Cidemar: Things in common| explanation and exercises |14/09/2015

Things in common: agreeing and disagreeing.

Look at the phrases below and put them under the right headings

Oh, I'm the opposite Me too/neither That's the same for me Really?

Oh, that's interesting! So/Neither/Nor do I/have I Oh, I do, have, will, can etc.

Finding Things in Common Finding Differences

Oh that's interesting

Look at the dialogue below and underline the statement that you agree or disagree and fill the gaps with an appropriate phrase. Use the phrases in the box above to help you.

Example:

Gerry: I love football

Cidemar: Me too

Gerry: I support Ponte Preta

Cidemar: …...............................? I don't. I support Palmeiras

Gerry: Oh.I haven't seen a football match this year.

Cidemar:...................................... I love watching the games on TV.

Gerry: I'm the opposite. I rather watch them live. I think Neymar is a great player.

Cidemar: …....................................... I can play football

Gerry: So can I. But I can't play very well.

Cidemar:................................... I was thinking about playing next week

Gerry: Me too. However, I don't think I will

Cidemar:.....................................

Gerry:Do you know I have to work tomorrow?

Cidemar:...................................

Gerry: And Sunday

Cidemar:.....................................On Sunday I'm going to the beach

Gerry: Really.I'm not. I don't like crowded beaches. Anyway, I have go now

Cidemar:..................................

Gerry: Bye

Cidemar: Bye

Fill in your reply under the headings. See the example

Me Finding things in common Finding differences

Ex:I haven't got a car.

I live in Ireland

I can swim

I don't like Flamengo

I was in São Paulo yesterday

I will go to São Paulo

I won't go São Paulo

I want to go to Ireland

I don't want to go to Ireland

I don't want Feijoada on

Wednesday.

I'm going to the pub later

Me neither/Neither have IMe too

Really? I have / Oh, that's interesting.

‘So do I’ and ‘neither do I’

We use ‘so do I’ to say that a positive sentence is also true for me, and I use ‘neitherdo I’ or 'nor do I' to say that a negative sentence is also true for me:

• Gerry: I hate mushrooms.• Me: So do I (=I also hate mushrooms).• Gerry: I don’t live in London.• Me: Neither do I / Nor do I (=I also don’t live in London. For example, maybe Gerryand I both live in São Paulo).

This is often used as a reply to someone else in a conversation, but both sentencescan also be said by the same person, and even joined together:• Me: My lwife loves coffee. So do I.• Me: Gerry doesn’t play the piano and neither do I / nor do I.

In the examples above, we use ‘do’ because the first sentence is in the presentsimple tense. The verb after ‘so’ or ‘neither’ changes depending on the tense ofthe verb in the first sentence. (This is very similar to tag questions).

Present simple:use ‘do / does’

Gerry likes coffee. So do I.Gerry doesn’t like coffee. Neither do I.

Present simple with ‘be’:use ‘am / is / are’

Marco's at the office. So am I.Marcos isn’t at the office. Neither am I /Nor am I.

Present continuous:use ‘am / is / are’

Cidemar's going out tonight. So am I.Cidemar isn’t going out tonight. Neither am I /Nor am I.

Past Simple:use ‘did’

Gerry went to the cinema yesterday. So did I.Gerryl didn’t go to the cinema yesterday. Neither did I.

Past simple with ‘be’:use ‘was / were’

She was at the library. So was I.She wasn’t at the library. Neither was I /Nor was I.

Present perfect:use ‘have / has’

They’ve been to Brazil. So have I.They haven’t been to Brazil. Neither have I / Nor have I.

Future simple:use ‘will’

Gerry will be at the cafe later. So will I.Gerry won’t be at the cafe later. Neither will I / Nor will I.

Modal verbs:repeat the modal verb

He would like a cup of coffee. So would I.He wouldn’t like a cup of coffee. Neither would I.Cidemar can speak Russian. So can I.Cidemar can’t speak Russian. Neither can I / Nor can I.

‘Me too’ and ‘me neither’:We can also use ‘me too’ and ‘me neither’. ‘Me too’ has the same meaning as ‘so +auxiliary verb + I’ and ‘me neither’ has the same meaning as ‘neither + auxiliary verb+ I’. ‘Me too’ and ‘me neither’ are very informal.

• Gerry: I hate mushrooms.• Me: Me too (=I also hate mushrooms).• Gerry: I don’t live in London.• Me: Me neither (=I also don’t live in London).

Subjects other than ‘I’:Of course, we can also use these expressions to talk about what’s true for other people,not just ourselves:• Gerry: I hate mushrooms.• Me: So does Marcos / Marcos does too / Marcos too.• Gerry: I don’t live in London.• Me: Neither does Marcos / Nor does Marcos / Marcos neither.

Some more examples:

We live in São Paulo and so do they.I love football. Cidemar and Marcos do too.My parents don’t come here often. Neither does Cidemar.She isn’t French and neither is he.You don’t like cold weather. Neither do we.