執筆者 Modern English | 2014年08月30日 | Phrases
“Pick up some olive oil at the store. We don’t want to run out!” “I was making cookies for the bake sale but I ran out of flour.” “I went to the store to get bananas, but they were all out.” When we use up (or sell) the entire supply of something, we say we run out of...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年08月23日 | Phrases
John: Would you care to dance? Marcia: I’d love to. This is a polite way to ask if someone wants to do something. It’s very similar to last week’s phrase (“Would you care for some tea?”) but it end with a verb instead of a noun. An action is being offered, not an...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年08月09日 | Phrases
“Would you care for some tea?” “Yes, thank you.” “Care” has many meanings. Here it is the same as “Would you like some tea?” It is a polite way to ask someone if they want something. We don’t want our guest to feel like they have to drink tea if they don’t want to....
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年08月02日 | Phrases
“Hi, I’m Sam.” “Isn’t that a boy’s name?” “It’s short for Samantha.” When a word or phrase is too long, we can abbreviate it or make it shorter. Then we say the shortened version is “short for” the longer version. Do you know what “DNA” is short for? What is short for...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年07月26日 | Phrases
“I see you couldn’t be bothered to put your dishes in the sink when you were done. Well, I can’t be bothered to make lunch for people who don’t clean up after themselves.” We usually use “can’t be bothered” when we are criticizing someone for being too lazy to do...
