Have you ever had someone “repair” a home appliance but it kept breaking?
I have been having trouble with my sink for a month. Yesterday, the maintenance man repaired it…again.
And it worked fine…once.
But then last night, I turned the water on low and walked away for just a few seconds. When I returned, I noticed water all over the floor. I was about to go to bed. But instead I had to clean up the mess.
Ugh, the sink keeps leaking. So, in a little while, I'll go ask the building supervisor to replace it.
I just used three conversational English forms in my sad sink story. All are common to American English and some are common to other Englishes. They involve the words “about” “keep” and “go.” On today’s program, I will talk about them.
Be about to + verb
And, I am about to begin.
English speakers use the form “be about to” to emphasize that an action will happen very soon. It is a friendly form we use in speech every day. For example, I told you I was about to go to bed. That means I was at the point of starting that action.
We can also use “be about to” for such subjects as things and ideas. We can say, for example, “It’s about to rain” and “The proposal is about to be released.”
The sentence structure is the verb be + about to + base verb. The base form of a verb is its shortest form with no -s ending.
Listen to a quick exchange between friends hurrying to an event:
Hi, Jonathan.
Hey, Sue. Have you left the house yet?
No, but I was just about to put on my shoes.
Perfect, I’m about to hop on the metro. See you in a few!
Sue said, “I was just about to put on my shoes.” Note her use of the past tense “was.” We can use “be about to” with the present or past tense of the verb “be.”
Note also that the word “just” is common with this form. If people say they are just about to do something, it means they expect to do it right now.
The negative form of “be about to” has a completely different meaning, however. It means someone feels a strong desire or willpower to do something. For instance, “I’m not about to miss this show. I paid $70 for the ticket!” It's like saying, “I will go to the show and won’t let anyone or anything stop me.” The negative is not always considered friendly, so use it carefully!
Keep (on) + gerund
Now, let’s move to the verb “keep” plus a gerund, which is the -ing form of a verb.
When we use this form, it means that something is happening continuously or again and again. Earlier, you heard me say, “The sink keeps leaking.” The verb “keep” is followed by the gerund “leaking.”
We often use keep + gerund to show irritation that an action or situation has not stopped. We also sometimes use it with the preposition “on.”
Students keep playing with their mobile phones in class, for example. The cat keeps on scratching the chairs. And my teammate keeps hitting the ball too far!
Other times, we use it to give directions or tell someone how to do something. Listen to this person give a friend directions to her house and tell them what to do when they arrive:
Keep walking straight until you see a flower shop on the right. My house is the first building behind the shop. Dinner preparations are on the table. When you boil the noodles, please keep stirring them. Otherwise, they’ll stick together. Thanks!
You heard the speaker say, “Keep walking straight…” to tell them to continue walking. They also said, “Please keep stirring” the noodles to make sure the friend does this continuously.
Explanation:
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richard39
about types of speech context po yung tinatanong,..
Answers & Comments
Answer:
informative, definition, persuasive, entertainment, demonstrative speech
Answer:
Have you ever had someone “repair” a home appliance but it kept breaking?
I have been having trouble with my sink for a month. Yesterday, the maintenance man repaired it…again.
And it worked fine…once.
But then last night, I turned the water on low and walked away for just a few seconds. When I returned, I noticed water all over the floor. I was about to go to bed. But instead I had to clean up the mess.
Ugh, the sink keeps leaking. So, in a little while, I'll go ask the building supervisor to replace it.
I just used three conversational English forms in my sad sink story. All are common to American English and some are common to other Englishes. They involve the words “about” “keep” and “go.” On today’s program, I will talk about them.
Be about to + verb
And, I am about to begin.
English speakers use the form “be about to” to emphasize that an action will happen very soon. It is a friendly form we use in speech every day. For example, I told you I was about to go to bed. That means I was at the point of starting that action.
We can also use “be about to” for such subjects as things and ideas. We can say, for example, “It’s about to rain” and “The proposal is about to be released.”
The sentence structure is the verb be + about to + base verb. The base form of a verb is its shortest form with no -s ending.
Listen to a quick exchange between friends hurrying to an event:
Hi, Jonathan.
Hey, Sue. Have you left the house yet?
No, but I was just about to put on my shoes.
Perfect, I’m about to hop on the metro. See you in a few!
Sue said, “I was just about to put on my shoes.” Note her use of the past tense “was.” We can use “be about to” with the present or past tense of the verb “be.”
Note also that the word “just” is common with this form. If people say they are just about to do something, it means they expect to do it right now.
The negative form of “be about to” has a completely different meaning, however. It means someone feels a strong desire or willpower to do something. For instance, “I’m not about to miss this show. I paid $70 for the ticket!” It's like saying, “I will go to the show and won’t let anyone or anything stop me.” The negative is not always considered friendly, so use it carefully!
Keep (on) + gerund
Now, let’s move to the verb “keep” plus a gerund, which is the -ing form of a verb.
When we use this form, it means that something is happening continuously or again and again. Earlier, you heard me say, “The sink keeps leaking.” The verb “keep” is followed by the gerund “leaking.”
We often use keep + gerund to show irritation that an action or situation has not stopped. We also sometimes use it with the preposition “on.”
Students keep playing with their mobile phones in class, for example. The cat keeps on scratching the chairs. And my teammate keeps hitting the ball too far!
Other times, we use it to give directions or tell someone how to do something. Listen to this person give a friend directions to her house and tell them what to do when they arrive:
Keep walking straight until you see a flower shop on the right. My house is the first building behind the shop. Dinner preparations are on the table. When you boil the noodles, please keep stirring them. Otherwise, they’ll stick together. Thanks!
You heard the speaker say, “Keep walking straight…” to tell them to continue walking. They also said, “Please keep stirring” the noodles to make sure the friend does this continuously.
Explanation: