David Beckham needs no introduction. Beckham (or ‘Becks’ as he’s often called) is a huge international star and a footballer too. Yet, some people criticise him for his English grammar.
Beckham is English and speaks, well, English but how well? A number of people have said that his English isn’t very good but why? The answer is that he doesn’t always use correct grammar. Instead he speaks how people speak in some towns and cities, especially around London. Lets take a look at Beckham grammar: 1) “My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about seven.” Translation = This means that his parents were not there for him before he was 7. Maybe he had other parents, they were on holiday or he lived on his own. 2) “Well, I can play in the centre, on the right and occasionally on the left side.” Translation = He can play almost everywhere except the back. 3) “I remember so clearly us going into hospital so Victoria could have Brooklyn. I was eating a Lion bar at the time.” Translation = He must have really liked that Lion bar to remember it so well or maybe it was more important than the news his wife was having a baby. It may also just be a way to advertise the chocolate bar. 4) “Maths is totally done differently to what I was teached when I was at school.” Translation = Maths is taught in a very different way to when Becks learned it at school. However, maths hasn’t changed. Numbers are numbers so maybe he’s referring to how students use computers more. 5) “I’d like to have Brooklyn christened, but I don’t know into what religion yet.” Translation = Only Christian churches officially do christenings so either he means different branches of the religion or he thinks that every religion does them. Check out these great quotes from Becks: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/david_beckham.html To learn common British slang have a look at the Urban Dictionary at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/ You might like our other posts about Beckham… 1. Beckham speaks about the future 2. How do you pronounce -ed endings? – Beckham’s baby 3. Playing with past tenses: Beckham baby (part II) 4. Football Vocabulary: Introduction to soccer English
