Talking about Your Dreams

01In an earlier everyday grammar, we talked about Fast Car, a song about young people who had dreams of making their lives better.

02Then, we asked our readers and listeners to tell us about their own dreams.

03In today's lesson, we will review two answers we received, both from people in their middle years of life, and we give some grammar advice.

04First, we want to thank Hyrule, a middle-aged man, who wrote to us.

05He said, Today, everyday grammar topic is about dreams.

06How can I describe my dream?

07This is an interesting topic overall for people who already has certain age, like me.

08As well, the time is not longer for following an eternal dream.

09Hyrule used an interesting expression to tell us about his age.

10He said, People who already has certain age.

11You might have heard this expression in sentences like, A person of a certain age needs to be concerned about retirement funds.

12Note that the verb has is not used, but the preposition of is used before a certain age.

13As you can guess, this is a polite way to describe someone in their 40s, 50s, or 60s.

14It is often used to talk about women's age without saying how old they are.

15Sometimes it comes before criticism, so take care in using it.

16Hyrule said, The time is not longer for following an eternal dream.

17We suggest using, The time is growing shorter, or There is little time left.

18Hyrule could say, The time for me to follow my dream is growing shorter.

19Hyrule continues to tell us about what is now important to meeting his life goals.

20For that reason, I need to be focused on important things.

21Indeed, buy a house, save money for my daughter's scholarship, save money for taking a vacation, or save money to be prepared for my retirement time.

22In this statement, Hyrule uses be before an infinitive verb form two times.

23Be focused and be prepared.

24We suggest using the adjective form in both.

25I need to be focused on important things.

26I need to save money to be prepared for my retirement.

27Next, we review a message from Kaori, who is a middle-aged woman in Japan.

28She begins by saying what she dreamed as a young person, using the expression we heard in the song, Fast Car, to be someone.

29When I was young, I strongly believed I would be someone in the future.

30I wanted to be the first female prime minister in Japan, or an executive of the big famous company.

31Kaori did earn a job at a company, but then marriage and children and culture forced her to quit working.

32She says, However, I didn't become anyone.

33I stopped my job and gave up my career.

34Do I regret my decision and my life?

35No, not at all.

36From the remaining part of Kaori's message, we find she was a success at being a mother, as her two daughters are in college.

37And she gained a part-time job that helped to pay their school costs when they were younger.

38The corrections to her message that we suggest are the spelling of career and how to say you have quit a job.

39We can say, I stopped working or I quit working.

40But Kaori could also say, I changed jobs because being a homemaker and mother, although unpaid, is a full-time job.

41Kaori did all that while holding a part-time job.

42Thinking of how her dream changed over time, Kaori writes, My past dreams were only thinking, not real.

43I can say my own dreams have changed every time.

44In the future, even if I become old, I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams at any time.

45Two words in this part cause grammatical issues, every time and any time.

46Every time should be written as two separate words, but a better way to say this would be, I can say my own dreams have changed over the years.

47Any time is an adverb, so it should not appear after the preposition at.

48Instead, Kaori could say, I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams any time.

49Or she could use a different expression.

50I hope to find new and enjoyable dreams my whole life long.

51Thank you, Kaori and Heidel, for writing to us and helping everyone to learn more about how we talk about our dreams.

52You both showed us that dreams can change over time as our lives become connected with those of others.

53And that's Everyday Grammar.

54I'm Jill Robbins.