Sit Tight

Intro

Imagine this: You are waiting for a friend to meet you at a coffee shop. Your friend is late, but you want to stick to the plan. You drink a cup of coffee and order two cupcakes. Finally, your friend calls. She is looking for a parking spot, and she’s insistent that she wants to see you. You could tell her that you need to leave, or you could sit tight and continue to wait.

When a person sits tight, they stay in the same place and wait patiently for someone or something. Sometimes, it isn’t easy to sit tight. For example, your friend who is meeting you at the coffee shop took forever to get there. You could just tell her that you want to take a different approach and meet on another day. But you’re a good friend, and you want to see her today. So, you sit tight and wait.

Kelsey and Dominique are helping Andy prepare a welcome home party for Sheila. But they are having trouble finding general party supplies. Find out who needs to sit tight in today’s soap opera.

Dialogue

Dominique: I can’t believe how terrible parking is! Do you have the list?
Kelsey: The list…. Uh, yeah…. Got it!
Dominique: OK. So, what do we need for Sheila’s welcome home party?
Kelsey: Oh, wrong list. Here we go. Let’s see.
Dominique: I don’t think this is a parking spot, either!
Kelsey: Well, there’s quite a bit left on the list.
Dominique: OK, yeah. We’re going to need to find another parking spot.
Kelsey: OK, I have an idea. Why don’t you sit tight, and I’ll run to the store. That way, we don’t have to park the car again.
Dominique: OK, sounds good. I’ll call you if I have to move the car. Good luck! And Kelsey, make sure you stick to what’s on the list!
Kelsey: Will do!
Dominique: Hey, Kelsey. I’m still parked in the same spot.
Kelsey: OK, great. I went to the first store, but they didn’t have anything we needed… no cupcakes, no cakes, no donuts… nothing sweet at all.
Dominique: Really? Well, we can try something else.
Kelsey: We could, but Andy was very insistent about the cupcakes.
Dominique: What else is on the list?
Kelsey: Balloons and…. I don’t know, it’s really hard to read Andy’s handwriting. I think it just says: “Cupcakes, balloons, and general party supplies. ”
Dominique: General party supplies?
Kelsey: Yeah, what do you think?
Dominique: I don’t know. Let’s find the balloons.
Kelsey: That’s good. OK. I have another idea. Sit tight, and I’ll try another store.
Dominique: Sounds good.
Dominique: What? Oh, hey.
Kelsey: We should try somewhere else.
Dominique: That took forever. You didn’t find anything?
Kelsey: Well, no, not for the party. But I found this super cute hat, and then I got this big plate, and this snake thing…
Dominique: But none of that was on the list.
Kelsey: Well, no. They didn’t have anything, but… I mean, well, not for Sheila.
Dominique: Really. Nothing?
Kelsey: No! I looked all over the store, and I couldn’t find anything that qualified as “general party supplies.”
Dominique: OK, maybe, we need to take a different approach.
Kelsey: Yeah…
Dominique: You sit tight, and I’ll go look for…
Kelsey: Oh, look! That car is moving. Why don’t we park the car there, and then we can both get coffee?
Dominique: OK, sounds good.

Discussion

Kelsey and Dominique are trying to help Andy prepare for Sheila’s return. Andy gave them a list of general party supplies that he needs. However, Dominique is having trouble finding a parking spot, so Kelsey tells her to sit tight. She will go shopping while Dominque stays with the car. Kelsey promises to only buy things for the party, but of course, she buys many things for herself instead.

After trying many different stores, Kelsey tells Dominique that there were no party supplies. There weren’t even cupcakes. Although, she did find a great new hat. Dominique is tired, so they decided to try a different approach. They will park the car, go get coffee, and try to find Andy’s party supplies together.

Is it easy or difficult for you to sit tight? What do you use as general party supplies?

Grammar Point

Plural vs. Possessive “S”

Kelsey is trying to read Andy’s list. She says, “I think it just says: “Cupcakes, balloons, and general party supplies. ” She uses three plural nouns.

Most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es. For example, cupcake becomes cupcakes, or balloon becomes balloons.

A noun ending with a consonant and the letter y forms the plural by adding -ies. For instance, supply becomes supplies.

This is not true for all nouns. There are many irregular plural nouns, such as woman ( women), potato ( potatoes), or tooth ( teeth), and some nouns are the same in both the singular and plural forms (such as sheep and fish), but most nouns are made plural by adding -s, -es or -ies.

When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually add ’s to a singular noun and an apostrophe ‘ to a plural noun. For example, the boy’s ball (one boy) or the boys’ ball (two boys). The number of balls doesn’t matter, only the number of possessors (in this case, boys).

Which is correct, “There are two doggies in the yard,” or, “There are two doggys in the yard”?