20 August 2008 - Written by Rob

There are a variety of phrasal verbs, many of them quite common, which use the words ‘come’ and ‘go’. (Remember, a phrasal verb consists of a verb and a preposition.)

Look at these sentences:

Come

- That band’s new CD came out last week. (come out - to be released to the public; information, products etc)
- She was walking through the shopping centre when she came across a funny old lady. (come across - to find something unexpectedly)
- We were talking about politics last night, and the subject of the rebellion came up. (come up - for a point or subject to be raised/introduced into a conversation)

Go

- The party went on until midnight (go on - to last, to continue)
- What is going on here? (go on - to happen)
- The girls he goes for are young. I worry about him. (go for - to be attracted to)

Now, complete these sentences using one of the phrasal verbs from above:

1. She wouldn’t like you. You’re too young, and she usually _____________ older men.
2. When did his latest novel ___________?
3 I ____________ this delightful blouse while I was wandering around Grafton Street.
4 The neighbours were not happy at all because the music and the shouting __________ all night.
5 Can somebody please tell me what’s __________?
6 A very interesting point ___________ at the meeting last night.

13 August 2008 - Written by Rob

In this lesson, we will look at some of the phrasal verbs in English that contain the word ‘put’. (Remember, a phrasal verb consists of a verb and one or sometimes two prepositions. E.g. Put = verb, down = preposition - put down; or, get = verb, on = preposition)

Consider the following monologue:

“I came home from the office after a busy working day and put down my briefcase. I said
hello to my wife. I said to myself, ‘If only I could leave this terrible woman. She’s always putting me down and I’m sick and tired of it.’ I had decided to leave her many times, but every time I did I would put it off for another week, then another month, and then another year. I never seemed to manage to break away from that terrible woman. And so, day after day, I put up with her moaning, her constant complaining, and her criticism. Then I wake up each morning to go to work, put on my suit and tie, and thank God that at least I have a job to go to where I can get away from her for a few hours each day.”

Now take another look at the phrasal verbs that have been underlined. They all contain the word ‘put’. Before you read on, can you guess the meanings of these phrases by looking at how they appear in the context of the monologue?

- put down: to put what is in your hands onto the floor or onto a surface

- put (someone) down: to criticise severely, to insult, to make someone feel stupid

- put (something) off: to postpone (Note: you can also say ‘put back’)

- put up with (something or someone) - to tolerate something unpleasant

- put on: to put clothing on your body

As an exercise, fill in the gaps in these sentences with the appropriate phrasal verb.

1. I don’t know how she _____________ him. He’s a violent, lazy, drunk.

2. If you’re going out in the snow, remember to _____________ your warm wooly hat.

3. “__________ your weapons and come out with your hands up!”

4. They ____________ the meeting until Wednesday because of the bad weather.

5. The teacher was always ____________ the students _______, until eventually they got sick of it, and took revenge.

August 6 2008 - Written by Rob

Consider these sentences in the past simple tense:

- We watched the play in the old theatre.

- I shot my woman

- They saved the world

They are positive statements – they describe things that happened.

If we want to make negative statements – to talk about things that didn’t happen – we use a different form:

- We didn’t watch the play in the old theatre

- I didn’t shoot my woman!

- They didn’t save the world

We used the form didn’t + infinitive (Didn’t, from the verb ‘to do’. It is an auxiliary or supporting verb. The infinitive is the ‘name’ of the verb, before it is put into any tense. For example past, future, present continuous etc.)

Make these sentences into negatives (that is, say that they didn’t happen)

1) Francis went to the beach.

2) Stephanie and Judy took a holiday last year.

3) The animals stole the fire.

4) Benjamin and I visited the graveyard.

5) You broke the microphone.

12 June 2008 - Written by Rob

One of the most frustrating aspects of learning English can be the correct use of ‘prepositions of place’ (for example; in, at, on). The main reason why this is difficult to learn is that there aren’t many rules that can be memorised concerning these prepositions. However, with enough practice and familiarisation, English students can learn to use prepositions in the correct way every time. Reading prose will help, as well as listening to the spoken language.

Here is an exercise about prepositions of place. Fill in the gaps with the correct word (in, at, on or in):

1. The headquarters of the United Nations is ___ New York.

2. In most countries people drive ___ the right.

3. I usually buy a newspaper ___ my way to work.

4. Last year we had a lovely skiing holiday ___ the Swiss Alps.

5. San Francisco is ___ the west coast of the United States.

6. She spends most of the day sitting ___ the window.

7. The report about the accident was ___ the front page of the newspaper.

8. In the theatre we had seats ___ the front row.

9. Write the name and address ___ the front page of the envelope.

10. It’s dangerous to play football ___ the streets.

11. I’ll meet you ___ the corner of the street at 10.

12. We got stuck in a traffic jam ___ the way to the airport.

13. Look at the horses ___ that field.

14. ___ the end of the street is a path to our house.

15. Do you want sugar ___ your coffee?

March 28th, 2008

Chicken out (phrasal verb): to decide not to do something out of fear (usually just before)

Example: I was going to ride the rollercoaster, but I chickened out when I saw how fast it went.

Hold your horses! - wait and be patient.

Example: Hold your horses! I’ll be finished in the bathroom in a minute.

In the dog house: in trouble with another person.

Example: I don’t think Sonia is coming out tonight. She’s still in the dog house for forgetting Jeremy’s birthday.

Kill two birds with one stone: get two things done at once.

Example: If you pick the groceries up when you drop Kevin off for his shift, you will kill two birds with one stone.

Raining cats and dogs: raining heavily

Example: I forgot my umbrella, and it was raining cats and dogs.

A nest egg (noun): money saved for the future

Example: We have a nest egg that we might use when Jim retires.

Pig out (phrasal verb): eat a lot of something.

Example: I pigged out on pancakes for breakfast so I don’t have room for lunch.

Rat race (noun): fierce, competitive struggle for power, position, etc.

Example: I’m ready to leave this rat race and retire!

Smell a rat: begin to suspect trickery etc.

Example: The detective smelled a rat when the brakes of his car were cut.

Fishy (adjective): odd, suspicious

Example: I knew something fishy was going on when I saw all of my friends’ cars in my mom’s driveway.

March 04th, 2008

We use some and any with uncountable nouns and plural nouns. The general rule is that you use “some” in positive sentences and “any” in negative sentences and questions.

“I have some ideas.”
“I don’t have any ideas.”
“Do you have any ideas?”

However, we can also use “some” in questions.
“Would you like some tea?” (I expect the answer to be “Yes”.)

When we use some in a question, we limit what we are offering the other person.

For example, “Can I get you something to drink? - Coffee, or tea?” means I am offering you a limited choice of things to drink.

When we use “any” in a question, we are not limiting the choice.

For example, “Would you like anything to drink?” includes a whole range of things to drink.
“Do you have any questions?” (You can ask me anything you like!)

We can also use any in positive sentences which have a negative meaning. We often use “any” with “hardly”, “without” or “never”.

“There’s hardly any petrol left in the car - we need to go to a garage.”
“He went out without any money on him.”
“She never has any problem understanding.”

February 29th, 2008

Say and tell have similar meanings. They both mean to communicate verbally with someone. But we often use them differently.

The simple way to think of say and tell is:

• You say something
• You tell someone something

But, of course, it is not always so easy. Here are a few rules to help you.

Personal object
We usually follow tell with a personal object (the person that we are speaking to). We usually use say without a personal object:

• She told me that she loved John.
• She said that she loved John.
• He told everybody that he had to leave.
• He said that he had to leave.

Say “to someone”
With say, we sometimes use “to someone”:

• He said to me that he was tired.
• Tara said to Ram that he had done very well.
• Anthony said to her, “I hope you come soon.”
• “I’d like to sleep,” she said to him quietly.

Direct speech
We can use say with direct speech. We use tell only with direct speech that is an instruction or information:

• Amanda said, “Hello John. How are you?”
• “That’s great’” she said.
• He told her: “Open the door quietly.”
• She told me, “I have never been to England.”

We can use say with direct questions, but we cannot use tell:

• She said: “Do you love me?”
• The policeman said to the prisoner, “Where were you at 8pm?”

Reported speech
We can use say and tell to talk about reported information:

• She said that it was raining.
• She told me that she would call at 2pm.

We cannot use say or tell to talk about reported questions. We must use ask (or a similar verb):

• She asked if I had ever been there.
• They asked what I wanted to eat.
• She asked where he lived.
• He asked if she wanted to go home.

Orders, advice
We use tell + object + infinitive for orders or advice:

• She told him to sit down.
• They told me not to wait.
• Tell Neil to have a holiday and forget her.

Phrases
Here are a few fixed phrases with tell. We cannot use say with these phrases:

• tell (someone) a story
• tell (someone) a lie
• tell (someone) the truth
• tell the future (= to know what the future will bring)
• tell the time (= know how to read a clock)

Right and wrong
Read these examples of correct and incorrect usage:

February 26th, 2008

Direct questions - yes/no questions

1. He likes swimming.
2. He can swim long distances.
3. He is a good swimmer.

To make sentence 1 into a question, you need to add does. The does goes before he.

Does is only used if the subject is he, she or it - in all other cases, use do.

The verb like goes after the subject, but it doesn’t have an ’s’ on the end.

Remember: after auxiliary verbs (like do, does, have, can, etc.) the verb is in the infinitive, without ‘to’.

“Does he like swimming?” Not “Does he likes swimming?” or “Do he like swimming?”

If the sentence is in the past tense (he liked swimming), we use the past form of ‘do’ or ‘does’, which is did. The verb ‘like’ is still in the infinitive without ‘to’.

For example, “Did he like swimming?” Not “Did he liked swimming?”

To make sentence 2 into a question, you don’t need to use ‘does’ because you already have an auxiliary verb - can. So you put the can before he.

“Can he swim long distances?” Not “Can swim he long distances?” or “Does he can swim long distances?”

To make sentence 3 into a question, use is as the auxiliary.

“Is he a good swimmer?” Not “Does he is a good swimmer?” or “Does he be a good swimmer?”

Direct questions - “wh” questions

What is your name?
Why do you want this job?
How much do you earn?
How soon can you start?
When did you see the advertisement?
Where do you live?
Which newspaper did you see the advertisement in?
Who gave you my name?

After the “wh word” (what, why, how, when, etc) comes the auxiliary (do, does, did or can), then the subject (you) , then the rest of the question.

Note: if ‘who’, ‘which’ or ‘what’ are the subject of the question, you don’t need an auxiliary.

For example, “What happened?” Not “What did happen?” The thing that happened is what - the subject of the question.

“Who saw you?” Someone saw you - who was it?

Compare with “Who did you see?” You saw someone - who was it?)

“Which company made a profit?” A company made a profit - which company was it?

Compare with “Which company did you work for?” You worked for a company - which one was it?

Indirect questions

If you want to ask a question that is quite sensitive, try using one of the indirect phrases below:

Can you tell me…
Could you tell me…
I’d be interested to hear…
I’d like to know…
Would you mind telling me…

These questions are followed by either about, a “wh word” or if. Then you add the subject, then the sentence.

You don’t need an ‘auxiliary’, such as ‘do’, ‘does’, ‘did’, or ‘can’.

“Can you tell me what you like most about your present job?” Not “Can you tell me what do you like?”

“I’d be interested to hear about your experiences.”

“Would you mind telling me if you have applied for a similar position before?”