”
6. ”We’ll have some tomorrow.”
7. “Can’t get ‘em with this volcano lark.”
8. “There’s none left.”
9. “We haven’t any left.”
10. “Sorry. We sold out half an hour ago.”
11. “Immigrants buy them all. They live on them.”
12. “Nanas? Right out of ‘em, mate.”
13. “No. Sorry. They’ve all gone. We’ve got kiwis.”
14. “Bananas have gone bananas!”
15. “Yes, we’ve got no bananas. We’ve got no bananas today.” (song)

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I have a few books in front of me. Here’s one: “Método  de Inglés de Lewis Th. Girau. “ (Published by C. Plauber SA, Pillars, 20 Barcelona. All rights reserved. Copyright   1925). It is typical of its time; English grammar and a little translation into Spanish. Yet I would dare to say that Lewis Th. Girau knew more about teaching languages than many of the sophisticated producers of language courses these days.

Another series of books I always peruse with a mixture of amusement and admiration are the “Potters”; the series of text-books written by Basil Potter. Many would now snigger at this method but only a few years ago, at least in Spanish-speaking countries, he was God. Many Spaniards owe a debt to him.

Obviously the great revolution in English language teaching occurred with the Streamline series over thirty years ago now. There are many stories, theories and so on about how, where, when the system came about but this is up to you to find out. What is interesting to me is how much it dominated the English language field for so long.

These days there are a plethora of methods, books and so on which claim to teach into the fifth dimension but they are a mixture of the three afore-mentioned, but with more audio, audio-visual or online extras.

Personally I have used over the years, until they fell to pieces, books such as “A University Grammar of English”, the classic grammar by R. Quirk and S. Greenbaum, which is a very important book but not as “wonderful” as it is made out to be. It can be terribly pedantic, long-winded and ends like an unexploded bomb. Another book I’ve drawn on for help and inspiration has been “Advanced English Practice” by Brian Graver (Oxford University Press 1963). My wife worked at a language school in Brighton many years ago where Brian Graver was the Principal, and although he claimed he had no idea how to teach, he wrote a very worthy grammar indeed. Another book I’ve drawn on but less with time was the book that all tired teachers fell back on years ago on a Friday afternoon: Pit Corder, which you either adored or abhorred. I was one of the latter but I confess that there were gems in there.

Well, what all his is leading up to is in reality, few books really help the English teacher to “teach” people to “speak” English. I prefer to teach people to learn like children learnt, that’s to say before they could read. Reading is the greatest drawback to learning to talk. Talking reduces the written word to a kind of Morse code. The sounds are either weak or very weak, contracted or hardly discernible, and this can be very disconcerting to the learner; especially to the learner who has been taught badly for years and trusts too much in the written form.

On a recent visit to Liverpool, my birthplace many moons ago, I pointed out to my wife of Irish origins and born in the green, green county of Cheshire only a stone’s throw from the Merseyside conurbation, the intricacies of Scouse. I would venture to claim that even Scousers know little of the “economy” of their accent/dialect.

The pronunciation of “this one” (dissan) or “that one (dattan) are simple explanations. Anyone who claims the former pronunciation is better is being pedantic because pronunciation is what it is; the best form of communication in the circumstances. The days of good or bad pronunciation are over for good. Often political expediency requires an intermediate form of communication: out of the window with received/BBC/Public School pronunciation.

Of course this is a fallacy because communication is not restricted to the vernacular restrictions of the village these days. Communication is global, and English is the global language precisely because it is grammatically simple and economic in terms of pronunciation. But in this lies the rub.

For example:                     If it had been accepted, it would have been adopted

In English a rather absurd third condition in the spoken form is rendered to almost nothing with the use of contractions, weak forms and elision.

• Step 1: I fit had bee naccepted, it would have bee nadopted
• Step 2: I fit had bee nak sep tid, it would have bee na dop tid
• Step 3: I fi tad bi nak sep tid, it would’ve bi na dop tid
• Step 4: I fi tad bi nak sep ti di te dev bi na dop tid
• Step 5: I fi tad bi nak SEP ti di ta dev bi na DOP tid

The only stressed syllables in this long convulated piece of communication are NAK and DOP; that is to say, out of fourteen phonetic utteraces (phonemes), only two are actually “communicated” for meaning.

ɪ fɪ tə bɪ nək sep tɪ dɪ tə dəv bɪ næ dɒp tɪd

So, without sinking into  dreaded intellectualism, we must return to the “nitty gritty”: HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH.

Peter was asked about his experience

pi taw o zask ta bou tizzek spi ri jens (vernacular phonetic)

pi: tə wɒ zæsk tə baʊ tɪ zek spɪə ri: jəns

Peter was arrested early this morning

pi taw o za res ti de: li this mo: ning (vernacular phonetic)

pi: tə wɒ zæ res ti dɜ: li: ðis mɔ: niŋ

Peter was robbed again on Monday

pi taw oz rob da ge non mon dei (vernacular phonetic)

pi tə wɒz rɒb də ge nɒn mʌn deɪ

People, that is students, find the English possessive verb “have” a nightmare. It really is quite simple. Here goes!

Concepts of Possession

Present or Future

I’ve got it in my hand

You’ve got it now

He’s got a wonderful wife

She’s got a good job

It’s got four bedrooms

We’ve got a meeting later

You’ve got a spot on your nose

They’ve got great imaginations

I/You/We/They haven’t got

He/She/It hasn’t got

Have I/you/we/they got?

Has he/she/it got?

Habitual

I always have time to study

You never have enough to pay your round

He often has all the information we need

She usually has good advice

It sometimes has something to offer everybody

We frequently have celebrations on Fridays

You seldom have time to rest in this job

They hardly ever have floods there

I don’t always have

You don’t often have

He doesn’t usually have

She doesn’t normally have

It doesn’t always have

We don’t often have

You don’t usually have

They don’t normally have

Do I always have?

Do you often have?

Does he usually have?

Does she normally have?

Does it always have?

Do we often have?

Do you usually have?

Do they normally have?

Compound “have” verbs

I have breakfast at home

You have a shower before breakfast

He has a nap after lunch

She has a picnic in the garden

It has a walk in the evening

We have inspections quite often

You have meetings in the hall

They have parties all the time

I don’t have

You don’t have

He doesn’t have

She doesn’t have

It doesn’t have

We don’t have

You don’t have

They don’t have

Do I have? Do you have?

Does he have?

Does she have?

Does it have?

Do we have?

Do you have?

Do they have?

The rest of the tenses follow the normal verb forms:

Past Simple:

I/you/we/they/he/she/it had

I/ you/we/they/he/she/it didn’t have

Did I/you/we/they/he/she/it have?

Present perfect:

I’ve had/you’ve had/we’ve had/they’ve had/he’s had/she’s had/it’s had

I haven’t had/you haven’t had/we haven’t had/they haven’t had/he hasn’t had/she hasn’t had/it hasn’t had

Have I had?/have you had?/have we had?/have they had?/has he had?/has she had?/has it had?

Another way of looking at the verbs in English is using a double-sevens system. The tool “to be” is especially useful.

1. 1. present                             He’s                                    a priest / priests

present subjunctive        If he were

1. 2. past                                  He was                                superstitious

past subjunctive             If he’d been

1. 3. present perfect               He’s been                            worried

past perfect                     He’d been

1. 4. future                               He’ll be                                in the film

conditional                      He’d be

1. 5. future perfect                  He’ll have been                  investigating

conditional perfect          He’d have been

1. 6. modal present                  He *should be                  able to*

modal past                        He *should have been

1. 7. going to future                  He’s going to be              captured

future in the past              He was going to be

I used to be asked about it every day

[I yus ta bi yask ta bou ti tev ri day (vernacular phonetic)]

[aɪ ju: tu: bi jæsk tæ baʊ ti tev ri deɪ]

2. to have asked

He’s thought to have asked Oswald about it

[hiz thor to wa vask toz wal da bou tit (vernacular phonetic)]

[hɪz θɔ: tə wə væsk tʊz wʊl də bəʊ tit]

3.to have been asked

It must have been  wonderful to have been asked to play

[it mus tav bin wun da ful ta wuv bi nask ta play]

[ɪt mʌs təv  bin wʊn də fʊl tə wəv bi æsk tə pleɪ]

4. be asked

Politicians should be asked to declare their interests

po li ti shunz shud bi yask ta di kla the rin trests

pɒ li ti ʃəns ʃʌd bi jæsk tə di klɜ: ðɜ: in trʊsts

5.have asked

You could  have asked at reception

yuk u du vask tat ri sep shun

ju kɑ: də væsk tɑ:t ri sep ʃən

6.have been asked

She could have been asked about her hobbies

shi ku duv bi nask ta bout e ho biz

ʃɪ kʊ dəv bɪ næsk tə baʊ t,ə hɒ bɪz

7. asked (present subjunctive)

If she asked me, I’d refuse to help her

if shi askt mi aid ri fuz te hel p’her

ɪf ʃi:jæskt mi: aɪd rɪ fʊz tə help hə

8.asked (past)

She asked the most questions

shi yaskt the most kwes chuns

ʃi: æskt ðə məʊst kwes tʃəns

9.asked (past participle)

I wish I’d asked her

ai wi shai dask t’he

aɪ wɪ ʃaɪ dæsk t,hə

10.(have/has) asked (present perfect)

I’ve asked a lot of questions

ai vask ta lo tov kwez chuns

aɪ væsk tə lɒ təv kwes tʃəns

11.(had) asked (past perfect)

He’d asked me to do it only a day before

hi daskt mi te do wi ton li ya dei bi fo:

hi: dæskmi: tə dʊə wɪ təʊn li: ʃə deɪ bɪ fɜ:

12.having asked (perfect participle)

Having asked a question, he withdrew to the bar

ha vin gask ta kwez chun hi with dru te the ba:

hi: dæskmi: tə dʊə wɪ təʊn li: ʃə deɪ bɪ fɜ:

13.being asked (passive participle)

Being asked to show the policeman some identity, he fled

bi yin ask te sho the pu lis man su mai den ti ti hi fled

bi: jɪ næsk tə ʃəʊ ðə pə li:s mən sʊ maɪ den ti ti hi fled

14. having been asked (perfect passive participle)

Having been asked about it on many occasions, he was cautious

ha ving bi nask ta bou ti ton me ni yo ka juns hi woz co: shus

hæ vɪn bɪ næsk tə baʊ tɪ tɒn me nɪ jɒ keɪ ʒəns hɪ wɒz kɔ: ʃʌs

15.Having asked (gerund)

He was praised for having asked the only relevant question

hi woz preizd fe ha vin gaskt the yon li re li vent kwes chun

hi: wɒz preɪzd fə hæ vɪ næskt ðə jəʊn li: re lə vænt kwes tʃən

16.being asked

He felt ashamed of being asked where he came from

hi felt a sheim dov be in gaskt whe hi keim from

hi: fel tə ʃeɪm dɒv bi: jɪn gæskt wɪə hi: keɪm frɒm

17.having been asked

She knew the answer before having been asked the question

shi nu the yan se bi fo: ha vin bi: naskt the kweschun

ʃi: nʊə ðə jæn sə bi fɔ: hæ vɪn bi: næskt ðə kwes tʃən