Lesson 18: To Get Away With Something

 

Meaning:  to succeed in doing something wrong or illegal and not suffer any punishment.

e.g.      Robert got away with cheating on his girlfriend because nobody saw him.

            "You won't get away with it, " she screamed!  "The police will catch you!"

            The politician got away with taking bribes because nobody would testify against him.

Related idiom:              to get away with murder

Meaning:      emphasizing that someone got away with doing something very wrong.

 

e.g.      Jeannie was upset because her brother was allowed to do things that she
             hadn't been allowed  to do.  "You let him get away with murder," she complained bitterly.

Usefulness Factor:      8/10  You should find many opportunities to use this one..

Lesson 17--Phrasal Verb: To make up for something

to equal something else as compensation

 

e.g.                              The insurance money didn't make up for the loss of his car.

                                    I worked out hard today to make up for skipping yesterday's                                                           session.

                                    Saying sorry won't make up for what you did.

                                    How can I make up for missing class yesterday?

Notes:  This multi-word phrasal verb is not seperable.
             You should find this phrasal verb quite useful
             

Lesson 16: Sorry....What does it mean?

One of the readers asked me to write something about the word sorry.  Such a simple word, is actually full of complexity.  It will take more than one post.  Check back on Wednesday for more about sorry.

 

Sorry               Used as an apology when you've done something wrong
                        (like stepping on my foot on the subway)

Sorry               Used when you haven't heard what someone said, much
                        like the word pardon.

Sorry               Used when you want to show sympathy or pity with someone
                        else.

 

Sorry               Used when you're not sorry at all.  (sarcastically)

Notice the uses in the following dialogues

John:                Did you drink my last beer?

Adam:             Yes, I did. Sorry.

Marcia:            Has anyone seen my umbrella?

Patricia:           Sorry.  What are you looking for?

Marcia:            My umbrella.  Have you seen it?

Patricia:           No, I am afraid not.

Tammy:           What's wrong Jim?  You look so sad.

Jim:                  My dog died yesterday?

Tammy:           I'm sorry.

 

 

Lesson 15 Little and a little

These expressions are used with uncountable nouns.

a little--a small amount, in the positive sense.

e.g.      I have time, so I can help you.

            I have a little money, so I can get a cup of coffee.

These expressions can be modified by adding "bit of"--not really changing the overall meaning of the sentences.

e.g.      I have a little bit of time, so I can help you.

            I have a little bit of money, so I can get a cup of coffee.

little--a small amount, in the negative sense

e.g.      I have little time, so I can't help you.

            I have little money in my pocket, so I cannot afford a cup of coffee.

These expressions can be modified by adding "very" making the amount much smaller.

e.g.      I can only take short trips because I have very little vacation time.

            The drink tasted awful because there was very little alcohol in it.

Quiz

Complete the quiz by adding "little" or "a little

1. I have _____time for silly jokes.
2. They have _____money saved for a vacation in the Caribbean.
3. His idea of fun was to spend _____ time travelling and seeing the wonders of the world.
4. He was a having _____ difficulty learning English until attended classes at EC.
5. They were having _____difficulty learning Japanese, and became fluent within a year.
6. I would like _____ milk in my coffee.
7. He had _____ furniture in his room because he liked the empty feeling.
8. They were unprepared for the weather in Toronto because they had done _____ research before taking the trip.

 

Lesson 14--Few and a few

These expressions are used with countable nouns.

 

a few--a small number, in the positive sense.

e.g.      I have a few minutes, so I can help you.

            I have a few dollars, so I can get a cup of coffee.

These expressions can be modified by adding "quite"--making the number bigger.

e.g.      I have quite a few friends, so I have to send a lot of Christmas cards.

            I have quite a few vacation days.  I can go anywhere.

few--a small number, in the negative sense

e.g.      I have few minutes, so I can't help you.

            I have few dollars in my pocket, so I cannot afford a cup of coffee.

These expressions can be modified by adding "very" making the number much smaller.

e.g.      I can only take short trips because I have very few vacation days.

            The hotel was almost empty because there were very few people staying there.

 

 

Quiz

Complete the quiz by adding "few" or "a few"

1. I doubt anyone heard me because there were so _____ people around.
2. He wanted to talk to me because he had _____ questions.
3. Do you have _____ minutes to spare?
4. As a snack, I ate _____cookies.
5. We had _____ options, so we decided to take a big risk.
6. He's a bit of a loner and has _____ friends.
7. She failed the examine because she spent _____ hours studying.
8. James had _____ bottles of beer while watching the game.
9. With _____ colleagues, Janice was able to solve the problem.
10. He got to the airport with very _____ minutes to spare.

 

Lesson 13: Collocation Quiz

 

Learn by taking a quiz.  Choose the correct answer to the quiz about these collocations, and check your answers (and not many of you are..... are you sure you were right?) by clicking on the quiz answers link in the top right corner of this blog.  Good luck.

Today's collocation are Go versus Play versus Do

	go	play	do
piano
karate
swimming
skiing
soccer
fishing
ice skating
figure skating
jogging
boxing
tae kwan do
snowboarding
dancing
fencing
singing

 

Record your score                   /15

Lesson 12: interested in

Interested in    +          noun

                                    gerund

                                    noun clause

 

e.g.      I am interested in sports.

            I am interested in playing tennis.

            John is interested in what his sister wants to do.

Though this is a simple idea, it can be used for very complex sentences.  It is useful for small talk (talking about hobbies and interests)

e.g.      What are you interested in?

            I like music.

It is also good for expressing desires which could lead to future actions.

e.g.      I am interested in learning German.  Do you offer any courses at this school?

It can be used to talk about things which you find disgusting or unlikeable.

e.g.      I have no interest in watching someone bleed violently for an hour.