I'm good

Maybe I'm just dating myself with this blog, but I remember conversations like this:

One friend says:  "Would you like something to drink?"
The other friend says, "No, thank you.  I'm not thirsty."

Today, the conversation would go something like this:

"Would you like something to drink?"
"No, I'm good."

Or I remember this: Two friends are out at a restaurant:

"Would you like a few of my french fries?"
"No but thank you anyway"

Now this conversation would go something like this:

"Would you like a few of my french fries?"
"No, I'm good."

I first heard my daughter say this, and of course I asked her,  "What does this mean, you're good? I didn't ask you if you're good or bad; I asked you if you'd like me to share my french fries with you."

I may be old fashioned, linguistically, but I want somebody to say "No thanks, I'm not hungry" or "No thank you; I'm fine with what I'm having."

Like I said, this probably dates me... but if you're ever out having a bite to eat with somebody and they ask you, "Would you like anything else to eat?", you can say, "No thanks, I'm good" or you can answer, as somebody from my generation would, "No thank you.  But thanks for asking."

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What Do You Call a Person from.......

One of the first sentences you learn to ask and answer, when you're learning English, is "Where are you from?"  Suppose the answer is "I'm from the United States."

Ah, one thinks... You're an American.

What if the answer is "I'm from New York?"  You're a New Yorker.

If you're from Texas, you're not a Texaser, but a Texan.

From California? He's a Californian.

On the opposite side of the country, from the Sunshine State - Florida? A Floridian.

Somebody's from Maine?  He is a Mainer.

Just south of Maine would be a person from New Hampshire, but he's a New Hampshirite.

New Mexico?  He's a New Mexican.

From Connecticut?  Well, maybe that state's name has too many syllables to have a compact expression.  It would probably be a Connecticuter, but that's so long that I'm not sure that anybody actually ever uses that expression!

How about cities where people are from?

Somebody from San Francisco? No, not a San Franciscoan, but a San Franciscan.

I'm originally from Philadelphia; that makes me an original Philadelphian.  But now I live in Boston. Does that make me a Bostoner or a Bostonian?  That makes me a Bostonian now.

A person from Chicago would be a Chicagoan.

How about regions of the United States?

Here you have a southerner, a northerner, a midwesterner, a New Englander... 

Do you see a consistent pattern within the English language?

Well, if you do, please write to us and tell us what it is!

And meanwhile, if you want to try to answer the question, "What do you call a person from.... (name of city), please send us a comment message!

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Say "Yes" in English

Today I telephoned a bicycle shop and asked, "Can you fix my bike tire? It has a hole in it." 

"You bet", answered the voice on the other end.

"You'll do it while I wait?"

"You bet" said the voice, a second time.

Hmmmm.   I thought about the non-native speaker of English who knows the phrase "Yes" but doesn't know how many other ways we have of saying the same thing! And on the telephone, this can present a challenge. Is this person saying yes, or no?


There are many ways of saying "YES" in English, and we don't teach these in English classes. We don't teach which are formal and which are informal.

Yeah, for example, is very informal.  NEVER say Yeah in a job interview unless you want somebody to show you where the door is. Yes is appropriate whenever you want to make a good and positive impression.

Certainly is a very upbeat affirmative response.  For example, you may ask a potential employer the question, "Is it okay if I give you a call in a few weeks to see if you've received my resume?", and the response "Certainly" would indicate that you are more than welcome to do so.  It is a green light.

Another popular way of saying Yes is "Of course". This is similar to certainly and implies an enthusiastic answer in the affirmative.

There are also regional differences.  The southern states often answer, "Yes, Sir" and "Yes, Ma'am" to men and women, respectively. Consider this very respectful, very deferential.

So these are a few ways in which Americans say Yes. 

Do you know of some others? Share them with us!!

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I want to speak English FLUENTLY

Somebody might ask you, "What other languages do you speak?"  Or you might be asked, "What languages are you fluent in?"

What is this word "fluent" anyway?

You know the verb "to flow"? Well, the root of the verb "to flow" is at the root of the adjective "fluent". When you speak a language fluently, like a river, it flows naturally when you are speaking.  You ability to understand others flows naturally and smoothly. 

Use each word once (fluency   fluently   fluent)  and fill in the blank for each question directly below.  Post your responses in the comments form, and we will respond:

Are you ____________ in English? Do you speak any other languages ____________?  Is ____________   in English a goal of yours?


When your words flow naturally, correctly and smoothly, you are fluent in that language. Is that your goal?

transitive and intransitive verbs: (to) take off

I hate the way English teachers describe the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb. They - me included - say that "a transitive verb is a verb that takes an object." Now excuse me, but unless you're an English teacher, you probably don't know what that means.

It takes an object? Where does it take the object to? It takes an object to the movies?

So here is a little example, to help explain this concept:

AN INTRANSITIVE VERB

My husband is standing by the front door at 7:00 a.m., and says, "Okay, honey, I'm going to take off."

What he means is that he is about to leave.  He is using the two-word verb "to take off" to mean "to go out".  The sentence ends, I say "Good bye; call me when you get to work" and he turns around and walks out the door.

A TRANSITIVE VERB

It has been raining all day, and my husband returns from work, and comes in the front door. He is standing in the hallway and starts walking into the home. I call to him and say, "Honey, don't forget to take off your shoes!!!"

Now in the way in which I am using it, this two-word verb "to take off" is transitive:  He asks "To take off what???" and I call "your shoes". So the object of the verb "take off" is, in our situation, his shoes.

There are many verbs in English which, in some cases, are intransitive and in other cases are transitive.


An English sentence with an intransitive verb can be as short as two words: He left. It requires the subject of the sentence and the verb. An English sentence with a transitive verb must be at least three words long: The subject of the sentence, the verb, and the object of the verb.


This is an important concept:  We will show you more examples in future blog posts.

So You Think You're Fun or Funny?

Do you know the difference between "fun" and "funny"?  Did you have a lot of fun or Did you have a lot of funny?  Did you think "The movie was very funny" or "The movie was very fun"?

Take the following quiz:  Write either "fun" or "funny" in each blank, as appropriate:

1. Yesterday we went sledding. It was a lot of _________.
   
2. That movie was really _______.  I couldn't stop laughing.
   
3. We had a really ______ time.  Thanks!
   
4. You and I never have any ______ anymore.
   
5. He's always laughing at his own jokes; he thinks he's really ______.
   
6. We had the most ______ at Disney World.
7. That sledding was the most ______ I've had in ages!
8. That joke wasn't ________ at all.
   
   

The simple fact is that "fun" and "funny" have clearly different meanings. 


FUNNY
Something that is funny is something that makes you laugh.  A person may be funny (i.e. this person makes you laugh), a movie or book may be funny (i.e. the book or movie made you laugh), or a joke may be funny (i.e. the joke makes you laugh).  Notice in the sentences below that "funny" is an adjective (and the noun it describes is in blue):

• That movie was really funny.  I couldn't stop laughing.

• He's always laughing at his own jokes; he thinks he's really funny.

• That was a really funny book.
  
• That joke wasn't funny at all.
  
  

FUN
Something that is fun provides amusement and enjoyment.  The word "fun" is generally used as a noun.  It is a non-count noun.

• On weekends, I like to relax and have fun.
  
• We had the most fun at Disney World.
  
• You and I never have any fun anymore.
  
  
• That sledding was the most fun I've had in ages!

A person can be a lot of fun to be around, but usually we refer to an activity as being fun. We use "fun" as an adjective in this sense. This is being used in conversation more and more, but not appropriate for writing.

• We had a really fun time.  Thanks!
  
• That was a fun book.

Grammatically, the words are very different.  In the following blanks, which word belongs?

• a  very   ____   book*
  
• the most ______ **
  
  

To understand these words better, tell us, in the comment field, a funny joke.  Tell us about a movie that was very funny. Tell us about something that you like doing that is a lot of fun.
 
  *  funny
 ** fun

WHAT'S IN THE NEWS?

Have you heard the news?   That's not news!  Where do Americans get their news?  Read the latest news headlines right here!

What is this word "news" anyway?

When I was growing up, my teachers told me that the word "news" was an acronym that represented the four points of the compass: north, east, west, south.

I now know that's not true, but the word "news" is still a puzzle and interesting for learners of English.

Is it a noun or an adjective?

If it's a noun, is it singular or plural?

The motto of the New York Times newspaper is "All the news that's fit to print."  From this sentence, you can see that it is a noun (the news) and you can see that it is singular (is).

Is it count or noncount? It is a non-count noun.  In the phrase, "That's not news!"  a non-count noun (meaning "news in general"). To quantify this word, use quantifiers such as some (I have some good news for you) enough, not enough, more, less, etc.

The word "news" can also be used as an adjective.  In this phrase, "local news headlines", the word "news" is an adjective (describing the noun "headlines").  The same is the case in the noun phrase, "a news story", where the noun is (a) story.

What a funny word "news" is, and how strange that a noun ending in ~s should be singular!

Do you want to know where this word came from? What is its origin?  The immediate origin of the word is French, from the word nouvelles, meaning new things.  English took this hundreds of years ago and kept the ~s, but uses the word in a singular form.

So now we ask you: Where do you get your news from?   From a newspaper or TV or the radio or from an online source? And why?  Please send us your answers by posting a comment, below.