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Monday, September 20, 2010
- Hardly any other verb in English has so many usages as the verb ‘get’. It’s used in a variety of ways in spoken English and many students get confused about when and how to use it. The verb ‘get’ often sets a rather informal tone to a conversation, but is also quite common in writing.
Look at the sample sentences below and learn the most common meanings of the verb ‘get’. Practice substituting the blanks with the words/phrases in the brackets and think of possible responses to each of the sentences.
1. How do I get (arrive at) to _______ from here? (Yonge Street, the pharmacy, the kids’ apparel department)
2. Could you please do me a favor and get (go and bring) me _______? (a cup of coffee, my glasses from the office, the remote control)
3. I have to get (start doing something) _________ (going, cooking, calling people).
4. Where did you get (obtain) this _______? (toy, dress, information)
5. I got (bought) you this nice ______. (watch, flower pot, hat)
6. She got (received) ______. (an email, an invitation, a present)
7. It’s getting (becoming) ______. (dark, colder, noisy)
8. Could you get (answer) ______ (the door, the phone) please?
9. How can I get (make) ________ (my hair grow faster/my son eat his vegetables/my boss listen to me)?
10. There are many fixed expressions with ‘get’:
get rid of
get married
get lost
get dressed/undressed
get sick/a cold/the flu
get hired/fired
get ready
get a ticket/a fine (e.g.: for speeding)
get a raise (salary increase)
POSTED BY Olga Galperin AT 6:03 PM
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Wednesday, September 01, 2010
- These two words are confused on a fairly regular basis by ESL students.
Lose (past - lost, past participle - lost) is a verb. If you lose something, you fail to keep it. People routinely lose money, keys, documents, glasses etc.
More examples:
Initially, Jimmy started to go swimming because he wanted to lose weight. He enjoyed swimming very much and eventually decided to become a lifeguard. In his opinion, there are too many people who lose their lives in drowning incidents. As a lifeguard, he’s trained to help people who lose their consciousness or balance while in the water.
Additional examples:
‘lose control’ - The driver lost control of the car and crashed into the building.
‘lose temper’ - Teenagers sometimes lose temper and start yelling at their parents.
‘lose a job’ - Many people lost jobs during the last recession
‘lose hair’ - Peter is getting bald. He may be losing hair due to a lot of stress he has been through lately.
- Also, you you don’t win, you lose (in competitions, games, matches and wars).
After the injury, she lost to her opponent 4-6.
The ‘s’ in the verb ‘lose’ sounds as ‘z’. ‘Lose’ rhymes with ‘shoes’ and ‘whose’.
‘Loose’ is usually used as an adjective. It means ‘not tight’, or ‘not restrained’.
Examples:
My six-year-old niece likes to wear her hair loose - falling down on her shoulders - no braids or pony tails! She doesn’t like tight clothes - only loose T-shirts. She has 3 loose teeth - they’ve been wiggly for a while. When she finally loses them, she’ll put them under the pillow so that a toothfairy can visit her. And yes.. she likes to fidget in her chair. All 4 legs in her chair are wobbly - they have loose screws and need tightening. She’s a real angel!
More examples:
‘loose rocks’ - They built a fence to prevent loose rocks from falling down the mountain.
‘loose pages’ - The wind blew the notebook open and all the loose pages flew across the room.
‘loose ends’ - Don’t wear clothing with loose ends (i.e.: loose sleeves) - these can get caught in the factory machines.
‘break loose’ - The dog saw a squirrel and broke loose from the leash.
The ‘s’ in ‘loose’ sounds as ‘s’. It rhymes with ‘goose’ and ‘juice’.
POSTED BY Olga Galperin AT 12:15 AM
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