Lesson 349--talking about schedules

 

English has lots of ways to say that we are late.  My two favourite are behind schedule and playing catch-up.  Both of these expressions can be used when we are not on schedule.

examples

I was late for work this morning and have been playing catch-up all day.

Greg was two weeks behind schedule and his boss was very unhappy.

The product launch was way behind schedule and there was a lot of tension in the office.

Because Marion was always playing catch-up with her projects, she was fired.

Lesson 322--tight schedule

 

In our last lesson, we looked at the phrase "money is tight".  Today, we will look at two related phrases: time is tight, schedule is tight (tight schedule).

definition

We use this phrase to indicate that we do not have a lot of time, or that we have planned things to fit the schedule exactly and there is no extra time.

examples

John couldn't go out to lunch because his schedule was tight.

The schedule was too tight, so they had to cancel several events.

Because time was tight, the teacher decided to skip some activities.

About Friday's Post

 

I am very sorry that I was unable to post a lesson last Friday.  I had a very full week and Friday's post got lost in the shuffle.  However, next week I will be posting lessons on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 

Also, please don't forget to go back and review old lessons.  The more of them you look at, the more prepared you will be when you see these words or phrases again.

 

Thanks again for taking a look at this page.  The views continue to climb and I am happy with the response.  Please feel free to make a comment (you don't have to log in--just use the anonymous tag).

Thanks to those of you who are sharing my blog with your friends.  I hope someday to have a thousand visitors a day--right now it is about 50.

 

Thanks again and see you on Monday.

Lesson 271--fit

It fits together like a jigsaw puzzle

Both Monday and Wednesday's lessons are somewhat related.  Make sure to check both of them.

 
 

Today's word is fit

fit: verb

The bike fits in the car (A Honda Fit)

meaning 1: to match your size.

The jacket fits you perfectly.

The shoes don't fit.  I need a bigger size.

The key doesn't fit in the hole.

meaning 2: to match plans or open space in a schedule (with into)

The movie debut doesn't fit into my plans.

Gracie couldn't fit another appointment into her busy schedule.

fit: adjective

meaning: to be in good shape

She is fit

Jackie is very fit because she goes to the gym and she jogs regularly.

Dennis isn't fit enough to run the marathon.

Lesson 259--The Future Using the Present Simple

 

 

Yes, in some cases, we can use present simple when we are talking about the future--that means there are quite a few ways to talk about the future (including "going to" and "will", but also some others.)

When we talk about things that are scheduled, like buses, trains and planes, we can use the present simple.  Other scheduled things include movies. concerts, and plays.

examples

My flight leaves at 9:00 and arrives at 4:30.

The bus departs around 2:45.

I have to be at the airport at 4:00 because the planes takes off just after 6:00.

The movie starts at 9:00, but there will probably be a lot of trailers.

The curtain goes up on the play around 8:45.

School at EC now starts at 8:30 for some students.