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There’s another very common short expression that native English speakers use a lot in conversation that I’d like to go over today: “of all”. It can be used in the following expressions: “of all things”, “of all people” and “of all places”. It is used to emphasize surprise or displeasure about certain things, people or places. For example:

I asked my girlfriend what she wanted to do on Saturday, and she chose to go skydiving of all things! I couldn’t believe it!

My husband gave me a present yesterday and, of all things, it was a kitten! I was so surprised!

A: Who did the boss give the promotion to?

B: It was Jack of all people! He’s only been with the company for six months! Everyone was surprised, including Jack.

I ran into someone at the supermarket yesterday and, of all people, it was my ex-boyfriend! It was very awkward!

My husband and I are trying to decide where to go on vacation and, of all places, he wants to go to Israel! I have no idea why he wants to go there!

In January, my boss is sending me on a business trip to Canada of all places! It’s going to be so cold there in January!

So, in the example sentences, the people are basically saying that of all the possible things, people or places in the world, this particular thing, person or place was chosen, and they are very surprised about that. The feeling is usually a little negative when people use this expression.

I have a short and simple entry for you today about another common expression: “for good”. This basically has the same meaning as the word “forever”. For example:

Next year, I plan to move back to my hometown for good.

I have a part-time job on Sundays for the moment, but I’m not planning to keep it for good. I want to quit it in about a year.

When I get married, I want to stay married for good. Too many of my friends are divorced.

A: Is your brother going to stay in Australia for good?

B: I think so. He just married an Australian woman and says he wants to settle down there.

The expression “for good” is more casual than “forever” and is used to describe personal situations. The word “forever” sounds more formal and is usually used in less personal situations. For example:

The dinosaurs died out thousands of years ago, and now they are gone forever.

We could say “They are gone for good.”, but it sounds too casual for this situation.

Today I’d like to write about another very commonly used expression which I’ve never seen any textbook teach: “let alone”. This expression is used when we are talking about two negative facts. First, we talk about one negative fact, and then we use “let alone” to emphasize that the second negative fact is stronger than the first one. I know this is confusing, so let me give you some examples:

A: Can you drive a bus?

B: Are you kidding? I can’t drive a car, let alone a bus.

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A: I need to borrow $1000.

B: I’m sorry, but I don’t have even $100, let alone $1000.

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A: Is your sister married?

B: No, she doesn’t have much luck with men. She can’t find a boyfriend, let alone a husband.

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A: Does your boyfriend want to go to London with us this summer?

B: No way! He doesn’t like travelling within the country, let alone overseas.

So, when using this expression, the sentences are always in the negative. As you can see, we don’t repeat the entire sentence after “let alone”. So, it’s not common to say, “I can’t drive a car, let alone drive a bus.” In English, generally speaking we don’t like to repeat words within one sentence unless it’s to emphasize something. Therefore, most people will say, “I can’t drive a car, let alone a bus.” without repeating the verb “drive”.

When you’re a guest in someone’s house, you’ve probably heard the host say something like, “Let me take your coat.” Some people think this means that the host is asking for permission to take the coat from the person, but the meaning is a little different. When English speakers use the expression “let me…”, they are basically stating what they are going to do. However, it’s not polite to say, “I’m going to take your coat.” Therefore, we use “Let me take your coat.” in order to make it sound more polite. Here are some more examples:

Let me give you a ride to the station.

Let me get you another glass of wine.

You must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat.

Let me show you where Mr. Brown’s office is.

So, when we use “let me”, it’s always because we intend to do something nice for the other person. If the other person doesn’t want what the person intends to do for them, they can say something like:

No, thank you. I’m ok.

That’s nice of you, but I’m ok.

I appreciate that, but I’m ok.

And if they accept what the person intends to do for them, they can simply say, “Thank you.”

Last week, one of my students asked me about the proper way to use the verb “bet”. Of course, we can use this verb in a literal way as in when we are gambling. In these cases, the word “bet” is usually followed by some amount of money. For example:

I bet twenty dollars on one hand of poker, and I lost it.

However, it is more common to use “bet” in the expression “I bet…”. We follow this with a sentence containing a piece of information that we feel very confident about being true, but which we don’t know for certain. This assertion that something is probably true is usually based on some information that we have received through our observation or through logical thinking. For example:

I bet you got really good grades in school.

I bet Sandra Bullock is a nice person in real life.

I bet the mayor is going to be re-elected.

A: My sister just won the lottery. She’s so happy!

B: I bet she is.

So, I use “I bet” in these situations because: I feel confident that you got good grades in school because I’ve observed that you’re an intelligent person; I feel confident that Sandra Bullock is a nice person because she seems nice in interviews on TV; I feel confident that the mayor will be re-elected because I know he’s still popular; I feel confident that my friend’s sister is happy about winning the lottery because it’s logical that anyone would be happy in that situation.

This is a very common expression, so I hope you’ll be confident about using it now.

We have a common expression in English: “as long as”. It has the basic of meaning of “if”, but it is used in a different way from “if”. When we use “as long as”, we are trying to indicate some kind of limit. So, it means that a certain situation is ok if it stays within a certain limit. For example:

I will buy a new suit as long as it’s not over $400.

I’ll go to the party as long as you go with me.

My friend is willing to fix your car as long as you pay him for his work.

You can stay at my house as long as my wife doesn’t mind.

Sometimes “as long as” has the meaning of “since”. For example:

As long as you’re getting up, can you get me a beer from the refrigerator?

As long as you’re going downtown, is it ok if I get a ride with you?

As you can see, with the second meaning of “as long as”, the expression is usually placed at the beginning of the sentence and is used as an introduction for asking a favor of someone. In these cases, it does NOT mean “if”; it means “since”. Therefore, the speaker knows for certain that the other person is getting up or going downtown.

Today I have a common expression that English speakers use: “I hate to think…”. It is used when we want to talk about  a situation that  we don’t know the details about but which we imagine as being very negative. For example:

Living downtown was very expensive even 20 years ago. I hate to think how much it costs nowadays.

Paul is a very slow worker. I hate to think how long it will take him to finish this project.

My father hates my boyfriend. I hate to think what he’s going to say when I tell him we’re getting married.

My children were playing with matches near the gas stove. I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten home when I did.

In all of these examples, the person is anticipating a negative situation (very expensive apartments, a long time for Paul to finish the project, the father being angry about the news his daughter is marrying her boyfriend, the house catching on fire), but it’s only what they imagine will or would happen.

Hi there everyone! I’m now  back from my vacation, so I’ll be going back to my regular schedule of writing five or six blog enties a week. For today’s entry, I’d like to go over the expression: “be that as it may”. This expression is used when we want to say that even though something is true, we don’t care about that or that it doesn’t matter to the present situation. For example:

A: I want to pay for your lunch today. You paid for mine yesterday.

B: Be that as it may, I’m still going to buy you lunch because it’s your birthday.

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A: Why is Martin getting the promotion? He’s only been here for six months!

B: Be that as it may, he’s still the best person for this job.

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A: You’re going to go on another vacation? You just had one about two months ago.

B: Be that as it may, I’m going on another one. I’m really stressed out right now.

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A: You want us to work overtime again this weekend?! That’s not fair. We worked overtime last weekend!

B: Be that as it may, we need to get this project finished by Monday.

As you can see, this expression is usually used as a response to someone’s statement. By using this expression, we are saying that the statement is true, but it doesn’t matter. This expression is a little formal, so it is often used in business situations. If you use it in regular conversations, you will sound very educated!  🙂

For today, I’d like to write about another useful expression: “no matter”. It is followed by a “wh” word such as “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, or “how”. It is used when we want to say that something will happen and, even though another thing will make it difficult or inconvenient, we won’t allow it to stop the first thing from happening. For example:

I’m going to go to Europe this summer no matter what my father says.

This recipe is so easy. It will taste good no matter who cooks it.

I’ll have a wonderful time with you no matter where we go.

Please call me anytime you need help no matter when it is.

I’m going to buy the jacket I saw in the store window no matter how much it costs.

So, in these examples, the father might not want the person to go to Europe, the person might be a bad cook, the vacation place might not be so nice, the time of the call might be very late at night, and the jacket might be very expensive. However, the person is saying that these situations don’t matter.

Today I’ve got another very useful and common expression for you: “get rid of”. This is used when we talk about wanting to dispose of something that we have. Therefore the thing is not something that we like, and we want it to go away. For example:

In this card game, you want to have all high cards like jacks, queens and kings, so you should try to get rid of your low cards as soon as possible.

I have an old TV that I need to get rid of. It still works. Would you like to have it?

I have a problem with ants in my kitchen. Do you know how I can get rid of them?

Brad and Jane are bringing over their children tonight, so please get rid of any sharp objects in the apartment. We don’t want the kids to hurt themselves.

Those old running shoes smell so bad!  Please get rid of them as soon as possible!

There are many ways of getting rid of something. We can throw it in the garbage (as with the running shoes), kill it (as with the ants), hide it (as with the sharp objects), give it away (as with the TV) or just stop holding it (as with the cards). As I said before, this is an extremely common expression in English, so I hope you’ll be able to use it now.  🙂