Halloween Candy Basket
Friends discuss Halloween candy baskets. The English Grammar focuses on the Present Progressive Tense.
Wyatt: “Are you doing Halloween tonight?”
Neil: “Of course, I’ll go door to door.”
Wyatt: “What are you going as? I’m a wolf.”
Neil: “I’ll go as Moby Dick, like last year.”
Wyatt: “How long do you go out for?”
Neil: “Maybe an hour. I don’t need the candy.”
Wyatt: “Same here. In fact I give away the candy later.”
Neil: “Better for everybody that way. You don’t get fat, and you don’t get poisoned.”
Wyatt: “My attitude exactly.”
Neil: “Not like the good old days.”
Wyatt: “People tell me they weren’t that great.”
VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS
Same here means it’s the same with me; me too. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Give away here means make a gift of, bestow. See online Idioms Dictionary.
The good old days means the past with nostalgia; back in an earlier time which everyone remembers as a better time, even if it really wasn’t. See online Idioms Dictionary.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Present Progressive Tense
“Are you doing Halloween tonight?” The Present Progressive can be used to describe an activity in progress, or a change in progress (“He’s becoming more and more like his father”), but it is often used to express the future when something is planned. Usually this is achieved with a future-time adverbial, and such is the case here.
INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED DIALOGUE
The dangers of a Halloween candy basket. The Grammar focus is on Tag Questions.
Nan: “Have you heard about fentanyl this year?”
Sadie: “No, what is the problem? I know it’s some kind of drug.”
Nan: “It’s a big drug problem all across the United States. They say more people died here last year from an overdose of fentanyl than in car accidents.”
Sadie: “I didn’t know that.”
Nan: “Supposedly it comes from Mexican drug cartels.”
Sadie: “I’m not in the loop. I had not heard of this.”
Nan: “That’s what they mean by opioid addiction. It’s worldwide.”
Sadie: “Well, it’s not people I know.”
Nan: “But fentanyl comes in rainbow colors too, so they’re worried about Halloween.”
Sadie: “What, people handing it out to kids going door-to-door?”
Nan: “Yes, exactly.”
Sadie: “Really? That’s pretty diabolical. But it costs money, right? They’re not just going to give it away like that.”
Nan: “I guess you’re right. But it’s still kind of worrisome.”
Sadie: “I dress up and go out with my kids on Halloween.”
Nan: “Me too. So it should be okay.”
VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS
In the loop means informed and/or actively participating in something. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Hand out means to distribute, to provide or share something. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Give away means to make a gift of, bestow. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Kind of means rather, somewhat. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Dress up means to wear a costume. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Go out means to leave one’s house. See online Idioms Dictionary.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Tag questions
“But it costs money, right?” This is a standard tag question with an idiosyncratic tag finishing the sentence. “Right” is often used as a tag in informal English. It is equivalent to “isn’t that correct?”
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