MATERI WEEK 3

INVITING SOMEONE

There are various ways to invite someone to your house for dinner or to go to the movies.
Here are some common expressions we can use when making or responding to invitations

Inviting:

 Would you like to ....

 Could you come to…
 I'd very much like
 Would you care to ....
 I’ll really happy if you come to….
 I’m sure that you won’t be disappointed to come to….

Accepting an Invitation

 Thank you for inviting me.

 I would/will ....
 That would be very nice.
 I'd like to love to come.
 That’s fine.
 Sure. Why not?

Declining an Invitation

 I'm very sorry, I don't think I can.

 I'd like to, but ....
 Thank you for asking me, but ....
 Unfortunately, I can't ....

Exercises
Your boss wants to invite Ms Braun, the boss of W&W, to have a dinner in such
restaurant. They have to talk about the new contract of handicraft production. Because Ms
Braun isn't in the office, you leave the following information to her secretary.

a. Your name
b. Telephone number: 347-8910 (or use your own)
c. Calling about changing conditions of your contract with W&W
d. You can be reached until 5 o'clock at the above number. If Ms Braun calls after
o'clock, she should call 458-2416

Write the dialogue between you and the secretary.

A. EXPRESSING HAPPINESS, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND BOREDOM

There are certain expressions which are used to express happiness, disapppointment, and
boredom.
Happiness, for example::

 I am glad to hear that.

 I am happy to hear that.
 That’s great!
 Wonderful!

Disappointment, for example:

 That’s disappointing.
 That’s too bad.
 That’s real shame.

Boredom, for example:

 That’s boring.
 I am totally not interested.
 How boring.
 Dull.

Study the following dialogue! Learn how the speaker express his disappoinment.

In a canteen, Herry meets his friend, Vincent, a boy who is enjoying a bowl of meatball soup.

Herry : Hi, How’s it going?

Vincent : pretty good, thanks. How about you?
Herry : I am glad to hear that, but I don’t feel good today.
Vincent : Why? Do you have any problems?
Herry : Uhm…yes, I do. I get bad score for my Math test. As a result, my father is angry
to me and cancel his promise to buy me a bicycle.
Vincent : Oh, That’s very disappointing. I think you should talk to your father.
Herry : Yeah, I just want to explain to him the reason why my Math score is bad. I hope
he’ll understand.
Vincent : That’s good, Doni. Goodluck! By the way, I have to meet Mr. Pandu right now.
Herry : Mmm, Ok. I just stay here. See you.
Vincent : See you.
 MATERI MINGGU KE 4
A. ORDERING OR COMMANDING

Ordering or commanding is an utterance that makes the hearer do something and the thing being ordered or

commanded is the thing that the speaker wants to happen. In order that the utterance can be conveyed properly, the

speaker must be superior than, or in authority over the hearer. Example:

(by a mother to her son late in the evening)

Mother : “Adi, is there any homework?”

Adi : “Yes, mom. Mathematics”

Mother : “Ok, stop playing that game”

Adi : “Some few more minutes, mom.”

Mother : “Shut down the computer and do your homework, now”

The utterances printed in bold above are the examples of ordering or commanding utterances. They belong to

transactional speeches. It can be seen from the language forms which are in imperative sentences and from the intention of the

speaker (mother) who wants her son to do such things, to stop playing the game, shut down the computer, and do the

homework. Because commanding or ordering are addressed directly to the second person, so it is usually in the form of direct

utterance and in imperative sentence. In such case commanding utterance can be declarative sentence, such as in the

following situation.

(A mother to her son who wants to go out for a play at night)

Mother : Tomy, It’s been 11.00 p.m. and you wear your jacket. Where will you go?

Tomy : I want to go my friend’s house,mom.

Mother : What for? Why? Can’t you meet him tomorrow?

Tomy : I just want to have a computer game with him, mom. It will not be long. I’ll be at home at twelve

Mother : What? Tomorrow’s the school day. I insist you to be back to your room.

The commanding utterance expressed by the mother above is in the form of declarative sentence. It can be

seen from the sequence of subject and predicate which are in normal order. Although it is in declarative, if it is

expressed properly with accurate emphasis, it has as strong intention as in imperative sentence.
 As stated above, in commanding utterances, the speaker must be superior than the hearer. If the speaker is

inferior than the hearer, commanding utterances will be improper or odd. For example, the conversation between a

maid and the Queen below.

Maid : “Don't you feel cold, Your Majesty?”

Queen : “Yes, Betsy”

Maid : “So, close the windows”.

In the conversation above, the commanding act is improper and impolite because it is expressed by a maid to the

Queen. The sub-ordinative status of the maid makes her not able to command the Queen. But in such a specific situation, the

inferior can command the superior. For example in a robbery incident, a driver can command his boss by saying “Down,

down.”

Exercise:

Make a conversation for each of the following situations:

(1) Two boys of eightteen robbed the bank, expressing command to the guards, bank attendants, bank tellers,
and IT operators.

(2) In the swimming pool, a coach command the trainees to do a maximum exercises.
(3) In the play of “hide-and-catch”, a player command his friends to do a fair play
B. REQUESTING
Requesting utterance is also expressed by the speaker because he intends the hearer to do such thing and the thing he

requests is the thing that he wants to happen. A request has the same intention as command but request is expressed in more

polite manner. In request, the speaker is usually inferior than the hearer, or if not, the speakers must intend to show respect

each other, or if the speaker is superior, he must be offering solidarity to the hearer.

(by a costumer to the bank teller)

Costumer : “I'd like to open a savings account, please.”

Teller : “I'll get you the applicant blanks. How much would you like to deposit?”

Costumer : “To start off, I'd like to deposit ten millions.”

Teller : “Would you fill out this deposit slip for me?”
 Costumer : “Ok”

Teller : “Could you show your identity card?”

Costumer : “Here you are.”

Teller : “Can you put your signature here?”

The utterances printed in bold above are the examples of requesting utterances. They are in the forms of interrogative

and are conveyed in more polite manner than command. In the situation above, the hearer (the teller) wants to show respect to

the speaker so that is why she expresses request not command.

Exercise:

Make conversation for each of the following situations:

(1) You are a woman who works as a teller in an international bank. You have just got your pregnancy and
have difficulties to cope with your first quarter period. You meet your boss to request some days off.

(2) You are a boy of fifteen who had just broken a traffic rule. A police stopped you, gave you a notice bill and
brought your motorcycle. Now, you come to the police station and wants your motorcycle returned.

C. PROMISING
Promising utterances are utterances that the speaker commit to himself to do something in the future, and the thing

promised must be the thing that the hearer wants to happen. A promise can be in the form of performative utterance,

the utterance that actually describes the act that it performs, e.i. it PERFORMS such act and SIMULTANEOUSLY

DESCRIBES that act. In the utterance “I promise that your car will be ready on time”, is performative because in

saying it the speaker actually does/executes what the utterance describes, e.i. when the speaker utters the promise at

the same time he conducts an act of promise. But a promise is not always in performative. If your lecturer asks you:

“When will you submit your assignment?”, and you answer “Tomorrow”, your answer is a promise utterance.

It is stated that the thing promised is the thing that the speaker wants to happen. Example: You really love your

family, including your lovely son. If someone says “I’ll come to your house and kill your son”, it cannot be

considered as a proper promise because although the speaker commits himself to come to your house, but the thing

he promises to you is the thing that you do not want to happen. Observe the following example.
Sissy : “May I borrow your note?”

Arni : “Next Friday there'll be a quiz and I'll use that note to learn.”

Sissy : “It'll not be long, I need to copy some paragraphs.”

Arni : “When will you return it back to me?”

Sissy : “Tomorrow, at 9.”

Arni : “Can I trust you?”

Sissy : “Swear, I'll be on time.”

In the dialog above, Sissy commits herself that she will not be long borrowing the note of Arni, she will return the
note the day after the utterance, and she will be on time. The thing promised by Sissy is the thing that Arni wants to
happen.

Exercise:

Make conversation for the following situations:

You have just transferred your money to your daughter abroad via such bank. After a couple days you confirm
the transfer arrival to your daughter, but she does not receive it yet. You come to that bank to ask what happen,
and the bank teller promise you to handle that case soon.