TAYLOR SWIFT

WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER


Watch the video and fill in the blanks. You will find the complete lyrics with the missing words in bold at the bottom together with vocabulary, mainly phrasal verbs related to the song.

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

I remember when we _______________ the first time
Saying, "This is it, I've had enough," 'cause like
We hadn't seen ________________ in a month
When you said you ________________ (What?)
Then you come around again and say
"Baby, I miss you and I ___________ I'm gonna change, trust me."
Remember how that lasted for a day?
I say, "I hate you," we break up, you call me, "I love you."

Ooh, we called it off again last night
But ooh, this time I'm telling you, I'm telling you
We are never ever ever getting back together,
We are never ever ever getting back together,
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together

Like, ever...

I'm really gonna __________ you picking fights
And me falling for it screaming that I'm ____________
And you would hide away and find your ____________
With some indie record that's much cooler than mine

Ooh, you called me up again tonight
But ooh, this time I'm telling you, I'm telling you
We are never, ever, ever getting back together
We are never, ever, ever getting back together
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me (talk to me)
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together

Ooh, yeah, ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Oh oh oh

I used to think that we were forever ever
And I used to say, "Never say never..."
Uggg... so he calls me up and he's like, "I still love you,"
And I'm like... "I just... I mean this is exhausting, you know, like,
We are never getting back together. Like, ever"

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

I remember when we broke up the first time
Saying, "This is it, I've had enough," 'cause like
We hadn't seen each other in a month
When you said you needed space. (What?)
Then you come around again and say
"Baby, I miss you and I swear I'm gonna change, trust me."
Remember how that lasted for a day?
I say, "I hate you," we break up, you call me, "I love you."

Ooh, we called it off again last night
But ooh, this time I'm telling you, I'm telling you

We are never ever ever getting back together,
We are never ever ever getting back together,
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together

Like, ever...

I'm really gonna miss you picking fights
And me falling for it screaming that I'm right
And you would hide away and find your peace of mind
With some indie record that's much cooler than mine

Ooh, you called me up again tonight
But ooh, this time I'm telling you, I'm telling you

We are never, ever, ever getting back together
We are never, ever, ever getting back together
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me (talk to me)
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together

Ooh, yeah, ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Oh oh oh

I used to think that we were forever ever
And I used to say, "Never say never..."
Uggg... so he calls me up and he's like, "I still love you,"
And I'm like... "I just... I mean this is exhausting, you know, like,
We are never getting back together. Like, ever"

VOCABULARY

BREAK UP WITH SOMEONE – (separate) She has just broken up with her new boyfriend; They broke up after a three-year relationship; Their marriage broke up as a result of long separations; She had a string of lovers before her marriage finally broke up; He got into serious debt after his marriage broke up… SPLIT UP is a synonym – His parents split up when he was a 2-year old toddler but they stayed friends; I cried my eyes out when the Beatles split up; When parents split up, children feel the stress of the divorce as well as the changes it makes in their lives; Parents of autistic children are not more likely to split up than any other parents...

MAKE IT UP WITH SOMEONE - (be friends with again) We often quarrel but we always make it up soon after; It took her long to make it up with her husband after their latest argument…

FALL OUT WITH – (quarrel, argue) He has fallen out with his family; If you don’t stop gossiping, all your friends are going to fall out with you...

MISS SOMEONE – (feel sadness) I know what it feels like to miss someone; It is hard to focus on your daily routine when you miss your family; What did you miss most about home when you were living abroad?; The children miss their father when he is away on business…

MISS + -ING – I don’t miss having to get up early to commute to work every morning; She really misses living with her flatmates now that school has finished; I miss taking walks in the morning as I used to do when I was at university…

TRUST – (have confidence in) Most people tend to trust their experience; These two months have taught me to trust people; I know I can trust my brother-in-law; Never trust what you read in the papers… RELY ON is a synonym – I rely on my friends whenever I have a problem; She relies on you for good advice; Many working women rely on relatives to help take care of their children...

CALL SOMETHING OFF – (cancel) Union leaders called the strike off at the last minute; She’s called off the wedding; They have called off their engagement..

To know about Taylor Swift click HERE

REFLEXIVE and RECIPROCAL pronouns

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

In the English language a reflexive pronoun is a word referring to the subject of the sentence or clause in which it stands; it ends in -self or -selves, and refers to a previously named noun or pronoun (myself, yourself, ourselves...)

They show that the action of the verb affects the person or thing performing the action. This is known as a reflexive function – in effect, the subject and the object of the verb are the same (I fell over and hurt, myself). The subject is known as the antecedent of the reflexive pronoun.Each personal pronoun has its own reflexive form:

• I — myself
• you — yourself/yourselves
• he — himself
• she — herself
• one — oneself
• it — itself
• we — ourselves
• they — themselves                                                                      
  She saw herself as a superstar.
  Are you two enjoying yourselves?
  They portray themselves as angry outsiders.
  Over and over again, one asks oneself that question.             Consider yourself lucky.                                                         She asked herself if she would be better off with him or without him.
  My brother really hurt himself when he fell off his bike yesterday.                                                                            After the accident, Alison still does not trust herself.
  We often ask ourselves why we left London.
  The Government has so far refused to commit itself to introducing a public smoking ban.

 Most transitive verbs – those that take an object write a letter, read a book… - can be used as reflexive verbs. Compare the following examples:

John pinched himself.(The reflexive pronoun himself tells us that John did something to John.)

John pinched his sister.(There is no reflexive pronoun in this example because in this sentence the verb pinched is being used as a transitive verb and his sister is the direct object). Here you are some more examples:

 She looked at me and then left she looked at herself in the mirror.

 We encourage ourselves to learn something new every week.

 We encouraged them to do it as soon as possible.

 She convinced herself that it was the best option.

 She convinced him that it was the only possible solution.

 He shot himself soon after he went bankrupt. 

 This is just a toy gun; it doesn’t shoot real bullets.

 He likes to keep his gramdma company on Sunday afternoons 

 They like to keep themselves fit

Intensive pronouns

These pronouns can also be used intensively, to emphasize the identity of whoever or whatever is being talked about:

• Jim bought himself a book (reflexive)
• Jim himself bought a book (intensive)
• Jeff brought himself a book(reflexive)
• Jeff himself brought a book (intensive)

 An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent. Look at these examples: 
 I made it myself. OR I myself made it.
 Have you yourself seen it? OR Have you seen it yourself? 
 The President himself promised to stop the war.
 She spoke to me herself. OR She herself spoke to me. 
 The exam itself wasn't difficult but we had very little time. 
 Never mind. We'll do it ourselves.
 You yourselves asked us to do it.
Sam fixed the car himself. 
 They recommend this book even though they themselves had never read it. Harvey himself sent a letter to the manager. 
 The girls themselves guided the team to success.
No approach has yet been made to Thatcher herself over the plans.
The responsibility for renting out school facilities will be transferred direct to the schools themselves.
 I myself forgot about these issues and most people are too polite to mention them.

By + Reflexive Pronouns

We use by + myself/yourself/himself etc. when we are alone or not with another person:

 Jacob went to the party by himself.

 Emma was sitting by herself.

We often use reflexive pronouns with by to mean ‘alone’ or ‘without any help’: Why don’t you go by yourself? 
 The children made the entire meal by themselves. 
He lived by himself in an enormous house.
She walked home by herself. 
 The children got dressed by themselves.
I prepared the whole meal by myself.

VIDEO on Reflexive and Intensive pronouns. To watch it click HERE

RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS

A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun that expresses mutual action or relationship. A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun which we use in the sentence to show the same action performed by two or more people including the benefits and consequences of that action to them simultaneously. Each other is the most common reciprocal pronoun in English.

 Terry and Jack were talking to each other in the hallway. 

 Both teams played hard against each other. 

 That can’t talk to each other. 

 Kevin and I spent a lot of time at each other’s houses when we were kids.                                                                       

 John and Mary like each other’s parents.

 Paul and Ann hugged each other.                                                           They are always fighting each other about trivial matters.                    

Their children used to help each other with their homework.     They kissed each other after the engagement announcement 

 They said goodbye to each other at the airport 

 The members of the football team congratulated each other on winning the world cup

Now go to the following links if you want to get some practice:

REFLEXIVE and RECIPROCAL

LINK 1

LINK 2

LINK 3

REFLEXIVE and EMPHATIC

LINK 4

SPELLING: Doubling consonants

Spelling matters. If you want to create a good impression in your writing and make sure you get your meaning across clearly, it’s important to get your spelling right.

Spelling: doubling consonants

We often double the final consonant of a word (b, d, g, l, m, n, p, r, t) when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added (-ed, -er, -est, -ing):

sit + -ing → sitting	swim + -ing → swimming
big + -er → bigger	thin + -er → thinner
stop + -ed → stopped	Beg + -ed → begged

When we add a suffix to a word with more than one syllable, we double the consonant only when the word ends in a stressed syllable (the stressed syllable of the base form is in bold):

Permit + -ing → permitting	Prefer + -ed → preferred
Forget + -ing → forgetting	Upset + -ing → upsetting
Begin + -er → beginner	Admit + -ance → admittance

Compare, however, visit or enter where the spoken stress is on the first syllable:

visit → visiting	enter → entered
listen →listening	open → opened

Warning:

We don’t double the final consonant before a suffix:

– if the word ends in two written consonants, e.g. export = exported, find = finding, insist =insisted, lift = lifted, persist = persistence

– if there are two written vowels together in the word, e.g. meeting, rained, weaken, trainer, repeated, reading, greatest, quieter.

HALLOWEEN: its origin and significance

HALLOWEEN dates back from the Celtic festival Samhaim, which was celebrated on October 31^st. That night was considered the beginning of New Celtic Year and the Druids believed that the supernatural world came close to the physical world so human beings were more sensitive to the power and influence of spells (hechizos), and the future could be foreseen and dreams were meaningful.

The word Halloween comes from the word hallow, which means soul and eve, which means the day before. Halloween really means All Hallow’s Eve, which in fact is the day before All Saints’ Day ( November 1^st)

Halloween is a night of magic and mistery and children love dressing up as ghosts, witches, skeletons and scary things and they go around the neighbourhood knocking on doors and by saying Trick or Treat they are asking for sweets.

People usually have a Jack O’Lantern on the porch or other visible place. A Jack O’Lantern is a hollowed out pumpkin which has been carved with the shapes of the eyes, nose and teeth with  a lit candle inside. It is called Jack O’ Lantern from an Irish legend about a man called Jack, who made a deal with the devil ( demonio).

Apple Bobbing is a traditional game on Halloween. Children must bite apples hanging from strings or floating in water.

The story of  JACK O´LANTERN

A stingy drunkard of an Irish blacksmith named Jack had the misfortune to run into the Devil in a pub, some say on Halloween night. Jack had too much to drink and was about to fall into the Devil`s hands, but managed to trick the Devil by offering his soul in exchange for one last drink. The Devil turned himself into a sixpence to pay the bartender, but Jack quickly pocketed him in his purse. Because Jack had a silver cross in his purse, the Devil could not change himself back. Jack would not let the Devil go until he promised not to claim his soul for ten years.         The Devil agreed and ten years later Jack came across the Devil while walking on a country road. The Devil wanted to collect but Jack, thinking quickly, said: “I`ll go, but before I go, will you get me an apple from that tree?” The Devil, thinking he had nothing to lose, jumped on Jack´s shoulders to obtain the apple. Jack pulled out his knife and carved a cross in the trunk of the tree. This left the Devil in the air, unable to obtain Jack or his soul. Jack made him promise to never again ask for his soul. Seeing no way out, the Devil agreed. No one knows how the Devil managed to get back down!         When Jack died years later he was not admitted to Heaven, because of his life of drinking and being tightfisted and deceitful. When he went to apply for entrance to Hell, the Devil had to turn him away because he agreed never to take Jack`s soul. “But where can I go?”, asked Jack. “Back where you came from!”, replied the Devil. The way back was windy and dark. Jack pleaded with the Devil to at least provide him with a light to find his way. The Devil, as a final gesture, threw a live coal at Jack straight from the fire of Hell. To light his way and keep it from blowing out in the wind, Jack put it in a turnip he was eating.         Ever since Jack has been doomed to wander in darkness with his lantern until “Judgement Day”. Jack of the lantern (Jack O`Lantern) became known as the symbol of a damned soul.         When the term jack-o`-lantern first appeared in print in 1750, it referred to a night watchman or a man carrying a lantern.         People believed that spirits and ghosts left the grave on Halloween and would seek out warmth in their previous homes. Villagers, fearful of the possibility of being visited by the ghosts of past occupants, would dress up in costumes to scare the spirits on their way. They would also leave food and other treats at their door to appease the spirits, so they would not destroy their homes or crops, but instead move on down the road. They also began to hollow out turnips with a face either painted or carved into it, and place lighted candles inside, hoping the image of a damned soul would scare the spirits away.         The Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) prompted over 700,000 to immigrate to the Americas. These immigrants brought their traditions of Halloween and Jack O`Lanterns with them, but turnips were not readily available as back home. They found the American pumpkin to be an adequate replacement.

Here is an easy video with a sacry story for kids. Make sure you understand the following vocabulary before watching it:

On the steps (escalones)

Make a costume (disfraz)

Scarecrow (espantapájaros)

Swing (columpio)

Paper bats (murciélagos)

Spiders (arañas)

Carve (tallar)

Pull out the seeds (semillas, pepitas)

On the front porch

A big scary bowl of candy (golosinas)

One piece of candy (Candy is an uncountable word)

Grab (agarrar)

A big handful ( puñado) of candy

Scary (siniestro)- sacarier comparative form

Small- smaller comparative form

Sharp (afilado)-sharper comparative form

What happened?

What’s happening?

Whisper ( susurro)

Too much candy (Demaiadas golosinas)

Grammar

                                                  SOME, ANY, NO

Every', 'some', 'any' and 'no' can be used with 'one', 'body' and 'thing' to form compound pronouns, such as everyone, somebody, anything and nothing.

I know someone who gives piano lessons.

Somebody has obviously made a mistake.

Has anyone got a dictionary?

Can I do anything to help?

Everyone started to clap. (or Everybody …)

Everything closes at the end of the holiday season.
We need to tidy up. There's rubbish everywhere. Nobody knows where it is. No-one came to the party.
He says he knows nothing about the crime.
They are homeless. They have nowhere to live.

Nobody was interested in the talk. (or No one was …)



'Every', 'some', 'any' and 'no' can also be used with 'where' to form adverbs such as everywhere, somewhere and anywhere.

I cannot find my keys anywhere.

I’ve seen you somewhere before.

After everyone/everybody, someone ... , we use they/their/them:
Everyone has to take their shoes off before they come in.
Could everybody please put their names on the list?Everybody enjoyed themselves at the party.
I would really like to ask someone if they knew about this.
Somebody left their umbrella in the office



We use else after indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things in addition to the ones we already mentioned.

All the family came, but no one else.
If Michael can’t come we’ll ask somebody else.
So that's eggs, peas and chips. Do you want anything else?

Any in positive sentences is used to refer to any person, thing or place from a group, so we use any in positive sentences when we mean it doesn't matter which ..:

Anyone could help me: the man or the woman or the child or the old lady.

I will do anything if you help me: I will give you money or I will help you do the washing up ....

You can come and ask for my help any time.

That exercise is very easy, any children here could answer that. (this boy, or that girl, it doesn't matter who you choose, they all know the answer)

REMEMBER that Some can be used in polite requests and offers:

Would you like some cheese? (More natural than ‘Would you like any cheese?’)

Would you like some tea?

Could I have some more rice? (Polite request)

Could you give me some advice, please?

Similarly we can also use someone and somebody if requesting or offering something:

Would somebody like to read the next passage?

Can someone help me with this month's report?

Click on the link to do exercises:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3