American English at
The Pet Store
American English at The Pet Store :
CONNIE : Oh! What a beautiful cat. What do you think?
GARY : I think I’d rather get a dog. Dogs are more loyal than cats.
CONNIE : Yes, but they’re so much work! Would you be willing to walk it every single day? And clean up after it?
GARY : Hmm. Good point. What about a bird? Or a fish?
CONNIE : We’d have to invest a lot of money in a cage or a fish tank. And I don’t really know how to take care of a bird or a fish!
GARY : Well, we’re obviously not ready to get a pet yet.
CONNIE : Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go grab some coffee and talk about it.
LANGUAGE NOTES :
Oh! What a beautiful cat “Oh!” is used to show surprise or excitement. “What a …” is an expression that means “I think this is a very …” “What a(n) …” is followed by an adjective, which is usually emphasized. Notice the emphasis on “beautiful” here.
Dogs are more loyal than cats. Two things are being compared here (dogs and cats). Notice the structure of the sentences: (noun/s) plus “is/are more” plus (adjective) plus “than” plus (noun/s). The nouns and the adjective are content words here, so they are all emphasized.
Every single day Notice that each word here is stressed. The speaker wants to make a point, so she emphasizes each word equally. “Every single day” is a lot!
Good point here means “I agree with you.”
Take care of This phrase is used with animals, people and things. It can mean “watch a child while her parents are away,” “feed and house someone or something,” or “make sure things work properly.” (I always take care of my baby brother./ I take care of my bird by feeding it and cleaning its cage./ I need to take care of the broken sink.)
Yeah, you’re right. Notice the pronunciation of this expression — the words all blend together here. This casual expression is used to agree with someone that you know well.
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