– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Welcome to Learning English,

a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Caty Weaver.

And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

This program is designed for English learners.

So we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases, especially written.

For people.

Learning English.

On this program,

Andrew Smith answers a listener's question

about describing things left over.

Jill Robbins, John Russell and Jonathan

Evans explore a sentence structure

on a special, shortened version of Everyday Grammar.

See our website.

Learning English dot VOA news.com for additional material.

Then part two of the Blue

Hotel on American Stories.

But first,

this week on Ask a Teacher.

We answer a question from an.

Here is part of Ann's question.

Dear teachers,

I don't really understand the difference between remaining.

Remainder and rest when using these words

to describe what is left of something.

For example, can I replace the remaining countries

by the remain or the rest?

Thank you Ann.

I'm happy to answer this question.

Ann. English has many words that share the same meaning

or that are close in meaning.

So you might wonder why

we usually use one word instead of another.

That is very similar to it.

We often use one word instead of another.

Because of grammar.

Let's look at how this works by considering

the last part of your question.

You asked.

Can I replace the remaining countries

by the remain or the rest?

The answer is no.

That's because the word remain is a verb,

and the term the rest is a quantifier.

To describe the word countries,

we need to use an adjective.

The ING ending on the word

remaining makes it an adjective.

When we place it before a noun.

If you want to use the words

the rest to describe a noun,

you need to use four words.

These four words are the rest of the.

These four words mean the same thing

as the two words the remaining.

The following example shows this.

The rest of the countries use more land for farming.

Now let's look at the first part of your question.

I don't really understand the difference

between remaining remainder and rest.

When using these words to describe

what is left of something.

The word remainder is a noun.

But when we use it to describe what is left of something,

we change it to a quantifier.

To do this, we usually say or write

the four words the remainder of the.

In this way, it works

the same way as the quantifier.

The rest of the.

However, we use the quantifier.

The rest of the.

Much more often, especially in spoken English,

than the remainder of the.

Also, you should know that as a noun,

the remainder is a term used in mathematics.

It can mean the decimal fraction

that remains when one number is divided

by another number that is not one of its factors.

For example, 6/10

or 0.6 is the remainder.

When 33 is divided by five.

It can also be what is left

over from the process of subtraction.

And that's.

Ask a teacher.

I'm Andrew Smith.

Many English learners

have spent a lot of time studying the parts of speech.

Adjectives, nouns and verbs.

For example.

But sometimes studying the English sentence

from a larger perspective is useful.

One way to get a bigger view of English

is to study common sentence patterns.

The English language has many patterns in the book.

Rhetorical grammar.

Author Martha Cohen describes

seven common sentence patterns

in other writings.

She says that 95% of sentences in English

fit into basic patterns.

Understanding and mastering common patterns will not only help

you do better on grammar tests,

but improve your writing skills too.

For example, here is a passage written

by Ernest Hemingway, a famous American author.

It comes from the short story

A clean Well-Lighted Place.

The story is one of the most famous ones that Hemingway wrote.

This is a clean and pleasant cafe.

It is well lighted.

The light is very good.

And also now.

There are shadows of the leaves.

Do you notice patterns in these sentences?

If you do not recognize them, you will.

By the end of this report.

In this installment of Everyday Grammar,

we are focusing on two of the most common patterns in English.

Consider a line from the song

Beautiful by Christina Aguilera.

I am beautiful.

The line shows the foundation

of most sentences in English.

A sentence equals

a subject or a noun phrase,

plus a predicate or a verb phrase.

A phrase is a group of words

that act as a unit.

A noun phrase has an important

noun the head word noun, along with words

and phrases that give more information about it.

The subject

of a sentence is the whole noun phrase,

not just the noun.

The predicate

is a verb phrase with a main verb.

And the words and phrases that give more information about it.

If you take the sentence from the Aguilera song,

you can analyze it like this.

The subject is I

and the predicate is more beautiful.

In this sentence, the adjective

beautiful acts as the subject complement.

It describes I, the subject.

So the song lyric is

the first important sentence pattern in English.

Pattern number one is subject

plus b plus subject complement.

The subject complement can be either

an adjective or a noun phrase.

For example, consider this line

from the music group Queen

we are the champions.

We are the champions

in that line.

The subject is we.

The predicate are the champions.

Contains the B verb along with a subject complement.

The champions.

This noun phrase is describing

the subject. We.

You might find sentences that appear more complicated,

but use the same basic structure.

Consider this song by the Beatles.

Baby, you're a rich man, baby.

You're a rich man.

Baby. You're a rich man.

At first the sentence appears complicated,

but the basic structure of the sentence remains the same.

Subject plus B plus subject complement.

The difference is that the sentence has added information.

A noun that is the same as the subject of the sentence.

Baby, you're a rich man or noun.

Subject plus B plus.

Subject complement

the subject plus b plus subject.

Complement pattern is not the only pattern you will find with the verb b.

Consider these two sentences.

My friends are at the concert.

The test was yesterday.

In these examples, the subject

and the b verb are followed by adverbial,

which are in this case words or phrases

that tell where or when.

In the first sentence, the adverbial structure

is the prepositional phrase at the concert.

In the second sentence,

the adverbial structure is the adverb.

Yesterday,

these examples show another common b structure subject

plus b plus adverbial.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

I'm Jill Robbins.

And I'm John Russell.

And I.

The blue hotel.

Part two.

I think you were tongue tied.

Says Scully finally to his son,

the cowboy and the Easterner.

And at the end of this sentence, he left the room

upstairs.

The Swede was closing his bag.

His back was half turned towards the door, and hearing a noise there,

he turned and jumped up, uttering a loud cry.

Scully's face was frightening in the light of a small lamp

he carried this yellow shine streaming upward,

left his eyes in deep shadows.

He looked like a murderer.

Man! Man!

Exclaimed Scully.

Have you gone mad?

Oh, no!

Oh, no! Answered the other.

There are people in this world who know nearly as much as you do.

Understand?

For a moment they stood gazing at each other.

Then Scully placed the light on the table

and sat himself on the edge of the bed.

He spoke slowly.

I never heard of such a thing in my life.

It's a complete mystery.

I can't think how you ever got this idea into your head.

Then Scully lifted his eyes and asked.

And did you really think they were going to kill you?

The Swede looked at the old man

as if he wished to see into his mind.

I did.

He said at last.

He apparently thought that

this answer might cause an attack

as he worked on his bag.

His whole arm shook, the elbow trembling like a bit of paper,

having finished with his bag.

The Swede straightened himself.

Mr. Scully.

He said with sudden courage.

How much do I owe you?

You don't owe me anything.

Said the old man angrily.

Yes, I do.

Answered the Swede.

He took some money from his pocket and held it out to Scully,

but the latter moved his hand away and firm refusal.

I won't take your money, said Scully.

Not after what's been happening here.

Then I planned seem to come to him here.

He cried, picking up his lamp and moving towards the door.

Here. Come with me a minute.

No, said.

The Swede, in great alarm. Yes.

Urged the old man.

Come on, I want you to come just across the hall in my room.

The Swede must have decided that the hour of his death had come.

His mouth dropped open

and his teeth showed like a dead man's.

He at last followed Scully across the hall,

but he had the step of one hung in chains.

No, said the old man.

He dropped suddenly to the floor

and put his head beneath the bed.

The Swede could hear his dulled voice.

I'd keep it under my pillow if it weren't for that boy.

Johnny.

Where is it now?

I never put it twice in the same place.

There.

Now come out!

Finally he came out from under the bed,

dragging with him an old coat.

I got it, he whispered.

Still on the floor. On his knees.

He unrolled the coat and took from it

a large yellow brown whiskey bottle.

His first act was to hold the bottle up to the light.

Satisfied, apparently, that nobody had touched it.

He pushed it with a generous movement toward the Swede.

The weak kneed Swede

was about to eagerly grasp this element of strength,

but he suddenly pulled his hand away

and cast a look of terror upon Scully.

Drink, said the old man, in a friendly tone.

He had risen to his feet, and now

stood facing the Swede.

There was a silence.

Then again, Scully said, drink.

The Swede laughed wildly.

Ha ha ha!

He seized the bottle, put it to mouth,

and asked, his lips curled foolishly

around the opening, and his throat worked.

He kept his glance burning with hate

upon the old man's face.

After the departure of Scully,

the three men still at the table

sat for a long moment in surprised silence.

Then Johnny said.

That's the worst man I ever saw.

Oh, I don't know.

Replied the Easterner.

Well, what do you think makes him act that way?

Asked the cowboy.

He's frightened.

The Easterner knocked his pipe against the stove.

He's frightened right out of his senses.

But what s Johnny and the cowboy together?

I don't know, but it.

Seems to me this man has been reading cheap.

Novels about the West, and he thinks he's in the middle of it.

The shooting and killing it and all. But.

Said the cowboy, deeply shocked.

This isn't a wild place.

This is Nebraska.

Yes. Added Johnny.

And why doesn't he wait until he really gets out west?

The traveled easterner laughed.

Things aren't bad.

Even they're not in these days.

But he thinks he's right. In the middle of hell.

Johnny and the

cowboy thought for a long while.

It's strange.

Remarked Johnny at last.

Yes, said the cowboy.

This is a queer game.

I hope we don't get a lot of snow,

because then we'd have to have this man with us all the time.

That wouldn't be any good.

Soon they heard a loud

noise on the stairs, accompanied

by jokes in the voice of old Scully

and laughter, evidently from the Swede.

The men around the stove stared

in, surprised at each other.

The door swung open, and Scully

and the Swede came into the room.

Five chairs were now placed

in a circle about the stove.

The Swede began to talk loudly and angrily.

Johnny the cowboy

and the Easterner remained silent,

while all Scully appeared to be eager and full of sympathy.

Finally, the Swede

announced that he wanted a drink of water.

He moved in his chair and said that he would go and get some.

I'll get it for you.

Said Scully at once.

No, refused the Swede roughly.

I'll get it for myself.

He got up and walked with the manner of an owner

into another part of the hotel.

As soon as the Swede was

out of the room, Scully jumped to his feet

and whispered quickly to the others upstairs.

He thought I was trying to poison him.

This makes me sick.

Said Johnny.

Why don't you throw him out in the snow?

He's all right now, declared Scully.

He was from the east, and he thought this was a rough place.

That's all. He's all right now.

The cowboy looked with admiration upon the Easterner.

You were right, he said.

Well.

Said Johnny to his father.

He may be all right now, but I don't understand it.

Before he was afraid, but now he's too brave.

Scully now spoke to his son.

What do I keep?

What do I keep?

What do I keep?

He demanded in a voice like thunder.

He struck his knees sharply to indicate he himself

was going to make reply, and that all should listen.

I keep a hotel, he shouted.

A hotel, do you hear?

A guest under my roof has special privileges.

He is not to be threatened.

Not one word shall he hear.

That would make him want to go away.

There's no place in this town where they can say.

They took in a guest of mine.

Because he was afraid to stay here.

He turned suddenly upon the cowboy and the Easterner.

Am I. Right?

Yes, Mr.

Scully.

Said the cowboy.

I think you're right.

Yes, Mr.. Scully.

Said the Easterner.

I think you're right.

At supper that evening

the Swede burned with energy.

He sometimes seemed on the point of bursting into loud song,

and in all of his madness he was encouraged by old Scully.

The Easterner was quiet.

The cowboy sat and wide mouth wonder.

Forgetting to eat while Johnny angrily

finished great plates of food.

The daughters of the house, when they were obliged

to bring more bread, approached as carefully as rabbits.

Having succeeded in their purpose,

they hurried away with poorly hidden fear.

The Swede controlled the whole feast,

and he gave it the appearance of a cruel affair.

He seemed to have grown suddenly taller.

He gazed bitterly into every face.

His voice rang through the room

after supper

as the men went toward the other room.

The Swede hit Scully hard on the shoulder.

Well, old boy, that was a good meal.

Johnny looked hopefully at his father.

He knew that the old man's shoulder

was still painful from an old hurt,

and indeed, it appeared for a moment

as if Scully were going to flame out in anger about it.

But Scully only smiled a sickly smile and remained silent.

The others understood that he was omitting

his responsibility for the Swede's new attitude

when they were gathered about the stove.

The Swede insisted on another game of cards in his voice.

There was always a great threat.

The cowboy and the Easterner

both agreed, without interest, to play.

Scully said that he would soon have to go to meet the evening train.

And so the Swede turned to Johnny.

For a moment the glances crossed like swords.

And then Johnny smiled and said,

yes. I'll play.

They formed a square around the table.

The Easterner and the Swede again

played together as the game continued.

It was noticeable that the cowboy was not playing

as noisily as before.

Scully left to meet the train in spite of his care.

An icy wind blew into the room as he opened the door.

It scattered the cards and froze.

The players.

The Swede cursed frightfully.

When Scully returned, his icy entrance

interrupted a comfortable and friendly scene.

The Swede cursed again,

but soon they were once more giving attention to their game.

Their heads bent forward and their hands moving fast.

Scully took up a newspaper,

and as he slowly turned from page to page,

it made a comfortable sound.

Then suddenly he heard three awful words.

You are cheating.

The letter room was now filled with terror.

After the three words, the first sound in the room

was made by Scully's paper as it fell forgotten to his feet.

His eyeglasses had fallen from his nose,

but by a grasp he had caught them.

He stared at the card players.

Probably the silence was only an instant long.

Then, if the floor had been suddenly pulled out from under the men,

they could not have moved more quickly.

The five had thrown themselves at a single point.

Johnny, as he rose to throw himself

upon the Swede, almost fell.

The last of the moment allowed

time for the arrival of Scully.

It also gave the cowboy time to give the Swede

a good push, which sent him backwards.

The men found voices together,

and shouts of anger, appeal or fear burst from every throat.

The cowboy pushed and pulled feverishly at the Swede

and the Easterner as Scully held wildly to Johnny,

but through the smoky air

above the straining bodies of the peace, compelling

the eyes of the enemies steadily warned each other.

Scully's voice was loudest.

Stop now. Stop, I say.

Stop now!

Johnny, as he struggled to break away

from Scully and the Easterner was crying.

Well, he says, I cheated.

He says I cheated.

I won't allow any man to say I cheated.

If he says I cheated him, he's, The cowboy was telling the Swede.

Stop now.

Do you hear?

The screams of the Swede never ceased.

He did cheat.

I saw him. I saw him.

As for the Easterner, he was begging in a voice that was not heard.

Wait a moment. Can't you?

Oh, wait a moment.

What's the use of fighting over a game of cards?

Wait a moment.

In this noisy quarrel,

no complete sentence was clear.

Cheat! Stop!

He says.

These pieces cut the screaming and rang out sharply.

It was remarkable that Scully, who undoubtedly made

the most noise, was the least heard.

Then suddenly there was a great stillness.

It was as if each man had paused for breath,

although the room still filled with the anger of men.

It could be seen there was no danger of immediate fighting.

At once Johnny pushed forward.

Why did you say I cheated?

Why did you say I cheated?

I don't cheat and I won't let any man say I do.

The Swede said I saw you.

I saw you.

Well, cried Johnny.

I'll fight any man who says I cheat.

No you won't. Said the cowboy.

Not here.

Johnny spoke to the Swede again.

Did you say I cheated?

The Swede showed his teeth. Yes.

Then said Johnny.

We must fight.

Yes, fight!

Roared the Swede.

He was like a mad devil.

Yes! Fight!

I'll show you what kind of a man I am.

I'll show you who you want to fight.

Maybe you think I can't fight.

Maybe you think I can't.

I'll show you.

You criminal! Yes!

You cheated.

You cheated. You cheated.

Well,

let's start then, fella.

Said Johnny coolly.

The cowboy turned in despair to Scully.

What are you going to do now?

A change had come over the old man.

He now seemed all eagerness.

His eyes.

Glowed. We'll let them fight.

He answered bravely.

I can't watch this any longer.

I've endured this cursed Swede till I'm sick.

We'll let them fight.

And that's our show for today.

But join us again tomorrow to keep learning

English on the Voice of America.

I'm Caty Weaver.

And I'm Mario Ritter, junior.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
designed /dɪˈzaɪnd/ B1	verb - to plan and make something for a specific purpose
learners /ˈlɜːnərz/ A2	noun - people who are learning something
phrases /freɪzɪz/ A2	noun - groups of words that have a special meaning
describe /dɪˈskraɪb/ B1	verb - to give details about something
remaining /rɪˈmeɪnɪŋ/ B2	adjective - still existing; not yet used or dealt with
remainder /rɪˈmeɪndər/ B2	noun - the part that is left after other parts have been taken away
describe /dɪˈskraɪb/ B1	verb - to give an account in words of someone or something
structure /ˈstrʌktʃər/ B1	noun - the way in which parts are arranged
additional /əˈdɪʃənəl/ B1	adjective - extra
material /məˈtɪəriəl/ B1	noun - things used to make something
wonder /ˈwʌndər/ B1	verb - to feel curiosity or doubt
grammar /ˈɡræmər/ B1	noun - the rules of a language
consider /kənˈsɪdər/ B2	verb - to think about carefully
quantifier /ˈkwɑːntɪfaɪər/ C1	noun - a word or phrase that expresses a quantity
adjective /ˈædʒɪktɪv/ B1	noun - a word that describes a noun
patterns /ˈpætərnz/ B1	noun - regular arrangements
mastering /ˈmæstərɪŋ/ B2	verb - to become very skilled at something