Are you a dog person or a cat person? For those of us who are cat people, there is nothing more entertaining than playing with our cats. Cats usually love games, and they also love catnip. If you give a cat catnip and then play games with them, they will probably start going nuts. They will get very hyper and chase things.
After spazzing out, cats often become relaxed. Catnip can be very soothing and even act like a sleep aid. Of course, some cats don’t react to this interesting plant. These cats might prefer cat grass instead. This simple grass helps cats to be heathy and is good for their fur. Whether your cat is obsessed with catnip or cat grass, they will thank you for sharing a treat with them.
Gary is laughing about the way his cat acted after eating catnip. Listen as he tells Jessica about this in today’s English lesson.
Gary: Last night, one of my cats was spazzing out because of the catnip that we gave her.
Jessica: Oh, my gosh! My cat is obsessed with catnip.
Gary: Really?
Jessica: Yes, but it doesn’t really make him spaz out. It makes him… well, it makes him really hyper. But I don’t know, sometimes, it’s almost like it acts as a sleep aid…
Gary: It’s true!
Jessica: … and kind-of calms him down. I guess it’s really soothing.
Gary: Well, yeah, I mean, it’s somewhat similar to cat grass, but not quite. So, cat grass… have you ever fed your cats cat grass before?
Jessica: No, I’ve never heard of it.
Gary: So, it’s really great, and it’s very healthy. It’s just this long grass, and the cats will eat it, and their fur looks really nice… which you can grow just like catnip.
Jessica: Wow!
Gary: And if you grow catnip, sometimes, your cats will just start eating it and going nuts.
Jessica: Oh, my gosh! I knew they were… I think they’re both part of the mint family.
Gary: Yes!
Jessica: So, maybe, I should start growing some. We have a lot of neighborhood cats… then, I might become a cat lady, though.
Gary: Uh-oh.
Jessica: I don’t know.
Gary: I don’t know… it’s really funny because, sometimes, cats react to it. Sometimes, they don’t.
Jessica: Well, maybe, I’ll grow some and see what happens.
Gary tells Jessica that he gave his cat some catnip last night. Then, his cat went crazy for a while. Jessica’s cat also loves catnip, but catnip doesn’t make him quite as crazy. Her cat just gets a little hyper and then takes a nap. Gary and Jessica agree that catnip can be both exciting and soothing for cats.
Gary says that catnip is a little bit similar to cat grass. Both of these plants are healthy for cats, and they are easy for people to grow. Gary warns Jessica that, if she grows catnip, her cat might eat a lot of it and spaz out. Jessica thinks it might be fun to plant catnip outside for all of the neighborhood cats. But then, she realizes that she might become a crazy cat lady if she did that.
Do you have a cat who likes catnip? What is your favorite game to play with cats?
Present Perfect Tense
Gary asks Jessica about cat grass, saying, “Have you ever fed your cats cat grass before?” He uses the present perfect tense.
The present perfect tense is formed with have/has + a past participle, as in, “I have been married for five years.”
You can ask someone if they have gone somewhere and returned or if they have done something by using the present perfect tense. In this case, it is formed with have/has + subject + a past participle.
When you see words like for, since, ever, already, and so far in a sentence, it often means that you need to use the present perfect tense.
When Gary asks, “Have you ever fed your cats cat grass before,” he uses the word ever to ask if Jessica did this at any time in the past. He also uses the present perfect tense because he wants to ask her if she did this any time in the past up until now.
Be careful! English has many irregular past participles. Gary uses one of these. Fed is both the past tense and past participle form of the verb feed.
Which is correct, “Have you ever gone to Disneyland,” or, “Have you ever went to Disneyland”?