Phrases

Idiom of the Day: Tired of

Average: 5 (1 vote)

Tired of idiom

This joke is based on the meaning of the word insomnia and the idiom tired of:

Insomnia (in-SOM-ne-ah) is a common sleep problem. People who have insomnia have trouble falling asleep at night. As a result, they get too little sleep or have poor-quality sleep.

Phrasal Verbs: Arguments

Average: 4 (3 votes)

Basically, a phrasal verb is a combination of a verb with at least one other word. These can be a verb and an adverb, a verb and a preposition, or even a verb with an adverb and a preposition.

Example: "John flew off the handle." Which means that John became very angry.

Phrasal Verbs

1. grow up - behave responsibly; behave as an adult, not a child.

Body Idioms

Average: 4.5 (2 votes)

An idiom is a phrase (a group of words) which means something different from the meanings of the separate words. "Sally let the cat out of the bag" does not mean that Sally took a real cat out of a real bag. It means that she told a secret by mistake.

How well do you know the folllowing idioms?

Business English Idioms

Average: 4.7 (7 votes)

Are any of you studying English for business purposes? Idioms are really common in the workplace and can be heard everywhere, in offices or on factory floors. Here are seven of the most common.

Business before pleasure - you should finish your work before starting to relax and enjoy yourself.

A done deal - a final decision or agreement.

Word Order: Adjectives

Average: 4.4 (5 votes)

Rules:

Do you know where to put the adjective in a sentence? Follow these simple rules to help you remember:

1. The adjective comes before the noun.
e.g. I live in a small house.
I have a blue umbrella.

2. The adjective comes after the verb to be.
e.g. I am very tired.
Careful, the food is hot!

Idiom: Not Float Someone's Boat

Average: 4 (5 votes)

mammoth

If something does not float your boat, you do not enjoy it or want it. When something floats your boat, you like it.

Example Sentences:

"The idea of playing football on a cold winter morning doesn't float my boat."

"Reading books doesn't really float my boat."

English Slang Words

Average: 4.2 (13 votes)

Sometimes you may find yourself hearing words in the street that you haven't seen in your English text books before.

Confusingly, you may only hear these words in one country! In fact, slang can be specific to a country, a town or even a specific group of people.

Below are some of the most common slang words or expressions that you may hear in an English speaking country.

Just put the word/words into the sentence you think they might belong to.

Beginner Level: Common Questions

Average: 3.8 (4 votes)

Can you remember how to ask these questions? In each question there is one missing word. For example:

"___is your favourite teacher?"

The missing word is who.

Only use one word for each question and use the present simple.

If you have time, tell us your answers to these questions!

Lesson by Caroline Devane

Beginner Level: Waiter or Customer?

Average: 4 (7 votes)

Students - in each sentence do you know who is talking, the waiter or the customer?

For example: 'Would you like fries with that?' is something that the waiter would ask.

When you have answered the questions, tell us what your favourite restaurant is, and your favourite food!

Good luck! PS: Two of the sentences have different words but the same meaning- we say one in American English and one in British English. Which two sentences have the same meaning?

Lesson by Caroline

Police interview: Question words

Average: 4.9 (7 votes)

How much do you remember about the 'wh' question words? This lesson shows a conversation between a police officer and a suspect of a crime. The police officer is asking the suspect a lot of questions to try and get information that will help them to solve the crime.

Read through the text and try to complete the gaps with the missing 'wh' word.

The words you will need are: what, who, when, why, which, how, where

Do you think the suspect is innocent or guilty?