Lesson 5

Are you married?

Are you married?

Hello, welcome to Living English. How do you ask people about theselves. That’s what we are looking at today in living English. Yesterday in Sisters in Brothers, Anne was looking for  John Barbar private investigator. Today let’s find out what happens when she meets him. Here is sisters and brothers.

Dialogue:

ANNE describes her brother to the private investigator.

ANNE: Can you help me?

JOHN: Well I’ll try. Now tell me about your brother Ms Lee. How old is he?

ANNE: He’s twenty-three.

JOHN: Well that would make him your younger brother. What’s his name?

ANNE: David.

JOHN: And what does he do?

ANNE: He’s a student. Or – he was a student. I don’t know where he is.

JOHN: (looks at the photo)

Hmmm. How tall is he?

ANNE: About a hundred and seventy-five centimetres.

JOHN: Hmmm. And does he speak English?

ANNE: Yes. He speaks English and Chinese. Mr Barbour – can you find him?

JOHN: I’ll certainly try. Now, tell me a little about yourself Miss Lee. Where are you from?

ANNE: I come from Singapore. I’m Singaporean.

JOHN: Right, and how old are you?

ANNE: I’m twenty-five.

JOHN: What do you do?

ANNE: I import wine. I’m a businesswoman. I work in my family’s business.

JOHN: And are you married?

ANNE: No, I’m single.

JOHN: And..er..do you have a boyfriend?

ANNE: Pardon?

JOHN: Oh sorry. We private detectives are a naturally curious bunch. Ms Lee, perhaps you’d better tell the whole story.

ANNE: It all started two years ago...

The detective should not asked Anne whether she has a boyfriend. It’s too personal. He didn’t need to know this. But let’s look at how we ask some of other questions.

Where are you from?

I come from Singapore. I’m Singaporean.

John asks Ann where she is from. He wants to know what country she is come from. You try with the clip.

Where are you from?

Anne answers by saying what country she is from then her nationality. Listen

ANNE: I come from Singapore. I’m Singaporean.

She says I come from then the name of  her country I come from Singapore. Then she says I am … and her nationality. I’m Singaporean. Singapore is the name of the country, Singaporean is an adjective made from that name. Here is some other examples.

Korea Korean

Japan Japanese

Thailand Thai

China Chinese

The Phillippines  Fillipino

Indonesia Indonesian

Malaysia Malaysian

Vietnam Vietnamese

And, Of course there are many others. Practice at home using the name of your country and nationality.

I come from…..

I’m….

Now let’s look how John asks about age.

How old are you?

I’m twenty-five.

You try asking the question with John.

How old are you?

Anne answers by saying her age. Listen again.

I’m twenty-five

Now I’ll ask how old you are and you answer with your age. First let’s review the number.

1.   one

2.   two

3.   three

4.   four

5.   five

6.   six

7.   seven

8.   eight

9.   nine

10.                ten

11.                eleven

12.                twelve

13.                thirteen

14.                fourteen

15.                fifteen

16.                sixteen

17.                seventeen

18.                eighteen

19.                nineteen

20.                twenty

Now let’s review the rest of the tenths.

30. thirty

40. forty

50. fifty

60. sixty

70. seventy

80. eighty

90. ninety.

100. one hundred

I don’t think many of you are over 100 hundred years.

So how old are you?

I’m …..

Really? John also asks about Anne’s brother’s age. 

-      Well I’ll try. Now tell me about your brother Ms Lee. How old is he?

-      He’s twenty-three.

Now practice with the clip asking how old is he.

-      How old is he?

-      He’s twenty-three.

Now we know David’s age and we know Anne’s age. Try asking and answering the questions. First, David. Ask his age.

How old is he?

And answer: he is twenty-three.

Ask her age. How old is she?

And answer. She is twenty five.

And how old are you again? I’m …

That’s right, I remember. Let’s look at some other questions John asks.

- What’s his name?

- David.

- And what does he do?

- He’s a student.

Now you try. First ask his name.

- What’s his name?

Now ask what he does.

- And what does he do?

- He’s a student.

Here is another questions about David.

-      How tall is he?

-      About a hundred and seventy-five centimetres.

-      Hmmm. And does he speak English?

-      Yes. He speaks English and Chinese.

Now you try it at home.

-      How tall is he?

-      About a hundred and seventy-five centimetres.

-      Hmmm. And does he speak English?

John asks Anne some questions too. Watch.

-      How old are you?

-      I’m twenty-five.

-      What do you do?

-      I import wine. I’m a businesswoman. I work in my family’s business.

-      And are you married?

-      No, I’m single.

Let’s look at how we ask questions?

John asks Anne if she is married. He asks “Are you married?” Anne isn’t married so she answers “No, I’m single” she could say “No, I’m not married”.

Or if she was married she could say “Yes, I’m married”.

Answer these questions about Ann.

Is she married? No, she isn’t.

Is she Singaporean? Yes, she is.

Is she a student? No, she isn’t

What about David.

Is he a student? Yes, he is

- Now here is Michelle, Hello Michelle.

- Hello Brenton, Are you well?

- Yes, I am thanks. What have we got there?

- We are going to find out some information about you. Remember in story John asks Anne this question.

-      How tall is he?

-      About a hundred and seventy-five centimetres.

- So let’s find out about Brenton.  How tall is he?

 - He’s 183 centimetres tall. So how tall are you Brenton?

- I’m 183 centimetres tall. I’m 183 centimetres.

- We could also ask “ what’s your height?”

- My height is 183 centimetres.

- Now let’s find out what Brenton weighs. Could you step onto the scale for me?

- Now how much does he weigh? Or we could say what’s his weight? He weighs 90 kilos. His weight is 90 kilos.

Let’s look again at how to ask questions. Firstly questions using “are” or “is”.

What is his height? We also use “is” in answer.

His height is 183 centimetres.

What is his name?

His name is Brenton.

Some questions use “ do” or “does”. With these questions answer is “Yes” or “No”.

Does he speak English?

Yes, he speaks English.

Here we use the verb from the question and in answer too.

Does he have dark hair?

Yes, he has dark hair.

But we could also just say “Yes, he does.”or “ No he doesn’t”.

- I think we need find out few details about you Michelle.

- Far away.

- Are you married?

- No, I’m not

- Do you speak Chinese?

- No, I don’t

- Do you have a car?

- Yes, I have a car?

- Do you have any pets?

- Yes, I have a dog.

- How old are you?

- Guess!

- Oh no, now you answer the questions. You can answer yes, she is or no she isn’t. Yes, she does or No, she doesn’t

Is she married? No, she isn’t.

Does she have blond hair? Yes, she does.

Is she tall? No, she isn’t.

Does she have a car? Yes, she does.

Does she speak Chinese? No, she doesn’t

Does she have a dog? Yes, she does.

- What’s its name? 

- Its name is Bast...

- Well, that’s all we have got time for today. Tomorrow we will be looking at how to talk about the past. And how to describe “Time” in the past.