2017 April Flashcards
Your friend quit her job recently but hasn’t told her parents. You think that she should stop lying to her parents, so you tell her this.
The truth always comes out, one way or another.
one way or another/the other
Use the phrases “one way or another” or “one way or the other” to talk about something that’s going to happen, no matter what.
This can be some goal that you really want to accomplish:
We will make it to the playoffs, one way or the other.
Or it can be something that can’t be avoided:
She’s going to find out, one way or another. You might as well be honest with her.
The truth always comes out.
“The truth always comes out” is a saying in English that means that it’s impossible to hide the truth. If you try to hide some information, eventually the truth will “come out”, meaning that people will find out the truth.
You’re volunteering for a charity that helps victims of the earthquake in Haiti. You’re asking for donations on the sidewalk in a busy part of town. You ask this to each person who walks by.
Excuse me, we’re taking up donations for the Haiti Relief Fund. Do you have a moment?
take up donations
A donation is money that you give to a charity, a church, a school, or to someone who needs help. To “take up” donations means to collect money from other people to give to these organizations or people.
The phrase “take up” is only used with this meaning (collect) in a few situations. One is with donations. Another is when a teacher collects students’ assignments:
Mr. Elliott always takes up the homework at the very beginning of class.
relief fund
“Relief” means help that you give to people who have been through a disaster, a famine, or a war. A “fund” is a collection of money that has been gathered for a specific purpose. So a “relief fund” is money that has been collected to help out disaster victims.
Do you have a moment?
This is a question that you ask when you you want to talk to someone for a few minutes. This phrase is used to ask the person if it’s OK to talk to them for that long. You use it when a person seems busy.
“Moment” is formal. A less formal way to say this is “Do you have a minute?”
Excuse me.
Say “Excuse me” to get the attention of strangers in a polite way:
Excuse me. Do you know where the bathroom is?
When you pronounce “excuse me”, it can sound like “‘Scuze me”
In some English-speaking areas, it’s also polite to add “Sir” (for men) or “Ma’am” or “Miss” (for women):
Excuse me, Ma’am. You dropped this on the sidewalk back there.
But since these titles are actually thought to be impolite in some areas, it’s best to listen first to see if other people around you are using them.
You’re discussing politics with someone you know at your local gym. She asks you what you think of the prime minister. You tell her that you don’t like many of his policies. But you say this because you do think one of his ideas is good.
I do agree with him on defense, though.
I do (something) In a normal sentence, you don't include "do" before the verb:
I agree with him on defense.
But when your sentence is contrasting with something else that you just said, you should use the word “do” and place a strong stress on that word when saying it:
I don’t think he’s that good-looking. I do like his hair, though.
agree with (someone) on (a topic) This is the standard English phrase for saying that you have the same opinion as someone else about a certain topic.
I agree with Jamie on hiring a new salesperson. I think it would be a great idea.
defense
“Defense” is a a category of government which includes the military. Saying that you agree with the Prime Minister on defense means that you agree with his plans for wars, the way he spends money on the military, and so on.
(sentence), though
“Though” is similar to “but” and “however”. It is usually used at the end of the sentence in spoken English:
I have a pilot’s license. I haven’t flown in almost 5 years, though.
In written English, it’s more appropriate to use it between clauses:
I have a pilot’s license, though I haven’t flown in almost 5 years.
“However” can be used in the same way:
I do agree with the Prime Minister on defense, however.
“Though” is more casual than “however”, though.
You need to talk to your boss about urgent business. You call but his assistant answers the phone and says that he’s been gone for most of the afternoon. You want to know where he is so that you can decide if you should call his mobile phone. If he’s with a client, you’ll leave a message with the assistant, but if he’s out on some other business you’ll call his mobile phone. You ask this to his assistant.
Did he mention where he was going?
mention (something)
This means to talk about something briefly. Even if a person says only a few words about a topic, that would be considered “mentioning” that topic. Other words like “say”, “talk about”, etc. sound like they require a longer period of discussion.
You can use “mention” with a simple noun:
Did she mention me in the article?
Or you can use a dependent clause:
Did he mention where he was going?
You can also use the structure “mention (doing something)”
He mentioned going to the gym earlier in the day.
You’re discussing politics and economics with a friend. You share your opinion that poor people are getting poorer while rich people are getting richer across the world.
The gap between the haves and the have-nots just keeps getting wider and wider.
the gap between (something) and (something)
A “gap” is the space between two things. For example, some people have “gaps” between their teeth.
You can also use the word “gap” to talk about numbers or experiences that are very different from each other.
The pay gap between men and women is getting smaller, but it’s still a serious issue.
There’s a huge gap between how I grew up as the son of a poor farmer and how most of my classmates were raised.
Usually when someone talks about the “gap between” things it suggests that those things should be closer. For example, you can talk about the “gap” between:
men and women
politicians and citizens
your financial reality and your wishes
how much executives are paid in a company vs. regular employees
haves and have nots
The phrase “haves and have-nots” basically refers to rich people (“haves”) and poor people (“have-nots”).
In life, there are haves and there are have nots. That’s just the way it is.
“Haves and have-nots” sounds even more basic than “rich and poor”. Even in a society without any money, there can be “haves” - people who have land, food, etc. - and “have nots”.
(something) just keeps getting (more)
The phrase “___ just keeps getting ___” describes something that continues to change in the same direction. For example:
It just keeps getting hotter every year.
The original was amazing, but the sequels just keep getting worse and worse.
You recently moved to a new town and you’re looking for a new doctor. You call a doctor’s office to find out if you can use your insurance plan there. You ask the receptionist this.
Yes, I was wondering if you take Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield?
I was wondering if…
This is a way to introduce a request. It makes the question sound really polite:
Hey Jen, I was wondering if I could borrow your textbook over the weekend.
I was wondering if you’d like to go out for coffee some time.
You say “I was wondering if…” even if you’re still thinking about this question now. There’s no grammatical reason for using the past tense (“was wondering”). That’s just how the expression is said.
Yes, (sentence)
This is a polite way to start a telephone conversation with a business when you don’t know the person you’re talking to. You speak this way when:
You call customer support.
You call for someone at work, but someone else answers.
You call to make an appointment with a doctor, dentist, hair stylist, etc.
(a doctor/dentist /hospital/etc.) takes (an insurance plan)
In the U.S., people have private health insurance plans that they buy themselves or get through their job. Different people have different insurance plans. Each doctor, dentist, etc. has certain insurance plans that they “take” (accept), and others that they don’t take.
Because of this system, when you call a doctor’s office to make an appointment, you have to ask “Do you take ___?”
Sometimes it’s written on the doctor’s website:
We take United Health Care and Emblem Health.
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield
This is the name of a health insurance company.
You’re being evaluated by your boss at work. She asks you whether you think you have any weak areas. You don’t really think so, but you think of something to criticize anyway. You say that you should speak up more.
If I had to pick something, I’d say that I could probably be a little more vocal in meetings and group decisions.
If I had to (say something), I’d say (clause)
Use this phrase when someone is asking you to give an opinion about something that you don’t really want to answer, but someone is making you answer.
You can use this phrase with different words that mean “say”. For example:
If I had to guess, I’d say that there’s probably 2 more weeks’ worth of work left to do.
If I had to choose one, I’d say the Civic is probably a slightly better value for the money.
When you use this phrase, you sound like you’re being careful.
I’d say
This is a way to answer a question or give an opinion, when you’re not really sure:
I’d say she’ll probably be back at about 2:00.
“I’d” is short for “I would”. So you can also say “I would say ___”:
I would say that you can probably find one for under ten thousand dollars.
You can introduce the rest of the sentence with “that”:
I’d say that I’m two or three weeks away from finishing.
“I’d say” can also go at the end of a sentence:
It takes about an hour and a half, I’d say.
a little (adjective) One meaning of the phrase "a little" is "slightly" or "somewhat":
I can tell that you’re a little scared.
I’m a little sleepy.
(someone) is vocal
Being “vocal” means that you talk openly about your opinions. For example, this might mean disagreeing with a decision:
I tried to get my team to start practices earlier, but the players were very vocal in letting me know that they didn’t like that.
Being “vocal” in some situations is a good thing. For example, some teachers might want their students to “be vocal” in class:
You’re doing a great job, but I’d like it if you were a little more vocal.
Or a manager might want her employees to be vocal in meetings.
group decisions
A “group decision” is a decision that several people make together. You can make “group decisions” with friends, coworkers, family members, or other groups of people.
All right guys, we need to make a group decision about where we’re going to eat.
You’re talking with someone who seems to be in her 30’s, but she says that she has a teenage son. You can’t believe that she’s old enough to have a child that age. You say this, surprised.
You seem awfully young to have a son in his teens.
awfully (something)
“Awfully” is an adverb like “very”, “really”, “slightly”, and so on. It can mean two different things:
When you’re talking about something negative, “awfully ___” can mean “a little too ___”:
She’s awfully close to the edge there. Tell her to come back over this way.
You must be awfully tired. I’ll go get the bed ready for you.
“Awfully ___” can also mean something between “quite ___” and “very ___”:
Oh wow. That was awfully nice of him to let you do that.
I’m awfully proud of you, son.
The most common adjectives to use with “awfully” are:
awfully good awfully nice awfully big awfully quiet awfully long awfully (adjective) "Awfully" is an adverb that means something in between "very" and "too". You use this when you're talking about something that's almost over the limit of being too much. In the example above, saying that the woman "seems awfully young" means that you almost think that she is too young for it to be true.
You can use “awfully” for bad things or good things:
It’s awfully expensive, don’t you think?
You’re an awfully nice guy, but I just don’t think I’m ready to start dating again.
(adverb)(adjective) to (do something)
First, here are some examples:
She’s pretty short to be a model.
That one’s too hard to cut.
I’d say it’s really early to tell who the winner might be.
You use an adverb (like “too”, “very”, “really”, “pretty”, “awfully”, “extremely”, etc.), followed by an adjective, followed by “to (do something)” to express what’s wrong with a thing or idea.
in (one’s) (teens/20’s/30’s/etc.)
We often group people’s ages into decades. To express this, you say someone is “in his 30’s” or “in her 80’s”.
There are two age groups that are different. For people under about 13 years old, you don’t use this expression; you just say that they are:
babies (0-2) toddlers (2-4) children (1-11) pre-teens (11-13). The other group that's different is people from 13-19. You say that these people are teenagers or "in their teens".
To be a little more specific about someone’s age group, you can say:
She’s in her early 40’s.
He’s in his mid-50’s.
They’re in their late 20’s.
You are playing a guessing game with your children. They think of a color and you have to guess which color it is. You make 3 guesses but don’t get the right answer. You want them to tell you the answer, so you say this.
I give up. What color is it?
I give up.
The statement, “I give up,” is an announcement that you make when you want to quit doing something.
When you “give up”, it means that you quit a game and accept that you lost. This can be used for other situations aside from games as well. For example, you can use it to describe debates:
We argued for a while about what restaurant to go to, but I finally just gave up and let him decide.
“Give up” is similar to “quit”, but giving up is more about your feelings and motivation, while quitting is an official action that you announce to people.
You coach a girls’ basketball team. One of the players on the team usually causes problems, so you yell at her a lot. But recently she’s been working hard and behaving herself. You compliment her for it.
I’ve got to hand it to you: you’ve really stepped up these last few weeks.
I’ve got to hand it to you.
“I’ve got to hand it to you” means “I have to recognize your accomplishments.
You use this phrase to praise some who you don’t usually praise, like:
someone who you don’t get along with
someone who proved that you were wrong
You can also say “I have to hand it to you” and “You’ve got to hand it to (him/her/them/etc.).”
(someone) stepped up
When someone has taken a greater responsibility on a team and done the work that was needed, you can say that they’ve “stepped up”. For example:
Jasper really stepped up and took charge after Tomiko left.
You can’t always depend on other people. You’ve got to step up and do it on your own.
“Stepping up” is always positive.
You can use the preposition “on” with “step up” to explain what someone did:
She really stepped up on the Fall sales campaign.
these last few weeks
Use this phrase to talk about something that started happening 2-6 weeks ago and is still continuing.
I’ve been working really hard these last few weeks to finish up my dissertation.
This expression is used in spoken English and informal writing. In more formal English, you say or write “the last few” instead of “these last few”.
There’s an election coming up soon. One of the candidates for your state’s congress is gay. This hasn’t happened before in your state, so you’re talking to a friend about it.
He would be the state’s first openly gay legislator.
(something) would (be something / do something)
Say that something “would be ___” to describe an imaginary situation.
For example:
If I were rich, I would travel around the world non-stop.
In this example, the speaker is imagining having a lot of money, which isn’t really the case.
Here’s another example:
Don’t you think that you would get tired of talking with fans if you were a celebrity?
You can also use “would” to talk about something that might happen in the future, but isn’t certain yet.
If you sold your business, what would you do for work?
If you went to Spain, where would you go?
a state
A “state” is a unit of government within a country. For example, the United States has 50 states.
Many countries have states, but some countries have “provinces” or “prefectures” instead. The exact difference is unclear and unimportant to most English speakers, so usually people just remember that, for instance, India has states while Canda has provinces.
(someone) is openly gay
When someone is “openly gay”, it means that they are homosexual and don’t hide it from the public.
The church is ordaining more and more openly gay clergy members these days.
Another phrase that you may hear to refer to an openly gay person is “out of the closet”. “Coming out of the closet” means admitting to people – family, friends, coworkers, etc. – that you are gay.
a legislator
A “legislator” is someone whose job is to write and vote on laws.
The word “legislator” is general so that it can apply to lawmakers in a variety of different government systems. These are more specific terms:
a member of Parliament
a Senator
a Congressman / Congresswoman
an Assembly member
You’re working on a school project and need to buy some supplies for it. Your partner on the project offers to buy the supplies. You want to pay half of the cost, so you tell him this.
Just keep track of how much you’re spending and I’ll pay you back.
just (do something)
You use this phrase when the action you’re describing seems easy, simple, fast, unimportant, or unexciting:
I just googled “new york florist” and that was the first shop that came up, so I called them.
A: What did you do this weekend?
B: I just sat at home and watched T.V.
keep track of (something)
When you keep track of something, you remember it, record it, or write it down so that you don’t forget. Things that people often “keep track of” include:
keep track of time keep track of your money keep track of your progress keep track of your kids keep track of important events how (much/many)(someone)(does) This is a phrase to use when you want to discuss a number as a noun:
I don’t remember how many I ate.
There’s some debate over how much we should spend on advertising.
pay (someone) back
To “pay someone back” means to return money that you borrowed from them. For example, when you have to borrow money from your roommate you can say:
I promise I’ll pay you back by the end of the week.
Or, in situations like the one at the top of this post, it means to give someone money when they paid for an item that you both shared, like a lunch.
At work, you always get sleepy after lunch and don’t work very efficiently. You say this when describing the problem to a friend of yours.
I find it really hard to focus on my work in the afternoon.
I find it (adjective) to (do something)
This phrase is used to describe opinions or feelings that you have. It’s a slightly educated and formal-sounding phrase that you use to emphasize that what you’re describing is your personal experience, not a suggestion that you are making to the listener. Here is another example:
I find it interesting to sit outside and watch the different people walking by at lunch time.
The word “hard” is especially common with “I find it”:
I find it hard to believe that you’re really going to need all that luggage just for 3 days.
focus on (something) To "focus on" something means to pay attention to it. When you're focusing on something, you only think about that topic and avoid thinking about other things.
“Focus” can also be used by itself, without “on ___”:
I find it hard to focus in the afternoon.
my work
In the sentence above, “my work” doesn’t mean your job. It means the specific tasks that you are supposed to do at work.
Your company has a website which uses lots of videos. You’re trying to find a new service to use for storing and playing the videos. You write this in a contact form for one of the services.
We’re looking into replacing our current video hosting provider.
the current (something) "Current" means "now". But "now" can't be used as an adjective. So we use the word "current" instead. For example:
Their current President is a former business executive.
In this example, the “current President” is the person who is President right now. Here’s another example:
He had two kids with his ex-wife, but he doesn’t have any with his current wife.
replace (something)
“Replacing” something means getting rid of an old thing and getting a new one instead. You replace things like:
old machines
machine parts that are old or broken
parts of a building that have rotted or gone out of style
employees who aren’t doing a good job
look into (something)
To “look into” something means to research it. For example, you can “look into” a problem:
A: Hey, there’s something wrong with the air conditioner.
B: OK, I’ll look into it.
Or you can “look into” doing something. That means to research information to help you to make a decision:
I’m looking into investing in real estate, and I was hoping that you could help me out a bit.
video hosting
“Hosting” files means to put them somewhere on the Internet or a computer network so that the files can be reached or downloaded. For example, a website is “hosted” on a server.
“Video hosting” is a service that stores videos and lets people watch them. YouTube is a popular example of a video hosting service.
(a service) provider
A company that sells a service is called a “provider”. Some examples of “providers” include:
an Internet service provider
a cellular data provider
a health provider
People use this phrase in business situations because “___ provider” is a little formal.
You’re leading a meeting at work. One of the attendees at the meeting asks you a question. You don’t want to answer the question in front of the whole group, so you say this.
Um… talk to me after the meeting.
um
English speakers use the sound “um” when they don’t know what to say next. Here’s an example from a TV talk show:
Well, my daughter in this show is very strongly liberal, and she’s a very — she’s a — she went to, uh, um, Stanford Law School, and she graduated from Stanford with honors.
But people also use “um” when they’re talking about a topic that is uncomfortable. Using “um” shows the listener that you’re being careful about a topic that is very sensitive. So you might use “um” when you’re talking seriously about:
money sex a death in someone's family a decision at work that you disagree with For example:
Listen, um, I know that you’re having a hard time financially right now, but I really need your rent check.
By the way, you might hear or read somewhere that you shouldn’t use “um”. That’s a rule that English speakers are taught in school, because some people think that using “um” too much makes you sound unprofessional. But almost everyone uses it from time to time. As an English learner, it actually makes your English sound more natural when you use hesitation sounds like “um”.
Talk to me after (class/the meeting/etc.)
When you’re in a public situation, but you want to talk with someone privately, you can say this:
Talk to me after class.
Talk to me after the meeting.
