a young man and woman sitting together in a living room smiling as they speak to each other

You’re speaking my language! Phrases with the verbs ‘speak’ and ‘say’

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a young man and woman sitting together in a living room smiling as they speak to each other
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by Liz Walter

My last post was on phrases containing the verb ‘talk’. This one looks at some phrases with the related words ‘speak’ and ‘say’. Continue reading “You’re speaking my language! Phrases with the verbs ‘speak’ and ‘say’”

three people sitting outside in a city drinking coffee and having an enthusiastic conversation

Now you’re talking! Phrases with the verb ‘talk’

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three people sitting outside in a city drinking coffee and having an enthusiastic conversation
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by Liz Walter

My last two posts (Verbs to use instead of ‘say’ and Using animal noises to show human emotions) have been about verbs that describe the way people speak. In this post and the next one, I’ll be looking at some useful phrases that actually contain the verbs talk, speak, and say. Continue reading “Now you’re talking! Phrases with the verb ‘talk’”

a young man asleep in bed holding a pillow

How did you sleep? (Talking about sleep, Part 1)

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a young man asleep in bed holding a pillow
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by Kate Woodford

Sleep is a necessary activity that allows us to rest and recuperate. Although it’s essential, we sometimes find it surprisingly difficult. Perhaps for this reason, we often talk about sleep. This post – in two parts – will give you lots of useful vocabulary for speaking about this subject. Continue reading “How did you sleep? (Talking about sleep, Part 1)”

close-up photograph of a young girl holding a small green frog

Growling, hissing and croaking: using animal noises to show human emotions

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close-up photograph of a young girl holding a small green frog
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by Liz Walter

My last post looked at replacing the common verb ‘say’ with more interesting verbs that can convey information about a speaker’s emotions or personality. This post continues that theme, this time concentrating on verbs that are used for animal noises. Continue reading “Growling, hissing and croaking: using animal noises to show human emotions”

black-and-white photograph of a young woman with her head tipped back and mouth open as though laughing or shouting, with brightly coloured abstract shapes coming from her mouth to represent speech

Spluttering, cackling and drawling: verbs to use instead of ‘say’

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black-and-white photograph of a young woman with her head tipped back and mouth open as though laughing or shouting, with brightly coloured abstract shapes coming from her mouth to represent speech
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by Liz Walter

This post looks at ways of conveying personality or emotions by choosing a more interesting verb than ‘say’ when you report someone’s speech. Anyone who has been on a creative writing course will be familiar with the maxim ‘Show, don’t tell,’ and choosing a specific synonym for ‘say’ can help you to do this. Continue reading “Spluttering, cackling and drawling: verbs to use instead of ‘say’”

composite photograph of the Beijing skyline seen at several different times of day and night

From one day to the next (Phrases with ‘day’, Part 1)

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composite photograph of the Beijing skyline seen at several different times of day and night
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by Kate Woodford

The word ‘day’ features in a lot of commonly used phrases and idioms so I thought I’d take a look at the most useful ones. This post focuses mainly on phrases rather than idioms. Continue reading “From one day to the next (Phrases with ‘day’, Part 1)”

a person's hand reaching out to take one slice from a pie chart made up of five coloured segments: red, white, green, yellow and blue

Obtaining information and deriving satisfaction: 5 different ways of saying ‘get’

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a person's hand reaching out to take one slice from a pie chart made up of five coloured segments: red, white, green, yellow and blue
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by Liz Walter

One way to improve your English is to find more interesting vocabulary to use instead of very common words. This post looks at five verbs you can use instead of ‘get’. Regular readers of my posts will know that I often talk about collocation, or words that commonly go together. I’ll be focusing on this particularly today because although the words I’m covering are basically synonyms, some of them tend to collocate strongly with particular groups of nouns. Note that they are all a little more formal than ‘get’ but still commonly used, especially in writing. Continue reading “Obtaining information and deriving satisfaction: 5 different ways of saying ‘get’”

close-up photograph of a mobile phone with a cracked screen

Chips, cracks and dents (Describing the condition of objects, Part 2)

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close-up photograph of a mobile phone with a cracked screen
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by Kate Woodford

I recently published a post on the various ways we describe the condition of objects, including words such as shabby and rickety and phrases such as beyond repair and on its last legs. Staying with this theme, today I’m looking at words that we use to describe specific types of damage to particular types of object. Continue reading “Chips, cracks and dents (Describing the condition of objects, Part 2)”

a small white cat with black and orange markings on its ears and tail looking frightened by something off-camera

Wimps and scaredy-cats: talking about people who are not brave

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a small white cat with black and orange markings on its ears and tail looking frightened by something off-camera
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by Liz Walter

My last post was on the topic of bravery, so by way of a contrast, this one looks at words and phrases connected with the opposite. The most common word for someone who isn’t brave is coward. The related adjective is cowardly (one of those rare adjectives that ends in -ly) and the noun is cowardice: Continue reading “Wimps and scaredy-cats: talking about people who are not brave”

picture of an old, worn teddy bear against a dark red background

On its last legs (Describing the condition of objects, Part 1)

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picture of an old, worn teddy bear against a dark red background
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by Kate Woodford

A friend recently told me that she needed a new sofa. Her current one, she said, ‘had seen better days’, meaning that it was clearly old and damaged. This nice idiom (‘have seen better days’) got me thinking about the many ways we describe the condition of objects, both good and bad. This post, in two parts and covering both single words and phrases, is the result of this. Continue reading “On its last legs (Describing the condition of objects, Part 1)”