Washing machine
Hi people.
I realize I have a lot of things to learn. But I love English and I'll put all my efforts to attain decent results. ;-)
Today I was listening to some BBC podcasts and I heard a strange grammar construct:
"I was being asked to contribute to the festival's preparations"
Mi è stato chiesto di contribuire ai preparativi del festival.
Did I hear correctly? Would you please make me further examples? I'll translate into my mothertongue after (Italian).
In addition, in an other episode of BBC Learning English I couldn't decipher a verb (the one written in capital letters).
"If this stain doesn't come, I'll SUIT the washing machine's manifacturers and take them to the cleaners!"
According to you, which is the verb I didn't manage to grasp?
Hugs
Francesco
Search from various English teachers...
Corrections · 2
1
Well, right off the bat, I would like to say your English is amazing, good job!
Okay, in regards to your first question, that grammar construct is used to talk about the first event in a series of events in the past. Another example could be, She was told to help her sister with her homework. Instead of using quotation marks, the speaker/writer simply says what was said using the indicative form. And of course, the past progressive and past tense are frequently interchangable in English, as are the present progressive and present tense, and you can tell this more just with practice and use.
For your second question, while I can't be sure because I didn't hear it for myself, I would guess that they said "sue" and not "suit". Take them to the cleaners is an expression related to clean them out, as in take all their money. So, the person is saying if the washing machine doesn't do it's job well (removing stains), they will sue the manufactor, and get money for it. If I'm correct, it's definitely a pun and therefore, one of the harder things to understand in a second language.
Excellent questions and I hope you continue to maintain such a drive in English! If you'd like to have some conversation practice, or reading and writing practice, we could have classes someday!
Want to progress faster?
Join this learning community and try out free exercises!
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!
Start Learning Today
