So I was chatting to my mate.
And I was telling him a really dramatic story that had just happened to me.
And I noticed that I'd used a grammar structure that I had never taught before and I've never
seen it in any English course book and yet I use it and I hear it all the time. So today,
I'm going to teach it to you guys because it's Grammar Time!
Ok, let's get straight into the story.
Did you notice how I reported the conversation?
So as you can see this is a really modern structure, lets look at it. So we've got the
subject, the verb to be, like and then the actual words that were said so for example
'He's like are you Harry Potter?' 'I'm like of course I am.' So 'he is like are you Harry
Potter?' 'I am like of course I am.' So the actual words that were said there 'Are you
Harry Potter?' 'Of course I am'. Those are the words we actually said to each other.
And the way that I'm reporting that, the way that I am telling you what was said is 'he
is like' 'I am like' Now you'll notice there that i've used the present tense of the verb
to be and in fact in this whole story I use the present tense. That is for stylistic choice.
So I am using the present tense to make the story seem more immediate, to make you feel
like you are there at this moment. Of course I could have used the past tense and the past
tense is perfectly correct. I've just used it for stylistic choice here but I could have
put this into the past tense as well. So if you look at that structure, the subject, the
verb to be and like then you can change that verb to be to the past so 'he was like are
you Harry Potter?' 'I was like of course I am.' The meaning is the same, perfectly fine.
So what is this structure? Well it's an alternative to the traditional reported speech and it
comes from American English and it's kind of come in to British English so now it's
quite commonly used. Certainly on TV shows in conversations, as you are walking around
you'll hear this type of reported speech. Now I like this structure because I think
it's easy, simple to use and it brings the story to life. Because you are saying the
actual words that were said in the story it kind of makes you feel like you are there
at the time of the story. There are a couple of things to think about here. First of all
this is very informal, very informal English, it's very conversational, ok? And you are
not going to hear it or see it any of your English language course books. It's a great
way to report what somebody has said and I think it's super natural as I said it's a
structure that I see and hear but I've never taught it and I've never seen it in an English
language course book. But I was super excited to teach you guys this because yeah i think
it's a really natural structure.
Ok, let's get back to the story.
Again you've got the structure 'so the guy is like can I have your autograph?' and I'm
like what the heck!' Now there is a little change here. With 'what the heck!' I didn't
actually say that, I thought it. It was something that was in my mind. So I said it to myself.
And you can use this structure not just to report speech but also to report thoughts
and inner monologues. 'So I was like what the heck!' but I didn't say it out loud, that's
important to know.
So let's think about what's actually being said in the story. The guy asked me 'Are you
Harry Potter?' and i said 'of course I am' as a joke. He then said 'Can I have your autograph?'
and then in my mind I thought what the heck! as he ripped open his shirt. So from telling
the story and using this structure you can actually hear the real words that were said.
So that's another reason why I like this structure is because it brings in the real dialogue
into your story and it kind of makes it feel immediate and makes you feel like you are
in the story at the time which is a great tool when you are telling a story and making
it interesting. An extension of that is the fact that when we say the words that were
actually said we use the intonation that we used at the time. So when i said 'I'm like
what the heck!'in my mind that's exactly how I said it. You know surprise, you are kind
of shocked by what he's just done so 'what the heck!' So as I'm telling you that story
I'm using the same intonation. At the beginning where I said 'I'm like of course I am' Again
I'm using the intonation that I used in the actual story to again bring it to life and
make you feel like you are there and you are a part of it. So I think this structure is
an amazing tool when you are telling stories and trying to tell interesting narratives.
So the big question is should you use this structure? Well, as i said before you've got
to go back and think it's informal, it's very conversational so if you are using English
in informal conversational situations. You have friends who you speak to in English then
yeah why not. I think it's a great structure. If you are using English for your IELTS exam
then probably not, i suggest that this isn't the structure you want and they are probably
looking for traditional reported speech. So again think about the context in which you
use your English and is a structure appropriate or a phrase or an idiom appropriate and then
decide whether to use it or not. So if you want to practise I would love it if you wrote
a little dialogue in the comments below using this structure. You can practise using the
structure and I will come down and check the comments and give you some advice if you have
made any mistakes. So yeah write a little dialogue and put it in the comments below.
Alright guys, I hope you have enjoyed that lesson, it's the second grammar time lesson
that I've done. Check out the other one, it's about the infinitive of purpose and remember
I've got new lessons every Tuesday and every Friday helping you take your English to the
next level and to achieve your life goals whatever they may be. This is Tom, the Chief
Dreamer, saying goodbye.