Vocabulary

13 Feb 2021

I am not a linguist (a person who studies languages).

But during my English lessons, my students and I often discuss what “kind” of English they want to learn. Colloquial? Informal? Idiomatic? Slang? Dialect? What do all those terms actually mean?

In this article, I will try to explain what we English teachers mean when we throw these terms around. As I said, I’m not a linguist, so please take my information “with a grain of salt.”

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Register. Basically, linguists use register to define a language’s degree of formality. In academic writing and social situations such as job interviews and committee meetings, people tend to use formal register: higher-level vocabulary words and less slang, with more attention to proper grammar and precise wording. On the other hand, casual or informal register is more conversational, more colloquial, more idiomatic, and more “natural.” In general, English writing is more formal in register, speaking is less so. But for both, there’s still lots of variation between formal and casual register, and English learners need to pay attention to identifying which people and situations require what degree of register.

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Vernacular. This is a broad, rather “catch-all” phrase used to describe “the language of a people or a national language.” The term can also be used as a synonym for colloquial or informal. It includes both spoken and written English.

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Colloquialism. Colloquial. In contrast to formal language, colloquialism (general parlance) is simply the everyday language people use when they are casual, relaxed, and not trying to impress people. This general term includes slang, abbreviations (like LOL), and idioms. When English learners want to sound “real,” native-like, and authentic, they want to learn this kind of English. Colloquialism is more common in spoken English, although written texts that try to replicate human speech often use colloquial expressions. Colloquial language can generally be understood by people of different ages and socioeconomic classes in a broad geographical area, but some expressions are more limited.

For example, many Americans, when they tell someone that they’re going out for a drink with a friend, might say, “We’re gonna go grab a …” “Gonna” is a widely used colloquialism for “going to.” Your English textbook may tell you that Americans say, “I am going to walk to the store.” In fact, nine times out of ten, you will hear them say, “I’m gonna walk to the store.’ And although “to grab” generally means to catch or seize something, Americans will understand that this simply means to go get something right away, and relatively quickly. However, in different regions, the name for that drink may vary. For example, in the Northeast, people usually say a “soda,” in the South, a “Coke” (even when the drink is a different brand), and in the Midwest, a “pop.” So, there are colloquialisms that are more generally used throughout the US, and others that are more regional.

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Idiom. Idiomatic. I have already written two articles on idioms so I won’t repeat myself too much here; my general definition is:

They are a group (or pair) of words in a specific order that doesn’t change. The speaker will include the idiom as one fixed “chunk” of language into their speech or text.
Their meaning is different from the individual words that form the phrase. In other words, you won’t be able to figure out the meaning of the idiom from the meaning of the individual words.
They are usually specific to a certain language and can’t be translated word-by-word to another language.

While colloquialisms include any informal, everyday expressions, idioms are limited to those phrases that are both fixed and figurative. Most idioms are colloquial; we wouldn’t use them in formal speech, but not all colloquial language is idiomatic

Remember … fixed and figurative. The word order will generally stay the same, and a literal (word-for-word) meaning won’t help you catch the meaning, although it can result in some funny images. If your children are “glued to the TV set,” they aren’t (fortunately!) literally and physically attached to the screen. If you take my advice with “a grain of salt,” you aren’t going to be eating salt … you’re just going to be a little skeptical. If you’re “beating a dead horse,” you’re not committing animal cruelty … you’re simply wasting your time on something that’s already over and done with.

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Slang. Slang is casual spoken language that’s very informal. While colloquialisms can be understood by most Americans, slang is specific to a particular group, age, region, or profession. Slang can become a group identity … so that if you know the slang, you “belong” to the group; if not, you’re an outsider. Slang generally goes in and out of fashion. Words like groovy and sweet (to describe something pleasing) now seem very outdated. Some slang expressions are perfectly acceptable in any conversation (cool or brilliant or yikes). Others are more vulgar (offensive and rude) and should be used with caution! Urban Dictionary is a wonderful resource for learning American slang (but it’s definitely X-rated, so readers beware!).

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Jargon. Jargon is a language that’s specific to a particular activity or profession. Lawyers use legal jargon (appeal, motion, bench); golfers use golf jargon (birdie, boogey, par).

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Dialect. Dialect is a particular form of a language spoken by a certain group of people, such as southern English, Black English, even standard English. When it’s in the form of writing that shows the accent and way people talk in a particular region, dialect can be a huge obstacle for readers of English literature. Here are some examples:

Dialect in Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain):

Jim (a Black man in what the author describes as “Missouri negro dialect”): I didn’ know dey was so many un um. I hain’t hearn ‘bout non un um, skasely, but old Sollermun, onless you counts dem kings dat’s in a pack er k’yards. How much do a king git?

In Standard American English: I didn’t know there were so many of them. I have scarcely heard of any of them, except old Solomon, unless you count the kings that are in a pack of cards. How much does a king earn?

Dialect in The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett):

Dickon (a country boy in Yorkshire, England): It’s rare good for thee. There’s naught as nice as th’ smell o’ fresh growin’ things when th’ rain falls on ‘em. I get out on th’ moor many a day when it’s rainin’ an’ I lie under a bush an’ listen to th’ soft swish o’ drops on th’ heather an’ I just sniff an’ sniff … I never ketched cold since I was born. I wasn’t brought up nesh enough.

In Standard American English: It’s really good for you. There’s nothing as nice as the smell of freshly growing things when the rain falls on them. I get out on the moor many days when it’s raining and lie under a bush and listen to the soft swish of drops on the heather and I just sniff and sniff … I’ve never caught a cold since I was born. I wasn’t brought up nicely enough.

Although literature written in dialect closely mirrors the speech patterns of the characters and thus makes them sound more genuine, it can be exceedingly difficult for even native English speakers to read. In the same way, a movie in which actors speak dialect can be almost inaccessible. If this happens to you, try not to feel frustrated! Many American high schoolers have given up (or wanted to) on Huckleberry Finn, even though it’s considered a classic in American literature.

11 Jul 2019

If I had a dollar for every time I heard an English learner say to have a relax or a relax time, I’d be rich!

The key point is that relax can never be used as a noun.

To relax is a verb.

I relaxed by taking a hot shower.

Students relax by playing video games.

We can relax after we finish studying.

Relaxing and relaxed are participial adjectives.

We had a relaxing time on vacation.

We felt so relaxed on vacation.

You can use the verbals, to relax and relaxing, as the subject or direct object in most cases.

I like to relax in the evening.

Relaxing is my favorite activity.

Relaxation is the noun form of relax.

Everyone needs some form of relaxation in their life.

Relaxation is as important as medication in treating high blood pressure.

But there are lots more fun and interesting ways to talk about relaxing.

For example, you can say that students need a little R & R (rest and relaxation).

You might also need to unwind, kick back, take a break, take it easy, have some downtime, and chill out.

And how to describe those situations that make us want to relax?

We can say that our lives are hectic, stressful, exhausting, draining, and nerve-wracking.

In these situations, we may feel stressed out, wiped out, pressured, frazzled, and wound-up.

Finally, how about some idioms that we can use to describe feeling stressed and feeling relaxed?

You can say that you feel tired as a dog, or dog-tired.

At the end of a long day, you might feel beat. Or bushed. Your work day was a real pressure cooker!

You might feel you need to take a chill pill. Or chillax. Or put your feet up.

It feels good to mellow out, let your hair down, and find your happy place.

21 Jun 2019

Too, spelled with two o’s, is a very common word in English, but one that is sometimes used incorrectly.

Using too as an adverb modifying a verb is pretty straightforward and easy. We can use it instead of also or as well.

Are you going to the movies? I’m going too.

Do you like scary movies? I like them as well.

Did you take TOEFL last week? I also took it.

Me too is frequently used to express agreement.

Speaker A: I thought that test was really hard.

Speaker B: Me too!

Using too as an adverb modifying an adjective or adverb is a bit trickier.

First of all, don’t confuse too with so. So can be used to mean really, very, or extremely.

That movie was so good! It was really amazing.

Too, on the other hand, has a negative meaning. It means to an excess.

That movie was too scary. I couldn’t even watch some of it.

That soup is too hot. I can’t drink it.

He’s driving too fast. He’s going to get stopped by the police.

She’s talking too fast. It’s hard to understand her.

We often use the phrases too much and too many. Remember that as adjectives (determiners), much is used with singular non-count nouns and many with plural nouns.

I ate too much dinner. It’s unhealthy to eat too much sugar. Those shoes cost too much money.

I had too many cookies. Fast food has too many calories. She has too many shoes.

We can also use too much as an adverb.

He slept too much. She talks too much. We have to study too much.

We can also use too much in a general, unspecific way.

Life was just too much for her. She needed a break.

Things have just been too much lately. I’m really depressed.

Way too is an informal way to intensify too.

I ate way too many chips. Our teacher gives us way too much homework. I was working way too hard.

Then, there’s too too, sometimes spelled too-too. It means going beyond the edge (over the edge, overboard) in terms of convention, acceptability, good taste, or common sense. We can use it as an adjective by itself or as an adverb modifying an adjective.

Her house is just too too. (Meaning that it might be over-decorated, too showy, too pretentious, too ornate, or over-the-top)

Her children are simply too too precious. (Depending on the tone of voice, this could mean that the speaker really thinks the children are precious (adorable, lovely, wonderful) or it could imply that although the parents think they are precious, the speaker doesn’t.)

In general, too as an adjective is a relatively weak word to use in more formal business or academic writing, so be careful not to overuse it. Good synonyms that specifically mean being to a higher degree than is desirable, permissible, or possible include:

excessively

overly

unduly

inordinately

disproportionately

29 Mar 2019

In my last article, I talked about what idioms are, and aren’t. How many idioms are there in English? Some estimate that there are 25,000!

With so many idioms, you may feel overwhelmed at the prospect of learning them … and of course, you will probably never know them all, or need to!

My suggestion for learning idioms is to take it slow and make it fun. Don’t try to memorize boring lists of idioms from a textbook or website. Go on a never-ending “idiom hunt,” keep an “idiom notebook,” use visualization, discover origins of idioms, and work on slowly incorporating idioms into your vocabulary.

First, how do you “hunt” idioms? In my opinion, the best way to find new, unfamiliar idioms is to read non-academic texts like internet articles or popular books and listen to native English speakers (either “in person” or on a podcast, in a lecture, or on a YouTube channel). Encounter idioms in their natural environment … in the places where you are likely to go. This also helps ensure that you select idioms that are currently popular.

For example, many of my students are familiar with the idiom, “raining cats and dogs.” And that is an English idiom but, in my opinion, not one that is used much in day-to-day conversation. It’s more likely an American will just say that it’s “pouring.”

Once you find an idiom, you should have a place to store it. With an “idiom notebook,” you can collect idioms to memorize and review when you get a chance. Quizlet is a good choice, but you can also use a paper notebook, a document on your computer, or anywhere else that’s convenient and accessible.

You might also want to classify the idioms you collect into categories. For example, you could have categories for idioms that express certain emotions: surprise (to jump out of your skin, to do a double take, to be struck dumb); anger (to have a cow, to see red, to get your panties in a wad); and happiness (to be on cloud nine, to be happy as a clam, to be a happy camper).

How to remember idioms? Visualization can help. For example, an idiom I used when writing to my brother today was “to ring a bell.” I asked him about the name of a person I had read about and whether that name “rang a bell” … in other words, did he remember someone who had that name? Was it familiar to him? To memorize that idiom, you might visualize a little bell in your head that starts to ring when you remember something.

It can also be fun to match an English idiom with one in your own language, or to discover the origin of an English idiom …. something that many Americans themselves don’t know. This is one very scholarly and comprehensive website, but a simple Google search will usually give you some information about an idiom’s origin. For example, to “rub someone the wrong way” (to irritate or annoy someone) comes from the reaction cats have when you rub their fur against the grain. “Getting your back up” (getting upset and ready to fight) also relates to cats, this time their tendency to arch their backs when they’re angry.

If you accept that you can never learn every idiom in English, and instead just relax and enjoy your discoveries, you’ll be a happier learner. Idioms shouldn’t cause stress but instead be a source of amusement. With persistence, you’ll slowly add idioms into your working vocabulary and have fun in the process.

25 Mar 2019

Almost every student I’ve had says something to the effect of, “I want to learn more idioms!” So, what exactly are idioms?

Idioms have three characteristics.

They are a group (or pair) of words in a specific order that doesn’t change. The speaker will include the idiom as one fixed “chunk” of language into their speech or text.
Their meaning is different from the individual words that form the phrase. In other words, you won’t be able to figure out the meaning of the idiom from the meaning of the individual words.
They are usually specific to a certain language and can’t be translated word-by-word to another language.

I’ve seen English teaching websites, even reputable ones, that confuse idioms with other types of language, such as phrasal verbs, proverbs, or popular sayings.

For example, the following question was part of an “idiom quiz” at one website.

Why can’t you _______ this problem? It’s really not that difficult.

a. figure out b. get into c. go over d. hold on to

The correct choice is a. figure out, but “figure out” is NOT an idiom; it’s a phrasal verb. The words DON’T follow a set order, because you could just as correctly say, “Why can’t you figure this problem out?”

Proverbs and popular sayings aren’t idioms because you can usually figure out what they mean from looking at the words. Also, you can often find the exact same proverb or saying in another language.

Proverbs are “wise sayings” that offer some sort of advice or express a belief that is generally thought to be true. Often, my students tell me that they have a similar proverb, or a saying that expresses a similar idea in their own language. For example,

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

There are other popular sayings that may not be quite so “wise” and thus, I wouldn’t exactly call them proverbs. Here are two saying that are frequently used in my family.

Finders keepers, losers weepers

I used this today when my son found a $10 bill outside on the curb. Since it would be impossible to find the owner (the loser of the money), my son can keep the money. It’s not a “wise” saying, because in many cases, a person could in fact, with a bit of effort, find the loser of the item, and that would be the right thing to do.

You snooze, you lose

There are four coffee drinkers in my family and one 12-cup coffee pot. So the last person up in the morning (the snoozer) ends up having to make another pot of coffee. This saying doesn’t apply just to literal sleep … it basically means you need to pay attention or you may miss a good opportunity.

Now that we know what idioms are NOT, what are some examples of common English idioms? Here are just a few of the many hundreds that we use all the time.

Keep talking … I’m all ears.

It’s time to call it a day … we’ll work on this project tomorrow.

That party was so much fun … we all had a blast.

That test was a piece of cake … I’m sure I got an A.

He’s such a couch potato … as soon as he gets home, he just grabs a snack and watches Netflix for hours.

Because there are so many idiomatic expressions in English, the task of learning them might seem almost impossible. I’ll give you some advice about that in the next article.

5 Mar 2019

Even … a four-letter English word with a ton of uses and meanings.

My student Ray asked me a few days ago if there was any difference between although and even though. And that made me think about all the ways we use this little word.

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First, even can be used as an adjective (or as an adverb with –ly) to mean flat, smooth, or level.

The highway workers are filling in holes to make the road more even.

She spoke evenly and calmly, without raising her voice.

An even-tempered person won’t get annoyed or angry easily.

Or even can mean equal or balanced.

The tennis players are an even match; I don’t know who will win.

The mother divided the cake evenly among her five children.

Another common use of even is divisible by two; the opposite of odd.

Even numbers are two, four, six, eight, and so on.

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We often use the phrasal verbs even out and even up.

Even out usually means to make something level or fair.

The workers evened out the road surface by filling in the holes and smoothing out the bumps.

My co-worker and I took turns answering the office phone. Sometimes he had to talk to difficult clients, and sometimes I did, but in the end, it evened out.

Even up is often used when something or someone reaches the same level as something or someone else.

Our basketball team was behind, but at halftime, the score had evened up.

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Even can be used to emphasize how strange or unusual something is.

Some Americans don’t even know how many states are in the U.S.

You can find McDonald’s even in remote parts of the world.

Even the best students sometimes fail a test.

Or even can be used as an intensifier for comparatives.

He is even stupider than I thought.

She was even more beautiful than he had imagined.

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How about even though and even if, which are both subordinating conjunctions?

Even though can be used in the place of although, but there is a subtle difference in meaning. Even though means despite or in spite of.

Even though it’s raining, I’m still planning to go to the park.

Despite (or in spite of) the rain, I’m still planning to go to the park.

Although is used more in “on the one hand, on the other hand” situations.

Although the text states that dinosaurs might have lived in Antarctica, the professor disagrees.

Even if means no matter whether or not something happens.

Even if it rains, I’m going to go to the park.

Notice that even though is used in a situation that is already happening (it’s raining right now), while even if is used for a possible future event (it may or may not rain in the future).

Beware!

I often hear TOEFL test-takers use even by itself when they should use even though or even if. For example:

Even the man studies tonight, he still might fail the test. (It should be even if the man studies …)

Even the woman wants to see her family, I think she should stay in her dorm and study. (It should be even though the woman wants …)

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Finally, some other common uses of even.

Even so, by itself, is a short way of saying “Even if this is so (i.e., true)”; it has the same meaning as nevertheless.

Speaker One: It’s raining right now!

Speaker Two: Even so, I’m going to take a walk.

Even now emphasizes that something is the same as it was before (maybe in surprising way).

Even now, after all these years, I think back on my grandmother’s death and feel sad.

To get even means to get revenge.

After he left his girlfriend, she was determined to get even.

To break even means that the profits of a company equal its costs.

Holiday sales helped the store to break even, despite the decrease in customers earlier that year.

A common idiomatic expression is to be even. This means that your situations are now the same, implying that there might have been a difference before.

You got an A in chemistry, and I got an A in calculus, so I guess we’re even.

He paid for the gas, and she paid for the parking, so they’re even.

Finally, there is a very trendy expression, I can’t even.

This means that something is so funny, or cute, or scary, or remarkable in some way, that there’s nothing you can say. This is an expression that’s particularly popular and common on social media.

29 Apr 2018

One of my more popular articles discusses two useful word lists, the Academic Word List (AWL) and the Fry Word List. Recently, another academic word list, the Academic Vocabulary List (AVL), has been becoming more popular with English learners and teachers.

The authors of the Academic Vocabulary List, Dee Gardner and Mark Davies, point out that, “Academic vocabulary knowledge is recognized as an indispensable component of academic reading abilities” and that “control of academic vocabulary, or the lack thereof, may be the single most important discriminator in the ‘gate-keeping’ tests of education.”

More simply put, you need to know lots of words to speak and write good English, and to pass tests such as the GMAT, GRE, and TOEFL. How many words? The average American high school student knows 75,000. They will be your colleagues if you plan on attending a U.S. college or graduate school. According to Gardner and Davies, the academic achievement gap between non-native English speakers and their peers is strongly associated with a lack of academic vocabulary.

The Academic Vocabulary List vs. the Academic Word List

Gardner and Davies have some objections to the Academic Word List (AWL) that I have recommended many times to my students.

First, the AVL is newer (2011) and based on a computer search of many more words (120 million words in 13,000 academic texts published in the U.S.). In contrast, the AWL is based on a mere 3.5 million words mainly published in New Zealand from the early 1960s to the late 1990s.

Second, the AVL uses a much different system than the AWL for grouping vocabulary words together in “word families” … one that the authors claim is better for English language learners.

Basically, the Academic Word List groups a variety of related words around single stem (headword). For example, the stem react includes reaction, reactions, reacted, reacts, reacting, reactive, reactionary, reactionaries, reactivate, reactivation, reactor, and reactors. Although these words are related, they may not share the same core meaning. In addition, the AWL does not distinguish their part of speech or how frequently each one is used. For example, among the singular nouns in this family, reaction is much more common than reactivation, reactionary, or reactor, but the AWL does not give you this information.

In contrast, the Academic Vocabulary List groups words by lemmas. Lemmas are words with a common stem (headword), related by inflection (such as -s, -ed, and -ing), and coming from the same part of speech. So, for example, the AVL would group the words apply, applies, applied, and applying. Because the AVL groups lemmas by parts of speech and then lists them in order of frequency, it is easier to identify which words are more important to learn. For instance, the noun effect is much more commonly used in English than the verb effect. The AVL not only points out that this same word, with the same spelling, actually has two parts of speech; it also distinguishes the more common word from the less frequently used.

Finally, through formatting such as italics and bold type, the AVL classifies words by where you are likely to find them: are they part of the general Academic Vocabulary List; more technical words (and in what domain, for example, medicine or law); or non-academic words included in the same word family?

How to use the Academic Vocabulary List

First of all, you will want to enter the main AVL website. Notice that you have three main options.

Once you register (see below), you can download the AVL lists as Excel files.
You can use the “online interface” (the website) to find (very!!) detailed information about each word.
You can also use the online interface to input an academic text.

The lists themselves

In order to access and download the Academic Vocabulary Lists, you need to register at the authors’ website, providing your name, email, and status (learner, teacher, etc.).

Once you have the lists, you will probably find them a little intimidating. I think the most helpful for most students is the AVL itself. This consists of 3,000 lemmas, listed in frequency order. So, for example, the top 10 words in the AVL are: study, group, system, social, provide, however, research, level, result, and include.

Also helpful, but way longer, is the Word Families list. To get the fancy color coding, you’ll need to look at the list at the website (click on Word Families). And you’ll have to figure out what the colors mean (try the Guided Tour).

Finding detailed information about words

Using the website, I can find out an awful lot about individual words. Let’s say I want to find out more about the word refine. By entering the word in the Word box and clicking on Search, I can find out its part of speech (it’s a verb), what domains it appears in (most often in science), synonyms (such as enhance and cultivate), definitions, collocates (words that are commonly used with it), and specific lines of text where refine appears. Although it takes a bit of time to figure out how all this works, it’s extremely helpful information in a relatively easy-to-use format.

Using the AVL to write better

Finally, you can input any academic text, whether it’s something you’ve written or something you need to read, here. In my example below, I entered the first few paragraphs of my previous article on the vocabulary word lists and clicked on Word. The resulting text in the right side of the screen will highlight any academic words used (this would be especially helpful if you entered an academic text that you needed to read for school). You can click on individual words to get more detailed information, such as their definition or collocates. And, most helpfully for your own writing, if you click on Phrase, you can find related, and possibly “better,” phrases. For example, rather than using the phrase potent argument, you might be directed to use powerful or convincing argument, expressions that are more common in English.

The bottom line

Because the AWL has been around longer, you are much more likely to encounter it in a variety of textbooks, websites, and teaching materials. If you are looking for online vocabulary practice exercises, just Google “Academic Word List” and you will find a plethora. If you are an intermediate-level English learner, primarily looking for an easy-to-use, well-organized word list and lots of online practice, go with the AWL.
There are good reasons for and many advantages of using the AVL. However, as a relatively new list, there are few resources except the list and website itself (and there are apparently none in the works). Of course, the website is extremely comprehensive and the authors also have the ability to update it in the future. But, in my opinion, the AVL website is intended more for academics; there’s a steep learning curve to using it successfully. It is definitely not as user-friendly as the AWL.
If you are an advanced English learner with a relatively large English vocabulary and especially if you need to read and write more advanced English texts, the AVL is an invaluable resource. It’s well worth the effort to learn to navigate the website and utilize its many features. It’s possible, though, that you might need an experienced user or a teacher familiar with the AVL to maximize its benefits.

25 Jan 2018

Numbers are one of the first things we learn in a foreign language, maybe because they play such an important role in our everyday life. And, for the same reason, there are lots of phrases with numbers that can be very useful in understanding and expressing yourself in English.

1 to 10. This is the most common way to rank various things in English. Maybe it’s the same in your country? With this scale, 1 is usually the worst and 10 the best. For example, every time my family went on vacation, I would ask my kids to rate the trip from 1 to 10, with 1 being a complete disaster (fortunately that never happened) and 10 being absolutely wonderful in every respect.

Perfect 10. I think this expression originated from the Olympic games, where some athletes such as gymnasts and ice skaters perform routines for which 10 would be a perfect score. In this case, though, it relates to people using a scale of 1 – 10 to rank other people in terms of their attractiveness. So, in the movie 10, the plot revolves around a man who falls in love with a woman he considers a perfect 10.

A dozen. Although industry and science employ the metric system in the US, most citizens are more familiar with the imperial system, which often uses 12 instead of 10 as a base (for example, there are 12 inches in a foot). Maybe for this reason, we often find items like eggs packaged in groups of 12 … that’s a dozen. A half-dozen would be six.

A baker’s dozen. Thirteen or 12 + 1. This comes from the idea that a baker might, as a sign of good will, throw in an extra donut or cookie with your order if you asked for a dozen.

Six of/to one, half a dozen of/to another (the other). This expression, which can be stated various ways, is a little weird, but it basically means “it’s all one and the same.” If you’ve paid attention, you will remember that six equals half a dozen. So maybe someone will ask you, “Do you want to eat at McDonald’s or KFC?” and you’ll answer, “It’s six to one, half a dozen to the other,” which just means that you don’t care and it’s all the same to you … one choice is six and the other choice is half a dozen.

Zero. This can be used as a noun to mean something or someone that is a nothing, a nonentity, or a complete failure. For example, “This day has been a complete zero. I haven’t accomplished anything.” Or, as my former supervisor used to say if a student didn’t like me, “To some folks, you’re a hero and to others, you’re a zero.”

50/50. Lots of times we use probabilities or percentages to express our ideas. If you are 50/50 about something, that means you aren’t sure what you think. Someone might say, “I’m 100% in favor of going out to the movies,” and you might say, “I dunno. I’m 50/50. I’d like to go, but it’s raining and it might be more fun to stay home and watch Netflix.”

The odds are … In the same way, we often refer to betting expressions. This would mean the same as saying, “the chances are …” For example, “the odds are in his favor for getting that new job.” On the other hand, if the odds are nil, his chances are zero.

One in a … This is a common expression to talk about something or someone that’s quite rare or very special. The higher the number, the more special or unusual the thing is, so the most common expression is probably “one in a million.”

Zillion, gazillion. In English, real very big numbers include million, billion, and trillion. But we often use the fictional, made-up numbers zillion or gazillion to describe a very large number of things. For example, I have a zillion things to do before we go on vacation. Or, I’ve already told you a gazillion times that I don’t want to give a speech in public.

Umpteen. Like zillion and gazillion, umpteen is a made-up number that is often used humorously to describe how many times something has to be or has been done. Unlike the real numbers thirteen through nineteen, umpteen describes some number larger than all of them. For example, he reassured her for the umpteenth time that she didn’t look fat in that dress. Or, he told me umpteen times how to fix my computer problem but I still didn’t understand.

I’ve got your number. A common idiom in English, this means that you’ve figured someone out and they can’t fool you. We might also say, “I’ve got my eye on you,” or “I know what you’re up to.” You’ve seen through this person’s tricks and strategies and you have figured out their real intention.

23 Apr 2017

Most students understand the difference between these basic words. To give is active (that is, the action is performed by someone or something). Someone can give you a present. To get is passive (that is, the action is received by someone or something). You get presents on your birthday. But there are other active/passive word pairs that are more confusing and often give students problems. You will become more fluent if you understand these differences and use the correct words.

Teach/learn

To teach is active. A teacher teaches you English. To learn is passive. You learn English from your teacher. Some common phrases using these words include:

To teach a subject (or a class, or a course)

To teach someone how to do something (The father is teaching his son how to swim.)

To learn how to do something (The son is learning how to swim.)

To learn a lesson (This also has an idiomatic meaning that you learn something from a bad experience, or “the hard way.” For example, he sure learned a lesson the hard way from his car accident. I bet he won’t drive so fast in the future.)

Lend/borrow

To lend is active. You lend some money to a friend. To borrow is passive. Your friend borrows some money from you. Notice that lending and borrowing are a bit different than giving and getting. To lend and borrow have a temporary sense. If you lend money, you expect to get paid back. If you borrow money, you plan to give it back. Here are some examples:

The library lends books.

You borrow books from the library.

The bank lends money. It issues loans.

You borrow money from a bank.

The bank and the library are lenders. They are making a loan. You are the borrower.

Pay/cost

To pay is active. You pay money for something. You pay $400 for a new cell phone. To cost is passive. The cell phone costs $400.

As a verb, to pay has a more specific meaning than to cost. Pay almost always involves money or a debt of some kind. For example: I have to pay for gas and electricity along with my rent. But many things can cost something. For example: To learn better English costs time, effort, and energy.

Cost can also be used as a noun. For example: The cost of tuition is rising rapidly at that university. However, price is a better choice when you’re using it for something that has a specific monetary cost. For example: I’m comparing the prices of these two phones. I think I’ll choose the one with the lower price.

Donate/receive

These words have the same sense as give/get, but they are Tier Two words and can help you sound like a higher-lever speaker.

To donate conveys a sense of generosity and service. For example, people donate money to a charity, time to a volunteer organization, and blood to hospital patients. The people and organizations who receive the money, volunteer service, or blood are called recipients. To receive simply means to get, but since it’s a higher level word, it’s good to use it on tests of English proficiency or in academic writing. It sounds better to say, This research received much attention from the scientific community, rather than This research got a lot of attention …

If you can think of other word pairs that have an active/passive meaning, please comment below!

5 Apr 2017

When you first started learning English, you were probably introduced to different “parts of speech.” These are classes of words, like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Each of these classes performs different functions in a sentence.

In English, many words stay the same … they can be used as several parts of speech without changing their form. For example, in “Do you need some help?” the word help is a noun. In “Can I help you?” help is a verb. The form of help stays the same.

But this is certainly not always the case. And if you get the word form wrong, it will hurt your fluency. It’s like wearing a pair of jeans, but wearing the wrong size. You are dressed appropriately … you’re wearing jeans, but everyone notices that they don’t fit. Using the wrong word form is like having the right word, but not having it fit.

For example, if you’re taking TOEFL and you say, “Animals survival by hunting prey,” or “This choice is the most convenience,” you’re using the wrong form of the right word. It should be, “Animals survive by hunting prey,” and “This choice is the most convenient.”

So how do you learn the proper word forms?

First, be sure you really understand what functions a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb perform. Diagramming is a super-effective way to master this. When I teach, I often give students practice where I remove a word from a sentence and have them guess what kind of word goes in the blank. For example, if I say “the — is late today,” you know that a noun goes in the blank. If I say, “He — very well yesterday,” you’ll guess that a verb is missing. You can do the same thing when you study alone by taking simple sentences and identifying the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Second, when you study vocabulary, be sure to include different forms of the word. The Academic Word List makes this really easy, because each of the headwords includes the whole word family. So if you learn the verb analyze, you should also master two noun forms, analysis (the process of analyzing) and analyst (someone who does the analysis). Perhaps you’ll also want to include the adjective analytical and the adverb analytically. If you do this, your vocabulary will expand exponentially. You’ll get way more “bang for your buck,” because instead of just learning one use of a particular word, you’ll be able to use it in multiple ways.

Finally, focus on commonly misused pairs (or triplets) of words. For example, the verb produce and the noun product are commonly mistaken. If possible, make a mental picture of these words, rather than translating into your own language. For example, when learning produce, picture an Apple factory with thousands of workers carefully assembling iPhones. The factory is producing iPhones. When learning product, picture an Apple store offering a wide variety of items. The store sells lots of Apple products.