執筆者 Modern English | 2015年02月14日 | Phrases
“Ever since lightning hit the tree in the yard, rainy weather makes me nervous.” “Ever since I fell off a horse as a child, I’ve been afraid of them.” We use “ever since” to show that something started at a certain point in the past and has been going on a relatively...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年02月07日 | Phrases
“I’m really nervous about the play. I don’t want to let everyone down!” “Is the rope tied on properly? Okay, let him down slowly.” To let someone down can be literally to allow them to go lower in physical space. But it often means “to disappoint someone”. If...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年01月31日 | Phrases
“I know you like motorcycles, but your hobby is getting out of hand. I can barely fit the car in the garage with all these motorcycle parts.” If something is “well in hand” it’s under control. If it’s out of hand, it is out of...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年01月24日 | Phrases
“Then look through the window on the oven door to see if it’s done.” “How can you tell if it’s done?” “I have lived with dogs my whole life, so I can tell how they feel from their body language.” “Tell” usually means to give information by speaking, but it can also...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年01月17日 | Phrases
“In spite of the difficult conditions, she carried on and made it to the top of the mountain.” “In spite of” is followed by a noun phrase to show that something made it difficult or unlikely for the rest of the sentence to happen. “In spite of the bad weather, the...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年01月10日 | Phrases
“Hmm, no answer. I guess he’s not home.” “Did he get my email?” “I guess so. He didn’t say anything.” When you guess the answer to a question, you choose an answer even though you don’t know the correct answer. We also use “I guess” when we aren’t confident that...
