Talking about Your Dreams
2024-03-22
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1In an earlier Everyday Grammar, we talked about "Fast Car," a song about young people who had dreams of making their lives better.
2Then, we asked our readers and listeners to tell us about their own dreams.
3In today's lesson, we will review two answers we received, both from people in their middle years of life, and we give some grammar advice.
4First, we want to thank Jairo, a middle-aged man who wrote to us. He said,
5"Today everyday grammar topic is about dreams, how can I describe my dream?
6This is an interesting topic over all for people who already has certain age, like me; as well, the time is not longer for following an eternal dream..."
7Jairo used an interesting expression to tell us about his age.
8He said, "people who already has certain age." You might have heard this expression in sentences like:
9A person of a certain age needs to be concerned about retirement funds.
10Note that the verb "has" is not used, but the preposition "of" is used before "a certain age."
11As you can guess, this is a polite way to describe someone in their 40s, 50s, or 60s.
12It is often used to talk about women's age without saying how old they are.
13Sometimes it comes before criticism, so take care in using it.
14Jairo said, "the time is not longer for following an eternal dream."
15We suggest using, "the time is growing shorter" or "there is little time left." Jairo could say,
16The time for me to follow my dream is growing shorter.
17Jairo continues to tell us about what is now important to meeting his life goals.
18"... for that reason I need to be focus on important things, indeed, buy a house, save money for my daughter's scholarship, save money for taking a vacations or save money to be prepare for my retirement time..."
19In this statement, Jairo uses "be" before an infinitive verb form two times: "be focus" and "be prepare." We suggest using the adjective form in both:
20I need to be focused on important things.
21I need to save money to be prepared for my retirement.
22Next, we review a message from Kaori, who is a middle-aged woman in Japan.
23She begins by saying what she dreamed as a young person, using the expression we heard in the song, "Fast Car" - "to be someone."
24"When I was young, I strongly believed I would be someone in the future. I wanted to be the first female Prime Minister in Japan or an executive of the big famous company."
25Kaori did earn a job at a company, but then marriage and children and culture forced her to quit working. She says:
26"However, I didn't become anyone...I stopped my job and gave up my carrier. Do I regret my decision and my life? No. Not at all.
27From the remaining part of Kaori's message, we find she was a success at being a mother, as her two daughters are in college.
28And she gained a part-time job that helped to pay their school costs when they were younger.
29The corrections to her message that we suggest are the spelling of "career" and how to say you have quit a job.
30We can say, "I stopped working," or "I quit working."
31But Kaori could also say, "I changed jobs," because being a homemaker and mother, although unpaid, is a full-time job. Kaori did all that while holding a part-time job.
32Thinking of how her dream changed over time, Kaori writes:
33My past dreams were only thinking, not real.
34I can say my own dreams have changed everytime.
35In the future, even if I become old, I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams at anytime.
36Two words in this part cause grammatical issues: "everytime" and "anytime."
37"Every time" should be written as two separate words, but a better way to say this would be:
38I can say my own dreams have changed over the years.
39"Anytime" is an adverb, so it should not appear after the preposition "at." Instead, Kaori could say,
40I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams anytime.
41Or she could use a different expression:
42I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams my whole life long.
43Thank you, Kaori and Jairo, for writing to us and helping everyone to learn more about how we talk about our dreams.
44You both showed us that dreams can change over time as our lives become connected with those of others.
45And that's Everyday Grammar!
46I'm Jill Robbins.
1In an earlier Everyday Grammar, we talked about "Fast Car," a song about young people who had dreams of making their lives better. Then, we asked our readers and listeners to tell us about their own dreams. 2In today's lesson, we will review two answers we received, both from people in their middle years of life, and we give some grammar advice. 3Jairo's dream 4First, we want to thank Jairo, a middle-aged man who wrote to us. He said, 5"Today everyday grammar topic is about dreams, how can I describe my dream? This is an interesting topic over all for people who already has certain age, like me; as well, the time is not longer for following an eternal dream..." 6Jairo used an interesting expression to tell us about his age. He said, "people who already has certain age." You might have heard this expression in sentences like: 7A person of a certain age needs to be concerned about retirement funds. 8Note that the verb "has" is not used, but the preposition "of" is used before "a certain age." As you can guess, this is a polite way to describe someone in their 40s, 50s, or 60s. It is often used to talk about women's age without saying how old they are. Sometimes it comes before criticism, so take care in using it. 9Time is growing shorter 10Jairo said, "the time is not longer for following an eternal dream." We suggest using, "the time is growing shorter" or "there is little time left." Jairo could say, 11The time for me to follow my dream is growing shorter. 12Jairo continues to tell us about what is now important to meeting his life goals. 13"... for that reason I need to be focus on important things, indeed, buy a house, save money for my daughter's scholarship, save money for taking a vacations or save money to be prepare for my retirement time..." 14In this statement, Jairo uses "be" before an infinitive verb form two times: "be focus" and "be prepare." We suggest using the adjective form in both: 15I need to be focused on important things. 16I need to save money to be prepared for my retirement. 17Kaori's dreams 18Next, we review a message from Kaori, who is a middle-aged woman in Japan. She begins by saying what she dreamed as a young person, using the expression we heard in the song, "Fast Car" - "to be someone." 19"When I was young, I strongly believed I would be someone in the future. I wanted to be the first female Prime Minister in Japan or an executive of the big famous company." 20Kaori did earn a job at a company, but then marriage and children and culture forced her to quit working. She says: 21"However, I didn't become anyone...I stopped my job and gave up my carrier. Do I regret my decision and my life? No. Not at all. 22From the remaining part of Kaori's message, we find she was a success at being a mother, as her two daughters are in college. And she gained a part-time job that helped to pay their school costs when they were younger. The corrections to her message that we suggest are the spelling of "career" and how to say you have quit a job. We can say, "I stopped working," or "I quit working." But Kaori could also say, "I changed jobs," because being a homemaker and mother, although unpaid, is a full-time job. Kaori did all that while holding a part-time job. 23Thinking of how her dream changed over time, Kaori writes: 24My past dreams were only thinking, not real. I can say my own dreams have changed everytime. In the future, even if I become old, I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams at anytime. 25Two words in this part cause grammatical issues: "everytime" and "anytime." "Every time" should be written as two separate words, but a better way to say this would be: 26I can say my own dreams have changed over the years. 27"Anytime" is an adverb, so it should not appear after the preposition "at." Instead, Kaori could say, 28I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams anytime. 29Or she could use a different expression: 30I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams my whole life long. 31Thank you, Kaori and Jairo, for writing to us and helping everyone to learn more about how we talk about our dreams. You both showed us that dreams can change over time as our lives become connected with those of others. 32And that's Everyday Grammar! 33I'm Jill Robbins. 34Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 35______________________________________________ 36Words in This Story 37certain - adj. definite or particular, but not named or specified 38polite -adj. showing good behavior and consideration for the needs of others 39guess - v. to think or suppose 40What do you think of the reaction to the coronavirus outbreak? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.