English Phrases

Imagine the situation. You’re at a concert and the fans are waiting for the singer to come onto the stage. When the singer finally arrives on stage, how do the fans react? Or you want to describe an older man who’s gradually losing his hair, or someone whose hair is no longer black or brown…… Read More

What do British English speakers really say when they greet people they don’t know? Here are some common ways we talk and greet each other. (They’re so common I heard them all in the space of an hour in my local town!) Warning – You probably won’t find these in any text book! Darling “Sorry

It’s difficult to make a comment about a past action or situation in English, as often you need to use complex grammar. By the time you remember the structure and the rule, and then think about your reply, the conversation has moved on. But there is an easier way. Here are some “fixed phrases” that

English speakers aren’t always direct. For example, we don’t just say what we want and hope that people will agree. Instead, we often use an introductory phrase to get people to agree with an idea or feeling first – before asking for what we want. In this post, I’ve got two native-speaker phrases for you

English has a range of swear words. Some are unlikely to offend other people, while others are much stronger and more likely to upset people. If you spend any time at all in an English-speaking country, or if you watch English films, etc; you’re going to hear swear words. In this blog post, I’ve got

You can use “get” + adjective to describe a type of change. When you use it this way, it can mean “become”. Use “get” + adjective instead of using a reflexive pronoun. For example, say “get involved” rather than “involve myself”. This will make you sound more natural when you speak English. Here are some

Prepositions cause a lot of problems for learners of English. It’s not always obvious which preposition you should use in an expression – and very often the preposition you’d use in your language is NOT the same in English. So in this blog post, I’ve divided some common English phrases with “in” into categories to

Do you always use “very” or “a little” with adjectives? If you do, you’re missing an opportunity to speak more natural English. In fact, native speakers have a huge range of adverbs of degree – both informal and formal – to use in different situations. Some of these can be used with lots of adjectives,

Often, we use the word “mad” not to mean mentally ill, but when we think something (or someone) is a little unbalanced. We also use it to comment on things that we don’t understand or which seem illogical to us. “Mad” is often used informally and in spoken English. barking (barking mad) Dogs bark at

English is full of little phrases that you hear a lot when people speak- but, these phrases aren’t usually taught in textbooks. Here are a few with “Half”. When you use them, you’ll sound more natural and more like a native speaker. half-way there If you are “half-way there” it means that you are on