BLOG

Hello everybody!

Have a look at the following dialogue:

A: Is there a beamer in the office?

B: Excuse me?

A: You know, a beamer for the presentation. So we can look at it on the screen.

B: Oh! You mean a projector!

This is what we call a “false friend”.

The German word for projector is “Beamer”.

The word “beamer” does exist in English, but it has a completely different meaning:

beamer (noun)

Definition:

slang for a BMW car

Example:

A: What would you do if you won the lotto?

B: I would buy a new car – probably a beamer.

Here are more examples of German false friends:

I hope you found this post useful, and don’t forget, watch out for false friends!

All the best,

Derek

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog!

Can you match the idioms (1-4) to the correct meanings (a-d) below? You can find the answers at the bottom of this post.

1.) bring someone up to speed

I missed yesterday’s meeting. Could you please bring me up to speed on the new advertising campaign.

2.) on the same wavelength

The team members were all on the same wavelength, so they were able to finish their project quickly.

3.) pull your weight

The other team members were not happy with Gary because he wasn’t pulling his weight.

4.) can’t make head or tail of it

Who wrote this report? I can’t make head or tail of it!

a) to think in a similar way to others

b) when you can’t understand something

c) to do the things that you should be doing as part of a group of people who are working together

d) having the latest information about something

I hope you enjoyed this exercise.

All the best,
Derek

ps. Do you know any idioms? Why not leave a comment and tell us about it/them?

Hello everybody!

Let’s have a look at “supposed to”

It’s quite similar to “should” but there is a difference. Look at the following examples:

1. I should go to the meeting tomorrow. 
2. I’m supposed to go to the meeting tomorrow.

Number 1 – I think it’s important to go to the meeting – maybe I will learn new and important things at the meeting.

Number 2 – Someone else thinks it’s important for me to go to the meeting – maybe my boss wants me to be there but I’m not interested.

supposed to always means:

someone else thinks you should do something

More examples:
We are supposed to be there at 8am. (someone else arranged this time)

I was supposed to finish the report by Friday morning. (someone else gave me this deadline, I didn’t finish the report because I was too busy or maybe even too lazy!)

You are not supposed to have access to this program. (someone else decided that I should not have access to this program)

I hope you found this useful.

Can you use “supposed to” in a sentence? Feel free to leave a comment.

All the best,
Derek

Hello everybody,

It’s phrasal verb time again, but what exactly are phrasal verbs?

They are 2-3 word idiomatic phrases which are often used by native speakers.

Have a look at these two common business phrasal verbs:

fall through

Definition:
to fail or stop in a sudden or final way

Example sentences:
I’m afraid our plans to open a new store have fallen through.
The sale of the company fell through.

to fill in for somebody

Definition:
to take the place of (someone who is away for a time)

Example sentences:
Susan is ill today. Can you fill in for her?
Thank you for filling in for me while I was away.
Maybe I can help you, I’m filling in for Mr Daniels this week.

Can you create your own sentences using this vocabulary? Why not try it out?

All the best,

Derek

Hello everyone!

In my last post, Number 47: Common Responses, we looked at typical short responses in English.

I have created another set on Quizlet for you to try out – see below.

How does it work?

Click on the flashcard to see the correct expression on the other side. When you have spent some time learning the responses, choose a study mode at the bottom right for more fun learning options – “scatter” is my personal favourite!

I hope you find it useful.

All the best and have a great weekend wherever you are!

Derek