Rafael and Jeff had an amazing time at the kung fu film festival. They saw six different kung fu movies, and each one was more crazy than the last. In one film, the kung fu master was a five year old child. In another, the master was fighting and cooking food at the same time. The guys loved the event and are obviously going to see more kung fu movies together in the future.

Rafael asks Jeff what kind of kung fu movie he’d make if he could, and his answer is no big surprise. Jeff’s movie girlfriend would be beautiful, and Jeff would save the world. Would Rafael make the same kind of movie? He teases Jeff about getting carried away, but it’s likely that Rafael would make a big, fun movie, too.

Do you ever get carried away? What makes you act that way?

Prepositions

Jeff tells Rafael that his favorite movie was the one with the “woman fighting those people on the rooftops.” He uses a preposition.

Prepositions are words that locate something in time and space. They tell us where something is in relation to the things around it. Here are some examples:

“The bird is singing in the tree.”

“She walked through the door at 6:00.”

“I climbed over the wall.”

“We are sitting between our brothers.”

Jeff uses the preposition on. It tells us exactly where the kung fu master was fighting in the movie (on the rooftops).

Other common prepositions include: above, across, around, before, behind, below, by, down, during, for, from, in, inside, into, near, of, onto, off, over, to, under, up, with and without. There are many more!

Which is correct, “The bread is on the table,” or, “The bread is over the table”?

Rafael is excited to go on a date with a cute girl he just met. However, she wants to go ice skating, and Rafael is terrified of stepping onto the rink.

It turns out that Marni is just the person to help Rafael. She’s skated ever since she was little, and she loves everything about the sport. She obviously has great balance and wants to show Rafael how ice skating is done.

Rafael asks Marni about how well she can skate. Although Marni doesn’t practice as much now, she’s still pretty good. She even used to be able to do some jumps!

Have you ever gone ice skating? Would you prefer to skate outdoors or on an indoor rink?

Used to Do vs Be Used to

Marni tells Rafael she used to be able to do jumps, but she can’t anymore. This is an example of the term used to do.

It’s easy to confuse used to do and be used to. Both forms look alike, but they have very different meanings and structures.

First let’s look at used to do, or used to + verb. When I say I used to do something, I mean that I did something regularly in the past which I no longer do now. For example, “When I was a child, I used to fight with my siblings, but now we get along.”

We can also use used to do to talk about something that was true in the past but is not true now, for example, “Drinking alcohol used to be illegal in the U.S.” In other words, drinking alcohol was illegal in the past, but it is no longer illegal.

Be used to means something different. If you are used to something, you are accustomed to it. It is normal or usual for you. Be used to is always followed by a noun or gerund (verb ending in ing). For example, I can say “I am used to the rain,” or that “I am used to staying up late.”

Which is correct, “I am used to drink lots of soda pop,” or, “I used to drink lots of soda pop”?