Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
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Hey, Dana, I was calling to see
if you could babysit on Friday.
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Why ‘I was calling’ instead of ‘I am calling’?
Sometimes we use the past continuous tense to
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ask questions: I was calling to see
if you could babysit, I was wondering
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if you wanted to go out to dinner with me.
It just adds an extra layer of politeness.
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00:22
Oh, I can't. I'm not free that evening.
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You could also decline by
saying: I'm not available,
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I already have plans, or I'm all booked up.
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I am free Saturday evening, though.
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I'm sure we can change our reservations.
Let's do Saturday. Does seven o'clock work?
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It does.
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Great. Thank you. See you then.
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You're welcome.
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This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.