I know you must be a bit fed up by now with so many entries which have to do with Christmas, New Year, reviews of 2010 on this blog. Soon we'll go back to normal but in the mean time let us make use of some interesting stuff that, although Christmas-related, may be beneficial for our English.
I've come across this funny video clip with some kids behaving and talking like adults and on which they make New Year Resolutions. The interesting bit of the video for me has to do with grammar. In this entry
http://mythatsenglish.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-year-resolutions.html we discussed the use of auxiliary will to make promises, and we said this is the right tense to use when making New Year Resolutions, as we are promising we'll be doing some things differently in the new year.
Surprise, surprise! The verb going to comes us several times on this new video clip, which let us conclude, once again, that very often the use of one tense or another in English has to do with the speaker's intention rather than with clear-cut rules about correct/incorrect use of a tense. There are times when we can use different tenses in a sentence, but the meaning will change if we use one or another.
In this video clip some kids use going to (gonna) to express a firmer determination to better some aspect of their life. Others stick to will, just a promise. And a third group resorts to wanna (want to).
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the sentences with just one word.
-I wanna stop (1) ______ . / -Did you see what she was wearing? / -I know!
This year, I'm gonna join a (2) ______ gang.
This year, I'm gonna control my (3) ______ .
I'm gonna stop (4) _____ six dollars on a cup of coffee.
I'm gonna control my (5) _____.
What are you doing? Can't you see I'm trying to (6) _____ here?
I wanna find that special (7) ______. How you doing?
This year, I'm gonna (8) ______ my parents more.
This year, I wanna get rid of this pot (9) ______!
I wanna care more about the (10) ______.
I wanna be a better (11) ______.
This year, I'm gonna be my own (12) ______.
I'm gonna tithe 10% of my gross (13) ______.
This year, I will pay off all my (14) ______.
I'm gonna go back to school and get my (15) ______.
I wanna (16) ______ a marathon.
I wanna (17) ______ smoking.
This year, I'll control my road (18) ______.
-I wanna have a daily (19) ______ time. / -"What's your resolution?" -Okay, maybe a monthly (19) ______ time.
Key:
1. gossiping 2. bikers 3. shopping 4. spending 5. anger 6. work 7. girl 8. call 9. belly 10. environment 11. handyman 12. boss 13. pay 14. debts 15. Master's 16. complete 17. quit 18. rage 19. quiet
