Bring some flour

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Baking Cookies

Hey, It's me, Adele. I will tell you what happened yesterday – quite a day, let me tell you!

Yesterday afternoon, while I was baking some biscuits in the kitchen, my husband, Tom, called. We were chatting on the phone when suddenly the doorbell rang. I was a bit puzzled because I wasn't expecting anyone. When I opened the door, there stood my little nephew, Sam, with a big smile on his face. He was holding a colourful drawing he made at school. It was so sweet!

I looked at the clock and realised it was getting late. I turned to Tom and said, "Sam is here for a visit, what time are you coming?”. Tom told me that he was finishing work. “That’s great! Come home as soon as possible and get some wine for dinner and… don’t be late!” I said. “I have to make dinner”.

Tom came half an hour later and helped me with the biscuits. As we walked into the kitchen, I noticed we didn't have much flour left for the cookies. So, I asked Tom, "Do we have any flour left in the cupboard?" We needed it for the cookies! And guess what? We found some!.

Sam ate some cookies and left, so Tom and I prepared dinner. I had planned to make spaghetti. I looked for it in the cupboard, and to my surprise, there wasn't much pasta. I turned to Sam and said, "Please, go to the supermarket and get some spaghetti".

While I was cooking dinner, I thought about how much I enjoy spending time with family and friends. We had a lovely meal, and Sam even helped with the dishes!

In Unit 4, you will learn the vocabulary you need to search for a job, write your Curriculum Vitae or tell someone about your work experience. You will also learn how to form and use the Past Continuous, the Imperative, Countable and Uncountable Nouns and Quantifiers (some-any-many-much-etc.).

Listen carefully to what Adele is saying.

"We were chatting on the phone".
"He was holding a colourful drawing".
"It was getting late".

In these sentences, we use the Past Continuous to talk about actions in the past which were not finished at a specific moment. For the sentence to be meaningful, you need to set the action using a "time phrase" or a "while/when/as" sentence.

Yesterday afternoon, I was baking some biscuits. (when?: yesterday afternoon)
He was finishing work at 5 o'clock. (when?: at 5 o'clock)
We were chatting on the phone when the doorbell rang. (when?: when the doorbell rang)
While I was baking some biscuits in the kitchen, my husband called. (when?: while I was baking some biscuits)

Now, let's focus on the Imperative. As you can see in the sentences from the text, using the imperative in English is quite simple: just use the verb in the infinitive form without a subject: Run ! Go away! Mix the flour and the water...

Come home as soon as possible and get some wine.
Go to the supermarket and get some spaghetti.
Don't be late! (Can you guess how the negative imperative is formed?)

You will also learn about Countable and Uncountable nouns. Can you think of five nouns for each?

A job (countable-->one)
Biscuits (countable: plural-->two, three...)
Wine (uncountable: not plural/no numbers)
Pasta (uncountable: not plural/no numbers)

Finally, we will explain the Quantifiers, words that you can use to express an indefnite quantity of something:

We didn't have much flour.
Sam ate some cookies.
Get some spaghetti.

Are you ready?

¿qué vas a aprender?

En la Unida 4 vamos a aprender el vocabulario necesario para buscar trabajo, escribir un Curriculum Vitae o hablarle a alguien de tu experiencia laboral. También aprenderemos a utilizar el Pasado Continuo, el Imperativo, los sustantivos Contables e Incontables y los Cuantificadores (some-any-many-much-etc.).

Escucha lo que dice Adele:

"We were chatting on the phone" "Hablábamos/Estábamos hablando por teléfono"
"He was holding a colourful drawing" "Llevaba un dibujo de colores"
"It was getting late". "Se estaba haciendo tarde"

Observa que hemos utilizado el Pasado Continuo para hablar de acciones pasadas que, en el momento al que nos estamos refiriendo, no estaban completas o terminadas. Para que la oración tenga sentido, la acción debe estar situada en un momento concreto, en un contexto, mediante un complemento de tiempo o una oración encabezada por "While/When/As" (Mientras que/Cuando)

Yesterday afternoon, I was baking some biscuits. Ayer por la tarde, estaba haciendo galletas.
He was finishing work at 5 o'clock. Él estaba terminando en el trabajo a las 5.
We were chatting on the phone when the doorbell rang. Estábamos hablando por teléfono cuando sonó el timbre
While I was baking some biscuits in the kitchen, my husband called. Mientras hacía las galletas en la cocina, llamó mi marido.

Fíjate ahora en los Imperativos. Como puedes observar en el relato de Adele, usar el imperativo en inglés es fácil: sólo tienes que usar el infinitivo del verbo, sin sujeto: Run ! (¡Corre!) - Go away! (¡Vete!) - Mix the flour and the water... (Mezcle la harina y el agua)

Come home as soon as possible and get some wine. Ven a casa lo antes posible y trae vino.
Go to the supermarket and get some spaghetti. Ve al supermercado y compra espaguetis.
Don't be late! (Can you guess how the negative imperative is formed?) ¡No llegues tarde! (adivina cómo se forma la negativa)

También vamos a estudiar los sustantivos Contables e Incontables. ¿Puedes nombrar cinco palabras de cada tipo?

A job (countable-->one) Un trabajo (uno: contable)
Biscuits (countable: plural-->two, three...) Galletas (es plural: contable)
Wine (uncountable: not plural/no numbers) Vino (ni plural ni admite números: incontable)
Pasta (uncountable: not plural/no numbers) Pasta (ni plural ni admite números: incontable)

Por último, aprenderemos a utilizar los Cuantificadores, palabras que se utilizan para expresar una cantidad indefinida de algo:

We didn't have much flour. (No teníamos mucha harina)
Sam ate some cookies. (Sam se comió algunas/unas galletas)
Get some spaghetti. (Compra espaguetis)

¿Preparados?