This mini episode teaches you an interesting “double-verb” construction.
Episode 221 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you a useful “double-verb” construction. Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi, Everyone. I am Gulden from Türkiye (Turkey). I hope you enjoy Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 211 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The Episode
This episode’s topic is a special way that English can combine two verbs in one sentence. Normally in English, if you want to use two verbs, you need to join them with a conjunction or join two phrases together in some other way. For instance, you could use the two verbs study and sleep together like this: “I think I will study and then sleep.”
Do you see what I had to do to use those two verbs, study and sleep? I needed to combine them with a conjunction. I said, “I will study and then sleep.”
But there is a way that English can use two verbs together without a conjunction, without doing anything special. Without connecting them in some way. The secret is that this only works with two specific verbs in English.
This kind of double-verb construction only works if the first verb is go or come. If the first verb is go or come, then you can combine it with another verb without needing to use a conjunction or any other way of connecting them.
Let me give you some examples, and I think you will see what I am trying to explain.
A mother could say to her child, “Will you please go buy some apples?” Will you please go buy some apples?
In that sentence, you can see two verbs right next to each other: go and buy. “Will you please go buy some apples?” What does this sentence mean? It means will you do two things? Will you go (meaning go to the store)—will you go and then will you buy some apples? Because the first verb is go and because the two actions are connected—go and then buy some apples—you can make a sentence that works like this. You can have two verbs next to each other with nothing connecting them. “Will you please go buy some apples?”
Here’s another example: “You cannot come eat dinner here tonight because we are too busy.” You cannot come eat dinner tonight because we are too busy. In this sentence, you can see those two verbs, come and eat, together with nothing connecting them. And that works. It’s okay. Because the first verb is come, and English will allow you to put two verbs together if the first one is come or go. And this sentence means you cannot come (meaning come to our house)—you cannot come and then eat dinner with us because we’re too busy. You cannot come eat dinner.
This kind of sentence might be a little confusing at first. I think it is a very common kind of sentence. I think now that you know about this construction that uses go or come, I think you will start to hear this kind of sentence all around you, because it really is very common and very useful.
And that is the special two-verb construction in English, a common and useful construction that I think you should know.
Outro
And that’s the end of episode 211 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Gulden recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.