IELTS Preparation Series 2, Episode 2: Ginseng
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Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.
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Today we're going to look at using the word 'say' in four different ways - to give examples,
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to narrow down, to quote and as a filler.
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Our story looks at the anti-cancer qualities of the ginseng plant. Listen for the word
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'say'.
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What they've found, say, in the case of ginseng, is that it is something that is difficult
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and slow growing, in the wild and even in field cultivation. So you can imagine ginseng,
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to have a mature plant, it might be there for a period of say 4 to 7 years.
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While it's in the ground, it can suffer from pests, pest problems. I've heard of instances
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where growers have had the crop in the ground for say 5 to 6 years. They've been keen to
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keep it that extra year or two, to say form the right shape of the ginseng plant, and
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then they've been struck by pests, virtually overnight.
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The speaker, Dr David Armstrong, uses the word 'say' in several different ways.
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Listen to the first one again.
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What they've found, say, in the case of ginseng, is that it is something that is difficult
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and slow growing.
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The word 'say' in this clip is used to introduce an example.
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In formal English, instead of using 'say', we would use 'for instance' or 'for example'.
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Have a look at these sentences:
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They have found, say, in the case of ginseng, that it is difficult to grow.
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They have found, for instance, in the case of ginseng, that it is difficult to grow.
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They have found, for example, in the case of ginseng, that it is difficult to grow.
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So 'say' can be used to introduce an example.
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Let's listen to another use of the word 'say'.
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So you can imagine ginseng, to have a mature plant, it might be there for a period of say
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4 to 7 years.
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'Say' in this clip has another meaning.
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It's used for narrowing down a time period. It means 'around' or 'approximately'.
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Listen for another example.
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I've heard of instances where growers have had the crop in the ground for say 5 to 6
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years.
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The crop has been in the ground for say 5 to 6 years.
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So the word 'say' here narrows down a time period.
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"The growers have had the crop in the ground for 'say', 5 to 6 years."
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"The growers have had the crop in the ground for 'around', 5 to 6 years."
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Dr Armstrong uses the word 'say' in one more way. Listen here.
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They've been keen to keep it that extra year or two to, say, form the right shape of the
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ginseng plant and then they've been struck by pests.
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He says "to, say, form the right shape of the ginseng plant".
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'Say' here is giving the speaker time to gather his thoughts. It's used as a filler. He could
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have said 'um', or one of the other language fillers.
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For example: "to say, form the right shape of the ginseng plant."
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"to, um, form the right shape of the ginseng plant."
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There is one more use for the word 'say' - to quote. When we report what someone else has
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said we call it indirect speech or reported speech.
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Speakers often introduce indirect or reported speech using the verb 'to say'.