Archive for April, 2011

adjective: persistent

{ April 6, 2011 @ 12:04 am } · { adjectives }
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The adjective for today is “persistent”, and it is used when we want to talk about a person who never stops trying to accomplish something. They continue to try to succeed and don’t give up. For example:

If you want to succeed in business, you have to be persistent. Most people give up when things get tough, but really successful people never do.

I was finally able to convince Jill to be my girlfriend. At first, she didn’t want that, but I was very persistent.

It’s going to be very difficult to get ABC Company to be our client. We’re going to have to be very persistent.

This book can be a bit difficult to read, but if you’re persistent, I think you’ll find it very good.

When we use the word “persistent”, there is no guarantee of success at the end; it simply means that the person doesn’t stop trying.

grammatical word: contend

{ April 5, 2011 @ 8:33 am } · { grammatical word }
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Today’s grammatical word is the verb “contend”. It has three uses in English. First, we use it when we want to talk about a difficult situation or person that we have to tolerate. For example:

I don’t like my new boss. He’s not very nice to me, and I have to contend with his constant criticisms.

Nobody likes Mr. Carson, but he’s a very important client. You’ll just have to learn to contend with him.

A: Sales are down right now at my company because of the bad economy, so I’m not making so much money right now.

B: Well, that happens sometimes. You just have to contend with that situation until things get better.

We can also use it to talk about a competition between two groups or people. For example:

Dan Wheaton and George Bartley are contending for the title of boxing heavyweight champion of the world. Personally, I think Wheaton will win.

I’m contending with two of my co-workers for the job of department manager. I hope I get the promotion.

Tokyo was contending with three other cities for the 2016 summer Olympics, but they lost out to Rio de Janeiro.

Finally, we can use “contend” when we want to talk about expressing an opinion about something that other people don’t agree with. For example:

I know the other people in my class disagree with me, but I contend that George Eliot was a better writer than Charles Dickens.

My wife contends that learning Chinese characters isn’t so difficult, but I don’t agree. It’s so hard for me.

Nobody believes Trevor when he said he saw a UFO, but he still contends that he actually saw one.

So, as you can see from my examples, the word “contend” is followed by different words depending on the meaning. With the first meaning, it is followed by “with”. With the second meaning, it is followed by “for”, and for the last meaning, it is followed by “that”.

the difference between words: up to and depends on

{ April 4, 2011 @ 12:05 am } · { the difference between words }
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A while ago, a friend of mine asked me about the difference between “up to” and “depends on”, so that’s what I’ll write about today.

In English, “up to” is used when we want to say that a certain decision can be made by a certain person. For example:

I don’t care which movie we watch tonight. It’s up to you.

My boss left it up to me to choose the restaurant for our office party.

I’m sorry, but it’s not up to me to make this decision. I’ll have to check with my boss.

We can also use “up to” when we want to say that a certain thing is someone’s responsibility. For example:

It’s up to the department manager to make sure this project is finished by the deadline.

It was up to you to let everyone know about the schedule change, but you forgot! I’m very angry at you right now!

The accident caused a lot of damage to the environment. Now it’s up to the government to do something about it.

On the other hand, we use “depends on” when we want to talk about when a certain situation can be changed by another situation which it has a direct relationship with. For example:

I don’t know if we’ll go hiking tomorrow or not. It depends on the weather.

A: Will we have an office party this year?

B: I’m not sure. It depends on how many people accept the invitation.

I received two job offers. I don’t know which one I’m going to accept yet though. It depends on how much the salary is at each company.

So, with these last three examples, the decision that has to be made (to go hiking or not, to have an office party or not, which job offer to accept) has a direct relationship with the situation (if the weather is good, if many people accept the invitation, how much money is offered as a salary). After “depends on” we can put either a noun (as in the first example) or a clause which starts with a wh question word (as in the last two examples).

idiom: to be three sheets to the wind

{ April 3, 2011 @ 12:07 am } · { idioms }
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If you or your friends tend to drink a lot, today’s idiom will be very useful for you. It’s to be “three sheets to the wind”, and it is used to talk about a person who is very drunk. For example:

Debbie has been drinking martinis all night, and now she’s three sheets to the wind.

Don’t go near Tom now. At the moment, he’s three sheets to the wind, and he looks like he might be sick.

A: Where are Jack and Ben?

B: They’re down at the bar. I’m sure they’re already three sheets to the wind by now.

Did you see Luke at the party last night? He was already three sheets to the wind when he arrived!

I had to look up the reason why “three sheets to the wind” means very drunk. Apparently, it’s a sailing term; if a boat had three sails (or sheets) up, the wind would cause the boat to roll and rock. This is similar to the way a person moves when they are very drunk.

We usually use this expression only to describe people who are very drunk at the present moment or in the past.

separable phrasal verb: bowl over

{ April 1, 2011 @ 1:14 am } · { phrasal verbs }
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Today, I would like to write about the phrasal verb “bowl over”.  We use it when we want to talk about something or someone which really impresses us. For example:

I had no idea Sarah was such a good singer. She really bowled me over when we went to karaoke last night!

The special effects in that movie absolutely bowled me over! I want to go see it again.

The people in Korea are so nice. My friend and I went there last year, and they bowled us over with their hospitality!

I was bowled over by the food in that restaurant! We have to go there for dinner sometime! (passive voice)

So, we always say bowl someone over; a person and not a thing has to be put in the middle position between “bowl” and “over”. The thing or person which impresses us is always the subject of the sentence.

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