160106 make or do

  • “make” usually means to create sth. didn’t exist before. “do” usually means to complete tasks that already exist.
  • make：coffee, tea, offer, suggestion, promise, mistake, complaint, sound, noise, discovery, money, profit, loss, investment, bet, fortune
  • do：homework, test, experiment, interview, course, shopping, dishes, ironing, well, badly, good, bad, sb’s best/worst
  • exceptions：do business, make my bed(整理床铺), do drawing, do hair(梳头), do make-up(化妆)

160119 -ed pronunciation

  • /id/：t+ed (wanted), d+ed (needed)
  • /t/：p+ed (helped), k+ed (asked), f+ed (sniffed), gh+ed (laughed), sh+ed (washed), ch+ed (watched), ss+ed (kissed), c+ed (danced), x+ed (fixed), ed前一个音都是声带不振动的音
  • /d/：l+ed (called), n+ed (cleaned), r+ed (offered), g+ed (damaged), v+ed (loved), th+ed (breathed), s+ed (used), w+ed (followed), y+ed (enjoyed), z+ed (amazed), ed前一个音都是声带振动的音，对比 laughed 和 loved 可以感受到声带振动的区别

160128 in or on or at - preps of time

  • at + specific time：at 3 o’clock, at sunrise, at noon, at bedtime, at night, at present, at the same time, at the moment, at the weekend(UK), at Christmas(没有 Day)
  • in + longer peroids of time：in July, in 1990, in summar, in the future, in the past, in the morning, in the afternoon(night 和 noon 要用 at，算是例外)
  • on + specific dates/days：on Monday, on birthday, on Christmas Day, on the 10th of June
  • in/on can be replaced by this/next/last/every：this Sunday, last month

160201 much or many or lots of(a lot of)

  • “much” is followed by uncountable nouns, usually used in negative form and interrogative form. e.g. “I don’t have much water. / Do you have much homework?”
  • “many” is followed by countable nouns. e.g. “I have two apples.”
  • “lots of” is followed by both uncountable and countable nouns. Because “much” is too formal, “lots of” is more frequently used in affirmative form. e.g. “I have lots of water.”

160218 5 common British Expression

  • “all right” is used to greet someone at the same time as asking if they are well. e.g. “All right, John?””Not bad thanks, and you?”
  • “I’m easy” is used to say that you do not mind which choice is made. e.g. “Shall we go to the Indian restaurant, or would you prefer Chinese food?””I’m easy.”
  • “be on about”, If you ask someone what they are on about, you are asking that person, often in a slightly annoyed way, what they mean. e.g. “what’s he on about?”
  • “Bob’s your uncle” is used to mean that something will happen very quickly and simply. e.g. “Just tell them you’re a friend of mine and, Bob’s your uncle, you’ll get the job.”
  • “easy-peasy” means very easy, is an informal or child’s word. 朋友之间吹牛开玩笑时可以用

160601 a vlog

  • “swallow sb’s pride” means to decide to do something although it will make sb feel embarrassed or ashamed. e.g. “He was forced to swallow his pride and ask if he could have his old job back.”
  • “bank holiday” is an official holiday when banks and most businesses are closed for a day.

160604 cloud idioms

  • “rain cats and dogs” means to rain very heavily. e.g. “Don’t forget to take your umbrella. It’s raining cats and dogs out there.”
  • “every cloud has a silver lining” used to emphasize that every difficult or unpleasant situation has some advantage. 塞翁失马焉知非福
  • “every silver lining has a cloud” has the opposite, negative meaning.
  • “have sb’s head in the clouds” means 异想天开，有不切实际的想法，想屁吃
  • “be on cloud nine” means to be extremely happy and excited.

160616 some definitions of get

  • means to obtain. e.g. He climbed over the fence to get his ball back.
  • means to become. e.g. Your coffee is getting cold.
  • means to be ill. e.g. Everyone seems to be getting the flu.
  • means to cause. e.g. I can’t get this printer to work!
  • means to move. e.g. Get out of here!
  • means to arrive. e.g. What time does he normally get home from work?
  • means to understand. e.g. I think I got the general idea of the chapter.

160617 5 common British Expression

  • “bits and bobs” means small things or jobs of different types. e.g. “what did you get fot Christmas?” “oh, just bits and bobs really.”
  • “gobsmacked” means so surprised that you cannot speak. 目瞪口呆，没有特定的情绪，可以是惊喜也可以是惊吓 e.g. He was completely gobsmacked when he won the award.
  • “lose the plot” means to no longer be able to act normally. 行为怪异莫名其妙 e.g. I can’t believe Stuart did that, he must be losing the plot.
  • “take the piss (out of) sb” means to make a joke about someone. e.g. They’re always taking the piss out of him.
  • “pass sth with flying colors” means to be very successful in a test. e.g. Lucy passed her university exams with flying colors.

160623 to vs. for

  • “to” followed by verb, “for” followed by noun. 配合 to 使用的动词往往动作性、方向性比较强，如 give、go、sell，配合 for 使用的动词目的性相对更强，如 wait、ask、work

160625 5 common British Expression

  • “a piece of cake” means sth that is very easy to do. e.g. The exam was a piece of cake.
  • “break a leg” used for wishing someone good luck, especially before a performance.
  • “cost an arm and a leg” means to be extremely expensive. e.g. I’d love to buy a Porsche, but they cost an arm and a leg.
  • “pop sb’s clogs” means to die. 委婉的说法 e.g. I think I’ll leave all my money to charity when I pop my clogs.
  • “call it a day” means to stop what you are doing because you do not want to do any more or think you have done enough. e.g. You’ve been studying hard. I think you should call it a day.

160729 5 idioms

  • “not be sb’s cup of tea” means not the type of thing of that sb like. e.g. Thanks for inviting me, but ballet isn’t really my cup of tea.
  • “beat around the bush” means to avoid talking about what is important. e.g. Don’t beat around the bush - get to the point!
  • “move the goalposts” means to change the rules while someone is trying to do something in order to make it more difficult for them. e.g. We’d almost signed the contract when the other guys moved the goalposts and said they wanted more money.
  • “be (as) good as gold” means to behave very well. e.g. She’s been as good as gold all morning.

160924 how to ask for a favour

  • can I ask a favour?
  • could you do me a favour?
  • could you possibly do me a favour?
  • could I ask you to do me a favour?
  • I was wondering if I could ask you to do me a favour?
  • could you do me a really big favour?
  • could you do me a massive favour?
  • could you do me a huge favour?
  • how to thank them :
    • you’re a lifesaver!
    • I really owe you one!
    • I owe you big time!
    • I owe you a drink!

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no gain

160109, 160114, 160315, 160630, 160707, 160710, 160711, 160713, 160725, 160802, 160804, 160810, 160916, 160917, 160927, 161010, 161014, 161017, 161019, 161022, 161024, 161027,