Hey, everyone. Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu dou exemplos da estrutura “I was asked”.

Transcrição

Hi, how’s it going? Today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

So, if you’ve been following the tips on the blog, you’ve probably seen my recent post on “I was told” and “He was asked” and etc. So I thought I’d do a podcast on that, ’cause there’s nothing like listening to a new structure to really get used to it. So this one goes to everyone who’s not that familiar with this kind of structure. So let’s get on to some examples with the verb ASK.

Let’s say your friend Michael took an exam this morning. It’s a tough exam and it’s the same you and all your friends are going to take next year. So you’re all, of course, very curious to know what the exam was like. Well, to your surprise, Michael says that the exam was easier than he expected. He says that the worst part were the security checks he had to go through before entering the exam room.

So you and your friends are really surprised to hear that, and Michael goes on to say “I was asked to leave my mobile at the door”. You think that’s reasonable. And then Michael says “I was asked to wait in a little waiting room next to the entrance while they searched my backpack”. Now that seems like a little too much. You say “What? You were asked to wait in another room while they searched your backpack?” You can’t believe your friend was asked to go to another room while his backpack was being searched.

OK, so notice that Michael said “I was asked to wait in another room”. Asked. Michael was asked to wait in another room. That means, someone asked him to wait in another room. Someone probably said “Sir, please wait in that room for a couple of minutes”. Who asked Michael to do that, to go wait in that room? I don’t know; maybe a security guard. That wasn’t really what Michael was trying to communicate; that wasn’t the point. He just wanted to say that someone asked him to wait in a room while his backpack was searched. An even better way to say that is, “He was asked to wait in a room while his backpack was searched”.

I was asked to do something, or he was asked to do this or that, or they were asked questions… That kind of structure works really well when the “asking” is something impersonal; it’s part of a standard procedure, or… just something maybe impersonal that you had to go through. Sometimes you just don’t want to mention who did the asking; for example: “I went to a party last Saturday where I was asked twice whether I was a reporter”. What does that mean? That means you went to a party, and you talked to people, and two people asked you “Are you a reporter?”. Or maybe the same person asked you the same question twice: Are you a reporter? So right now you’re telling… your mom about the party and you say “I was asked twice whether I was a reporter”. Can you see how the focus here is on the question being asked, and not on who asked it?

Can you think of any examples from your own life where you were asked to do things? Or, you were asked a strange question. Once, in college, I was asked if I was of Japanese descent. I kid you not! Tell us about a time when you were asked to do something really unexpected. Talk to you next time.