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As I research the language for these posts, I’m often surprised by the number of words and phrases in English for the same basic concept. This week’s subject – the language of limiting things – is no exception.
Continue reading “Curbing and capping (The language of limiting things)”
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by Liz Walter
We often have to talk about the age of people and things, but this is an area where learners often make errors. This post will explain how to talk about age and how to avoid common errors. Continue reading “A young man of twenty: talking about age”
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One of several things we do on this blog is look at the various ways we say the same – or a similar – thing. As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life! Today’s post will provide you with a range of ways to say ‘gradually’, including phrases and single words.
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This week’s post looks at the language that we use to talk about risk – that is, the possibility of something bad happening. I look at phrases that include the word ‘risk’ itself and then consider a range of useful idioms on this theme.
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Today’s post is the latest in my ‘Idioms and phrases in newspapers’ series, which provides you with a regular supply of common, contemporary English idioms and expressions. The phrases in this post are taken from a range of national newspapers published on the same day.
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by Liz Walter
We all have times when we need to reassure someone, perhaps because they have done something they regret, because they are worried about something they have to do in the future or because they are experiencing something that is causing them anxiety.
Continue reading “Nobody blames you: phrases for offering reassurance”
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Today’s post has a very positive feel to it as I’m looking at the language around responding to opportunities.
Starting with a useful collocation, we say that we take an opportunity, meaning that we use a chance to do something.
Continue reading “Making the most of it (How we talk about using opportunities)”
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Books play a hugely significant role in all our lives, so it’s probably no surprise that there are a lot of English idioms that include the word ‘book’. In this post, I’ve selected what I consider to be the most useful and current ones and look at how they are used.
Continue reading “Cooking or hitting the books? (Idioms with ‘book’)”
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by Liz Walter
Today’s post is about ways of talking about someone’s intelligence. Interestingly, there are some subtle differences in the way British and American speakers use what are probably the two most common synonyms for intelligent: clever and smart.
Continue reading “Wise, brainy, or astute: words for describing intelligent people”
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Today’s post looks at phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs relating to studying, learning, and taking exams.
Let’s start with some useful verbs for reading.
Continue reading “Skimming through and writing up (Studying phrasal verbs)”