Hello, everybody.

Hoje eu falo sobre palavrinhas em inglês chamadas interjections - super comuns e bacanas. Não deixe de conferir!


Transcrição
Hello, everybody. You're listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast, and today I'm talking about interjections.

Please download our Android app and leave a comment about this podcast at the iTunes store. Thank you very much and enjoy the podcast!

So, you know those little words or phrases that we use... generally at the beginning of a sentence, to express some kind of emotion? Like Wow, what a nice house! Or Ugh... That sucks. So wow and ugh are what we call interjections. We have them in Portuguese as well, obviously, and in every language, probably.

Let's go through a few today. If someone throws something at you all of a sudden and it hurts, you'll say Ouch! You can also say the shorter version Ow! That's quite common. Not "Ai!" though... That's what we say in Brazil and it doesn't work in English.

Here's one I say all the time - very respectfully: Jesus! That, to me, expresses surprise or astonishment. There's also a shorter, more popular version of that - Jeez! Another one of my favourites is Whoa. I say that a lot, when I'm totally caught by surprise by something or someone. For example, "Whoa. You don't like chocolate! Are you serious?"

And here's one we say to agree with what somebody else just said: Amen! Your friend says "I'm so relieved the company's given us Monday off to watch the Big Brother final" and you say "Amen to that". Or, your brother says "Thank goodness we didn't go to the beach today. The weather was awful" and you agree: Amen!

And how about this one - aww... That's when you think something or someone is cute, adorable, sweet and so on. That's a very frequent one, and... mostly used by the ladies. If you're used to watching American TV shows and films, no doubt you've heard that one a lot. Let's say your friend shows you a picture of her new puppy dog, who's obviously super cute. You go "Aww..." That's pretty much it.

And here's one that expresses fear, or a bit of surprise, but with a negative connotation: Yikes! Let's say your coworker Danny is telling you how, on the way back from his holiday, he got a flat tire and he and his family had to spend the night in a hotel room with cockroaches crawling all over the floor. Yikes!... That is a very suitable reaction to this story. Yikes...

There are so many others that we hear all the time. Goodness! Oh my gosh. Bingo!... when someone gets something right or is spot on. Alright! Anyways... All these little words - can you remember a few? Let me know your examples in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

Interjections

Vocabulary

is spot on = está precisamente correto (no que disse)

Como falo em inglês: Ai, que dor!

Aprenda os idioms e phrasal verbs mais comuns do inglês toda semana em menos de cinco minutos, com as explicações super fáceis de entender da Ana Luiza do site Inglês Online. Tudo que você ouvir nos episódios é usado no inglês de todo dia. Nível de compreensão recomendado: intermediário e acima.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Language Learning

Hi. What’s up? No episódio de hoje eu falo sobre doing everything in your power, se você quiser dizer doing everything I can com um pouco mais de vigor.
Transcrição
Hello, everyone. How's it going? We're starting now a new episode of the Inglês online podcast. That's right. We're back!

Let's get right into it, because on this podcast... We do not waste time. We go right into the expressions and here's our idiom for today: everything in my power, everything in his power.

It's quite a simple one to understand, but in Portuguese - or in Brazil, anyway - we say it... We don't really say it this way. We wouldn't translated (it) literally to Brazilian Portuguese this way, and I believe even European Portuguese. Everything in my power: that means "everything I can". I will do everything in my power to make this or that happen. That means simply "I will do everything I can" - but if you use everything in my power, that shows you have a bit more vocabulary, a bit more English vocabulary than just "I will do everything I can".

Let me give you an example. Let's say Jane has seen a doctor... and the doctor had a serious heart-to-heart with Jane, and said: Jane, you need to lose some weight... because your excess weight is creating this and that health risk. You're in a worse shape now than you were, let's say, three years ago. You have to take care of yourself and get yourself back into shape.

What does Jane do for the next two months? She does everything in her power to lose a bit of weight. She starts exercising regularly... Ok, she starts walking, all right? That's exercise too! She starts walking around the neighborhood before she goes to work, she learns how to cook better recipes... More nutritious recipes that are still delicious - she enjoys what she's eating but now she's eating more nutritious food, which means she is satisfied with less, I guess.

She cuts excess bread from her diet, she starts eating less pasta and more, let's say, tuna. She looks up healthy recipes online, she starts watching TV shows, she learns a little bit about nutrition - the basics of nutrition. In other words, she's doing everything in her power, everything she can, everything she has the ability to do. She's doing everything in her power to go back to a healthy diet.

Another example would be if... Let's say, you're a guy and your sister is having a birthday party in three months and she really wants to waltz. You know, waltz? It's a musical style. She wants to learn how to waltz. And your sister... She doesn't have a husband or a boyfriend. She asks you - you're her brother - she asks you Can you dance with me at my birthday party? I really want to dance to waltz. That's my wish. You don't even have to give me a birthday gift, seriously! Your gift to me will be: you dance with me.

You and your sister do everything in your power to become better dancers: you watch videos online, you practice every day, you even consider hiring an instructor... But then you find online classes that are pretty good and you don't hire the instructor. But you are really doing everything in your power to become a better dancer. You're doing everything you can.

Tell me: everyone can tell a story about this. Years and years ago I did everything in my power to improve Inglês Online when we were just... when I was just starting the website and people started asking me for help to learn English. I did everything in my power: I did research, I talked to other people, I wrote tips, I did videos.

What is it in your life that you did everything in your power to accomplish? Let me know and talk to you soon. Bye.

Key expressions

 	* Everything in my/your/his/etc power

Vocabulary

have a heart-to-heart with someone = ter uma conversa franca com alguém

lose some weight = perder peso,

Podcast: Tudo que estiver ao seu alcance

How's it going? No episódio de hoje eu falo sobre o idiom keep your fingers crossed.
Transcrição
Hi. How are you? This is Ana, back with a new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Hope all is well. What's the weather like in Brazil? I think it's getting cold in Brazil, isn't it?

Today I came across this really, really cool idiom, which is keep your fingers crossed. Keep your fingers crossed. Open your hand and look at your fingers: you have your thumb... Let's say your thumb is the first finger to the left, and then the next two fingers, if you sort of intertwined them... That's your fingers crossed. Cross your fingers and keep your fingers crossed, because... Let's say, tomorrow I have my English exam and I've studied so hard, and I'm hoping (that) I'm going to do really well. Please keep your fingers crossed. I have to get a good grade on my English exam.

That's basically what keep your fingers crossed means. It's like a lucky... It's as though if people keep their fingers crossed for you, that is somehow going to help you. I guess that's a symbol of their good wishes or maybe good vibes, I don't know... But people say to each other "I'm trying to do this thing tomorrow that I really want to be successful. Keep your fingers crossed".

I did a search on the Inglês Online blog and then I found this old article that I wrote with two idioms. One is "high five" and the other one is "keep your fingers crossed". Actually I had already written about it!... but it doesn't have any audio.

Here are some of the examples I included in this article (and you're going to find the link at the bottom of the podcast episode page). One example was Jane said "I have a job interview tomorrow finally". And then her friend Tom says That's awesome. Do you feel ready? And she says I've been practicing my interview skills or questions. And Tom says Great, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Another example that I used in the article was about Mary saying that her driving test is tomorrow and then she says Fingers crossed! After all, she has failed the exam three times already. Hey third time's a charm! Fingers crossed. "Please root for me"... Which is a bit funny - it is a funny thing to say, because I don't know what crossing your fingers will do for the outcome of the situation that you're going to go through.

I haven't really looked into the origin of this idiom, but I bet it's pretty interesting. If you know what the origin of this is... If you know why people say "fingers crossed", "Please keep your fingers crossed for me"... If you know why they say that and why it means that maybe there's a bigger chance of what you're going to do being successful, let me know.

Tell me: What is the last time that you asked someone to keep their fingers crossed, maybe in Brazil... Using, obviously, a Brazilian expression? Can you let me know? Can you give me an example?

Let me know and talk to you next time.

Article: Keep your fingers crossed

Key expressions

 	* Keep your fingers crossed

Vocabulary

intertwined = entrelaçou

third time's a charm = Agora vai, da terceira não passa

root for me = torça por mim

outcome of the situation = resultado/desfecho/consequência da situação

Podcast: Keep your fingers crossed

Hey, you! No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre o idiom let alone, que é suuuuper comum na língua inglesa. Ouvindo os vários exemplos do pod, você vai se familiarizar bastante com esta expressão e chegar bem mais perto do ponto onde é só abrir a boca que as palavras saem (se é que você já não está lá). Ouça, re-ouça e depois deixe seu exemplo nos comentários. Abraço - Ana!
Transcrição
Hello, what's up? How are you doing? What did you have for lunch? How did you sleep last night?

Anyway, welcome to a new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Today I have a really good expression for you. It's a phrase... very, very common. And if you're a listener of, of other podcasts, if you watch a lot of American TV or British TV, if you're into movies and TV shows I guarantee you have already heard this expression before. But- is it rolling off your tongue? Is it something that comes to your mind when you want to express that idea? That's the big question. I'm going to give you many examples today.

This phrase is let alone. Does it ring a bell? Sound familiar? Picture this: there's this little guy, Tommy, who's in school and his mother is talking about him, let's say to the neighbor. Tommy's mother says: Tommy never eats fruit, let alone vegetables.

He never eats fruit, let alone vegetables. Now, what is being said here? The first piece is Tommy never eats fruit, never! He never does it. Now, most kids would probably choose fruit over veggies if they had to pick one. My guess is, it's easier to get a kid to eat mangoes and bananas than broccoli and eggplant.

Tommy won't even eat fruit, which, let's say, is the nicer option. Can you imagine when it comes time to eat vegetables? He just runs in the other direction - he wants nothing to do with vegetables. With fruit, he's still in the room. But if you try to get him to eat broccoli he'll get out of the room. That's why his mother is saying, Tommy never eats fruit, let alone vegetables. No, no, no chance, no chance for Tommy.

Here's another word, imagine that there's this girl, Sally. She lives on her own but she doesn't cook. She can't even fry an egg. She can't even fry an egg, let alone bake a cake. Again, what's more work? Fry an egg or bake a cake? Or what's the level of difficulty of these two things? I think we can all agree... Baking cakes is probably a bit harder, it's probably a bit more work, a bit more complex than frying an egg. Sally can't even fry an egg. She doesn't have the ability to fry an egg, she just can't do it, let alone bake a cake. I mean, she can't even do something that is relatively easy like frying an egg. Do you think she can do something that is more complex like baking a cake? Nope, no chance, she can't do it. Sally can't even fry an egg let alone bake a cake.

Here's an example with me. I can barely understand Japanese, let alone write in Japanese. Actually in this example, I'm actually exaggerating my abilities a little bit... Because when I say I can barely understand Japanese it kind of communicates that I can understand something in Japanese, but that isn't even true. I can't even understand the basics of Japanese, let alone write in Japanese. Come on... I guess what I'm saying here is writing in Japanese is a lot more complex than understanding Japanese. I can't even understand it, let alone write it.

Let's wrap it up with a final example. Mark never remembers his own birthday. I mean, he forgets his own birthday. Have you ever met someone like that? That forgets their own birthday? Mark never remembers his own birthday, let alone his friends' birthdays. He can't even remember his own, let alone his friends'. Nope, not a chance.

Tell me, can you think of an example from your own life? Something that is real for you, maybe it's about you, maybe it's about someone you know. Leave it in the comments, I'm curious.

Podcast: Ela não faz nem tarefa, imagina estudar!

What's going on? Gravei o episódio de hoje enquanto fazia compra em um supermercado online. Você usa esse tipo de site no Brasil? Conte. Mas primeiro, ouça e enjoy :)

Fique de orelha em pé para as pronúncias destas palavras (que muita gente erra!): AISLE, CUPBOARD  e BISCUIT
Transcrição
Hello. How have you been? All good? So, so? Whatever is going on and however you are, right now you're here listening to the podcast... to the Inglês Online podcast. That is a good thing. I hope overall everything is going well.

Today we have a new episode, and I was just browsing a website for... It's a supermarket that has this online delivery service and I was browsing the pages and seeing how it works. Obviously we're now in coronavirus lockdown. I live in the UK, in the United Kingdom, if this is your first time listening to the podcast. Things here are a bit stricter than in Brazil from what I've heard when talking to people in Brazil.

Here, we can only leave the house... We're self distancing - we can only leave the house to actually go buy food, to go to the hospital or see a doctor, and exercise once a day. Oh... and if we're... what they call 'essential workers', we can leave the house and go to work. For example, people who work in basic transportation services, like trains and the tube. Or if I'm a hospital worker - obviously I can leave the house to go to the hospital.

I was looking at this website... It's an online delivery service of groceries, or everything that you would find in a really good supermarket. There's a bit of electronics, there's a bit of clothing, things for your kitchen, for dining, cutlery, plates, small appliances... Here in the United Kingdom lots and lots and lots of people who didn't use to order groceries online, are doing so for obvious reasons right now. But I imagine that the same happened in Brazil: online delivery services of every kind have probably seen an increase in demand.

I'm looking here at the website and just sort of thinking back... When all I used to see in front of me was American English, mostly, and just noticing tiny differences here and there. For example, you know when you shop online and they call it 'shopping cart'? It's the place... when you click on an item. I want to buy this item, it gets placed in the shopping cart or the shopping basket and here in the supermarket they call it trolley, which is a very common word here in the UK. People rarely use the word 'cart' in that sense.

And I'm looking at the aisles - when you walk the aisles of a physical supermarket, you look to your right and you see the shelves. Let's say, with tons of biscuits, and sliced bread, confectionery, candy... That's the aisle with everything that is sweet, let's say, sweet snacks. Then you go around that aisle and you see a different aisle with flours: wheat flour, almond flour, or ingredients for cooking - sugar, eggs and things like that. That's a different aisle.

In the online supermarket website, we see the aisles as what... They call it aisles, although obviously they're virtual aisles. I see Fresh, I see Food cupboard - notice the pronunciation of this word, 'cupboard'. It's an interesting pronunciation. And then I see Bakery, Frozen, Baby and child, Toiletries, Household and so on.

I'm clicking on the Food cupboard aisle now. And then I clicked again, because it's... It's got different groups of things under it. I clicked again on Biscuits and I'm seeing all kinds of energy bars and fruit bars, and there's something called energy ball. These little balls... It's like an energy bar, but it's just a ball. It's obviously smaller, it's a bit cheaper - but still expensive, because it's supposed to give you a lot of energy. I don't know... What do you guys think? Do you eat energy bars? And do you think it makes any difference?

Here's another thing that I can see in the Biscu...

Podcast: Online supermarket

Tudo bem por aí? No episódio de hoje, eu te faço uma pergunta. Para responder, é só escolher e clicar em uma alternativa ao fim do texto abaixo. Ouça o podcast e me diga o que você acha... Enjoy.
Transcrição
Hi, everyone. How's it going? How have you been? This is Ana with another episode of the Inglês Online podcast.

Here we go. Today I have a question for you, especially if you're sort of a long time listener of this podcast - but also if you're new. If this is one of the first times listening to this podcast that is fine... I want to know your opinion as well. But if you're a long-time listener, you know that sometimes when I do the podcast I speak a bit more slowly. Usually when I'm explaining English expressions, when I'm talking about idioms and giving examples... Usually I tend to speak a bit more slowly.

On the other hand, when I do sort of a free-form kind of episode where I just talk about my life, and I just go on and on sort of telling a story... You know that sometimes I can speed it up a little bit and talk a bit faster.

I have had requests - from some of you - both ways. Some people asking me to do more podcasts speaking more naturally, faster and other people asking me to slow down a little bit. Lately, though, I have to say... I think I have had a little bit more of the latter, which is... more people asking me to record podcasts speaking a bit more slowly. Instead of going one way or the other, I decided to ask you to tell me which one you prefer.

In this podcast - obviously, not in the audio... but if you visit the podcast page, this episode's page on the website, you will see a little... This little sort of quiz embedded in the post, in the page... And all you have to do is click on it and you'll see the question What would you like me to do?

Would you like me to do more episodes speaking slowly? Would you like me to do more episodes speaking faster? Or do you think a balance is best? Let's say 50% more slowly, 50% quicker... or something like that. All you have to do is click and choose the option. And I'm very interested in what you guys are going to go for - which alternative is going to be number one.

I can do both - I'm happy to do both. As you guys know, especially, again -  if you've been listening for a while, I have started to do more episodes without a lot of planning. There's a lot more spontaneous talk... But anyway, I really enjoy doing the kind of episode where I pick a couple of expressions and give you examples, and repeat the expression a lot. And I also like telling you guys about some... some interesting experiences that I go through because I think that it really helps. Like some real life experiences, where I tell you what other people that I run into every day, say. They talk about their lives... it's like different situations, everyday experiences... I think that's interesting as well, and in those kinds of episodes I usually speak a little bit faster.

I'm curious to see what your choice is. Feel free, after you select your choice, to leave a comment as well. Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

Talk to you soon. Bye!

[tqb_quiz id='28068']

Vocabulary

speed it up = acelerar, ir mais rápido

the latter = ultimo ou segunda coisa a ser mencionada

run into something/somebody = se deparar, encontrar ou esbarrar com algo ou alguém

feel free to = fique à vontade para

Como falo em inglês: Ai, que dor!

Download our free app to listen on your phone