Podcast Inglês Online

Hey, everybody. No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online, eu falo sobre circunstâncias que forçam mudanças temporárias na sua rotina.

Como você reage? Segue em frente como se nada tivesse acontecido ou demora um pouco pra se acostumar?

Aproveite para reparar bem também no meu uso do Present Perfect, já que estou falando de uma situação que começou há alguns dias e continua até agora.

Hey, everybody. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast.

Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app.

Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast, please do so.

The more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes.

Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening!

So how do you react when your normal circumstances are disturbed? Here’s what I mean… I’ll give you an example of something going on in my life.

I work at home. I used to go out to cafés a lot and bring my laptop with me, but lately I’ve been staying in more often.

I’ve been doing that for a few reasons. One is, it saves me time, which means I’ve more time available to work on Inglês Online.

Another reason is.. the silence. Cafés are busy, whereas my home is pretty quiet. Or so it was!

So on to my example: my normal circumstances have been disturbed. Temporarily, that is.

My housemate, who’s also the landlady, is redoing her kitchen, and for that she hired two contractors who have torn the old kitchen down and are now in the process of putting a new kitchen in place.

Obviously, tearing down the kitchen involved making noise. A lot of noise.

Coincidentally, I had a job to do this week that involved recording my voice for a couple of hours.

Ideally, I should do that without a lot of external background noise – not the case this week.

So yesterday I waited until 6 o’clock in the afternoon – the two men working in the kitchen had left by then, and I was able to do my recording in relative silence.

Well, having the kitchen redone also means I can’t use the oven – actually, we can’t use anything that used to be in the kitchen, except the fridge.

So the fridge is working, and there’s a new microwave oven, but that’s it. All my stuff – kitchen supplies and groceries – is piled up on a table and covered in a dust sheet.

I’ve been eating sandwiches and drinking coffee beverages out of a can (which isn’t bad, I have to say – just a bit more expensive than making my own coffee). And, the house has been kinda messy.

Obviously, this is all temporary and necessary for the kitchen work to be done. All should be back to normal in less than a month.

And I had plenty of notice from my landlady, so… When the contractors started their work, I was ready.

Still, it got me thinking about temporary disturbances and how we deal with them.

My question for you today is, what would you do if you were me?

Would you take your work somewhere else just to get out of the house?

Would you do the same as I’ve done, and pick up a sandwich and some crisps in a shop every day for dinner?

Would you be really annoyed if you decided to stay in every day, or would you be able to focus on your work and stay just as productive?

Are you pretty flexible regarding your surroundings, or do you feel that you need the right kind of environment to get something accomplished?

Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Vocabulário

to stay in = ficar em casa

they have torn the old kitchen down = eles botaram abaixo a cozinha antiga

they had left by 6pm = às 6 da tarde eles já tinham ido embora

a dust sheet = um lenço, geralmente de plástico, para proteger objetos de poeira

coffee beverages out of a can = bebidas em lata feitas com café

I had plenty of notice from someone = a pessoa me avisou com bastante antecedência

to get something accomplished = para realizar algo, para cumprir um objetivo

Hi, all. No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online, eu falo sobre blind dates (“encontros às cegas”) e aquelas ocasiões onde sua amiga quer te apresentar a alguém que ela acha que seria perfeito pra você.

Hi, all. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

So today I’m gonna talk a little bit about dating. Dating is the activity of going on a date, or many dates. A date is when two people meet up – let’s say, for dinner and a movie, potentially to get romantically involved. People go on dates to get to know each other better, and dating does not necessarily mean being in a relationship. I don’t think we have an expression in Brazil that is the exact translation of “a date”. We could say “um encontro”, I guess, but we don’t really say that, do we?

So if two people start dating, or going on dates and if they do that regularly for a while, then they might end up having a talk about their situation and agree to be in a relationship. So that would be the moment when they start referring to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend.

OK, so there are two terms related to dating that I would like to present today. You may be familiar with them, which is good. The first one is a blind date. First, let me clarify the meaning of the word blind: a blind person would be someone that doesn’t have the ability to see. And a blind date is a date with someone you’ve never met before. I’m not talking about meeting someone in person for the first time – someone you’ve been chatting with online, from a dating site. Rather, I’m talking about going on a date with someone you’ve never met nor spoken with before.

How can someone go on a date with a stranger, you ask? That is where the second expression of our episode comes in. Let’s say you’re single and your friend Silvia thinks she knows someone who would be perfect for you: Mark. So she wants to fix you up with Mark. So if both you and Mark agree with it, she will, let’s say, give Mark your phone number, and maybe Mark will text you or give you a call and the two of you will agree to meet up for coffee. So now you’re going on a blind date with a guy named Mark. Your friend Silvia is fixing you up with Mark. Have you ever tried to fix friends up? Did it work? Are you a talented matchmaker?

I don’t think blind dates are very common in Brazil. Again, a blind date is when you meet up with someone you’ve never seen or spoken with before so you can get to know each other a little and see if the two of you click. Have you ever been on a blind date? How did it go? Now, fixing people up, or at least trying to… That’s a bit more common in Brazil I think. Do you know anyone who’s been fixed up with another person by a mutual friend, and then they ended up having a relationship?

Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

Vocabulário

meet up = se encontrar

Hello, everyone. No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online, eu falo sobre uma diferença básica entre as palavras whatever e whichever em inglês e dou exemplos de como usá-las.

Hello, everyone. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

So today I will talk about the basic difference between whatever and whichever and give you examples of how to use both. I’m not gonna cover all the ways you can use one or the other; rather I’ll focus, like I said, on the most basic way to use them.

Whatever language you choose, it’s important to listen to it.

Do you remember the difference between WHICH and WHAT? Let’s recap: which is the better option when you’re referring to a limited set of options that is known to the people having a conversation. If you ask someone “What’s your favourite movie?”, you’re asking that person to choose from an almost infinite number of possibilities – like, every movie known to man. Now, if you show three DVDs to that person, you could say “What’s your favourite?” but “Which one is your favourite? ” is better here. Why? Because you’re asking them to choose from the three options you presented before you asked the question.

So the examples I’m going to show you using whatever and whichever follow the same rule, so to speak. So if someone tells you “Whatever language you decide to learn, it is important to listen to it.” Out of all the languages of the world, whatever language you choose, it’s important to listen to it. If someone says “You can buy whatever you like in the supermarket. It’s on me” they’re giving you complete freedom – they will pay for any products you choose to buy without restriction. If your teacher tells you “whatever degree you’d like to pursue, I can help you” that means that you could choose any degree in the world and they will be able to help you.

Now, if the same teacher says “In order to have my guidance you have to pick Geography, History or Social Sciences. So whichever one you choose, I will be able to assist you”… That teacher laid out three options for you – here, you have limited choice. If you go with one of these three options, they will be able to help you – whichever one you choose. If that other person said, “You will find five kinds of yoghurt at that supermarket. Whichever one you buy is fine” – again, you will find only five options. And finally, you might be telling that first person that you’re thinking about learning an Asian language – like Japanese or Korean. So that person might tell you “Whichever one you choose (out of the limited set of Asian languages) will be a great addition to your education.”

I would like to see your examples for whatever and whichever. Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

Vocabulário

so to speak = por assim dizer

it’s on me = é comigo (eu estou pagando)

laid out = apresentou, expôs

Hi, everyone. No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online, eu falo sobre algumas maneiras diferentes de pedir pra pessoa repetir o que disse (pois você não entendeu de primeira).

Hi, everyone. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

So today’s episode is about common ways to ask someone to repeat what they just said to you. You didn’t hear it the first time, so you say, for example, “Come again?” There’s obviously a literal meaning to that phrase, which is “Come again” or come back again some time, but if you say it more like a question, you’re asking the speaker to repeat what they said. Now, it could be that you couldn’t hear them, and it could also be that you’re sort of questioning what they said. So “Come again?” can also be said when, let’s say… You cannot believe what you just heard.

It’s very simple to use. Let’s say someone offers you chocolate. “Would you like some chocolate?” And you say “Come again?” “Chocolate. Would you like some chocolate?” That’s it.

Here’s a very similar term: Say what?  Same thing. Say what? It’s like you were asking “What did you say?” or asking that person to repeat what they said. So you simply say “Say what?” We could use the same example: Would you like some chocolate? “Say what?” Chocolate. Would you like some chocolate?

Now here’s another one, and this one’s a bit longer. “I didn’t catch that” and you can also say I didn’t get that. That just means, again, I didn’t hear you. Please repeat. So there you have it: come again, say what and I didn’t catch that, I didn’t get that.

If you watch lots of American movies and shows, you’ve no doubt come across the line “I didn’t catch your name“. That’s very common and that just means that person’s asking what your name is. Now, remember, it may be that you’re talking to a native speaker on the phone and they’re speaking a bit fast (as we often do when speaking our mother tongue) and you can’t understand them very well – not just a couple of words, but overall.

In that case, you may want to ask that person to slow down, rather than saying “Come again? ” or “Say what?” all the time. For most situations, just say “Could you speak slower, please?” That’s the informal version, which uses the adjective “slower”. The more formal version, which correctly uses the adverb, is “Could you speak more slowly, please?”

Sometimes it is necessary to explicitly ask someone to slow down, since some people will just keep repeating what they said without realising that the problem is that they’re speaking too fast to be understood by someone whose native language isn’t English.

Have you ever had to ask someone to slow down? Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

Vocabulário

slow down = desacelerar

Hello, everyone. No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online, eu falo sobre a importância de se pontuar frases corretamente, com exemplos de mensagens em inglês que podem ter significados completamente diferentes dependendo de como são lidas.

Hello, everyone. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

So today I came across something that sparked my interest and I thought it would make good subject matter for this episode. I’m sure many of you have come across one of those images on Facebook with a phrase that can be read several different ways according to how you punctuate it. Obviously, the meaning will change depending on how you read it, and that’s the whole point.

I guess one of the most well-known ones is the “let’s eat grandma” meme. This one has been widely circulated around social media and usually comes with an image of an old lady… Probably for impact. And the words are exactly the ones I said before, only there are two versions. The first one is Let’s eat, grandma – which has a comma after “eat”, and means that someone is asking their grandma to join them and start eating.

The second version has no comma: let’s eat grandma. So that would be some pretty savage grandkid suggesting they should have grandma as a meal. The image closes with “punctuation saves lives!” Have you seen it on your social media timelines?

That’s not the one I saw today, though. The one that piqued my interest reads “Chickens keep dogs on leads”. It was seen on a road sign by someone and this person photographed it. I can’t post the picture here since I don’t have the rights for it but I’ve put together an image that sort of gives you an idea.

So this is a nice one since there are multiple ways to interpret this sentence. Before I get into this, let me ask you: take a look at the image I posted for this episode and read the words. What’s the first interpretation that came to your mind after you read it? I’m curious.

When I first read it, my thought was  – whoever put up this sign is calling me a chicken and asking me to keep my dog on a lead. Now, chicken is a word that can be used in the United Kingdom to refer to a woman and it’s usually not an insult. So this person would be asking all women that are passing by to keep their dogs on a lead. If you’re a guy, you’re off the hook apparently. So that’s one way to read it.

The second way to understand it can be – this person is telling actual chickens to keep their dogs on leads. By the way, a lead in this case is a long piece of plastic or leather that is attached to the dog’s collar, so the dog owner can direct and control the dog.

And finally, the way I think whoever put up this sign intended for it to be understood. “Chickens. Keep dogs on leads” meaning, there are chickens running around in this area, so please keep your dog on a lead to prevent it from chasing after a chicken and potentially hurting it and so on.

And that made me think about punctuation in general and how it can, when misused, really get in the way of understanding what the other person is trying to say. I know I’ve run into this problem before – someone sent me a message and I had a hard time figuring out what they wanted to say. Have you ever had a similar problem? Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Vocabulário

it would make good subject matter = daria um bom assunto

Hi, all. No episódio de hoje do podcast Inglês Online, eu falo sobre o reality show  que eu assisto para me acostumar com o inglês britânico, e também sobre um idiom super comum, que aparece toda hora nesse reality e em todo lugar onde se fale inglês.

Hi, all. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

So I wanted to tell you about something I’ve been doing since I moved to England. If you know anything about me, you know that I grew up on American English so when I moved here, I wanted to make sure I got used to the local accent as fast as I could. Obviously I talk to people and they talk to me, but in London you will find people from all over the world, really, and that means a multitude of accents which are usually easier to understand than some of the native British accents.

So as part of my plan to get myself acquainted with British English I went to the websites for the main UK TV channels and started following some TV shows online. Here in the UK you can basically watch most TV shows online, so that’s pretty cool. One of the first shows I stumbled upon was “Made in Chelsea”, so let me tell you about it. Well, I’ll tell you a little bit about it – it’s easy to summarise.

Made in Chelsea is a reality show about very wealthy kids that live in Chelsea, which is a neighbourhood in London. When I say kids, I mean young adults in their early twenties. So this show is a hit in the UK- it’s been going for eight or nine seasons – and by the way, in the UK they don’t say “season”; rather, they call it a series: series 1, series 2 and so on.

So although Made in Chelsea has had eight or nine series so far, things don’t change much from one series to another. Here’s what changes: some regulars leave, and new people join the show. That’s it. This is what happens in every season: new couples are formed, then there’s a lot of gossip about the new couples, then they fight and end up breaking up; or else one of them cheats and they end up breaking up. Then, if A and B used to be a couple and C and D used to be another couple, in the next season A and C get together, and then B and D get together as well, and the cycle of intrigue and misbehaviour begins again. I swear to you, that’s 99% of what goes on.

Anyway… Here’s what I really wanted to tell you: one of the terms I hear most often when watching Made in Chelsea is “to have someone’s back”. The people on this show are all friends and some of them have been friends for several years, so they expect their friends to have their back. And what does that mean?

To have someone’s back means to defend them when someone is saying things about them that are unkind, for example. Or you can show your friend that you have their back by taking their side in a fight. Let’s say your friend John is arguing with a guy named Michael about a girl. Michael likes this girl and he thinks John hit on the girl, even though John knew Michael liked her. So now Michael is confronting John about it, and John is saying that he and the girl were just having a chat as friends.

So you tell Michael that John is telling the truth: he was not hitting on the girl; they were just having a chat. You have John’s back on this one. John’s your mate, your buddy and you always have his back. Plus, you know that John wasn’t really hitting on the girl.

I hear the term “have someone’s back” on every episode of this TV show. They equate it with ‘being loyal’, really. One of the guys in the show is called Spencer, and his best friend is Jamie. Spencer always expects Jamie to have his back, and vice-versa (although, in reality, that doesn’t always happen.) To be honest, these two guys lie and cheat a lot, so in their case… Having Spencer’s back usually means covering for one of his lies, and having Jamie’s back means pretending you didn’t know he was lying.

The reason I’m giving you these examples though is to emphasise the meaning of ‘having someone’s back’. Like I said in the beginning, if you take someone’s side in an argument, you’ve got their back; if you cover for someone, you’ve got their back. If your friend feels that you didn’t help them in some way, he or she could say “You didn’t have my back when I needed you” and so on.

So can you give me an example from your own life when you had someone’s back? Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key Terms

Glossary

regulars = participantes regulares do show

Hey you! Hoje temos o episódio do podcast Inglês Online é sobre a história do noivo que chutou o buquê da noiva antes que qualquer uma das amigas dela conseguisse pegar as flores. Ouça o episódio para saber mais sobre o incidente, e qual foi a reação das convidadas.

Hey, you! This is the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

So today I stumbled upon this funny piece of news about a bride who, on her wedding, you know – threw the bouquet to the female guests… As you do, when you’re a woman getting married. It’s tradition! So, anyway, the woman threw the bouquet, and here’s what happened:

“A groom left his female wedding guests disappointed after destroying his bride’s bouquet of flowers – before any of the unmarried women could get their hands on them.”

That’s right. The groom destroyed the bouquet. Here’s the link to the story if you’d like to check it out, and there’s a video too, so go watch it. So here’s what I find weird about this story: this guy just got married. It’s not like he’s against marriage..! And as far as I know, he got married of his own free will.

I mean, I would understand if a confirmed bachelor did that – although, honestly, that would be in poor taste – but at least it would be in line with his convictions. However we’re not talking about a confirmed bachelor here, we’re talking about the groom, now husband! What’s going on with this guy?

And here’s what he did after kicking the bouquet, according to the news piece: “The groom then runs over to his friend and gives him a high-five, saying: “Sorry, I had to.” So he high-fived his friend and said that he had to do it. Ok, I don’t know about you but I’d be wary about marrying a guy that feels he has to save his mates from having the same fate as him…

Now, it seems like the female guests didn’t take it very seriously, which, I have to say, is nice. I found this comment on a different news site, supposedly by a guest that attended the wedding: “I was at that wedding stood amongst those girls. We all thought it was hilarious and were not left “disappointed”. We all saw the funny side to what Joe did, including the bride! For everyone saying the marriage won’t last, you don’t know these people! They are ridiculously happy and currently on their honeymoon in Mexico! Some people just take things far too seriously and just need to lighten up!!”

That’s cool: everyone thought it was hilarious and the groom is a big goofball from the sounds of it. Better this way. If the bride thought it was funny, then I think it’s funny. Now, I’d like to hear from female listeners – are you a stickler for tradition? If you’re married, did you throw the bouquet… And maybe one of your friends caught it? Did she get married?

Or maybe you were at a friend’s wedding and you caught the bouquet. So – did you get married after that?

I’m not the best person in the world to talk about traditions because I’m not really big on traditions. I’m fine with following them if I think they’re OK, but I don’t mind not following them either. How do you feel about traditions? If you’re married, which traditional things did you do?

Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time.

Vocabulary

as you do = como é comum fazer

Hey, everyone. Hoje temos um podcast com duas expressões super comuns no inglês com a palavra WORTH.

Hey, everyone. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

For what it’s worth… I think your hair looks great

So today we kick off our episode with this very, very popular idiom: for what it’s worth. Actually… every term or idiom I talk about on this podcast is pretty popular – that’s how they make the cut. So that’s the case with today’s idioms as well, and “for what it’s worth” is one you’ve certainly heard if you routinely watch American movies or TV shows.

First of all, if you’re not clear on the meaning and usage of WORTH, I recommend you take a look at my previous post about it. OK, so imagine that you’re having a chat with a friend who’s just inconsolable about not winning a contest. Yeah, it was a drawing contest. Your friend is a talented artist, and he prepared, he studied, he took specialized classes, he put a lot of effort into this… And he didn’t win. OK, so now he’s standing in front of you and you can tell he’s sad and all that… You don’t really know what to say, I mean you know he’s good – at least, you think he’s good. So you tell him “Look, for what it’s worth, I think you’re an amazing artist.”

For what it’s worth, I think you’re an amazing artist. I don’t know if my comment will help, but I think you’re an amazing artist. I don’t know if my comment is worth much, I don’t know if it matters or not, if it’s important or not, so just take my comment for what it is worth, and it may not be worth much. So, for what it’s worth – I think you’re an amazing artist.

You don’t just use “for what it’s worth” when you’re trying to console someone, though. For example, it can be a very unassuming way to introduce your opinion. Unassuming means modest, unpretentious. No one has asked what your opinion is, no one’s invited you to speak, but you’d like to offer your opinion anyway, for what it’s worth. You’re not saying your opinion is the right one and everyone should listen, so, for what it’s worth, here’s my opinion.

Now, if you’re in a business meeting and all the other participants are there to listen to what you have to say, you should not start your speech with “For what it’s worth, this is what I think.” You’re in that meeting as an expert, as someone who’s supposed to know their business – so obviously you should state your opinion with confidence. We use “for what it’s worth” when we want to come across humble, unassuming… You know, I’m just putting my opinion out there, for what it’s worth.

And here’s another term with WORTH that I really like: money’s worth. Let’s say you’re going to visit a place that is very touristic and has lots of interesting attractions, so you pay for a ticket that gives you entrance to all the attractions in the same day. You want to get your money’s worth, so you go to every single attraction. That’s right, there are thirty different things to see in that place and you manage to go to every single one of them. That’s because you want to get your money’s worth. You wanna get good value for your ticket. You paid a certain amount of money which gives you the right to visit thirty different attractions, so you want to get your money’s worth. You’re gonna visit all thirty of them.

Here’s another example: Mary went to Madonna’s concert last week and said Madonna really gave fans their money’s worth. That means that Mary thinks fans got exceptional value from the concert. What they paid was certainly worth it. Fans got their money’s worth.

And there’s one more interesting comment I found on Twitter, and it’s related to what’s been going on recently in London. Well, in the space of just a few days a royal baby was born, then there were the elections, followed by protests and then there was V-E Day, which is the eighth of May, to celebrate the victory of the Allies in World War II. So this guy said that tourists last week certainly got their money’s worth. Whatever they spent to come and visit London, they sure got a lot of value for it.

What’s your example with worth? Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key Terms

Glossary

that’s how they make the cut = é assim que são aprovados ou selecionado

Hi, everybody. Hoje o episódio conta com quatro frases em inglês comuníssimas em eventos ou qualquer outra situação ‘social’, quando pessoas estão sendo apresentadas umas às outras.

Hi, everybody. This is the new episode of the Inglesonline podcast. Please subscribe to this podcast using the Podcasts app for iPhone or iPad, or listen to the episodes using the Inglesonline Android app. Thanks for all the comments at the iTunes store and if you haven’t yet left a comment for this podcast please do so: the more comments for the Inglesonline podcast, the more people will find out about it and listen to the episodes. Thank you for telling your friends, your neighbours, your family and keep listening.

So today I will review with you guys four set phrases that are used every day, all the time, when people are introducing or re-introducing themselves or other people to someone. A ‘set phrase’ is the same as a fixed phrase. Fixed phrases are phrases whose words are fixed in a certain order – and that order is how people say them. Even if you could say the same thing in a different way, using different words… People just don’t.

Native speakers use set phrases just because… they do, the same way we, in Brazil, use our own set phrases, such as “Tudo bem?” instead of “Tudo está bem?” The second phrase is perfectly correct; it makes sense and everyone can understand what’s being asked. We just don’t speak like that, though. Same thing in English :)

So I love our four set phrases of today because they all use the Present Perfect, which is something every Brazilian learner of English could become more familiar with. So here’s the first one, which we say when we’re introducing someone to someone else: Have you met…this person? For example, Have you met Ted? This is going to sound familiar to “How I met your mother” viewers.

So that’s a great line for introducing two people to each other. “Hey, Sara, come here. Have you met Ann?” Have you met my sister? Have you met John? It’s a question, obviously, but we don’t really expect to get an answer. You don’t really need to say “No, I haven’t”, although you can. You could just say “Glad to meet you, John.”

And here’s our second set phrase: If you’ve actually been introduced to that person already, you can say “Yes, I believe we’ve met.” Someone’s introducing you to James, for instance, but you and James were introduced about a month ago. The two of you have already met. So when your mutual friend Louise says to you, “Have you met James?”, you say “Yes, I believe we’ve met.”

So last weekend someone introduced me to a man named Michael. My friend said “Ana, have you met Michael?” and I said “Hi, nice to meet you.” Then later that night I was introduced to Debbie, who’s someone I’ve actually met before. My friend said “Have you met Debbie?” and I said “Yeah, I believe we’ve met. How are you?”

Now here are a couple of phrases for when you haven’t met someone yet, and you’d like to introduce yourself. You see someone you’d like to talk to but there’s no one there to introduce you to each other. You can just say “Hi, I’m John, or I’m Mary. I don’t think we’ve met“. Maybe this person is standing near you and, why not? You think it’s a good idea to introduce yourself and greet them, maybe have a little chat… So “Hello, my name’s Ana. I don’t think we’ve met.”

And, instead of saying “I don’t think we’ve met”, you can say “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” Now, that’s something I hear men say more often. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure” is a bit more formal than just “I don’t think we’ve met.”

So there you go. Listen to this episode a few more times and get a bit more familiar with these phrases, especially if you’re going to be at social events with native English speakers. Talk to you next time.

Key terms

Hey, everyone. Hoje eu falo sobre jeitos diferentes de se dizer “infelizmente” ou “infelizmente, não” em inglês.

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So if you’re listening to this podcast you probably know the word ‘afraid’ and the term “to be afraid” or “to be afraid of”. To be afraid means to be fearful, to be scared of something. What are you afraid of? Ghosts? Bugs? Are you afraid of the dark?

By the way, since I mentioned being afraid of ghosts, let me tell you about something that happened to me the night before Christmas, the 24th of December, 2013. I was already living in London in a house that I shared with four other people. Everyone had gone away for the holidays. I was going to fly to Brazil the next day, which was Christmas day.

Anyway, all I remember is that I was pretty tired that night and I could tell that a storm was starting to build. The wind was blowing hard outside. It was around eight in the evening and I was in the kitchen fixing myself something to eat. Now, this was a three-story house with lots of doors and windows and, I swear to you, that night I understood why ghost stories are so popular in the United Kingdom. I could swear there was someone on the third floor slamming the doors – I mean, I’m sure it was just the wind but it really did sound like it was a person and if memory serves, I thought I heard a few steps. I was lucky though – I was knackered that night and couldn’t be bothered to even be afraid of a ghost roaming around.

OK, so after this little story let’s move on to the expression “I’m afraid so“. When someone asks you “Is it going to rain today?” and you answer “I’m afraid so”, you are basically saying “Yes”, but you’re also communicating that you regret having to inform them that it is going to rain. If you answer “I’m afraid so”, or simply “Afraid so”, rather than just “Yeah”, that adds a touch of “sorry to say that, I know you were expecting otherwise.” That person was expecting clear, dry weather for today. Maybe they would like to go to the beach, maybe they were planning on taking their dog out for a long walk. So you’re giving them the not-so-good news that it’s going to rain.

Did I flunk the exam? I’m afraid so. Are we lost? Afraid so. Are they out of ice cream? Afraid so. Does my hair look awful? I’m afraid so.

Naturally, we can also say I’m afraid not with the opposite meaning. Is it gonna be sunny tomorrow? Afraid not. By the way, I remember hearing this on those little afternoon movies from “Sessão da Tarde” – I think they used to translate “I’m afraid not” as “Temo que não.” I don’t think anyone actually says that in Brazil, at least not informally. I guess what we do is use “Infelizmente.” Also, I wanted to stress that “I’m afraid so” and “I ‘m afraid not” are used all the time, whether it’s a formal or informal conversation.

“Did I get the job?” I’m afraid not. Has Mary called? Afraid not. Are the seats at the theatre any good? Afraid not. Do you have good news? I’m afraid not. So, did Brazil win the World Cup after all? I’m afraid not.

So, come on – tell me where in your life you could use these little expressions. Are you about to deliver unpleasant news to someone? Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time!

Key terms

Glossário

if memory serves = se eu me lembro corretamente

knackered = exausta, acabada (gíria no Reino Unido)

couldn’t be bothered = nem me dei ao trabalho de

expecting otherwise = esperando algo diferente

flunk an exam = tomar bomba na prova, não tirar a nota mínima