Reported speech

She asked me who the best cook was.

Are there any cases where the inversion rule can be kept while reporting a question? Could we consider the following sentences correct?

• She asked me who was the best cook.
• She asked me what had I been doing.
• She asked me what would I like for breakfast.

Gareth Rees answers:

Hello. Thank you for your question about reported speech, which is an area of grammar that often causes problems for students. Your question refers to the way we report questions, so I will cover the basics on that first.

When we make a standard question, we usually place an auxiliary verb, such as 'do' or 'would', before the subject and the main verb, or, if the main verb is a simple tense of 'to be', we place that before the subject. This, as you say, is the inversion rule. Also, when writing the question, we place a question mark at the end. Here are a couple of examples.

• What do you want to eat tonight?
• Who is the best cook?

When we report the question, we do not use this question grammar. So, we do not add an auxiliary verb, we do not change the word order from a normal sentence, and we do not add a question mark. Consequently, my two examples are reported as follows:

• He asked me what I wanted to eat that night.
• She asked me who the best cook was.

In your question, you said that you thought it was possible to use the normal question word order when the main verb is 'to be'.

I am afraid that this is not actually correct. When you report a question, any question, you do not use question word order. So, all of your examples:

• She asked me who was the best cook.
• She asked me what had I been doing.
• She asked me what would I like for breakfast

Are, I'm sorry to say, grammatically incorrect.

The interesting point though, is, why did you think they might be correct? I think this is because sometimes, in spoken English, you may hear something that seems to be a reported question, but in fact it is not. This often happens when people are telling a story from their lives, and they use phrases like 'I said' or 'she asked' to introduce the actual words used. Listen to this example:

• I went into the shop and I said, "This shirt shrank in the wash. I want my money back." The sales assistant asked me, "Do you have the receipt?"
• I said, "No, I don't. I lost it" and then she asked "Where did you lose it?"
• I replied, "It was in the shirt pocket when I washed it." She then asked, "Why was it in the pocket?" At which point I asked, "Where is the manager."

In all of those examples, although I am telling you what happened and what was said, I am not using reported speech. Did you notice how I paused before saying each question, after the words 'said' and 'asked'? For example:

• She then asked, "Why was it in the pocket?"
• At which point I asked, "Where is the manager"

If you are telling a story like this, you must pause in this way. If you don't pause, it sounds like you are using reported speech, and so then your grammar is wrong, because you haven't changed the question grammar.

So, if we go back to your original example, we can either say

• She asked me who the best cook was

Or

• She asked me, "Who was the best cook?"

I hope that this has answered your question. I recommend that you listen to as much of the BBC radio service as you can to try and hear examples of this grammar in action.

About Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.

From: BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

Soon and when

How soon can I get a train out of here?

What is the difference between the words 'soon', and 'when'? For example:

• How soon is he going to turn up with the money?
• When is he going to turn up with the money?

Gareth Rees answers:

Hello. Thank you for writing in to ask about the difference between 'soon' and 'when'. As you know, both of these words refer to time, and we use 'when' to ask about the time that something happens. For example:

• When does the train leave?
• When did the first person land on the moon?

Basically, in these questions, when means 'at what time'. We also use 'when' to show that something, an event perhaps, indicates a time that something else happens. For example:

• I'll give you the money when I see you again.
• I was unhappy when I got my exam results.

So, 'when' is the normal way to refer to time, but 'soon' carries an extra meaning of a short time from now, or a short time from an event. For example:

• The train leaves soon. Hurry up!
• At first, I didn't know anybody at university, but I soon made new friends and really enjoyed myself.

To understand the difference between your two example questions, you need to remember that 'soon' emphasises that something happens in a short time from now.

In your example, 'When is he going to turn up with the money?' the speaker simply wants to know the time that he is going to turn up with the money.

In your second example, 'how soon is he going to turn up with the money?' the speaker is emphasising that this should happen quickly, that it should be in a short time from now.

We often use this expression at work or in business, when time and speed are very important. For example:

• I need the report urgently. How soon can you finish it?
• The new MP3 players are very popular. How soon can you deliver some more?

It is possible to use 'when' in those examples, but then there would be no emphasis on the need for speed, on the fact that something should happen in a short time from now.

So, thank you again for writing to us at BBC Learning English, and if you have any further questions, I hope to hear from you soon.

About Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.

From: BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

Youngsters and youths

The youth of today

The words 'youth' and 'youngster' confuse me. Some call toddlers youngsters, and some, teenagers 'youngsters'. Also, can 'youth' be used as plural?

Gareth Rees answers:

Hello. Thank you for writing to us with your question about the words youngster and youth, words which you say you are a little confused about. As someone who is not as young as he used to be, I can certainly say that I find youngsters and youths confusing, not in terms of the meaning of the words, but in terms of their lifestyles.

Anyway, back to the language question. Youngster does simply mean a young person, and whether you use it to refer to a toddler or a teenager is really up to you. As I said, I am not so young anymore, so for me, anyone under the age of eighteen is a youngster. However, a teenager is only likely to use the word to talk about toddlers and children under ten. So, youngster is a very flexible word as it doesn't have as specific a meaning as the words teenager and toddler.

The word youth is a little more complex, as it can refer to a young person, and also to the period of life when you are young. For example, in my youth, I often played football with my friends, but now I don't. Notice, that with this meaning, the word is an uncountable noun, so you can only say youth, not youths.

When youth refers to a person, it means that the person is not an adult, and most often it means that they are a teenager. So, a youth is not an adult, and yet not a child. We most often see this word used to talk about teenage boys who may be involved in minor crime, so it a word we see in newspapers or hear on the television news for example:

• Yesterday, two youths attacked a man in the high street and stole his wallet.

As you can see, when youth refers to a person, it can be plural: one youth, two youths.

Besides referring to one or two individual young people, youth can also refer to young people as a group, or as a part of society. For example:

• Politicians should consider the needs of the youth of the country, as well as the adults.
• Youth unemployment is increasing again due to the financial crisis.

I hope that has helped clear up some of the confusion concerning youth and youngsters. Of course, it doesn't help me to understand why the only thing that youngsters seem interested in is playing computer games, but it is probably best if I don't try to understand that, and instead just settle down in a comfortable chair with a cup of tea and a good book.

About Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.

From: BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

Likely

It was unlikely that Sarah knew that her boyfriend was a criminal when she first met him.

In English there are many verbs to express possibility or probability, such as may, might, and could. I am very uncertain how to use the form "to be likely to". Which degree of probability does it express?

Gareth Rees answers:

Hello! Thank you for your question concerning the use of the phrase 'to be likely to'.

As you say, we use this phrase to talk about the possibility of something happening, and we often use it to refer to possible future events. For example:

• 'The American swimmer is likely to win the race tomorrow.'
• 'They are likely to ask you about your knowledge of computers in the interview, so you should prepare for that.'

When we use this phrase, we are saying that we are confident that something will happen, but of course we are not one hundred percent certain. We think something is very possible, but we also know that we can't be totally sure.

The opposite of likely is unlikely, and I think that this phrase, 'to be unlikely to', is used more often, perhaps because people are rather pessimistic about the future. For example:

• 'I think it is unlikely that England will win the football World Cup.'
• 'I am unlikely to pass my exams this year.'

In these examples, the speaker is nearly certain that something won't happen.

Finally, I have talked about future events, but the phrase 'to be likely' or 'unlikely to' can be used to refer to past and present time. You simply need to change the form of the verb 'to be'. For example:

• 'It was unlikely that Sarah knew that her boyfriend was a criminal when she first met him.'

I hope that has answered your question. While you continue to study English, you are likely to have other questions. If so, please write to us at BBC Learning English again for help. Good luck.

About Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.

From: BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

Redundant negatives

Let's go to town and see if we can't buy some new T-shirts.

Why is it that many English people use a negative construction in the following example when a positive meaning is meant? For instance:

• "Let's go to town and see if we can't buy some new T-shirts" (what is actually meant is they want to see if they can buy some T-shirts)
• "You ought to see if you can't get a job with your uncle" (what is actually meant is you ought to see if you can get a job with your uncle)
• "Mary kicked out her husband after his affair" - "I should thinknot!" (what is meant is "I should think so!")

Of course, in all these examples the correct, positive construction is also used often, but what perplexes me is why do the negative constructions - essentially meaning the complete opposite of what is intended - even exist in these circumstances? Would I be correct in believing them to be ungrammatical?

Gareth Rees answers:

Hello. Thank you for writing to us at BBC Learning English and for asking a rather unusual, and puzzling, question. Let's see if I can't answer it.

Before I go into the detail concerning your question, I first of all want to say that the following two sentences are grammatically correct:

• Let's go to town and see if we can't buy some new T-shirts.
• You ought to see if you can't get a job with your uncle.

Also, as you mention, we can communicate the same idea by using a positive sentence grammar. For example:

• Let's go to town and see if we can buy some new T-shirts.
• You ought to see if you can get a job with your uncle.

So, the question is, why do we use the strange negative version? I have given this a lot of consideration and I think that the idea is that the speaker is giving the sentence extra emphasis by using this unusual negative form. 

Basically, rather than suggesting we try to do one thing, instead we check whether the opposite of that thing is impossible. If the opposite is impossible, then the thing we want to do must be possible. I hope that isn't too confusing! 

Looking at your T-shirt example, perhaps the speaker's friend has been complaining because he hasn't got any nice T-shirts to wear, and perhaps he feels that he can't find any good ones in the shop. The speaker then says, 'well, let's see if you are right? You think we can't find any new T-shirts, let's see if that is true. Let's go to town see if we can't find any new T-shirts.'

So, by making a sentence which says we should try to disprove a negative, we will actually see if the positive is possible. By looking at the world with this view, with this strange but true logic, we are giving emphasis to the sentence, because our language is choice is unusual.

So, Kypros, why don't you read or listen to this explanation again and see if you can't understand it.

About Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.

From: BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

Keep up

Do you keep up with new technology?

I'd like to know the meaning of the word 'Keep up'

Gareth Rees answers:

Hello. Thank you for your question asking for an explanation of the phrasal verb 'Keep up'.

This verb has a few different meanings, which I will outline for you.

First of all, keep up has a basic meaning of stopping something from falling or dropping to the ground. For example, I am wearing a belt in order to keep my trousers up, as I certainly don't want them to fall to the ground when I am walking in the street.

The second meaning is, in a way, similar to this, in that it describes holding a position or remaining level with something. Imagine you are walking through town with a friend, but your friend walks very slowly and you walk more quickly. However, you want your friend to walk at the same speed as you; you want him to walk next to you. In this case, you may look behind and shout to him, 'Keep up David, keep up'. This means that you want him to walk at the same speed as you, to stop falling behind. We often add the word 'with' to the phrase:

• 'Come on, David, keep up with me'

We use 'keep up with' in the same way when we talk about changes, changes in fashion or technology for example. I certainly feel that computing and telephone technology changes very fast these days. In fact, I can't keep up with the changes. I don't know how to use most of the functions on my phone, and I think I never will. This means that things are changing too quickly for me to know about everything.

So, those are the first two meanings. I hope you are keeping up with me, as we have a couple more to discuss.

Keep up can mean to continue doing something. For example, if one of my students has worked well in class, I might encourage her by saying, 'Keep up the good work. You are doing very well'. I want her to continue studying well.

The final meaning I shall discuss today concerns sleep. Now, you may be feeling sleepy yourself because I have been talking for so long. However, I hope I'm not keeping you up. This means that I hope I am not stopping you from going to bed. For example, you are a guest at a friend's house, and it is a little late but you would like to stay longer. To be polite you might say, 'I hope I'm not keeping you up, but how about another cup of tea?' If your friend answers with a yawn, you may assume that you are keeping him up and perhaps you should leave.

So, did you keep up with my explanation? If not, would you like me to say it again, but more slowly? Well, I would do that for you, but it is rather late, and I know you don't want to keep me up. So, I'll finish by wishing you good luck with your studies of English, keep up the good work and feel free to write to us with another question at any time. Goodnight.

About Gareth Rees

Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.

From: BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/