Online Class Notes (Joe)

Today, we talked about likely and unlikely future events. We reviewed the first and second conditional and talked about the difference between the countable and uncountable forms of time. Finally, we discussed the difference between something which takes time and spending time on something.

Grammar

My job is to review various of contracts and to give a legal advice to other departments
My job would be to review various contracts and give legal advice to other departments

It is depend on if I like this job
It depends on if I like the job

Even if I get a job with a high salary, if I don’t like the job, it will be very tired
Even if I got a job with a high salary, if I didn’t like the job, it would be very tiring

I have to spend many times playing games
I have to spend so much time playing games

Vocabulary

accompany (verb) – go somewhere with someone
I will accompany him to the dance

company (adj) – stay with someone to keep them from being lonely
My dog keeps my mom company every day

hang out / spend time with someone – stay with someone (it’s not important what we do)
I will hang out with my friends (informal)
I will spend some time with my family (regular)

Time – countable or uncountable

When we talk about the amount of time (number of hours/days etc.) required to complete something, time is usually uncountable.

• How much time do we need to paint the walls? (NOT How many time do we need…?)
• We took quite some time to put the child to bed.
• Hurry up – we haven’t got enough time.
• The project was a complete waste of time and money.

In expressions like a long time or a short time, the word time is used as a countable noun.

• I took a long time to proofread the work.

When we talk about situations or events, time is countable

• I have been to that company three times
• I have met her several times this week

Spend time / Take time

We choose to spend time. Something takes time when we have no choice about how long it wil take.

I spent the 3 hours reading and relaxing. I could have spent more time or less time, but I chose to spend 3 hours.

It took me an hour to finish reading all my emails. I could not have done it faster than that.