Grammar and Money
2023-02-24
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1Imagine that you want to talk about money or personal finance.
2What kinds of terms and structures should you use?
3In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore how discussions about money connect with grammar.
4You will learn about important terms, common sentence patterns, and more.
5Let's start with some important terms and ideas.
6When we discuss money, we often use a small group of nouns.
7Such nouns include "money," "income," "savings," "investments," "deposits," or "withdrawals."
8But equally important to these money-related nouns are money-related verbs.
9These verbs include "spend," "save," "invest," "make," "deposit," and "withdraw."
10Note that there are many similarities between the nouns and the verbs.
11We use these individual nouns and verbs to express ideas or actions about money.
12But how exactly do English speakers express such ideas?
13One of the clearest and most common ways that English speakers discuss money is by using the transitive verb pattern.
14The basic structure is this:
15Subject + transitive verb + direct object (noun or noun phrase)
16For example:
17I saved money.
18The subject is "I," the verb is "saved," and the direct object is "money."
19Now consider this sentence:
20I saved $50.
21The sentence structure is the same: Subject + transitive verb + direct object.
22In this case, the direct object is specific: $50.
23Now consider a more complex discussion.
24Hi, John, what are you doing?
25I'm making a deposit.
26In this example, we have the verb "make" along with the direct object, a deposit.
27The opposite of a deposit is a withdrawal: to take money out of a bank account. We also say that you "make a withdrawal," as in:
28Hi, John, what are you doing?
29I'm making a withdrawal.
30If you want to give exact numbers, you could also use the verb forms of deposit and withdraw as follows:
31I deposited $30.
32I withdrew $30.
33Now imagine a very wealthy person describes how much money they make in year. They might say:
34I make $1 million a year.
35Now imagine a person who describes money that they lost.
36They might say:
37I lost $1 million last year.
38In all of these examples, we have used the same basic sentence pattern.
39The transitive verb pattern.
40Some additional information may be given, for example, the words "last year," but the same basic idea runs through all the sentences.
41In this way, you can think of the transitive verb pattern as the frame, or basic structure of a house.
42You might paint the surface or outside of a house a different color, but the basic structure under the paint remains the same.
43So, too, can you make colorful word choices to express different ideas.
44The underlying sentence pattern, much like the frame of our house, remains the same.
45Now let's take some time to work with these ideas.
46Use the noun $5 and the verb "invest" to talk about an action related to money.
47Pause the audio to consider your answer.
48Here is one answer:
49I invested $5.
50Now use the verb "make" along with the noun phrase "a bad investment."
51Pause the audio to consider your answer.
52Here is one answer:
53I made a bad investment.
54Now use the pronoun "he" along with the verb "save" and the noun phrase "a lot of money."
55Pause the audio to consider your answer.
56Here are two possible answers:
57He is saving a lot of money.
58He saved a lot of money.
59In today's report, we explored how English speakers use one sentence pattern to talk about money.
60They use this pattern to talk about many other subjects too!
61You should remember that English speakers also use other sentence patterns to talk about money.
62But what you learned today was the most common and useful way to talk about money in everyday situations.
63I'm John Russell.
1Imagine that you want to talk about money or personal finance. What kinds of terms and structures should you use? 2In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore how discussions about money connect with grammar. You will learn about important terms, common sentence patterns, and more. 3Let's start with some important terms and ideas. 4Definitions 5When we discuss money, we often use a small group of nouns. Such nouns include "money," "income," "savings," "investments," "deposits," or "withdrawals." 6But equally important to these money-related nouns are money-related verbs. These verbs include "spend," "save," "invest," "make," "deposit," and "withdraw." 7Note that there are many similarities between the nouns and the verbs. 8We use these individual nouns and verbs to express ideas or actions about money. 9But how exactly do English speakers express such ideas? 10Sentence pattern 11One of the clearest and most common ways that English speakers discuss money is by using the transitive verb pattern. 12The basic structure is this: 13Subject + transitive verb + direct object (noun or noun phrase) 14For example: 15I saved money. 16The subject is "I," the verb is "saved," and the direct object is "money." 17Now consider this sentence: 18I saved $50. 19The sentence structure is the same: Subject + transitive verb + direct object. 20In this case, the direct object is specific: $50. 21Now consider a more complex discussion. 22Hi, John, what are you doing? 23I'm making a deposit. 24In this example, we have the verb "make" along with the direct object, a deposit. 25The opposite of a deposit is a withdrawal: to take money out of a bank account. We also say that you "make a withdrawal," as in: 26Hi, John, what are you doing? 27I'm making a withdrawal. 28If you want to give exact numbers, you could also use the verb forms of deposit and withdraw as follows: 29I deposited $30. 30I withdrew $30. 31Now imagine a very wealthy person describes how much money they make in year. They might say: 32I make $1 million a year. 33Now imagine a person who describes money that they lost. 34They might say: 35I lost $1 million last year. 36In all of these examples, we have used the same basic sentence pattern. The transitive verb pattern. Some additional information may be given, for example, the words "last year," but the same basic idea runs through all the sentences. 37In this way, you can think of the transitive verb pattern as the frame, or basic structure of a house. You might paint the surface or outside of a house a different color, but the basic structure under the paint remains the same. 38So, too, can you make colorful word choices to express different ideas. The underlying sentence pattern, much like the frame of our house, remains the same. 39Practice 40Now let's take some time to work with these ideas. 41Use the noun $5 and the verb "invest" to talk about an action related to money. 42Pause the audio to consider your answer. 43Here is one answer: 44I invested $5. 45Now use the verb "make" along with the noun phrase "a bad investment." 46Pause the audio to consider your answer. 47Here is one answer: 48I made a bad investment. 49Now use the pronoun "he" along with the verb "save" and the noun phrase "a lot of money." 50Pause the audio to consider your answer. 51Here are two possible answers: 52He is saving a lot of money. 53He saved a lot of money. 54Closing thoughts 55In today's report, we explored how English speakers use one sentence pattern to talk about money. They use this pattern to talk about many other subjects too! 56You should remember that English speakers also use other sentence patterns to talk about money. But what you learned today was the most common and useful way to talk about money in everyday situations. 57I'm John Russell. 58John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 59_______________________________________________________________________ 60Words in This Story 61deposit - n. an amount of money that is put in a bank account 62transitive verb - n. a verb that takes a direct object 63pattern - n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done