Lesson 195--By the time.....

 

When talking about the past, we have some good phrases using by the time,

When we focus on things that happened before we got there we use past perfect.

By the time I got to the theatre, the movie had already started.

By the time I got home, everyone had gone to bed.

When we focus on some action in progress we use past continuous.

By the time I got to the party, everyone was having a good time.

By the time I arrived at school, my classmates were taking a test.

Consider the following sentences.

1. By the time I entered the cinema, the movie had already started.
2. By the time I entered the cinema the movie was already playing.

Both sentences describe the same situation.  Sentence A focuses on the action already started, while sentence B focuses on what is happening at that exact moment.

Lesson 194--a bunch of expression using "under"

 

 

Most of my students seem to know the phrase "under the table" and mostly correct when they use it.  It got me thinking that there are quite a few "under" expressions that they should know.  So I have picked a few that I like.

Under pressure/Under the gun:  These are both used in situations when there is a lot of pressure on you to do something, complete something, or in the case of sports, perform at a very critical time.

Under your breath:  When you say something (usually bad) but you don't want the person to hear. Example:  He swore under his breath but the teacher heard him and sent him to the principal's office.

Under the wire:  When you complete something just in time. Example:  His project was due on Friday by 5:00.  He got it done just under the wire.

Under the radar:  If you try to do something without letting other people know, you are doing it under the radar.

Lesson 193--negative vocabulary

a seedy motel

Even though the weekend is nearly here, I seem to be in a less than excited mood.  As a result, I am going to teach you some less than happy vocabulary

sketchy:  We use this word to describe things that are illegitimate, illegal, slightly illegal, dirty, nasty and unsafe.

e.g.      That neighbourhood is very sketchy.

            Paul's plans were so sketchy that nobody wanted to participate.

            The whole thing was rather sketchy.  I am glad it's over.

 

seedy:  We use this to describe things that are illegal, dirty and less than desirable.

e.g.      The nightclub looked too seedy for Barbara.

            The hotel manager was seedy looking.

            The apartment was seedy and very few people wanted to rent it.

 

Lesson 192--Fall Apart

 

Monday's lesson had a great phrasal verb.... pull yourself together  as its main point.  This got me thinking.  What is the opposite of that.  Of course, I realized that the phrase is fall apart.

Fall apart can be physical or emotional.

examples

Physically

His shirt was so old that it fell apart when I touched it.

Cathy's car fell apart when she closed the door.

I didn't glue it well, so it fell apart easily

Emotionally

When his girlfriend broke up with him, Ken fell apart.

After Diana was fired she fell apart.

The shock was too much for Dan and he fell apart.

 

 

 

 

Special Cases

Jim and Tina's marriage fell apart. (They got divorced)

His story fell apart. (He was obviously lying)

Lesson 191--pull oneself together

This phrasal verb is only used with pronouns ending in -self (himself, yourself, herself etc.)  It means recover, feel better, become calm and focused.  It is quite a useful phrasal verb.

e.g. After panicking, he pulled himself together and carried on.

       Pull yourself together, or we will lose the game.

       They pulled themselves together and got back to work.

Lesson 190--ways to say try

 

 

English has some good expressions that mean "try"

take a stab at (something/doing something)

e.g. Let me take a stab at answering the question.

take a whirl at (something/doing something)

e.g. Jimmy took a whirl at answering the question.

My Australian roommate once used the phrase "have a go", which I am pretty sure means the same thing.

e.g. Let me have a go at that video game.

Lesson 189--Using Grab in different ways

the easy definition of grab

 

English has lots of useful, but confusing, words.  I like to tell people about them so they will understand when the come across them.  Today's word is grab.

grab = to hold something tightly in your hand.

Unfortunately, a lot of English expressions use grab in a way that really doesn't mean that.  Here are some examples.

grab a snack

Grab a bite to eat = eat something, possibly go out and eat.

James invited Sally to grab a bite to eat.

Grab a snack = eat a snack

I'm hungry, so I am going to grab a snack before we leave.

Grab a nap = take a nap

Grab a shower = take a shower

Grab a beer/coffee = drink a beer/coffee

 

Grab a cab = take a cab 
 

As you can see, grab is a useful word.  Now that you know it, I am sure you will see it everywhere.

Lesson 188--"ever" words

Using "ever" words

These words include whenever, whoever, whomever, wherever, whatever and however*

(However is used differently than the conjunction use of however)

These words incorporate the idea of "any" within them.

examples

You can go wherever you want.

You can go anywhere you want.

You can talk to whomever you want.

You can talk to anyone you want.

You dress however you want for the party.

You can dress any way you want for the party.

Lesson 187--Stomach Vocabulary

In English, talking about being hungry is done with a lot of colourful expressions.

I'm hungry.

I'm starving (okay, this means really, really hungry)

My stomach is rumbling.

My stomach is growling.

I've got hunger pains.

My stomach is empty.

 

Of course, the opposite is also expressed with similarly colourful expressions.

I'm full.

I'm going to burst.

I'm ready to burst.

I never want to see food again.

My diet starts now.

Lesson 186--a cold: catching and having

 

I caught a cold last week, and as I write this, I still have a cold.  Despite how terrible I feel, I realize that this is a good opportunity for an English lesson.

We use catch a cold to talk about the moment we received the virus. 

I caught a cold yesterday.

I caught a cold from my students.

If you hang out with sick people, you might catch a cold.

We use have a cold to describe how we feel at this moment, or some specific time.

I don't feel well because I have a cold.

I had a cold last weekend and stayed in bed the whole time.

Lesson 185--Using get in the Passvie

 

Teaching the passive is not the hardest thing I have to do, but it isn't the easiest.  Most of you understand the concept, but don't always use it.  Today's lesson is about making that somewhat easier.  For that we are going to use the word get.

 

form:  get + past participle

My bike was stolen.

My bike got stolen.

His friends were arrested.

His friends got arrested.

The thief was caught.
The thief got caught.

Okay, so this isn't really easier, but there are fewer choices instead of was or were, you only need got.  Instead of am, is or are, you only need get and gets.  So somewhat easier.

The only difference is that got makes you sound more like a victim.  It happened to you, through no fault of yours.

Lesson 184--Wishes that are regrets

as a child, this is how we made wishes....and weeds

 

 

The last way I want to look at wish this week is how we use wish in the past.  When we use wish in the past, we are regretting something we did, or something we didn't do.

The form is

wish + subject + had/hadn't + past participle

examples                 

I wish I had bought stock in Apple when I was young.

Samantha wishes she hadn't spent so much money on shoes.

My parents wish I had become a doctor or lawyer.

Most of my students wish they had studied English harder in elementary and high school.

Lesson 183--Wish for the Impossible

 

Wish for Impossible Things (present and future)

 

When something is impossible, but we want it be different we can use the verb wish to express this.  Even though we use the past tense, we are referring to the present or future, not the past.  We use the following pattern

Wish + past tense*

*strict grammar says you should use were instead of was....but more relaxed users sometimes use was.

examples

I wish I were taller.*

I wish I had a PS4.

Cynthia wishes she had a new car.

Sam wishes he didn't have to work today.