adjective: feasible

{ April 6, 2010 @ 1:33 pm } · { adjectives }
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feasible-png

Today I have another adjective for you: “feasible”. This is used to talk about something which possible to do under certain circumstances. For example:

We don’t have much money in the budget, so I don’t think doing such a big project is feasible right now.

I need to get the office redecorated in less than a week. Do you think it’s feasible to do that?

You want to put four desks in this small room? It might be feasible to put in three desks but not four.

I like your plan to bring in new business. I think it’s very feasible, but let’s see what the boss thinks.

So, as you can see from the examples, we often use this adjective in business situations. We could use the word “possible” in these situations, but the word “feasible” sounds much more business-like. You can use “possible” in situations which are more casual.

grammatical expression: when it comes to

{ April 5, 2010 @ 1:57 pm } · { grammatical expression }
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car-talk-why-you-should-never-listen-to-your-father-when-it-comes-to-cars

Today, in one of my lessons, I had to teach an expression that we often use in natural English but which I’ve never seen taught in any textbook: “when it comes to”.  This has the general meaning of  “about”, but it’s not exactly the same thing. It is more complex than “about”. It basically means “about this aspect of life”. I know this is difficult to understand, but I think reading some examples will make it clearer. For example:

I’m very hard-working when it comes to my job, but I’m very lazy when it comes to housework.

My brother didn’t get good grades in school but, when it comes to cars, he’s a genius. He knows everything about them.

My mother isn’t a very confident person except when it comes to cooking. She’s very confident about that.

When it comes to food, I think sushi is the best.

As I mentioned before, this is a very useful expression but I’ve never heard any of my students use it. If you want to use it properly, I recommend the technique I talked about in my first blog entry – memorize the example sentences and then change the small details in order to create a new sentence. Good luck!  🙂

transitive phrasal verb: pull off

{ April 4, 2010 @ 4:16 am } · { phrasal verbs }
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hifive

Today, I have another phrasal verb for you: “pull off”. This means for a person to succeed at something even though there were problems or doubts that the person could do it. For example:

I didn’t think you’d be able to get this contract, but you really pulled it off. Congratulations!

I can’t believe Francine was able to organize the party so quickly. How did she pull it off?

Edward is a good actor, but he really didn’t pull off this role. It was too difficult a part.

You want us to redecorate the entire house in four days?! That’s impossible! Nobody would be able to pull that off!

This phrasal verb is usually used with very ambitious projects. So the contract in the first example would be considered to be a very difficult one to get and the party in the second example would be a very big one that  required a lot of organization. If the situation is not considered challenging, we don’t use this phrasal verb.

idioms: to beat someone to the punch / to beat someone to it

{ April 2, 2010 @ 2:58 pm } · { idioms }
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Today’s idiom is “to beat someone to the punch”.  Another version of it is “to beat someone to it”. These are used when someone does something before another person gets the chance to do it. For example:

I was going to order a pizza, but my girlfriend beat me to the punch. It should be here soon.

I was planning to write a book about a boy wizard, but J.K. Rowling beat me to the punch.

I was going to eat the last piece of pie, but my sister beat me to it.

A: Hey, I wanted to sit in that chair!

B: Sorry, but I beat you to it. You’ll have to be faster next time!

There is almost no difference between these two idioms, but we usually say “to beat someone to it” with smaller situations such as being the first person to get something such as a chair or a piece of pie. Therefore, in these situations when we say someone beat us to “it”, the “it” refers to a physical object rather than an action.

In the idiom “to beat someone to the punch”, the “punch” refers to an action such as ordering something or writing a book because the word “punch” is an action word. (It means to hit someone or something).

adjective: efficient

{ April 1, 2010 @ 12:33 pm } · { adjectives }
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efficient-man-on-phone

Today, I’d like to write about another adjective: “efficient”. This is used to talk about people who are able to work quickly and not waste time. It can also be used when talking about a system. For example:

Tim is the most efficient member of our staff. He can do any job twice as quickly as anyone else.

Monica is much more efficient than she used to be. When she first started working here it took her a long time to get any job done.

I’ve heard that Germans are the most efficient people in the world. Is that true?

I’m very happy with your work. You always get it done very efficiently.

I like your new filing system. It’s much more efficient than your old one.

Our old accounting system was just as efficient as this new one. I don’t know why we changed it.

So these are some examples of how to use this adjective. As you can see, it’s very often used in business or office situations.

the difference between words: fun, funny and interesting

{ March 31, 2010 @ 3:25 pm } · { the difference between words }
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fun

Today, I have three adjectives which are closely related but have different meanings in English: “fun”, “funny” and “interesting”.

The word “fun” is used when we talk about enjoying ourselves or having a good time. For example:

The party was so much fun! We danced and drank all night long.

The action movie was a lot of fun. I’d like to see it again.

I love going to Disneyland! It’s so much fun!

The word “funny” is used when something or someone makes us laugh. For example:

Tom is such a funny guy. He always makes me laugh.

That joke wasn’t funny at all. Nobody laughed at it.

The new comedy with Jim Carrey is supposed to be really funny. Let’s go see it this weekend.

The word “interesting” is used when talking about situations in which we learn something or are made to think about something. For example:

I think going to museums is interesting, but my boyfriend doesn’t agree with me.

The new drama on TV is sad but very interesting. It’s about a doctor who is suffering from cancer.

I’m reading about the history of China right now. It’s really interesting!

So this is how we use these words in English. They are all adjectives, but the word “fun” can also be a noun and is used with the verb “have”.  For example:

I had a lot of fun at the party.

My family and I had fun on our vacation to Hawaii.

grammatical expression: be supposed to

{ March 30, 2010 @ 3:11 pm } · { grammatical expression }
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Today, I’d like to write about “supposed to” which is often misunderstood. Basically, it means to be expected, but it can be used in different situations:

1. used when talking about previously arranged plans. For example:

I’m supposed to meet my friend at the station at 9:00 pm.

I’m sorry, but I can’t have dinner with you tonight. My friends and I are supposed to see a movie together.

2. used when talking about duties at home or at work. For example:

I’m supposed to help my mother cook dinner tonight.

I’m supposed to have a meeting with my boss at 3:00 pm.

Aren’t you supposed to be writing your report now? (This means the person is not writing the report but they should be).

3. used to relate information that someone told you. For example:

Mr. Taylor is supposed to be back at 3:30. (This means I was told he would be back at 3:30).

This machine is supposed to cook meat in less than five minutes. (This means I was told it would cook meat in less than five minutes).

4. used to talk about things you have heard about but not experienced directly

We should go to the new Thai restaurant downtown. It’s supposed to be fantastic!

I really want to go to the jazz club to hear Sarah Browning. She’s supposed to be an amazing singer!

5. used to talk about rules which are not always followed. For example:

We’re supposed to get to work by 9:00 a.m. every morning.

I’m not supposed to eat or drink at my desk, but sometimes I do.

6. used, in the past tense, to indicate things that were expected but did not happen. For example:

My friend was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago, but he’s still not here.

That movie was supposed to be great, but it wasn’t.

That test wasn’t supposed to be so difficult, but it was.

separable/intransitive phrasal verb: crack up

{ March 29, 2010 @ 2:22 pm } · { phrasal verbs }
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you-crack-me-up

Today’s expression “crack up” is a separable phrasal verb which is used to talk about something or someone which makes a person laugh. For example:

Peter told such a funny joke this morning. It really cracked me up.

Nancy is one of the funniest people I know. She can always crack me up.

We can also use “crack up” as an intransitive phrasal verb. For example:

I cracked up during my class because my friend was making funny faces at me.

My friend often cracks up when he gets nervous. I hope he doesn’t do that for his presentation today.

So, as you can see, we use “crack up” as a separable phrasal verb when we focus on another person making us laugh, but when we focus on the person who laughs, we use it as an intransitive phrasal verb.

idioms: to be over someone’s head / to go over someone’s head

{ March 28, 2010 @ 11:18 am } · { idioms }
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There are two idioms today which are very closely related: “to be over someone’s head” and “to go over someone’s head”. They are used to talk about something which we don’t understand because it’s too complex for us. For example:

My friend likes to study philosophy. He understands it, but it’s totally over my head.

I tried to study physics in university, but it was all over my head.

I tried to tell a joke to my friend, but she doesn’t speak English well so it went over her head.

I don’t know much about computers, so I’m going to take a course about that. I hope what the teacher says doesn’t go over my head.

These two expressions are almost exactly the same except that we use “to go over someone’s head” with something which we experience once such as a joke or a lecture. We use “to be over someone’s head” with a general subject such as philosophy, physics, chemistry, etc.

adjective: blunt

{ March 26, 2010 @ 3:10 pm } · { adjectives }
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Today I’d like to go over another adjective – “blunt”. There are two meanings for this word:

1. to not be sharp (this is usually used to talk about the part of a knife blade or a sword blade which is not sharp). For example:

In the movie, the king struck another man with the blunt edge of his sword in order to scare him.

I almost hurt my hand with a knife. Luckily, it was the blunt edge that touched my hand, so I wasn’t hurt.

2. for a person to speak very directly when saying something negative. For example:

My boss is very blunt, so sometimes he offends people at my office.

I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I thought your report was very badly written.

My sister is a very blunt person. She always says whatever she thinks.

The second meaning of the word “blunt” is much more commonly used than the first one. It is important to note that when people are blunt, they are usually not trying to be rude. It is just their personality to speak very directly. Therefore, the word “blunt” is neutral in tone. However, if we say a person is “too blunt” then it becomes negative.

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