This story is about a horse race.
We'll look at the tense you use to talk about an unspecified time in the past and what it
means to 'dress up'.
So we're now in Morphettville for a horse race.
It's called Adelaide Cup apparently.
I haven't been to one so this is my first time and it's really exciting, and funny at
the same time because you see lots of people dressing up for a horse race.
You know people usually dress up for a fashion show but this is, yeah this is like 'Sex in
the City' combined with horse race.
To 'dress up' is to dress in your best clothes.
You can also 'dress up' in a costume.
Now listen to the way Ken talks about the past:
I'm here with my house mates, Daniel, Darcy and Kassia.
None of us has been to any horse race before except Daniel.
He said, "None of us has been to any horse race."
'Has been' is the present perfect tense.
It's used to talk about an unspecified time before now.
'Unspecified' is not an exact time.
The present perfect is often used with inexact words such as once, or, as here, before.
Listen again: None of us has been to any horse race before
except Daniel.
The present perfect is 'have' or 'has' combined with a past participle.
Next, listen for another use of the present perfect:
Right, so you've told me you know a bit about horse racing and betting and stuff like that.
Ken says, "You've told me".
That's have - you have - with a past participle - told.
His friend, Daniel, 'has told' Ken that he knows about betting.
Again, this means an unspecified time in the past.
If he wanted to refer to a specific time, he would not use have or has and instead say
'you told me yesterday' or 'you told me last week'.
So what does Daniel know about betting?
Tell me a bit about it.
I have no idea.
Well, people come here to Adelaide Cup for obviously for the big race, and if you want
to bet you have to go over to the bookies and you basically pick what horse you want
to win.
It's decided on odds.
So if a horse is five to one and you put five dollars down, you earn $25 for your five dollars
that you put down.
The five dollars you've put down.
That's the present perfect again: 'you have' and the past participle 'put'.
Bookies or bookmakers are people who accept bets.
Notice that in explaining what happens, Daniel uses examples that he starts with 'if' - 'if
you want to bet' and 'if a horse is 5 to 1'.
Listen: And if you want to bet you have to go over
to the bookies.
It's decided on odds.
So if a horse is five to one and you put five dollars down, you earn $25 for your five dollars
that you put down.
You 'put down' or bet your money.
How much does Ken 'put down'?
I wanna bet for the next race.
Yep.
What would you like?
Um, Toorak Toff.
How much?
Four dollars.
Good luck fellas.
Thank you.
Four dollars.
If he wins, he will get back more than 4 dollars.
Let's see how he goes:
Here we go!
Come on!
Where's the number?
Oh it's number 1.
Hey, hey we won man.
Basically Toorak Toff, our horse, just won.
His horse 'won'.
Notice that the past tense of 'win' is 'won', spelled with an 'o'.
But how much did he win?
We just won $11.50.
Well, really?
Wow.
How much you put in?
He won $11.50.
Now let's watch Ken place another bet and listen for how much he could win:
Well you've gotta love it when it's like listed at two hundred to one.
Have you actually bet on it already?
Yeah, I put five dollars.
That's the one.
You'll be walking out with a grand in the hand if it gets in.
He could be walking out with a grand in the hand - a grand is a thousand dollars.
Let's finish by seeing whether Ken wins:
Where is it?
Number 16 was at the very last.
We didn't win the race but next time probably.