Os três -eds

Para fazer o passado e  o particípio regulares do verbo se acrescenta -ed ao infinitivo: kick - kicked; play - played.  Need - needed.   Até aqui não há mistério.  Mas a coisa começa a apertar na hora de pronunciar este sufixinho porque ele tem três pronúncias e na esmagadora maioria de situações, o e é mudo.

ed - /t/

Quando o verbo regular termina num som surdo o sem voz a pronúncia de ed é /t/,  com e mudo.   Vamos pronunciar o verbo kick - chutar.  Fale o /k/ no final da palavra e coloque a sua mão na garganta.   O que você ouve é ar passando pelo aparelho fonador, mais nada.  A sua voz não está ligada.  Tem varias consonantes assim: /k/, /f/, //h/, /p/, /s/, /tsh/, /t/ e /ks/, que é o som do x. Faça esses sons um atrás do outro e vai ver que não tem envolvimento da voz, que tem que descansar pelo menos um pouco, não é? 

A regra é surda + surda. Quando um verbo regular termina numa consoante surda , você escreve -ed mas fala /t/.  /t/  também é uma consoante surda ou sem voz.   Aqui vem mais alguns exemplos:  asked, attacked, attached, baked (o infinitive, bake, já tem o e mudo no final; é so acrescentar o -d nesses casos); boxed, dressed, escaped, helped, hopped (quando o verbo termina em vogal consoante, precisa dobrar a consoante para manter o valor da vogal curta quando você acrescenta uma terminação), looked, mixed, e por aí vai.  

ed - /d/

Já vimos as consoantes surdas.  Também tem consoantes sonoras, essas que precisam da voz para serem faladas.  E toda vogal é sonora: imaginou uma vogal sem voz? Além de todas as vogais e todos os diftongos, as seguintes consoantes tem voz: /b/, /d/, /g/, /dz/ o som de j, /l/. /m/, /n/, /r/, /v/, e /z/. O e em -ed é mudo também neste caso.  Para verificar a sonoridade destas consoantes, coloque a mão na garganta e as pronuncie:  vai sentir a vibração da sua voz.  Se ed -/t/ segue a regra surda + surda,  ed - /d/ segue a regra sonora+ sonora. /d/ é a versão sonora da consoante surda /t/.

Estes exemplos da regra sonora+sonora (ou voiced+ voiced)  vem da página http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/esl/grammar/simplepast-pronunciation.html : grab -grabbed, hug - hugged, save-saved, ooze - oozed, massage - massaged, resume-resumed.  A regra também vale para vogais no final de verbos:  stay - stayed, play - played, try - tried (y muda para i quando se acrescenta e mas isso não afeta o som). 

/t/ ou /d/ + / Id/

 Quando um verbo regular termina nos sons /t/ ou /d/, se acrescenta uma sílaba, / Id/ . É uma questão de praticidade.  Nâo tem como pronunciar d + d ou t + t  sem interpor uma vogal.  No entanto, como esta sílaba não é enfatizada, o valor do e muda para  / I/ .  Esta vogal se faz bem no meio da boca, e bem depressa.   Eis alguns exemplos, do mesmo site:  add - added, grade - graded, decide - decided,  exit - exited, taste - tasted, object - objected.   Nos casos de decide e taste, um e mudo no final do infinitivo passa a ser pronunciado no sufixo.

Resumo da ópera:  Se pronuncia o e em ed apenas quando o verbo regular termina em d ou t.

O que acabamos de relatar vale para verbos regulares, mas como todo aluno de inglês sabe, existe uma série de verbos irregulares que não seguem estas regras e precisam ser decorados.  A notícia boa, ou menos ruim, é que para um verbo não ceder às pressões da dinâmica da língua para se regularizar, esse verbo tem que ser bastante frequente.  Assim não vai faltar prática com formas como went, caught, ate e slept.



   

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Going to isn't always gonna

Going to can not always become gonna .

Going to + V: I'm gonna leaveWhen going to refers to the future, in spoken English it turns into / gənə /, transcribed very informally as "gonna". Gonna is not used in written English.  It is nothing more than a rough approximation of the pronunciation. The two vowels / ə / in gonna, which are spoken very quickly, are the same sound you hear in, love, the indefinite article a and but. The "t" that was in the original going to simply disappears.  I'm going to eat turns into I'm gonna eat; They are going to sleep becomes They're gonna sleep. What are you going to do? = What are you gonna do? or very informally, Whatcha gonna do? Is he going to fly to Seattle? = Is he gonna fly to Seattle? Gonna, however, is not mandatory. You can continue saying going to before an infinitive and nobody will mind or even find it unusual.

Going to  + a destination. He's going to Rome (gonna is not used here)

But going to is not always followed by a verb.  It can also be followed by a destination. I'm going to Natal next week. They're going to the theater. In these cases, the pronunciation doesn't change. *He's not gonna school tomorrow won't cut it, I'm afraid. We need to say He's not going to go to school tomorrow.  When going to is followed by a destination, we may be talking about a future action, but it is also possible that the action is happening right now and we are using present continuous, as in  He's going to the bakery right now.If you want to use gonna with a destination, the solution is simple: use going to go to + where you are going. For example, I'm going to go to the beach = I'm gonna go (go is an infinitive) to the beach. In short, you can choose betweenI'm going to the beach (not gonna)I'm going to go to the beach (with gonna.)

Going + Verb + ing. He's going skiing. (Not gonna)
Another situation where you can not use gonna be before verb + ing. Many recreational activities in English take the form go + verb + ing: go shopping, go hunting, go running, go camping, go skiing, go skating, and so on. . In the sentence "I'm going skiing tomorrow", going retains its original value; we can't use gonna. But of course, you can use going to + go + verb + ing with gonna. I'm going to go skiing on Friday can turn into I'm gonna go skiing on Friday. The use of going to go, that is, two forms of go one right after the other, is totally normal in English, so don't be shy: go ahead and do it!

Going to nem sempre é gonna

Going to nem sempre pode se converter em gonna.

Going to + V:  I'm gonna leave

Quando going to se refere ao futuro, na língua falada vira /gənə/, transcrita num inglês muito informal como "gonna". Gonna não é usada no inglês escrito; nada mais é do que uma aproximação da pronúncia.  As duas vogais /ə/ em gonna, pronunciadas bem depressa,  são as mesmas em but, love, o artigo indefinido a e come.  I'm going to eat se transforma em  I'm gonna eat;  They are going to sleep vira They're gonna sleep.  What are you going to do?  What are you gonna do? ou bem informalmente, Whatcha gonna do?  Is he going to fly to Seattle?  Is he gonna fly to Seattle?  Gonna, no entanto, não é obrigatória.  Você pode continuar dizendo going to antes de um infinitivo sem qualquer sentimento de culpa. 

Going to + o destino.  He's going to Rome (gonna não se usa aqui)

Mas going to pode ser seguido de um destino.  I'm going to Natal next week.  They're going to the theater.  Nestes casos,  a pronúncia de going to não muda.  *He's not gonna school tomorrow não procede.  Tem que ser He's not going to go to school tomorrow.   

Se você quer usar gonna de qualquer jeito com um destino, a solução é simples: use going to go to.  Assim, você tem a opção de usar gonna com o lugar aonde você vai.  Por exemplo,  I'm going to go to the beach = I'm gonna go (go é um infinitivo) to the beach.  Resumindo, você pode escolher entre
I'm going to the beach (sem gonna)
I'm going to go to the beach (com gonna).

Going + Verbo + ing.  He's going skiing.  (Sem gonna)

Outra situação onde você não pode usar gonna é antes de verbo + ing.  Muitas atividades recriativas em inglês tomam a forma go+Verbo+ing:  go shopping, go hunting, go running, go camping, go skiing, go skating, e por aí vai.  Mas este ambiente não é propício para gonna.  Na frase,  "I'm going skiing tomorrow", going mantém seu valor original, sem gonna.  Mas evidentemente, você pode usar going to + go + verbo+ing com gonna.  I'm going to go skiing on Friday. pode se transformar em I'm gonna go skiing on Friday.     Going to go ao pé da letra seria vai ir em português.  Não dá em português, mas é totalmente normal em inglês.

Owww! Push não é puxar

Push e puxar não são apenas falsos cognatos: são antônimos.  E como são antônimos bem físicos, todo cuidado é pouco.  Achar que são iguais pode ser um perigo para sua saúde, especialmente na hora de abrir uma porta.   

Push = empurrar.  

Quando você vê PUSH escrita numa porta, você tem que exercer pressão para mover a porta para frente.   Se você empurra, você entra ou sai.  Se você puxa, você não sai do lugar.

Puxar = pull.  

Você usa força para que a porta venha na sua direção.   A propósito, pular não tem nada a ver com pull.  Pular = jump ou skip.  

Confesso que depois de mais de 35 anos de português, tenho que prestar alguma atenção para não fazer a manobra equivocada na hora de abrir uma porta.  Quem avisa, amigo é. 

Some presents for you

Most learners know that English has several present tenses. It has the simple present, the present continuous (or progressive, in some grammar books) and the infamous present perfect, which has some present involvement but is also rooted in the past.  The uses of these tenses are fairly complex. Take the present simple, for example  Despite its name, it isn't as simple as you might think.   I / you / they / we / Mr. and Mrs Smith /  the dogs go BUT he / she / it / goeS to the park every afternoon.

Third person singular -s in present simple

The final s the plural of all nouns with a handful of exceptions: the dog/dogs.  But he/she it/the man/Mary all  agree with goeS.  They are third person singular.  That means that we are not talking about me or us (first person) or you (second person) but about him, her, Gisele Bundchen or the man (third person singular).  Many learners of English write "he go" or  "she work" thinking that the final s in goes and works is unnecessary because the subject is not plural.  That's not the case at all.  We need that s on the verb when the subject is third person singular.     

S is a plural for nouns - not for verbs!

The girl sings (the third person, singular noun, verb with-s). The girls sing (in s plural noun, verb without -s).

Present simple for habitual action

This routine or schedule use of the present simple is sometimes accompanied by frequency adverbs such as always, often, sometimes, rarely or never.  Other adverbial expressions used with present simple include every day, every week, or all the time.  How often? is a question that requires present simple in the answer.  The t in often is normally silent, by the way.  Some people pronounce it, but they are in the minority.  How often (how frequently) do you eat lunch?   I eat lunch every day/ once a day/ daily/frequently.  We often use questions with when and present simple.  When you do eat lunch?  At 1 o'clock.  Another aside: Time in the English-speaking world goes from 1 o'clock to 12 o'clock only.  13 o'clock doesn't exist.  There's even an old joke about this.  Q: What time is it when the clock strikes thirteen?  A: Time to get a new clock!  Instead of the 24 clock widely used in Brazil, we use a.m. and p.m.  0700 = 7 am,  1900 = 7 pm.   We can skip the am or pm if the context makes it obvious what we are talking about.   The present simple is also used for eternal truths.  The sun rises in the east.  The earth revolves around the sun.

Stative verbs - Verbs that don't take -ing

There is a class of verbs that do not have continuous aspect (that is, we don't normally use -ing with them) and only appear in simple form.  They are called stative or non-continuous verbs.  There are many different classes of them.  Some can do double duty, functioning as both stative and normal action verbs.  See as a verb of perception is stative.  I see many people crossing the street.  But see can have other meanings which take -ing.  For example,  I am going out with or dating Helen.  I am seeing Helen.   For a clear presentation of statives, with a video and a lot of exercises, you might want to take a look at   http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/stative-verbs.html.   A problem arises when a verb is stative in one language but continuous in another.  In Portuguese, like = gostar, but gostar is continuous and like is not.  This leads to incorrect sentences such as "I am liking this class a lot."  To fix this sentence, we can either say "I like this class a lot" or change verbs and use enjoy, which is continuous:  "I am enjoying this class a lot."  Problem solved.  

The present as future

Present simple can also be used for a predetermined future, as with a train, bus or plane timetable or vacation plans.  For example, I leave here at 7 am tomorrow.    She arrives next Thursday.  

The instantaneous present

Sports play-by-play commentators make frequent use of the present simple as they narrate the action.  He gets the ball.  He passes to Smith.  He scores.  Goallllll!  I'm just kidding here.  English sports announcers never use the GOOOOLLLLL! you hear so often in soccer coverage in Spanish and Portuguese - they think it's undignified.  

The present simple as past

This use of the present simple is largely restricted to headlines.  Vila Nova Beats Goiás 8 -1.  Obama Wins Election.  Smith Resigns.