General English Lower Intermediate Level
Lesson 19

1. Watch the video attentively

Expression to work on

I spend a lot of time shopping

I like buying shoes and books

I buy things online but I also like visiting street markets

How about you? How do you feel about shopping?

I don’t really like it very much on the whole, because I find it quite stressful, big crowds, especially here in London

At the present, I enjoy it

I think it is one of the best things to do ever

I like shopping when I can afford it, but I cannot afford it all the time

I love shopping it is a good way to spend a day I find new friends, going out with my family, quite a lot of new things

Love it, I enjoy it very much, great, it gives you a buzz

I have mixed feelings about shopping

Sometimes I am in a mood, some other times I can barely endure shopping

I love shopping, you buy new things, you spend time with the friends and family

I hate shopping; I prefer shopping on the internet

I love it and I hate it

What I feel about shopping? I don’t like shopping

Where do you usually shop?

For clothes, I like High Street Changes

Usually clothes shops

Meet houses, poultry is really expensive for these days, it is just wonderful going there and just see what they have got

I shop on email

2. Questions to speak about

1. Do you like shopping?
2. How do you feel about shopping?
3. What do you usually buy?
4. Where do you usually go shopping?

Activity 1

Story time

What happened when Goldilocks visited the three bears' house?

It's time to listen to the story of Goldilocks! Most cultures have their own stories like this. We usually tell them to children, but you can learn a lot of language from them. Here's our version. Watch the video and see how much you can remember.

Here’s a question for while you watch. Which three things does Goldilocks do in the bears' house?

Watch the video and try the activity

Transcript

Goldilocks and the three bears

This is a story about a young girl named Goldilocks.

One day, she was walking in the woods when she saw a house. She knocked on the door, but no one answered. In fact, the door wasn't locked, and when it opened, Goldilocks walked straight in. What she didn't know was that in the house lived a family of three bears. They had left the house to go for a walk.

Goldilocks walked into the kitchen and found three bowls of porridge. She was hungry, so she picked up a spoon and tasted the porridge from the first bowl.

"This porridge is too hot!" she cried out.

So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.

"This porridge is too cold," she said.

So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

"Ah, this porridge is just right" she said happily and she ate it all up.

After eating the porridge, Goldilocks decided she felt a little tired. So, she walked into the living room, where she saw three chairs. She sat in the first chair to rest her feet.

"This chair is too big!" she exclaimed.

So, she sat in the second chair.

"This chair is too big, too!" she whined.

So, she tried the last and smallest chair.

"Ah, this chair is just right", she sighed. The chair was big enough for Goldilocks to sit in, but as she went to sit down it broke into pieces. There were too many pieces and it was too much trouble to fix, so she quickly got up and left the room.

Goldilocks was very tired by this time, so she went upstairs to the bedroom. She lay down on the first bed, but it was too hard. Then she lay on the second bed, but it was too soft. So, she lay down on the third bed, and it was just right. She fell straight to sleep. While she was sleeping, the three bears came home.

They walked into the kitchen.

• "Someone's been eating my porridge," growled the Papa bear.
• "Someone's been eating my porridge," said the Mama bear.
• "Someone's been eating my porridge, and they ate it all up!" cried the Baby bear.

Then they walked into the living room.

• "Someone's been sitting in my chair," growled the Papa bear.
• "Someone's been sitting in my chair," said the Mama bear.
• "Someone's been sitting in my chair, and they've broken it all to pieces!" cried the Baby bear.

They decided to look around some more, and went up to the bedroom.

• "Someone's been sleeping in my bed," growled the Papa bear.
• "Someone's been sleeping in my bed, too," said the Mama bear.
• "Someone's been sleeping in my bed, and she's still there!" cried the Baby bear.

Just then, Goldilocks woke up. She was terrified! She screamed, "Help!" jumped up and ran out of the room. Then she ran down the stairs, opened the door, and ran away into the woods. And she never returned to the home of the three bears again.

Session Vocabulary

• porridge
  a dish made with oats that are cooked in liquid, usually milk
  just right
• we say this when something is good enough for what we want to do – if the bed is just right, it means it’s very comfortable and we can sleep in it
• terrified
  very, very scared

Activity 2

Modifying adjectives with 'too', 'very' and 'absolutely'

"This porridge is too hot!"

We’ve heard the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The young girl went into the bears' house, ate their porridge, sat in their chairs, and got into their beds! The bears found Goldilocks in the end, but she managed to escape and the story didn't have a bad ending.

But what language we can learn from the story of Goldilocks? We're going to look at some of the words from the story that indicate degree: too, very and enough. First, look at these pictures - what do you think the words mean? Then, read the grammar explanation and try the activity.

Read the text and try the activity

Have a look at this first picture.

Goldilocks is talking about the porridge and how hot it is. But what does she mean when she says it is too hot?

What about in this picture?

What does it mean when we say she was very tired?

Too + adjective

Let's look at the first example. The porridge was too hot. Could Goldilocks eat it? No. What about the second bowl? Well, that was too cold. Could she eat this bowl of porridge? Again, the answer is no. The word too shows there is a problem, or something bad. Look at some more examples.

Goldilocks sat in the first chair, but it was too big. (The problem is the size of the chair: it is big and Goldilocks is small, so she can't get comfortable.)

Goldilocks lay down in the first bed, but it was too hard. (This time, the problem is the softness of the bed. It's hard, so Goldilocks can't rest comfortably.)

I really like these boots, but they're too expensive. (The problem is the price of the boots: I can't afford to buy them.)

I was too busy to take a break, so I missed my TV programme. (I had a lot of work and this was a problem because I couldn't take a break and watch TV.)

The form is too + adjective.

• too hot
• too cold
• too big

BE CAREFUL: If we say a sentence with too in the negative form, then we mean it isn't a problem. The form is not + too + adjective.

• I can eat this porridge - it's not too hot and it's not too cold.

Very + adjective

Goldilocks was very tired. Do you think this is just normal tiredness or something more? Well, the word very makes the adjective stronger. Goldilocks was very tired so she went to sleep in the baby bear's bed.

The form is very + adjective. Here are some more examples.

• Papa bear was very angry because someone had slept in his bed.
• I like your shoes - they're very nice!
• That English test wasn't very difficult! Studying with BBC Learning English really helps!

BE CAREFUL: We don't use very with strong adjectives. Look here:

Goldilocks was terrified! (The word terrified already means 'very scared', so we don't say 'very terrified'.)

To make strong adjectives even stronger, use absolutely.

• That was the worst play I have ever seen in my life - it was absolutely terrible!
• I've been working day and night - I'm absolutely exhausted!

Other strong adjectives are: excellent, enormous, correct, incredible, dreadful, perfect. We hope that one day you will have absolutely excellent English!

Session Grammar

We use too and very with adjectives to talk about degree.

Too describes something negative or unwanted. Very makes the adjective stronger. The words not too with an adjective shows that there isn't a problem.

• Malik: Those red shoes were very nice. Did you buy them?
• Sarah: No - they were too small. I bought the green ones instead: they were the right size and not too expensive.

We don't use very with strong adjectives. These examples are wrong:

• The pianist was very excellent.
• The Grand Canyon is very enormous.

These examples are correct:

• That movie was incredible.
• Her performance was dreadful.

Use absolutely to make strong adjectives even stronger:

• That cake was absolutely delicious!

Activity 3

There's enough to study - but not too much!

The chair was big enough to sit in…

We've looked at how the words too and very work with adjectives in English. Now we'll study three more patterns that use enough, too much and too many.

Have a look at this picture to see them all in use!

Read the text and try the activity

Enough

Let's start with enough. Have a look at this part of the sentence and think about the meaning.

• The chair was big enough for Goldilocks to sit in...

Can Goldilocks sit in the chair? Yes, she can. Is the chair too big? No. Is the chair too small? No.

We use enough and not enough with adjectives in English to talk about the right amount of a thing or a quality. Take a look at some more examples.

• This computer is powerful enough for all your video editing needs. (The computer has the right amount of power to do all types of video editing.)
• It's not a great film really, but it was interesting enough to keep me watching for a couple of hours. (The film made me have the right amount of interest, even though it wasn't very good.)
• You must be over 1.5 metres tall to go on the rollercoaster - sorry, your kids are not tall enough. (The right height for the ride is 1.5 metres - the kids are under this height so they can't go on the ride)

The form is adjective + enough in positive sentences or not + adjective + enough in negative sentences.

Another way we use enough and not enough in English is with nouns, to say whether there is the right amount of something. Take a look at these examples.

• There was enough porridge for Goldilocks to satisfy her appetite. (She ate it all and wasn't hungry after - it was the right amount.)
• There wasn't enough evidence for Inspector Stone to solve the case. (Inspector Stone didn't have the right amount of evidence to solve the crime.)
• Have you got enough time to complete all your tasks today? (Do you have the right amount of time to do it all?)
• Are there enough chairs for everyone to sit down? (Are there the right amount of chairs or do we need any more?)
• I haven't got enough money to buy lunch today! (I haven't got the right amount of money to pay for lunch.)

The form here is (not) enough + noun and it can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Too much, too many

Now, let's look at too much and too many.

• ...there were too many pieces and it was too much trouble for Goldilocks to fix the chair.

Could Goldilocks fix the chair? No. Why? Because the chair was broken so badly that she couldn't fix it.

We use too much and too many in English to talk about an amount of something that causes a problem because it is more than we want or need. Take a look at some more examples.

• Some people think there are too many rules in English.
• There are too many people on the bus.
• There is too much salt in this soup.
• Chris feels sick. He ate too much chocolate.

We use too many with countable nouns, like rules and people. We use too much with uncountable nouns, like salt and chocolate.

Time for a quiz! Try to answer these questions about enough, too much and too many.

Session Grammar

We use (not) enough with adjectives and nouns to talk about the right amount of something. (Not) enough comes after an adjective or before a noun:

• Jenny: Did you buy that dress?
• Sally: No, I didn't. It wasn’t big enough.

• Have you got enough money?
• We have enough food.
• There aren't enough chairs.

We use too with much and many to talk about an amount or number of something that is more than we want or need. Too many goes with countable nouns. Too much goes with uncountable nouns.

• There are too many people on the bus.
• There is too much salt in this soup.