[App-only Episode] 518b Grammar Questions (Part 2) Here are the things I'll be talking about in this episode: Hope vs Wish Relative Clauses (an overview) Prepositions: On Campus vs At xxx Campus Get vs Have vs Have Got Hope vs Wish How to use hope / wish. What's the correct negative form of "hope"? Do we really use "wish" to talk about the future? Let's start with "hope" and then go on to "wish" afterwards. Sasha from Moscow Luke, could you spend a minute in your next podcast to answer a query that I'm sure will be interesting for many of your listeners? In grammar books it's said that we can't use a negative clause after 'I hope', but at the same time I sometimes come across such a usage. Moreover, I think I've heard you use it too. (I'm talking about sentences such as 'I hope you won't hurt yourself'). Also, I wonder about 'I hope' in the past. Do native speakers use it that way or do they use another structure? (e.g. I hope he didn't hurt himself. Is it correct?) We need an authoritative opinion, please. Luke Sure, I'd be happy to answer that question, although I'm pretty sure it won't be just a minute! Using 'hope' can actually be quite tricky. Let's look into it. First of all, just as a reminder for everyone about the verb "hope". But, does it really say in grammar books that you can't put a negative clause after "I hope"? I wonder where you read that. I think what you mean is that we don't use the verb 'hope' in negative forms. E.g. we don't say: "I don't hope she fails the exam". (well, you can say that, but you probably wouldn't). The correct version would be "I hope she doesn't fail the exam." "I don't hope she fails the exam" would be used, probably just to emphasise that you're not hoping for her failure. E.g.  You haven't sent Sandra a good luck message for her exam. It's like you just don't care about her or something, or are you secretly hoping that she fails tomorrow? No! Not at all! I don't hope she fails.  I hope she doesn't fail! I hope she passes!   Is that what you're referring to Sasha?   Sasha responded It seems so, thanks. I guess it was my long-lasting misunderstanding. What about the examples from my post? Do native speakers say: (future) I hope you don't / won't get a food poisoning in India. (past) I hope you didn't get a food poisoning in India. Do these sentences sound natural? Luke Yes. All correct. For the future: You can say hope + someone + present or hope + someone + will I hope England win the world cup. I hope England will win the world cup. I hope you don't get a food poisoning in India. I hope you won't get a food poisoning in India. They mean the same thing. I tend to use the first one a lot more (hope + present). In fact I thought hope + will was incorrect (just based on my gut instinct) but after checking it out it seems it's fine. Not US vs UK or anything like that, just fine and a valid alternative. Still, for some reason I always use hope + someone + present. We use hope to talk about the present or future. I hope my parents are happy with their Christmas gifts. (present) I hope you find a good apartment. (future) The forms are the same, but it means present if it's a state verb or continuous form, and it's future if it's an action verb. (I just came up with this rule and I'm pretty sure it's true.) State verbs in present simple I hope you know what you're doing. (present) I hope you have all the right equipment. (present) I hope you're not drunk. (present) Present continuous I hope we're going in the right direction. (present) I hope they're still waiting for us. (present) I hope we're not running out of fuel. (present) Action verbs in present simple I hope we arrive on time. (future) I hope they don't try to rob us. (future) I hope we don't get lost in the woods. (future)   OK, I reckon my rule stands up. hope + state verb in present simple or action verbs in present continuous = present hope + action verb in present simple = future   A couple of other uses of hope hope for + noun I'm hoping for a good result from my exams. I'm hoping for a 7 in IELTS. hope to do I'm hoping to get into Oxford University.   We can also use "hope" to refer to the past. I hope you didn't get food poisoning in India. This means I know someone who took a trip to India and they're back now but I don't know the details of what happened. I'm using "hope" in the present because that is a present feeling, but the food poisoning is in the past so it's simply "I hope you didn't get it". When talking about the past it doesn't matter if they're state verbs, action verbs or continuous - they all just refer to the past. More examples (all past) I hope they didn't get lost in the woods. I hope they didn't get eaten by wolves or anything. I really hope they managed to escape safely. I hope they weren't trying to escape. I hope they had some food and water. All in all - "hope" is a pretty easy verb to use, so you're probably all thinking "Yep, no problem Luke. I've got this. I've got it in the bag. No worries. No problemo. It's all good in the hood." Fine. But - there is a related issue here and that is the use of “Wish”. Wish - do we usually use it to talk about the future? We've established that "hope" is used to talk about the future quite a lot (also present and past). But what about "wish"? People often think that “wish” is used for the future. I have had loads of experiences of hearing students of mine from various places trying to use "wish" for the future when it really should be "hope". I can understand why. We usually make wishes for the future, right? Like, when we're throwing a coin into a well and wishing for something.  In that case we use wish + for + noun. What did you wish for? I wished for a new bike! I wished for a never ending supply of Guinness. I wished for a brand new Ferrari. What about you? Well, I wished for world peace and for all orphaned children to be protected and given homes. Well, yes I wished for that too of course - first that, then a new Ferrari and all that Guinness etc. But what about "wish" + a verb? Can we say "I wish you will pass the exam?" Long story short: no. How we use "wish" We do say these things: Wish + to be (sounds a bit old fashioned) I wish to be left alone. All I wish for is to be left in peace here in the forest in order to live out the remainder of my time here on earth in the company of just my thoughts, my animal friends and the internet connection I have on my 4G iPhone 8s. I wish to be left in peace. I wish to remain anonymous. I wish to be Prime Minister one day. They all sound rather formal and old fashioned.   Wish + noun (with a direct and indirect object) We wish you a merry Christmas. We wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors, you will be great! I wish you all the success, happiness, and joy in life. It's used a lot in messages of good luck, celebration etc. Greetings cards.   But we don’t use wish + will E.g. I wish I will be a millionaire one day. I wish I could be a millionaire one day. We use it to imagine a different past, to dream about a different present or to talk about present things that you want to stop or start in the future. So, wish is usually used to talk about the past or present.   "Wish" to talk about the past, present or future (kind of)   Present wish + past simple (This is hypothetical) I wish I were a millionaire. Some quick examples of 'wish' to talk about the present. Radiohead  - I wish I was special” https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/89e72d70-5273-44ff-922f-23434496593b Jim Broadbent in Bridget Jones’ Diary https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/830f36fa-acaa-4de7-b537-afdc13267c93 Elaine from Seinfeld https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/23298667-7984-48cf-b8d8-4356628ff0a5 Chandler in Friends https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/4e9868cd-7b84-4b7a-a8e7-d7f7c826d399 A lot of people wishing they were dead there… so sad. I wish I were a millionaire. I wish I was dead. :(    Past Wish + had + past participle (wishing for an alternative past - this is hypothetical past) It's a bit like a 3rd conditional. To express regret about something that happened or didn’t happen. I wish I had never met you. I wish we had never got married. I wish I hadn’t said any of those things I just said there. I wish I had just kept my mouth shut! I wish I had never agreed for us to have that threesome with Kevin.     Future We use past tense modals would and could to talk about wishes for the future. But you'll see that most of the time we're actually commenting on something in the present that we want to stop or change. wish + would wish + could I don’t like my work. I wish I could get a better job. That’s a dreadful noise. I wish it would stop. I always have to get home early. I wish my parents would let me stay out later. I wish you would stop going on about Kevin all the time. I wish Kevin would just get out of our lives forever. Often “wish + would” is used when you’re unhappy about something in the present. It's used to comment on things in the present. We do have "wish + infinitive" but it sounds very old fashioned. Instead we are much more likely to use "hope" for the future.  Got it? Don’t say: I wish you will win the game! I wish you will get the job! It’s “I hope you win the game!” “I hope you get the job” Using "hope" to talk about the future (remember) If you want to express your feelings about the future in this way, use "hope". I hope + (that) + present I hope you win the game. I hope your marriage survives. I hope we never see Kevin again.   I hope + infinitive We are hoping to raise about $500,000 for charity   And, going back to Sasha’s original question: Don't say: "I don't hope she fails the exam" The correct version would be "I hope she doesn't fail the exam." Wish & hope - recap Here's a situation. A couple decided to go to a swingers party because they were bored in their marriage. Let's say it was the wife's idea.  They go and end up getting into a threesome with Kevin.  I'm not sure why, but it somehow spoiled their relationship.  Now, sadly, their marriage is in disarray. This has absolutely no basis in reality by the way! I'm just writing it because I recently watched a Louis Theroux documentary about swingers. So, you can imagine them saying these things. Past I wish we had never gone to that stupid swingers party. I wish I had never suggested it in the first place. I wish we had never met Kevin. He's ruined everything. Present Oh, I wish you would stop talking about Kevin! I wish we could move on from this. I wish we could forget this ever happened. I wish Kevin would stop calling you. Future I just hope that we can make this work, for the kids' sake. I hope the kids never find out about this.   Relative Clauses An Email from the CONTACT section of my website. Eray Hey Luke . I love your podcsat [podcast] and thank you so much. I have a big problem. I can’t learn exactly "relative clauses" grammar. Please help me what I must do. [Please help me with what I must/have to/should do.] Luke You must travel with me to Alderaan and learn the ways of the force like your father before you. Sorry, I mean - you should probably check out the British Council’s website for this one. They have a very thorough explanation of all the ins and outs of relative clauses there, with some practice exercises. You'll find the link in the episode notes in the app. https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/clause-phrase-and-sentence/verb-patterns/relative-clauses Alternatively, use a grammar book with some practice exercises. "English Grammar in Use" by Raymond Murphy. Relative clauses is a big area and I can't give a simple email response that explains it all. It would probably help if you narrowed down your question a bit. I wonder exactly what issue you're having with relative clauses. Having said all those things, this does give me a chance to say some things about relative clauses, off the top of my head, without doing tons of research and preparation. Having taught this stuff a lot, most of it is just stuck in there now, hopefully. Let me say a load of things about relative clauses then. I'm not sure Eray, if this is the exact information you're looking for, but I'll cover a lot of stuff about relative clauses, as quickly as I can - so a kind of overview, and hopefully it will help bring some clarity. Don't forget also to do self study exercises to test yourself, work out where you're getting answers wrong and target your weaknesses. This is going to be a bit like carpet bombing. I'm not sure where the target is, so I'll just drop loads of bombs all over the whole area - like a big carpet of bombs - grammar bombs in this case, and hopefully I'll get what I was hoping to get.  What are relative clauses? A relative clause is used to add more information to a noun in a sentence. Relative clauses can get pretty complicated! With relative clauses you can add more details after the noun, essentially making the noun much longer.  In a simple way, let’s see relative clauses as a way to make a noun longer. My brother likes pizza. There are two nouns in that sentence. In a moment we'll make them longer. First let's get some more information about my brother and pizza. My brother is an English guy.  I've known him since I was born. Pizza is a delicious type of round food. It was invented in Italy, probably in a town called pizza. 5 sentences into 1 sentence. My brother, who is an English guy (that/who) I’ve known since I was born, likes pizza, which is a delicious type of round food that was invented in Italy, probably in a town called Pizza. 1 sentence. Relative clauses are really useful for joining several ideas together to make one sentence, instead of making just two or more simple sentences. That's why they're really important and useful for progressing in English, for being fluent and for writing complex sentences. Tomorrow, you're marrying a Princess. Her father owns most of the land on this island! Tomorrow you’re marrying a Princess whose father owns most of the land on this island! This is Kevin. He works in my office. He's a gym instructor. You met him last week at the party last week. Remember? This is Kevin, who works in my office. He's the gym instructor you met at the party last week. Remember? Luke Thompson is the tenant. The London Landlord Association is the landlord. LT and LLA both agree to enter an agreement. The agreement is legally binding. The agreement is not subject to any rights of any third parties. Those third parties are listed in the annex of this document. (6 sentences) Luke Thompson, who is the tenant, and the LLA, which is the landord both agree to enter an agreement which is legally binding and not subject to the rights of any third parties which are listed in the annex of the document. (1 sentence.) Lots of examples there. Let's look at the grammar in a bit more detail. A clause = subject - verb - object (sometimes the object isn't necessary) My brother (subject) likes (verb) pizza (object). That's the structure that sentences are built on. You can add more details to the subject, verb and object in lots of ways. The subject and object are usually nouns. You can add adjectives before the nouns.  My older brother likes spicy pizza. You can add more details to verbs with adverbials. My older brother really likes spicy pizza. Going back to the nouns, you can add more detail after the nouns with relative clauses. How? You attach a relative pronoun after the noun and that relative pronoun acts as the subject or possibly the object of a new, additional clause - a bit like a branch off the main tree trunk. My older brother, who lives in London, really likes spicy pizza, which he buys from the restaurant opposite his house. So far, so good. Eray - you might be thinking at this point "yes, Luke I know this much but the thing is I think it gets more complicated than this, doesn't it. Like, what you said about the relative clause being the subject or possibly object of the clause. That sounded a bit like gobbledegook if I'm honest." Wow, Eray, your English is good. You know the word "gobbledegook".  Anyway, you're right. It does get more complex - like when for example we can use 'that' and when we can't. Defining and non-defining relative clauses. Sometimes we can remove the relative pronoun and sometimes we can't. Also, there are participle clauses - like "I saw a man wearing a red jacket being questioned by police next to a car covered in bird shit." Relative pronouns A relative clause is one that starts with a relative pronoun - most commonly: who, which, that, whose and also whom. We use who for people, which for things, that for anything. Whose is a possessive pronoun, when it’s the owner of the subject of the clause. This is the man whose dog bit my leg. Remember, the pronoun represents the noun before it. So in this case, whose represents man. The man owns the dog. So it's whose. E.g.  I found that girl's book. That's the girl whose book I found. It's whose  not who's. Who's = who is. The sound the same. More details about relative pronouns The relative pronoun can be the subject or object of the clause. This is the girl who is publishing my book. The girl is publishing the book. (The girl = subject) This is the book that I've written. I have written the book. (the book = object) Notice that when the pronoun is the object, we add the subject right after it.  That's the restaurant where I met my wife. Are the pronouns in these sentences the object or subject of the clause? This is the book that I was telling you about. (object) This is the book that is going to help me with my grammar. (subject) Raymond Murphy is the guy who wrote the book. (subject) This is the book which I bought for you. (object) When it’s the object of the clause you can remove the pronoun. He’s the guy that I was telling you about. (I was telling you about this guy) She’s the girl that I like. (I like the girl) This is the book which I bought for you. (I bought the book) By the way - that  can replace any pronoun, but not in non-defining relative clauses. What are non-defining relative clauses Luke!! x(  There are defining relative clauses, and non-defining relative clauses. Defining ones tell you specifically which thing it is. Non-defining ones just give you a bit of extra information. Compare: The students who studied passed the exam. (only the ones who studied passed) Defining relative clause The students, who studied, passed the exam. (all the students passed, and by the way, they studied) Non defining relative clause   The guys who could speak English were popular with the girls. (only the guys who spoke English were popular) Defining The guys, who could speak English, were popular with the girls. (all the guys were popular, and by the way - they could speak English) Non defining   The podcast, which has been downloaded about 40 million times, won the award. (The podcast won the award, and by the way - it's been downloaded 40 million times) Non defining The podcast which has been downloaded about 40 million times won the award. (This defines exactly which podcast won. It was the one that has been downloaded over 40 million times) Defining    There are also differences in the way those sentences are said. Try repeating them after me.   Don’t use “that” in non-defining relative clauses. E.g. Paul McCartney, who was in The Beatles, is one of the most famous musicians in the world. Not: Paul McCartney, that was in the Beatles, is one of the most famous… (It should be who.)   But it’s ok if it’s a defining clause. E.g. The Beatle that played the bass guitar was Paul. The one that played the drums was Ringo.   Now, Eray - get on the BC website and do some exercises https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/clause-phrase-and-sentence/verb-patterns/relative-clauses   Preposition Question One of my favourite types of question - the one that answers itself during the question. Wesley Hello Luke, I have a question about prepositions. I was studying the word ‘campus’ and I realised that it might have two prepositions before it: ‘on’ and ‘at’. The most common one is ‘on’, as in ‘They live on campus.’ This makes sense, because to say the opposite, we just have to replace ‘on’ with ‘off’: ‘They live off campus. They live with their parents.’ Now, if I want to talk about a specific campus, which preposition should I use: ‘on’ or ‘at’? Which one sounds most natural to you? I ask this because the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives as an example ‘Students at the Belfast campus have access to excellent sports facilities.’ Does it mean that when I’m referring to a specific campus I have to use ‘at’? Take care, Wesley   Luke Yes.   Some of you now might be thinking about other examples that you've wondered about in the past. For example: The difference between "in" and "at" for locations. at school / in school at the hospital / in the hospital The difference between "in" and "on" for some forms of transport. Just two things there - which people often ask me about, or get wrong. He's at school (location) He's in school (situation in general) But we do say "He's at university" (situation in general) Sorry - my language is inconsistent. He's at the hospital (location) He's in the hospital (more specific location - inside)   On a bus, train, plane, helicopter (if it's big), boat, bike, motorbike, horse, camel, skateboard, scooter. (if you can stand up - use 'on') In a car, taxi, canoe, kayak, dinghy.  (if you can't stand up - use 'in')     Get vs have got vs have Greg Falcon - Episode 466 (GET) I would say it’s a massive episode. It’s quite long. At one moment I checked the player and I thought “good lord, it’s been going for one hour and twenty minutes already but I can still hear Luke’s voice in my ears. Does this “get” word have an end”? [NO - actually - there is no end…] But don’t get me wrong, all those long episodes of LEP are some kind of an exclusive feature which is absolutely adorable. You might get the impression that Luke simply cannot stop teaching! And in response to that dedication we can’t stop learning. It’s full of new info. “Get” this and “get” that. Although Luke gave plenty of examples of “get” usage, I still have a question about one particular instance: is there any difference between “I get a thought” and “I’ve got a thought”? Confusing a bit.   I get a thought I’ve got a thought I got a thought I’m getting a thought     Episode 466 is all about the many different uses of the word "get", including the fact that it can work a bit like an auxiliary verb in passive structures or to mean become (to get made, to get fired, to get drunk) or to mean receive/obtain (I got an email, I got an idea) and also things like "have got" meaning "have" for possessions. E.g. I've got 3 guitars but I never play any of them. So the question is about the difference between get (meaning receive or obtain) I get a thought I’ve got a thought (have got - like possessive have) I got a thought (the past form of the first example - to receive or obtain) I’m getting a thought (the present continuous version of get for receive or obtain) First of all I should say that I think that I would say "have a thought" instead of "get a thought". It's the more frequent collocation I reckon. E.g. I had a thought last night while I was lying in bed waiting to go to sleep. Or I often have interesting thoughts while I'm just walking home from work. I'd say "get an idea". I got an interesting idea while I was lying in bed last night. I often get ideas when I'm walking home from work.   Anyway, back to the question... This is basically the difference between “get” used as a “main verb” meaning to receive, and what I’m calling the grammatical structure “have got” for possession.   have got = have (it’s just like possessive have)   I’ve got a guitar, I’ve got an iPhone, I’ve got a wife, we’ve got a baby, she’s got her whole life ahead of her, I’ve got the answer to your question, you’ve got some things to do, I’ve got a lot on my mind, etc.   Have got / have = Possessive I’ve got a guitar / I have a guitar I haven’t got a guitar / I don’t have a guitar Have you got a guitar? / Do you have a guitar? Yes I have. No I haven’t. / Yes I do. No I don’t. Do you have a guitar? - Yes I do. Have you got the time please? - Yes, I have.   It also looks like the present perfect form of “get”. I think this is the issue Greg is really asking about. So Greg, your question I think is really "What's the difference between have got (possessive) and have got as the present perfect form of get meaning receive or obtain. E.g. I’ve just got your email. It also works for the other meanings of get in present perfect form. I’ve just got home. (arrive at a place) Have you ever got drunk on a plane? (become) Get - got - got (UK) get - got - gotten (USA)   Going back to Greg's four sentences. I get a thought I’ve got a thought I got a thought I’m getting a thought    So, it’s either “have got”, which is possessive have. Or it’s “get” meaning “receive” or maybe "become" but in different times using different tenses, including present perfect, which is also “have got”.   I get a thought - something that happens on a regular basis. Every day I get a new thought in my head. Just one thought. I get loads of emails every day. Sometimes I get donations from listeners. I get lots of ideas when I'm falling asleep. I’ve got a thought -  this could either be possessive, or present perfect with get meaning receive. Possessive (just like "I have a thought") I’ve got a few thoughts in my mind. = I have a few thoughts in my mind at the moment. I've got lots of ideas for episodes of the podcast. I have lots of ideas. Present perfect tense I've just got a thought. It just arrived a moment ago. I’ve just got fired. The boss has told me to get my things and go. I’ve just got home. I haven't had time to prepare dinner yet. I've just got your email. I haven't had a chance to reply yet.   I got a thought - I received a thought once in the past.  I got a thought last night while I was lying in bed. I got an idea while I was walking home. I’m getting a thought - a thought is coming in right now, I’m receiving a thought right now. I'm getting a message from an unknown source. They appear to be communicating on an unknown frequency. It appears to be coming from Mars. I think it's aliens sir. I'm getting a bit confused.   We’ve now got to the end of this episode. We haven’t got much time left. I’ve perhaps just got enough time to say one or two other things. If you’ve got any other questions in mind, visit the website and leave them in the comment section or send me an email.   I’ve got to do so many things. (That’s another use! That’s “have got to” for an obligation - but I haven’t got enough time to go into it now!)   You’ve got to the end of the episode (You’ve reached the end) I’ve got no more time left (possessive) I’ve got to do more episodes on grammar in the future (obligation)   Thank you for downloading the app. If you like episodes in which I teach you specific bits of language, I plan to do more of this kind of thing in the app, and I'm planning on introducing a paid service where there are regular episodes in which I deal with certain aspects of language, or explain specific things which have come up naturally in conversations on the podcast.  There is a lot more I can do with LEP. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the current format is just the beginning really.    Thanks for listening.   Remember this: I want to learn this language. I will not let "language dickheads" get in my way. At the end of the day, I am the one in control of my mind. I choose to stay positive. People cannot discourage me. May the (mental) force be with you. Have a great day! Luke ***You are now leaving the Grammar Zone - Have a nice day!***