15th November

Grammar

What food did you like to eat as a child?
What were you like as a child?
What did you look like when you were younger?

To answer these questions we can also use the phrase 'used to'

Used to do

We can use used to to talk about things: 1. we did regularly in the past that we don't do now She used to smoke 20 a day but gave up cigarettes almost 10 years ago. He used to eat lots of meat but now he's a vegetarian so he doesn't eat chicken, lamb or beef any more. 2. that were true in the past but which aren't true now You and John just don't seem as close as you used to be. Have you two fallen out? There used to be loads of shops in our village but now there are only four.

Form:

The positive, negative and question forms of 'use to' stay the same no matter what pronouns you use: 

Positive:
This is made up of used to + base verb
Tim used to work in a newsagent's but now he works in a department store.
You used to like me. Why aren't we friends anymore?

Negative:
This is made up of Didn't use to + base verb 
There didn't use to be a cinema here.
She didn't use to like wine but now she drinks a glass of it every evening.

Question:
This is made up of Did + pronoun + use to + base verb
Did you use to play sport?
Did she use to be scared of spiders?

Note it's unusual to use this form when asking questions about the past. We're much more likely to ask:
Did you play sport when you were at school?
Are you scared of spiders?/Were you scared of spiders when you were young?

Used to refers to the past. We can't use 'used to' to talk about the present or future.

To talk about your daily habits you can't say 'Every day I use to go to work by bike' you need to use the present simple - 'I go to work by bike'

To talk about future habits you can't say 'When I live in New York next year, I'll use to take the subway everywhere', you need to use will + base verb - 'I'll take the subway'

Topic: Shopping


Discuss:

• The differences between shopping in large department stores and small independent shops.
• How people’s shopping habits have changed over the years.

Vocabulary
1.
Match the idioms (in italics) using the word ‘shop’ to the definitions.
Idiom

1. to shop around

A. to discuss work issues in your free time

2. to shop until you drop

B. to tell the police that someone has committed a crime

3. to talk shop

C. to be disorganised and confused

4. to go window shopping

D. to rush around and knock things over

5. to shoplift

E. to buy many things (often without thinking
too much about the cost)

6. to shop someone

F. to look around the shops but buy nothing

7. to be all over the shop

G. to go shopping until you are so tired you
can’t carry on

8. to be like a bull in a china shop

H. to look for the best price

9. to go on a shopping spree

I. to steal something from a shop


2. Read the text below.


When I was at university in London, I used to love to pop into town on a Saturday afternoon and take a break from (1)discussing work with my classmates. Unfortunately, since I was a student and I had to be careful with my money, I usually ended up (2) just looking. If, on the odd occasion, I did need to buy something, I had to (3) search for the best price and went (4) around in a panic to find the best deal.
I have my first job now and don’t live in London anymore. When I get the chance to go back, I usually (5) buy lots of things and (6) carry on shopping until I am exhausted. It’s all very exciting but I (7) rush around and knock things over as I try to find what I’m looking for.

3. Replace the underlined phrases in the above text with ‘shop’ idioms that you have just learnt.
4. Create one new sentence using the two idioms from Vocabulary Question 1 that you didn’t
use when you rewrote the text.

Listening: Watch the video on shopping in London: A Guide to Shopping in London

What adjectives / superlatives are used to describe each area? List them as you hear them

• Can you remember what types of shopping you can do in these different areas?

Oxford Street
Knightsbridge
Camden Town
Borough Market
Portobello Road

Giving a talk

Choose one area of a city you know and  prepare a five-minute speech about shopping in this area.