Podcast on Everyday English: Time, Family, and Routines

Kapitoly

More Than Just Numbers

'Past' versus 'To'

Habits and Routines

The 'S' Rule

Do and Does

Family Tree Vocab

In-Laws and Outlaws

Final Farewell

Přepis

Ben: Most people think saying 'quarter to three' is just an old-fashioned way of saying two forty-five. But it's actually a completely different way of thinking about time.

Hannah: It's true! You're describing where the hands are on the clock, not just reading numbers. Welcome to Studyfi Podcast.

Ben: Okay, so you're telling me I'm a clock-geographer and I didn't even know it?

Hannah: You are! Think of the clock face in two halves. For any time in the first half, from minute one to minute thirty, we say 'past' the hour.

Ben: Like ten-fifteen? That would be 'fifteen minutes past ten', or more commonly, 'a quarter past ten'.

Hannah: You got it! Now for the second half, from minute thirty-one to fifty-nine, we look ahead. We say how many minutes it is 'to' the next hour.

Ben: Ah, so twelve forty-five isn't just twelve forty-five... it's fifteen minutes until one o'clock. So we say 'a quarter to one'.

Hannah: Exactly! It's all about perspective. Are you looking back, or are you looking forward to your next class?

Ben: Definitely looking forward to the end of my next class. This makes a lot of sense.

Ben: Okay, so that's a lot of useful vocabulary for daily actions. But now we have to actually use it, right? How do we talk about these habits?

Hannah: Great question. That's where our best friend, the present simple tense, comes in. It sounds basic, but it's the key to talking about any routine.

Ben: The 'habit tense', I like that. So for things like 'I get up every morning' or 'I surf the net'... probably too much.

Hannah: Exactly. It’s for any action that happens regularly. And the good news is, the rules are pretty straightforward once you see the pattern.

Ben: Okay, hit me with the pattern. I'm ready.

Hannah: Think of it this way—there are two teams. The first team is 'I, you, we, they'. For this team, the verb is just the basic word. 'We have lunch.' 'They read books.' Easy.

Ben: Okay, team one sounds like my kind of team. What's team two?

Hannah: Team two is 'he, she, it'. This is the team with the one special rule. You just add an '-s' or '-es' to the verb.

Ben: Ah, so it's not 'My sister study', it's 'My sister studies'.

Hannah: Precisely! Or 'He gets up at 7:00.' It's that little 's' that makes all the difference. It’s the only real trick you have to remember for positive sentences.

Ben: But what about making sentences negative? Or asking questions? It can't just be the '-s', can it?

Hannah: It's almost that easy. Each team gets its own 'helper' word. Team one—'I, you, we, they'—gets the helper 'do'.

Ben: So, 'Do you like pizza?' or for a negative, 'We don't watch TV in the morning.'

Hannah: You've got it. And team two—'he, she, it'—gets the helper 'does'.

Ben: Right. So, 'Does your mother cook dinner?' or 'He doesn't drink coffee.' That makes sense.

Hannah: The key takeaway is that the helper 'does' already carries the special '-s'. So you don't add it to the main verb. It's 'Does she speak?', not 'Does she speaks?'.

Ben: That's a super helpful way to think about it. It keeps things clean. So, now that we have the rules down, we should probably talk about how they change with different kinds of verbs...

Ben: Okay, for our final topic today, let's tackle something everyone has: family. How do we talk about them in Spanish?

Hannah: Great question. Let’s start with the basics. Your mother’s father is your abuelo, and your father's mother is your abuela.

Ben: Grandfather and grandmother. Abuelo and abuela. So their kids, my aunt and uncle, would be...?

Hannah: Your tía and tío. Exactly! And their kids, your cousins, are your primo for a boy and prima for a girl.

Ben: Okay, so what about your own siblings? I know my sister is my hermana.

Hannah: That's right! And your brother is your hermano. Now, what about *his* son? That would be your nephew, or sobrino.

Ben: Sobrino. Got it. And the one that always gets a laugh… what about my wife’s father?

Hannah: Ah, the father-in-law! That’s your suegro. And your mother-in-law is your suegra.

Ben: Suegro and suegra. I'll try to remember that.

Hannah: And that's a wrap for today! We've covered a lot of ground, from basic phrases to family ties.

Ben: We sure have. The key takeaway, as always, is practice. A little bit every day makes a huge difference.

Hannah: Couldn't have said it better. Thanks for joining us on the Studyfi Podcast.

Ben: We'll see you next time. Happy studying!