At the Post Office

POSTAL CLERK: What can I do for you today?

CAROL: I need to mail this package to New York, please.

POSTAL CLERK: OK, let’s see how much it weighs … it’s about five pounds. If you send it express, it will get there tomorrow. Or you can send it priority and it will get there by Saturday.

CAROL: Saturday is fine. How much will that be?

POSTAL CLERK: $11.35 [eleven thirty-five]. Do you need anything else?

CAROL: Oh, yeah! I almost forgot. I need a book of stamps, too.

POSTAL CLERK: OK, your total comes to $20.35 [twenty dollars and thirty-five cents].

LANGUAGE NOTES

•  What can I do for you today? Notice that this question starts with “What,” so the intonation drops at the end of the question. 

•  Or you can send it priority … Notice the stress on “or,” which emphasizes that there is another possibility.

•  $11.35 ... $20.35 Notice the two different ways the postal clerk says the price. First he says eleven thirty-five (without the words dollars and cents), then he says twenty dollars and thirty-five cents.

•  Oh, yeah! is an expression used here to mean “I just remembered something.” It’s often followed by “I almost forgot.”

•  Your total comes to … is a way of saying “the cost is ….”