Lesson 72--Phrasal Verbs

 

Phrasal Verbs:  To come to a stop

 

used for vehicles to indicate they have stopped moving.

i.e.       The car came to a stop two metres from the edge of the cliff.

            The train came to a stop exactly on time.

Lesson 71--Confusing Words--economic vs. economical

 

 

Economic refers to the science of economics, or to the economy of a country.

i.e.       I study economics.

            We have a lot of economic issues to deal with.

Economical means that you are not wasting money.

i.e.       My car is very economical on gas.

            To save money for my trip, I have to be very economical.

Lesson 70--To break a record

Used when an amazing feat or accomplishment is done better or faster by someone.

For example.

The record for this race is 29 minutes and 10 seconds.  Today, the runner broke the record by 16 seconds.

Very similar to set a new record.  The only difference is that breaking the record seems more exciting.  If the difference is huge, we might say smash the record.

nouns...record breaker

i.e.  He's a record breaker in this event.

 

adjective...record breaking

i.e.  It was a record breaking match.

 

Lesson 69--Counters for Uncountable nouns

 

 

I know this is difficult for some of my students because things just aren't the same in their native language.  Sorry, nothing I can do for you there.  Hopefully, you will find some useful expressions from this list, and will hear them quite soon and be able to remember them.  Good luck, but review often.

 

Advice            a piece of advice, pieces of advice

furniture          a piece of furniture, pieces of furniture

information     a piece of information, pieces of information

news                a piece of news, pieces of news

                        a bit of news, bits of news

bread               a loaf of bread, loaves of bread

                        a slice of bread, slices of bread

                        a piece of bread, pieces of bread

luck                 a stroke of luck, strokes of luck

                        a bit of luck, bits of luck

thunder            a clap of thunder, claps of thunder

 

lightening        a flash of lightning, flashes of lightning

                        a bolt of lightning, bolts of lightning

 

Lesson 68--mathematics

Today's lesson is how to say simple math phrases.  I like math and science, and I think you should be able to express these things in English.

addition

1+2=3              one plus two equals three

                        one plus two is three

subtraction

9-6=3               nine minus six equals three

                        nine minus six is three

multiplication

2X5=10           two times five equals ten

                        two times five is ten

                        two multiplied by five equals ten

                        two multiplied by five is ten

division

45/9=5             forty-five divided by nine equals five

                        forty-five divided by nine is five

                        nine into forty-five equals five

                        nine into forty-five is five

                        nine goes into forty-five five times

Lesson 67--more numbers

Another lesson on how to say numbers.  Today's lesson is on years.

 

1984                nineteen eighty-four

                        eighty four (shortened usage)

2006                two thousand (and) six

                        oh six (shortened usage)

1492                fourteen ninety-two

                        (no shortened usage)

2012                two thousand twelve

                        (no shortened usage yet)

Lesson 66--Numbers

 

 

A lesson on numbers.  In English we say numbers differently depending on the context.  Today's lesson is on temperature

 

10 degrees Celsius                  ten degrees

                                                plus ten

                                                ten above zero (rare)

 

-10 degrees Celsius                 minus ten

                                                ten below

                                                ten below zero