60 - Intermediate English - Does he "make chores" or "do chores"? We commemorate number 60 with a re-broadcast of our most downloaded episode, about the word "do."

  Saludos desde Atlanta, Georgia, en los Estados Unidos. Soy Goyo, uno de los presentadores de No te rindas, Intermediate English, y hoy cumplimos el episodio número sesenta de este podcast. Y quiero agradecer a todos nuestros oyentes y todo el apoyo que nos han dado. Y vamos a  presentar de nuevo el episodio más popular.

the show. No qualis, uh, episodeo deus,  acerca de la palabra do. Saludos a todos y que disfruten del episodio  y estamos en contacto. Si  tienes alguna duda o sugerencia sobre el show,  por favor, mándanos un email por questions arroba. We're here for you.  Podcast. 

Welcome to Listen Smile,  a podcast for Espes in conversational American English, hosted by me, Gabe Gabrielle,  and my brother Greg Goyo  de.  But English is obviously our first language.  Thanks for listening as we help you improve your English in a relaxed, friendly space.  Well, Greg, how are you? What's happening in the world this week?

Uh, the price of gas is crazy. Inflation is crazy. Yes. We, we drove by a gas station and I saw that diesel gas was 5 and 45 cents. And I told my daughter that this is what gas always costs in England, but it should not cost that much here in the U S.  It's true. It's true. We don't pay as much of a tax to support our infrastructure  and trains and stuff like that.

So it's just, it's just profit, man. It's just profit.  Um, I,  now this is kind of a curious fact about me. I drive an electric car. I don't buy gas, but my wife does. And my son does, he has his own car. He was just complaining to me yesterday that, uh, the money that he earns at his job, so much of it is going to, uh, gas and then of course insurance, which is another topic. 

So this is a big day for us. This is episode 10 of our podcast and we are so excited to have made it this far  and thank you for listening to us as always.  Today we're going to talk about the word do. You know the word do and you know the word make. are hacer  in Spanish,  and you probably struggle as a listener, as a, as a student of English with the difference between do and make.

Um, I know I've heard, uh, friends who are speaking English as their second language struggle with that. So we're going to dedicate ourselves to the word do today, and then we'll have another episode later. About the word make all right, as normally we do, we're going to go over four key vocabulary words that might be  unfamiliar and will be useful in understanding today's episode.

So the first that has to do with today's episode is the To do the dishes. To do the dishes. And that is, uh, re 

We also are gonna be talking about homework. Homework is lare or uh, Los Dees.  Paperwork. Paperwork is another vocabulary word for today. Paperwork is el. 

And lastly, and our least favorite is taxes. Uh, taxes are los impuestos. Eh, me chocan los impuestos.  So, let's start with the phrases  to do good. Versus to do well, uh, or to be doing, uh, good versus be doing well. Um, this is a huge source of confusion, even among, uh, some native speakers of English, we there's debate over this.

So  let's get into this. So to, to do well, to be doing well, if I say I'm doing well, that's like saying estoy bien. Um,  to do good can tambien mean, significa,  uh, hacer buenas acciones. So to do good is hacer buenas acciones, whereas to do well is more like estar bien. And then we're also going to talk about to do any good, or to, to, if something is doing any good, and that would be more like, uh, beneficiar. 

So let's practice this. How are you, Greg? Okay. So I'm going to answer his question, but I want you to notice how I answer it. Okay. I'm doing good today. Now, in your English lessons that you've taken, because if you can understand us, you've obviously studied. Quite a bit of English.  It is the case that we say we're doing good in English when strictly speaking, like from your education, from your teachers, you've heard I'm doing well. 

People say I'm doing good when from a textbook standpoint, they should say I'm doing well.  So we're going to talk a little bit about the difference between these two. Uh, right now, and I'm going to say that  if, if someone says to me, I'm doing good, it has a folksy  of the people, friendly quality, Gabe, would you agree with that?

Yes.  You're going to hear that more in America, uh, than doing well, right?  Yeah. I mean, if, if someone says I'm doing well,  they sound, I don't know, educated, you know, They sound maybe overly educated. They sound like they might be an English teacher. Um, they sound like they come from an era when, uh, grammar was, you know, strictly enforced in the school.

And they want to sound very correct, but plenty of people in the United States say, huh, I'm doing good. And then sometimes you'll hear,  sometimes you will hear people say. I'm doing well, and  this is one of those things where a book will say one thing, but in real life you hear something else.  And my friend, Alec, uh, anytime he would ask me how I was doing and I would say, I'm doing good.

He would always say, no, no, Superman does good. You're doing well. So that, uh, he was trying to, to correct me and say that to, to do good, it means to, to do the right thing or to affect positive things in the world, where the, whereas doing well is the condition of, uh, of being happy and content and healthy and all that.

So, um, that, that has helped me remember that. So you can see the difference here between Estar bien,  when you say I'm doing well, you're saying Estar bien, but when you say I'm doing good. His friend is making the joke. Oh, no, I'm, I'm fine. I'm doing well. I'm doing good. He's, he's pointing out that that's not grammatically correct.

You're, you mean I'm doing  right. That's pretty funny. So it gets you doing good is used probably more commonly in conversational American English as a story being, but it is not grammatically correct. Uh, I am doing well is what is grammatically correct. So you, you may hear both.  So let's show an example of doing good correctly use.

I can say, for example, Hey Gabe, have you been doing some good in your community?  Yes, I've, I've been trying to do good in my community by giving local restaurants lots of business and eating their food. Very, very generous of you. You've been supporting the pizza industry.  The local pizza economy.  That's right, the local burrito charity. 

Now we're going to talk about another expression, which is to do any good. Very, very commonly used with any in front of it to do any good. Right. Doing any good. So I'm like, I might say, Greg, has it been doing any good that you've been setting an alarm so that you can get up and run before work? Um,  no, no,  it hasn't been doing any good. 

I set the alarm and then instead of going and running, I just go get my cat. And, um, and we, uh, Kuru Karnos right in the bed for a little while.  I enjoy the warm, uh, you know, sheets and blanket and then. I get up and then barely make it to work on time. So it has not been doing me any good that, um, I've been setting extra alarms. 

So we have another group of expressions, uh, that uses the word do, um, that is around, uh, los quehaceres or las faenas. The first one being to do housework, which is hacer los quehaceres.  I might ask Greg, Hey, Greg, who does the housework in your home? Well, in my house, I do the dishes. So I guess you could say I do the majority of the housework in my home, but that's not really fair because I do the dishes. 

I pick up the trash. I often take out the trash,  but my wife does the laundry. My wife does the laundry. And of course there are four of us in the house. So doing the laundry. is a huge job and she of course works. So, um, I'm very appreciative that she does the laundry. So I try to do the rest of the cleaning or do the rest of the housework in the house.

Now, uh, let's talk about that expression doing the laundry for a second, because Gabe you have a kind of an interesting situation with doing the laundry at your house, don't you? So yeah, I just bought a new house less than a year ago. And, um, Before I got that house for, uh, a long time, I was doing my laundry every week at my mom's house.

Uh, my mother lives close to me and my new house is also close to mom.  And, uh, so when I got,  when I got my new house, mom said, son, please don't buy a washer and dryer. Um, because, because I really like seeing you, uh, Every week or every other week. 

Alright, so, so far we've talked about doing well,  uh, versus doing good. And we've talked about doing chores or doing housework or doing cleaning or doing dishes. Now let's go to doing one's makeup.  Okay, so, for example, my wife is always in a hurry. Right. She has to drive pretty far to her job and sometimes she has to drive to remote sites for her job. 

So she very frequently says, uh, I'm going to go do my makeup in the car. Like, so she has a bag of makeup. Uh, on the passenger seat in the car, and so she often will go  with her, you know, fresh clothing, her hairstyle is, uh, you know, appropriate for work and what have you. She's got her shoes on, and then she just goes and sits in the car and does her makeup. 

So I'm hoping as you're listening to me talking, you're hearing all the different forms of do that I'm using, right? She does her makeup. I'm going to do my makeup. Um, she is doing her makeup. Now, you know, you've studied all of these forms, right? You know that they're called the progressive Uh, or they might be called the preterite, but I want you to listen to how I'm using them and hopefully they stick in your brain.

So one more time, my wife says, I'm going to go do my makeup in the car.  Right. So you can, you can also, uh, do to do, you can use the phrase to do the minimum or to do, uh, the most. Um, I, I used to say that in college, I was lazy because I would do the minimum it took to get a top score. My friends would make fun of me and say, well, then you're not lazy. 

Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. Um, if you're doing the minimum, you're getting a passing grade, but. I know you pretty well, of course, because you're my brother, you're doing the minimum to be excellent. That's the kind of person that you are.  And, um, you know, this, this just goes right into another expression in English, uh, to do your best.

So, uh, it's kind of, it's kind of funny, Ollantes, you know, Gabe is saying I would do the minimum to be excellent, but I wasn't doing my best.  So in my case,  um, I have gone to college more than once because I've had multiple careers.  And so when I was a single, no children and in school full time, I did my best.

Right. I was always doing my best.  Uh, when I went to school later and I had, you know, a baby and a toddler and I had  a job all the time,  I, I guess you could say in English, I didn't do my best, or it was difficult for me to do my best. You could also say, Hey, I could not do my best, right to do your best, or just do your best is a very, very common expression.

Uh, it's something that teachers are going to tell their students that are struggling something that I tell my daughter all the time, just do your best, please. Um, so super common, and, 

uh, this leads us also to the other really popular term.  Uh, I know in Mexico, for example, they do a lot of this and that's to do homework. Yes, sir. So, uh, doing homework is really, really a source of anguish and pain and misery. In my house. Um, because, uh, one of my, one of my children is still in school and getting him to do his homework is tough. 

Nicholas,  go do your homework. Nicholas, are you doing your homework? Have you done your homework? No, I haven't done.  Hey, do your homework.  . I just, all the time. Excuses. Excuses. Uh, what about in your house, Gabe? It's pretty much the same. Yeah.  Pre, pretty similar. Um, we, you know, Ella, have you done your homework yet?

Why are you on the computer looking at that? You, you haven't done your homework? Yes. Yes. The king of distractions nowadays, of course, is the computer, the, the YouTube.  TikTok video.  These keep my children from doing their chores and doing their homework.  Now, the equivalent of that hassle for adults is,  is to do the paperwork, right?

We, we have to do paperwork, uh, in daily life. Um, One of the things that people hate, um, as far as the customers that I help at my job is they hate having to send in paperwork by snail mail because they're snail mail is like having mail carried by the postal carrier. Oh, so, uh, sending mail through the, like the buson,  right?

Instead of by email? Um, ah, yes. Yes. So the, first of all, nobody likes filling out paperwork or doing paperwork, but then they especially complain that they can't just scan it or take a picture of it and email it to us. They have to mail it to us in the regular mail.  Gotcha. For my part, I love being a teacher because I get to make things, right?

I like to make cool animations for my students and make up songs and sing. But of course, then there's also a part of my job where I have to do paperwork.  I have to report, you know, how my students are doing to some other teacher who's responsible for their improvement, or, um, I have to, you know, fill out a survey.

Uh, that gives feedback about how some process is going. And I'm really bad at that. I'm really, really bad at that. I hate that part of my job. I'm not good at doing paperwork.  Everybody has to do the next kind of paperwork. We have an expression in English. The only thing for certain are death and taxes. 

You have to do your taxes. And I hate doing my taxes. Um, I'm getting to the age now where I do not want to think about all those particulars. So I have an accountant, a CPA. Uh, who does my taxes and I go to see him once a year and I always tip him, right? I always tip him because he knocks me over. I hate doing my taxes.

Uh, and so, you know, Gabe, do you do your own taxes?  I, I do, um, I, uh, pago mis propios, uh, impuestos, uh, I use, uh, TurboTax and they are not sponsoring, uh,  but I use, I use TurboTax and the way TurboTax gets you is they will bring information over from last year. So you don't have to key very many things in, but.

On the other hand, it seems to get a little bit more expensive every year. CCC.  Yeah, it's so true. I used TurboTax for years and, um,  Oh, it's so nice when they say, Oh, last year you did XYZ. You want to say that you did XYZ again? This year? Uh, yes, TurboTax. I do. Thank you. Yes. I'll go click a key. Yes. Let's, let's click.

Yes.  Absolutely. So we've talked about all kinds of forms of the word do today, do your taxes, do your homework, do the minimum, do your chores, do, uh, doing good, doing well.  Let's see what you remember.  So, uh,  hey, hey Gabe. When, when your friend Elick asks you how you're doing,  uh, and you respond, I'm doing good. 

He often responds,  A,  that's fantastic.  B,  Superman does good. You're doing well.  Or C,  Oh, you're doing good. I'm so jealous.  No, it's perron. Tengo mucho envidia de ti.  Which one of those, uh, is accurate, Gabe?  Well, when, uh, when I say I'm doing good to Alec, he responds with B. Superman does good. You're doing well, my friend. 

All right, Greg, who does the housework, uh, in your house? Did you say,  A, I, Greg, do the housework. I do the dishes, I pick up the trash, etc.  B, my wife does the housework while I watch TV. Or C, my children do the housework after bringing us eggs and bacon. In bed. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha  Uh, um,  so, let's see.

Uh, I said, I do the housework in the sense that I do the cleaning, like the dishes and picking up the trash.  And my wife does the laundry. So, A, I guess would be the best answer.  Although, of course, one could say that, Laundry is also housework, of course.  But no, my children do not bring us breakfast in bed, uh,  or anything like that.

All right.  Audience, oyentes,  what did we say about our children and homework? Do our children do their homework happily and enthusiastically?  So, Gabe,  A, no, they don't do their homework happily and enthusiastically. We have to fight with them to get them to to do their homework,  or B,  they don't do their homework  because they're busy doing housework,  busy cleaning,  or C,  yes, they love to do their homework and then they blog about it. 

Something would be terribly wrong if the answer were C.  So, the answer of course is A. A, we have to fight, uh, with them to get them to do their homework, and it's a constant fight.  Yes, it's a constant struggle to get them to, uh, do what's best for themselves,  and put down the phone, put down  the monitor,  and, you know.

Get off the internet. Well, guys, we want to take a moment, uh, to thank our newest patrons. Um, so we want to thank Alex and, uh, Frenchie. I want to thank Alex and Frenchie this week. If you would like to become a patron and support this project, please visit our Patreon page at www. patreon.  com.  Slash. No  terindas podcast. 

We also have a website that we'd love for you to go look at. It's noterindaspodcast. us. You can find a link there to buy us a coffee. If you think we deserve that.  You can check out our blog, uh, and our video and, uh, readings lecturas links.  We've, uh, collected some things for you to read and watch that we think are intermediate in their level of English that, uh, will help you acquire more vocabulary. 

And you can find out more about us. We have some biographical information about your hosts, Greg and Gabe.  That's right. And if you would like to have some opportunities to review some of this material, a great way to do that is with our Twitter account and Facebook page. So on both Twitter and Facebook, we are At Noterindus E N G.

E N E H E.  Again, that's at Noterindus E N G. E N E H E. Well, Greg,  it's very important that you keep your electric car plugged in this week 

so that you don't have to buy gas. 

That's everybody. The whole family get in there and we're going to do all the driving in the smallest car. In the family. So we don't have to buy gasoline this week.  Try not to, um, eat too much Gabe, because you know, when you go to the grocery store, you pretty much have to swap a bag of money for a bag of groceries. 

Do your best.  I'll do my best to, uh, to eat less and, uh, eat light.  All right. Well,  thanks for your time today, Gabe.  I sure had fun. I love you and I'll talk to you soon. Bye.