Match Day
Valeria and Daniel discuss how life changes when football is on in their country.
Valeria: So how about in tournament time?
Daniel: How?
Valeria: How do you live that?
Daniel: Well if it's an important tournament, like World Cup or Copa America, we would watch the matches like normally watch and...
Valeria: What do you mean normally watch?
Daniel: Normally watch means even if you have classes, even if you are working, if there's a match in between you're going to watch it.
Valeria: So wait a second. If you are working, suppose you are working in your office and the matches are three pm meaning like working hours or the match is at ten am like it's school hours you still watch the match?
Daniel: Yeah, yeah. You get a TV at the office or your classroom and you watch the game.
Valeria: Really?
Daniel: Yeah, we stop working because otherwise you wouldn't do anything anyway.
Valeria: So you stop working, you stop studying?
Daniel: Yes.
Valeria: You stop everything that you are doing for watching the match?
Daniel: Yeah.
Valeria: It's kind of the same in Argentina.
Daniel: You see because it's really important, like football is really important for us so if you're supporting your team, if it's your national team everyone gets involved.
Valeria: In my country the rating of the matches is like more than thirty each time.
Daniel: Yeah, yeah, it's the same in Chile. It's really successful when you broadcast the match.
even if
Even if you have classes, even if you are working, if there's a match, you're going to watch it.
The phrase 'even if' can be used to add specific and usually unexpected information about a situation. It is usually used to say that something will still happen, even in the most unlikely situation. Notice the following:
- Even if everything is going really well in her life, she
can always find something to complain about.
- Even if I weren't feeling sick, I probably wouldn't want
to go to a movie tonight.
suppose
Suppose you are working in your office, do you still watch the match?
Used like this, 'suppose' is used to ask the listener or speaker to assume or imagine a particular situation, usually just for conversation or an argument. Notice the following:
- Suppose you had an emergency, how would you contact
someone without a cell phone?
- Suppose you went back to school, how would that help
your career?
otherwise
We stop working because otherwise you wouldn't do anything anyway.
'Otherwise' is used to add contrast about what would happen if the situation were different. It is usually used to show contrast between a couple options. Notice the following:
- Bring a jacket, otherwise you'll be cold.
- I think we should leave a little earlier, otherwise we
will be late.
stop everything
You stop everything that you are doing to watch the match?
When you 'stop everything,' it means that your normal life pauses for you to do something else. Notice the following:
- She is very selfish and expects people to stop
everything and help her when she needs something.
- When you have teenagers, you have to learn to stop
everything and listen when they want to talk.
TV rating
In my country the TV rating of the matches is very high.
The 'TV rating' is how many people are watching a specific program. Notice the following:
- TV ratings have to be very high for programs broadcast
at this time of day.
- That show was taken off the air because of low TV
ratings.
Vocabulary Quiz
everything • rating