Idioms: Expressions with 'story'

An idiom is defined in Wordweb Dictionary as an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up.

People say the better your knowledge about idiomatic expressions, the more natural your English is.

Well, why don't we start practicing now?

1. To cut a long story short

To tell the main facts without the details.

A: Where's your homework?

B: Sorry, Miss, I had to go shopping and cook dinner and ... Well, to cut a long story short, I didn't have time to do it.

2. A sob story

A story someone tells you to make you feel sorry for them.

A: Hey, Mate, why so sad?

B: I fell off my bike yesterday and I broke my leg. And not only that, I lost my handphone and wallet, too.

A: What a sob story!

3. End of story

All that needs to be said about something.

A: Dad - I thought I might go out with my friends tonight.

B: Well, OK, but if you want to go out, you have to do your homework first - end of story!

4. It's the same old story

Something unwanted that frequently happens to you.

A: Let's go to the cinema.

B: Yeah, good idea - but I'm broke, can you buy my ticket?

A: Again?! It's the same old story, isn't it?

5. That's a likely story

Something that is very hard to believe.

A: Where's your homework?

B: Well, I did it, but then my dog ate it.

A: Oh, right! That's a likely story.

6. It's the story of my life

Something negative that has happened many times before.

A: So - how did you do in the test?

B: I failed - again! It's the story of my life.

7. His or her side of the story

The events as he or she describes them (often contradicting another version).

A: I'm sorry I lost your camera, but really it was Sally's fault.

B: Well, I'm going to talk to Sally and hear her side of the story.

8. To make up a story

To invent an excuse.

A: Sorry I didn't come last night!

B: But why didn't you phone me? And please don't make up a story about your phone not working!

I recommend you to read them at least three times, and try to use them often. That way the idioms will pop up naturally when you need to use them. Have fun...

See you next time with other interesting idioms :-)

Vocabulary: Animal Sounds 1

Hey, Guys. Nice to be with you again.

This time I will share with you 10 animal sounds in English.
1. A dog barks.
2. A cat mews.
3. A pig oinks.
4. A bird chirps.
5. A snake hisses.
6. A cock crows.
7. A cow moos.
8. A goat bleats.
9. A lion roars.
10. A horse neighs.

Those animal sounds are actually used to indicate how a person speaks to another. The word 'bleat' , for example, is used to ndicate that someone is complaining. "I hate it when he bleats on about how badly everyone treats him."

I will share more animals' sounds used to represent our feeling when we say something next time. I hope that can be useful. See you again soon. Cheers...

Adjectives – Order of Adjectives

In your English lessons, I bet you have heard of the word adjective quite often. But, what is an adjective, anyway?

Well, before we define what an adjective is, I would like to invite you to talk a little bit about Mei Mei (a character in Upin Ipin). I hope you know her. If you don’t, please watch Upin Ipin J.

Right. what do you think about her? She is …

Smart, beautiful, Chinese, short, kind-hearted and others.

Now, the words used to describe Mei Mei, they are adjectives. So, an adjective is a word used to describe a noun. The noun in the example is Mei Mei.

The following are more examples of adjectives:

·         Tony is lazy.

·         This green book is hers.

·         My father is hard-working and honest.

·         That white sport car is very expensive.

Now, a problem appears when there are several adjectives used in the same sentence to describe a noun. Please observe this case:

Bag : The price is expensive. It is made of leather. The colour is black. The size is small.

Now, how would you order all the adjectives so that they can all go in one same sentence?

Which of these do you think is correct?

a.       It is a black expensive small leather bag.

b.      It is an expensive small black leather bag.

c.       It is a small black expensive leather bag.

The answer is … (find it on your own J )

So, yes, there is a rule that deals with the right order of adjectives. Below is the rule that I adopt from http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjective_order.htm.

Quite complicated, isn’t it? But I have a tip for you. What I would do is to make the acronym of it. And I get DOSSHA COMP. You know, in Bahasa. it rhymes with dosa komp(uter), which means the sins of a computer. It sounds funny and meaningful. So, it’s easier to remember.

  

And yes, I change the Qualifier into Purpose. It’s just easier to make the acronym.

Okay… Time for some practice, I suppose. Just like a proverb says “Practice makes perfect”.

Put the following adjectives into a good order.

1.       Tania is sitting at a / wooden / round table.

2.       Who is that / tall / beautiful /young woman?

3.       Did you see cotton / old / my / white shirt?

4.       Luckily, I could find plastic / a / black / small bag?

5.       They are looking for gold / Swiss /beautiful/ a watch?

Have fun…

You can write your answers in the comment box. I will check them for you. Cheers.

Prepositions 1 – In/At/On (1)

A preposition is a word which shows relationships among other words in the sentence. Some common prepositions are in, on, at, under, above, of, by, with, about, between, among, to and from.

Good command of prepositions is crucial if you want to speak good English.

Since there are quite many of them, and each is used differently, for this session we will focus on 3 prepositions only. They are in, at and on.

In

In a room

In a building

In a box

In a garden

In a city/town

In a country

Examples:

·         There’s no one in the room / in the building / in the garden.

·         What have you got in your hand / in your mouth?

·         When we were in Italy, we spent a few days in Venice.

·         I have a friend who lives in a small village in the mountains.

·         Look at those people swimming in the pool / in the sea / in the river.

At

At the window

At the door

At the bus stop

At the top of the page

At the end of the street

Examples:

·         Who is that man standing at the bus stop / at the door / at the window?

·         Turn left at the traffic lights / at the church / at the roundabout.

·         Write your name at the top / at the bottom of the page.

·         Angela’s house is the white one at the end of the street.

·         When you leave the hotel, please leave your key at reception.

On

On the ceiling

On the door

On the wall

On the table

On the floor

On her nose

On a page

On an island

Examples:

·         I sat on the floor / on the ground / on the grass / on a chair / on the beach.

·         There’s a dirty mark on the wall / on the ceiling / on your nose / on your shirt.

·         Have you seen the notice on the notice board / on the door?

·         You’ll find details of TV programmes on page seven of the newspaper.

Right. The information above should be able to help you understand how to use in, at and on appropriately. That’s not all yet. There will be more coming soon. So, make sure you also read the next post on in, at and on.

Thank you for visiting this page. Hope it helps. Bye.

P.S.: The information is based on one of Raymond Murphy’s grammar books.

Did you know: Some vs Any?

In daily conversations, we often use Some and Any. They say we should use some for positive sentences and any for negative and interrogative sentences. Only in one occasion or two, we would see or hear people use some in questions. Why is that?

Well, here is the explanation.

1. We use "some" for positive sentences or sometimes people say affirmative sentences while "any" for negative and interrogative sentences.

Examples:

I have some sugar but I don't have any salt. Do you have any salt?

Luna bought some oranges but she did not buy any apples. Did you buy any apples?

2. We use "some" for offering things.

Examples:

Would you like some juice?

Can I get you some water?

3. We use "some" when we ask for things.

Can I have some soup, please?

Can you lend me some money?

Compare some and any:

We've got some butter but we haven't got any flour.

I didn't make any cakes but Kelly made some. (some cakes)

You can have some coffee, but I don't want any. (Any coffee)

I've just cooked some corn soup. Would you like some?

Tina hasn't got any money. Can you lend her some?

I hope this can be helpful. Again, if you have a comment or a question, just write it in the comment box.

To end this, I have some questions for you to practice. You can write your answers in the comment box. Use some or any wisely.  I will write a comment on your answers.

1. Jane is going to buy .... eggs.

2. They didn't make .... complaints.

3. Have you got .... brothers or sisters?

4. Would you like .... tea?

5. I am thirsty. Can I have .... water, please?

6. Are there .... stamps in the drawer?

7. May I use .... of your soap, please?

8. Did you get yourself .... books to read?

9. Don't buy .... candies. They are not good for your teeth.

10. Can you lend me .... of your motivational books, please?

Good luck!

Animals 1

Are you familiar with these animal?

Common Errors

Viewers, I am sorry for not posting for a long while. But here I am back in the middle of loads of work :-)

Right... The following are some common errors we often meet in daily conversations.

1. Borrow vs Lend.
A: I need some money to buy a lunch. Can I borrow from you?
B: Oh...yes of course. I will lend you twenty thousand. Is that enough?
A: Yes. Thank you very much.

Dari percakapan sederhana diatas, bisa kita simpulkan bahwa "borrow" artinya meminjam -
kita meminjam sesuatu dari orang karena kita tidak punya atau kurang.

Sedangkan "Lend" artinya meminjamkan - orang membutuhkan sesuatu dari kita dan karena kita punya maka kita pinjamkan.

2. Thank you vs thanks
- Hi Bona. Thank you for the ride yesterday.
- Hi Bona. Thanks for the ride yesterday.

"thanks" tidak lagi menggunakan you setelahnya. Dan penulisan thanks tidak dipisah oleh tanda '.

3. Bored vs Boring
- I felt bored because the film was bad.
- The seminar was boring. Nobody was listening to it.

"bored" berarti bosan dan "boring" artinya membosankan. Maka tidaklah tepat mengatakan "I'm boring" ketika sedang bosan. "I'm bored" lebih tepat.

4. Tall vs High
- Your sister looks very tall.
- Mount Everest is very high.

Kita menggunakan "tall" untuk menggambarkan orang yang tinggi sedangkan "tall" untuk gedung atau benda lainnya yang tinggi.

I think that would be all for now. I've got to get back to work. Cheers...