Tuesday, June 3, 2008

How to Tell a Story

Telling a story
Read these two versions of the same event. Compare the differences.

Both versions are correct. The alternative version is a natural way in spoken English of telling a story/joke or relating an anecdote.

Original version
I was in the cinema and I was watching a film and half way through the person next to me, their mobile phone rang and this person answered it and began to have a conversation. And lots of people were looking round and tutting and then the manager came in and he told me to leave. He thought it'd been me on the phone. So I had to go out and explain to him that it hadn't been me, it'd been the man next to me. He apologised and because of the inconvenience he gave me some free tickets. And so actually it was OK because I hadn't really been enjoying the film anyway.

Alternative version
Well, last night I'm in the cinema, watching this film and half way through the person next to me, their mobile phone starts ringing. He answers it and he begins to have this conversation. And lots of people are turning round and they're looking and tutting and then in comes the manager and tells me to leave. He thinks it was me on the phone. So I have to go out and explain to him that it wasn't me, it was the man next to me. And he apologises and because of the inconvenience he gives me some free tickets. And actually that was OK because I wasn't really enjoying the film anyway.


Telling a story - some features

Verb forms
Compare the verb forms between the original and the alternative version:

past simple becomes present simple
past continuous becomes present continuous
past perfect becomes past simple
Word order
Compare the word order of phrasal verbs between the original and the alternative version:

"... the manager came in ..." becomes " ... in comes the manager ... "


WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT?

You try:
Here is a straightforward account of an incident. Imagine you are chatting with some friends, how could you change the grammar of this paragraph to make it more suitable for informal spoken English?


The other morning I was having a shower and there was a knock at the door. I was expecting a package so I jumped out of the shower, dripping wet, and threw on my bathrobe. I rushed to the front door, which was locked, so I tried to find my keys, which was very difficult because I still had soap in my eyes from the shower. I finally found my keys and opened the door but it wasn't the postman at the door. It was my mother and she gave me a very strange look because not only was I still dripping wet and covered in soap, I was actually wearing my wife's bathrobe, which is pink and fluffy. When I'd jumped out of the shower my eyes had been so covered in soap that I must have grabbed hers instead of mine. Anyway, my mother walked in and in a voice that could freeze fire said "I hope you're not taking me out to lunch dressed like that."



ANSWER:

The other morning I’m having a shower and there’s a knock at the door. I’m expecting a package so I jump out of the shower, dripping wet, and throw on my bathrobe. I rush to the front door, which is locked, so I try to find my keys, which is very difficult because I still have soap in my eyes from the shower. I finally find my keys and open the door but it isn’t the postman at the door. It’s my mother and she gives me a very strange look because not only am I still dripping wet and covered in soap, I’m actually wearing my wife’s bathrobe, which is pink and fluffy. When I jumped out of the shower my eyes were so covered in soap that I must have grabbed hers instead of mine. Anyway, in walks my mother and in a voice that can freeze fire says: “I hope you’re not taking me out to lunch dressed like that.”



2 comments:

  1. The other morning im having a shower and there was a know at the door. Im expecting a package so that i jumped out of the shower, dripping wet, and come out on my bathrobe. I rushed to the front door, which is locked, so i try to find my keys, which is very difficult to find, because i still have a soap in my eyes from the shower. I finally found my keys and open the door and got disappointed that the postman wasn't at the door. Its my mom and she gave me a very strange look because not only im wet and covered with soap, im actually wearing wife's bathrobe which is pink and fluffy. When i jump out of shower, my eyes covered with soap and i grabbed her bathrobe instead of mine. Anyway, my mother walk and voice to me "I hope you are not talking me out lunch by dressing like this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The other morning i was having a shower and there is a knock at the door.on that time I was expecting a package so I jumped out of the shower dripped wet and threw on my bathrobe. I rushed to the front door, it was locked, i tried to find keys,it was very difficult to me because still i had soap in my eyes from the shower.I finally got my keys and opened the door but instead of postman my mother was standing there and she gave me a strang look because i was still dripping wet,covered in soap and i weared my wifes bathrobe which is pink and fluffy.since my eyes covered with soap i had taken her bathrobe insted of mine.My mother walked and told me" I hope you are not taking me out to lunch dressed like this".

    ReplyDelete

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