gotta … hafta …
I must learn English.
He must get a 100 on the TOEFL.
We must go shopping tonight.
What’s wrong with these sentences?
Nothing … grammatically. But you aren’t likely to hear them in spoken English. The modal auxiliary verb must is less and less commonly used when people speak English.
What do we say instead?
I’ve gotta learn English.
He’s gotta get a 100 on the TOEFL.
We hafta go shopping tonight.
This is what you’ll hear, although the written words are have to and got to.
Have to is followed by the base form of a verb.
I have to learn English.
He has to take the bus.
We had to take a test yesterday.
I’ll have to study harder.
Got is the simple past and past participle forms of to get. So using it in the simple present isn’t grammatically correct (although you’ll often hear it). You may hear:
I got to go now.
But the correct grammatical form is:
I’ve got to go now.
And when we use it in the simple past tense, it means something different:
I got to meet Lady Gaga yesterday.
That means “I was lucky enough to meet Lady Gaga yesterday.”
If you want to express an obligation in the simple past, use have to instead.
I had to meet with my advisor yesterday.
Diagramming
When I was in elementary school, many students learned to diagram sentences in English class. Not everyone enjoyed this. But I think the reason was not because of the method itself, but because of the way we were taught. Teachers would give us a sentence to diagram and make us stand up in the front of the class and write it on the blackboard. If we made a mistake, everyone would laugh at us … or so we feared.
In fact, I believe that the practice of diagramming sentences is not only fun, but also very useful. Diagramming taught me how English grammar works “in real life.” As a result, I became a much better writer. And when I taught my children at home, I made sure that they learned how to diagram sentences as well.
Diagramming helps students learn the different parts of speech. What is a noun, and a noun phrase? What is a preposition, and what is its object? What are verbs and what are adverbs? Diagramming trains you to identify these rapidly. It also teaches you how the same word can fulfill different functions … an important concept in English, where we have so many words that can be used for several parts of speech.
When you diagram, you have to identify the subject, the predicate, and how the different parts of the sentence fit together. It becomes much easier to construct grammatically correct sentences when you see how the whole sentence works together.
English learners particularly benefit from diagramming when their own language follows very different grammatical structures.
Diagramming isn’t for everyone. It isn’t for beginning learners. You need to have a solid understanding of basic English before you start. It isn’t for people who just want to speak and understand spoken English. Diagramming really focuses on written English … and spoken English often follows quite different grammatical patterns than written English.
I think diagramming works best for students who need to improve their writing skills, either for academic or business purposes. It also seems to appeal to people who have a logical, analytical turn of mind. For example, when I taught diagramming in class, the student who made the quickest progress and enjoyed it the most was a high school mathematics teacher.
You can find many resources for studying diagramming on the internet. However, I think that it really helps to work with a teacher, especially as you learn to diagram more complex sentences. Not every teacher knows how to diagram, and not every teacher believes it’s an effective method. But it’s definitely worth discussing this with your teacher, or seeking out a teacher who teaches it. See for yourself whether diagramming helps you master the challenges of English grammar.
Why language learning is like swimming
Walking is a natural human skill. Unless they have some sort of disability, all humans will learn to walk … and talk. Talking in our first language, our mother tongue, is also a natural human skill.
Swimming is not natural. Most human beings, if they don’t know how to swim, will drown. It usually takes hard work to learn to swim. And it usually takes hard work to learn to speak a second language.
Most of the time, we need help to learn to swim. And we need help to learn a second language. Teachers and classes are great … but we can also benefit from online resources and books.
Like swimming, you have to practice your second language over a period of time to get better. You won’t learn how to do either overnight. You have to be patient with yourself.
Sometimes we have to overcome fears to learn to swim, and to speak in another language. When we overcome these fears, we make faster progress. But we need to be gentle with ourselves, and avoid getting angry or frustrated.
Once we learn to swim, and once we learn a second language, our work isn’t over.
Every time you go in the water, you have to make an effort. “Treading water” will keep you afloat, but in one place. With a second language, this is the same as practicing a little bit every day. You’ll stay afloat, but you won’t go anywhere.
To make progress, in the water or with a second language, you need to work. Consistently and diligently. Without effort, without pushing yourself, you’ll stay in one place with your language.
How do you do this? Incorporate language learning into everyday activities. Set goals for yourself. Schedule lessons with a teacher. Keep yourself accountable.
When it comes to language learning, it’s just like swimming. You can stop working on your second language, and you’ll sink. You can practice a little bit, and stay afloat but in the same place. Or you can make an effort, a substantial effort, and move forward. What is your choice?
Thinking about
Since my initial post on “chunking plus” proved so popular, I’ve decided to keep writing more … perhaps eventually enough for a whole book, as one of my students suggested. With each post, I’ll take a chunk of language and add variations (the “plus”) to show how we can use it in multiple contexts.
Thinking about
Used in the simple present or past test, to think just means to have an opinion.
I think (that) this is a good idea.
He thought (that) his English class was great.
When used this way, we generally don’t use the progressive tense.
However, the phrasal verb to think about has a different meaning. It means to consider something. And when we’re talking about the present, we express it in progressive form, because when we are considering something, we do it over a period of time.
So starting with the chunk, thinking about, we’ll add some progressive variations.
I’m thinking about …
They were thinking about …
He’s been thinking about …
We’d been thinking about …
Now we’ll add a noun phrase. What are we thinking about? We might use a regular noun, like my vacation or his test, but often we’ll use a verbal — a gerund. That is, a verb with an –ing ending. For example:
I’m thinking about going to the mall.
They were thinking about taking a vacation.
He’s been thinking about applying to grad school.
Often when we use thinking about in a past tense, we add a but clause. That’s because if we were considering something a while ago, there may well be a reason why we’re no longer thinking about it. So try using these variations as well. For example:
I was thinking about going to the mall, but I decided to stay home.
We’d been thinking about taking a trip, but we didn’t have enough money.
He thought about applying to grad school, but he preferred to stay at his job.
Notice that in the but clause, we use the simple past tense. If we were thinking about something in the past, then the reason we didn’t act on that idea is also in the past.
Spoze-to
In my last blog post, I talked about “chunking.” Another very useful language chunk is the phrase:
Spoze-to
That’s the way it sounds, but it’s really spelled “supposed to.” And if you use it correctly, it can help you sound a lot more fluent.
Many English learners use should when a native speaker would use supposed to. For example:
The man should take a class on Shakespeare next semester, but he has a conflict in his schedule.
There’s nothing absolutely wrong with this sentence, but it’s not how native speakers would say it. Instead, they’d say:
The man’s supposed to take a class on Shakespeare next semester, but he has a conflict in his schedule.
What’s the difference?
Should is used to indicate a general requirement or obligation. For example:
Everyone should go to the dentist once a year.
You should brush your teeth twice a day.
Should I send an email or a letter?
Supposed to can be used in the same sense, but it’s often used when you’re talking about a more specific occasion OR, as in the example above, when there’s a conflict and you can’t do something you were planning to do. So, for example:
He’s supposed to come to my house tonight.
I’m supposed to go to the dentist tomorrow, but the bus isn’t running.
However, when you are using should and supposed to in negative terms, they are usually interchangeable.
I shouldn’t tell you this because it’s a secret. (I’m not supposed to tell you …)
You’re not supposed to smoke here in the restaurant. (You shouldn’t smoke …)
Finally, we often use supposed to for something that is believed in a general sense. For example:
Chinese is supposed to be the most difficult language to learn.
It’s not supposed to snow tonight.