Lesson 5: Do up

Do up: fasten or close most types of clothes.

 

e.g.      Do up your coat because it is raining.

            Do your coat up because it is raining (separable phrasal verb)

            In this province you have to do up your seatbelt when you're in a car.

            Most people laughed because he had done up his shirt incorrectly.  One side was                           higher than the other.

            I had forgotten to do up my bag and all my stuff fell out when I bent down to do                                     up my shoelaces.

Though this is used for most types of clothes we have more specific verbs you can use instead.  See the chart below.

 

	do up	Opposite	undo
Zippers	zip (up)		unzip
Buttons	Button (up)		unbutton
Shoelaces, skate laces	tie (up)		untie
Shoelaces, skate laces	lace (up)		unlace
Seatbelts	buckle (up)		unbuckle

 

e.g.      Please button up your shirt because this is a formal dinner party.

            Your are going to trip because your shoelace isn't tied up.

            He didn't realized that he hadn't zipped up his pants when he left the washroom                            until his students started laughing.

            When they experienced turbulence, the Captain asked them to buckle up.

           

Lesson 5 Word Family Quiz

(fill out the chart: Use an X if there is no noun or verb in the word family)  Click the answer button in the top right corner to see the answers.  Good luck.

adjective	noun	verb
strong
long
wide
deep
short
weak

Thanks for Voting

Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll.  It seems that prespositions are the considered the most difficult.  Keeping that in mind, you will see more of them throughout these lessons. 

Lesson 4: Argue--the difference in prepositions

 

 

A)   Argue: To disagree with someone, or about something using angry words and gestures.

 Be aware of the differences in prepositions

1)         Argue with someone.

            I argued with my sister for 3 hours.

2)         Argue about something

            We argued about how much money we were spending on internet access.

3)         Argue over something

            We argued over who was a better actor--Matt Damon or George Clooney.

            *Arguing about something is about the general topic, whereas argue over implies a limited number of choices.

            They argued about the problem.  They argued over the two possible solutions.

 

B) Argue:  To explain that something is true, or that should or shouldn't be done.

 

 

4)         Argue that something should be done/shouldn't be done

            He argued that we should sell the house before the market collapses.

5)         Argue for something (to be in favour of something)

            He argued for the death penalty.

6)         Argue against (to be opposed to something)

            He argued against the death penalty.

Useful collocations

 

Have an argument.

Get into an argument with someone.

Win/lose an argument.

Make a good argument for/against something.

 

QUIZ

1.         He liked children so he argued______abortion.

                        a) with             b) for               c) against

2.         He didn't believe in guns and he argued _______gun control.

                        a) with             b) for               c) against

3.         He was constantly arguing ______his sister.

                        a) with             b) for               c) against

4.         He spent hours arguing with his parents ________his wedding plans.

                        a) with             b) over             c) against

5.         They finally broke up because they spent too much time arguing ________ money.

                        a) about           b) in     c) against

6.         The lawyer argued____________ his client was innocent.

                        a) over             b) for               c) that

 

Check Quiz answers by checking the box in the top right corner.

 

Lesson 3: To Get/Have Cold Feet

 

Collocations:  To have cold feet.

                        To get cold feet.

                        To have got cold feet.

 

Meaning: to feel nervous or scared about something you have decided to do strongly enough that you don't want to do it.  This idiom is most often used when talking about marriage.

examples

I got cold feet and called off (cancelled) the wedding.

I was going to tell him the truth, but I got cold feet.

John was going to ask Rebecca out on a date, but got cold feet and didn't even speak to her.

 

Usefulness Factor: 5/10

You will hear this idiom used on any television show, or in any movie where someone is going to get married.  Somebody will always ask the groom, or bride if they are getting cold feet.

You may not use this idiom so often because most people are pretty confident about getting married, and how often would you be talking to them right before the wedding about cancelling the whole thing? Very rarely.

In addition, if you fail to do something you decided to do, you might not tell that many people.  If you do, you might use another idiom like chicken out.

I wanted to talk to her about the problem, but I chickened out and sent her an email instead.

 

 

QUIZ 1:  Word Families

 

Fill in the chart with different forms of the word.  Some boxes will be left blank.  Check the quiz answers at the top right of the screen.

 

Verb	Noun	Adjective	Adverb
argue

 

Lesson 2: To Bump into Someone

 

1.         To bump into someone = to meet unexpectedly

 

e.g.      I bumped into an old friend at the mall.

            I bumped into Maria on the subway.

            I was looking around the bookstore when I bumped in Roger.  He was shopping                            for Christmas presents.

 

Expressions with similar meanings

a) ran into

b) ran across

 

Expressions with different meanings

a) came across =found unexpectedly.

(usually used for things.  When used for people, it often means that you discovered them doing something unexpected)

 

I came across an old photo of you while I was cleaning out my desk.

I came across some a bunch of old coins while I was looking for my necklace.

I came across Bob kissing a woman who I am sure is not his wife.

2.         To bump into someone = hit accidentally.

e.g.      I bumped into him and he spilled his coffee.

 

            He bumped into me so hard that he broke my wrist.

**no quiz until we cover more phrasal verbs

 

 

Lesson 1: Depends

DEPENDS

 

1) It depends on something.

 

e.g. My trip depends on the weather.

       My success depends on the amount of time I study.

       My future depends on my ability to complete my work in a short time.

 

A depends on B= A is influenced by B

                             B affects A

Typical student mistakes: Using the wrong preposition (depends of)

Quiz 1A

match the two sentence halves to make correct sentences

a) Your grade in this course depends on                    1) the amount of exercise you do.

b) How much weight you will lose depends on         2) the hospital's care.

c) Which car I buy depends on                                   3) your test results.

d) Her recovery depends on                                        4) the price.

e) Your interest rate depends on                                 5) the number of classes you want.

f) Your tuition fees depend on                                    6) your deposit.

 

It depends (no preposition)

 

e.g.  A:  Will you go on vacation this year?

        B:  It depends.  If I have enough money, I will go.

It depends.  (Followed by a more detailed explanation)

 

2) I depend on someone

e.g.  He depends on his parents for financial help.

        They depend on their employees to work hard.

        I bought a car so I don't need to depend on anyone for a ride.

 

A depends on B= A needs B to do something.

                             A relies on B to do something

 

Typical student mistakes:  Using the wrong preposition (I depend to her)

Quiz 1B

Put the words in the right order to make complete sentences

sister/up/pick/on/him/depends/his/her/child/to

the/on/of/to/most/boss/complete/her/most/her/depends/work

to/so/to/money/on/save/they/need/they/don't/worked/anyone/hard/depend

 

 

Please click on link at side to see quiz answers