Page 9 -There were a cat and a man in the office. The man was on a phone. The cat was listening to the conversation.- "Anyway, you'll drink with me? How about our favorite bar at 8? I'll treat you," Robert said. "Thanks but let's split the bill." Speaking of Robert, he is a lecturer of the faculty of literature. His character is opposite to Rickey. He is much more intelligent than Rickey. Robert is one of Rickey's friends, though he has only a few and Rickey thinks he is his best friend. I'll sleep a little more. Sleeping is the privilege of cats, isn't it? Today's points -The point 1- I'll treat you. "Treat" means giving courtesy or thanks. "I'll treat you." means you don't need to pay. I want to pay all. (1) How about a coffee? Good idea. I'll treat you. Let's meet for lunch. That's a good idea. I'll treat today. "It's on me." is also used. How about the French restaurant? It's on me. By the way, "coffee" is the uncountable noun, but if we order we can say "a coffee" which means a cup of coffee. -The point 2- Thanks but let's split the bill. "Split" in the above has "divide." And "bill" means the check. Thus, "split the bill" means divide the check. It means, for example, if there are two people, each pays 50 %. (2) I want to go for a drive. But the cost of petrol has risen recently. Let's split the bill. By the way, "Let's" of "Let's split the bill." is "Let us." "Let's" is used to suggest something or invite someone. The verbs are put after it. (3) Let's have dinner together. I'm afraid I can't. How about tomorrow? Let's meet tonight. Okay, see you. Let's go to Rickey's house next time, Sherry. I'm not overly interested. -The point 3- He is much more intelligent than Rickey. This is the comparative sentence between Robert and Rickey. "He is more intelligent." means he is better than someone. ("Much" in the above emphasizes the comparison, this is not explained here.) "More intelligent" is the comparative. It is the adverbs or the adjectives which are added with "er." For example, "tall" becomes "taller", "old" becomes "older", "cheap" is "cheaper." His collar is 20 dollars. I hear your collar is 30 dollars. Oh, his collar is cheaper. How much is your collar, Sherry? I don't have a collar. The longer words use "more" without "er." "Intelligent" is one of them. "Expensive" is the same. Your collar is more expensive. Moreover, we can use "than" after the comparatives. "He is more intelligent than Rickey." means he is good and Rickey is also good, but he is better. I hear Roy can swim. Is that true, Buttered? Yes. But I can swim, too. I am a better swimmer than he is. Really? Yeah, I can swim faster than he can. "Better" is the comparative of "good." "Good" does not become "gooder." And "bad" does not become "bader", it is "worse." Libre can swim, too. Yes, I know. He can swim faster than me. "Than me" of "He can swim faster than me." is usually used as "than I can." But "than me" is used in spoken. "Than he is" and "than he can" are also used as "than him" in spoken. -The point 4- Sleeping is the privilege of cats, isn't it? "Sleeping is the privilege of cats." means merely s/he has the privilege. But when "isn't it?" is put like the above, it means do you think so? or I know you think so. This is the tag question, it is put on the interrogative sentence of the end of sentence. That is Rickey's office, isn't it? Yes. You are usually in it, aren't you? Yes. He is your keeper, isn't he? No. He is my friend. You live with him, don't you? No. I'm usually in the office but I have never been to his house. You don't live with him, do you? No. He isn't your keeper, is he? No. Like the above, the affirmative tag question is put on the negative sentence, and the negative tag question is put on the affirmative sentence. -Note- How about our favorite bar at 8? "Favorite bar" in the above means the bar we usually go. This "favorite" means we like something and it is the best. (4) What is your favorite food? My favorite food is tuna. "Favorite" is the adjective or the noun. So it is not used as the verb like "I favorite …" or "What do you favorite?"

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