'Titanic' and English Grammar
2020-03-06
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1The 1997 film Titanic is one of the most popular movies ever made.
2It won many film awards and was one of the highest-grossing films in movie history.
3The film is a love story set against the sinking of the famous ship in 1912.
4It has many memorable scenes.
5Some of them can teach you important ideas about English grammar.
6Today, we will explore one short scene to teach you about tag questions and polite forms of speaking.
7A tag question is a short question added to a statement.
8In our scene, Jack, played by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, eats dinner with a group of rich people.
9DiCaprio does not come from a wealthy background - just the opposite, in fact.
10He does not have a home.
11A wealthy woman asks Jack a difficult question.
12She asks if he enjoys his homeless life.
13You can hear the tense silence after her question.
14"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?"
15"Well, yes, ma'am, I do."
16Let's examine this short exchange.
17We will begin with the woman's question.
18The woman's question is a kind of tag question.
19First, she makes a statement:
20"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing"
21Notice that the main verb is find.
22The woman follows the statement with a tag question:
23"do you?"
24If English speakers make a statement that uses a verb other than be, then the tag question often uses an auxiliary verb such as do or have.
25In this case, the woman made a statement using the verb find, and she used the auxiliary verb do in the tag question.
26This is just one form that a tag question can take.
27If you want to learn more about different kinds of tag questions, you can read the story on our website, learningenglish.voanews.com.
28Now let's continue with the scene.
29Think about DiCaprio's response to the woman's question.
30DiCaprio responds by saying:
31"Well, yes, ma'am, I do."
32The order of DiCaprio's words is important.
33DiCaprio begins with the word well. Well is a common word that has many uses.
34Speakers often use well when giving an explanation.
35DiCaprio then says yes, a term of agreement.
36The next word is ma'am.
37Ma'am is a polite term. Americans generally use it to speak to a woman who they do not know.
38The Online Etymology Dictionary notes that in the United States, speakers generally use ma'am in answers - after the word yes or the word no.
39In other words, you are more likely to hear Americans say yes, ma'am, or no, ma'am.
40Americans do not use the term ma'am along with a woman's name.
41DiCaprio uses the words well, yes, ma'am ... to show politeness, and to show that an explanation is coming.
42DiCaprio could have responded in a different, more direct way, as in:
43"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?"
44"Yes, I do."
45Such a statement would have been a little too strong.
46That is why DiCaprio did not say it.
47The point of this story is to show you that you can learn about culture and grammar by watching films or television shows.
48Even short clips can give you a lot of information.
49When watching these films or shows, try asking yourself some questions.
50Why do the speakers say the things they do?
51Could they change the way they say their lines?
52These can be difficult questions to answer, but you will learn a lot by thinking about them.
53A word of advice: It helps if you choose a clip from something that you like - perhaps a film or a show that you have seen before.
54I'm John Russell.
1The 1997 film Titanic is one of the most popular movies ever made. It won many film awards and was one of the highest-grossing films in movie history. 2The film is a love story set against the sinking of the famous ship in 1912. It has many memorable scenes. Some of them can teach you important ideas about English grammar. 3Today, we will explore one short scene to teach you about tag questions and polite forms of speaking. A tag question is a short question added to a statement. 4#1 Tag questions 5In our scene, Jack, played by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, eats dinner with a group of rich people. DiCaprio does not come from a wealthy background - just the opposite, in fact. He does not have a home. 6A wealthy woman asks Jack a difficult question. She asks if he enjoys his homeless life. 7You can hear the tense silence after her question. 8"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?" 9"Well, yes, ma'am, I do." 10Let's examine this short exchange. 11We will begin with the woman's question. 12The woman's question is a kind of tag question. 13First, she makes a statement: 14"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing" 15Notice that the main verb is find. 16The woman follows the statement with a tag question: 17"do you?" 18If English speakers make a statement that uses a verb other than be, then the tag question often uses an auxiliary verb such as do or have. In this case, the woman made a statement using the verb find, and she used the auxiliary verb do in the tag question. 19This is just one form that a tag question can take. If you want to learn more about different kinds of tag questions, you can read the story on our website, learningenglish.voanews.com. 20#2 Polite forms of address, word order 21Now let's continue with the scene. 22Think about DiCaprio's response to the woman's question. 23DiCaprio responds by saying: 24"Well, yes, ma'am, I do." 25The order of DiCaprio's words is important. 26DiCaprio begins with the word well. Well is a common word that has many uses. Speakers often use well when giving an explanation. 27DiCaprio then says yes, a term of agreement. 28The next word is ma'am. 29Ma'am is a polite term. Americans generally use it to speak to a woman who they do not know. 30The Online Etymology Dictionary notes that in the United States, speakers generally use ma'am in answers - after the word yes or the word no. 31In other words, you are more likely to hear Americans say yes, ma'am, or no, ma'am. Americans do not use the term ma'am along with a woman's name. 32DiCaprio uses the words well, yes, ma'am ... to show politeness, and to show that an explanation is coming. 33DiCaprio could have responded in a different, more direct way, as in: 34"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?" 35"Yes, I do." 36Such a statement would have been a little too strong. That is why DiCaprio did not say it. 37Closing thoughts 38The point of this story is to show you that you can learn about culture and grammar by watching films or television shows. Even short clips can give you a lot of information. 39When watching these films or shows, try asking yourself some questions. Why do the speakers say the things they do? Could they change the way they say their lines? These can be difficult questions to answer, but you will learn a lot by thinking about them. 40A word of advice: It helps if you choose a clip from something that you like - perhaps a film or a show that you have seen before. 41I'm John Russell. 42John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 43________________________________________________________________ 44Words in This Story 45grossing - adj. used especially to describe a total amount of money that exists before anything (such as taxes or expenses) is taken away 46memorable - adj. very good or interesting and worth remembering 47scene -n. a part of a play, movie, story, etc., in which a particular action or activity occurs 48tense - adj. showing or causing nervousness 49response - n. something that is done as a reaction to something else 50clip -n. a short section of a movie, TV show, etc. 51We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.