Podcast Inglês Online

Hello, everyone. No episódio de hoje, falo sobre dois idioms do inglês muito comuns com a palavra head.

Hello, everyone. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

Let’s get started today with a very nice idiom that means, basically, to collaborate in order to find an answer or solution to a problem. Let’s say you and your classmates John and Mike are working on a group assignment and in a few days you’ll meet again to put everything together and turn in the assignment. However, Mike gives you a call and says he’s having a really hard time figuring out what to do. And in the end you agree with Mike – you wouldn’t know what to do either. Here’s what you think: you, Mike and John should get together tomorrow specifically to discuss Mike’s part of the assignment. Mike can’t figure it out; you can’t figure it out, but maybe if you put your heads together you’ll be able to figure it out together.

So that’s our first idiom today: let’s put our heads together and try to find the solution. Let’s share ideas and thoughts; maybe something you say will spark an idea in someone else. Let’s get together and discuss the problem, let’s put our heads together and see if we can figure this out.

In theory, many meetings are carried out in companies with the purpose of having a few people put their heads together to figure something out, right? That’s useful when you’re working on any kind of team assignment, be it a work assignment or a school assignment. The team leader could call a meeting anytime and say “We’ve hit a roadblock and it would be great to get everybody’s contribution on the issue. Let’s put our heads together  and see what we can come up with.”

If you work for a company, have you ever been in a meeting like that? A meeting for all the participants to put their heads together and try to solve a problem, find a solution, figure something out. Please let us know when that happened in the comments…

Now here’s another very popular idiom with the word HEAD… When someone has a good head on their shoulders – well, I think you can guess the meaning. Someone has a good head on their shoulders – when we say a good head, that doesn’t mean “beautiful”, “big”, or anything like that. A good head here means a sensible head; someone with common sense and intelligence.

I have a recent real-life example for this one. I was telling my friend Carolina about someone I know… When I told Carolina one particular detail, she expressed concern that the third person might be a bit naive. So I told Carol “Don’t worry. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.” She’s sensible, she’s intelligent, she’s got common sense.

Sometimes we refer to other people in that way in Brazil. We all know someone who’s mature, sensible… It’s usually someone we trust and we think they are capable of taking care of themselves. Do you know anyone like that? Who are the people in your family or circle of friends that would fit this idiom? Can you say “My cousin so-and-so has a good head on his shoulders.” Or “My neighbor Maria has a good head on her shoulders. You don’t need to worry about her.” Who’s your example?

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

Keywords

Glossary

turn in the assignment = entregar o trabalho (para o professor)

we’ve hit a roadblock = a gente emperrou, chegou num obstáculo

Hi, all. No episódio de hoje, falo sobre como dizer “mais um”, “mais dois” e assim por diante, em inglês.

Hi, all. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

Everyone, today is the day we’re all going to get used to saying “mais um”, “mais dois”, “mais três” the right way. In English, of course.

No more “more one“, “more two“, “more three“. No! We’re going to listen to lots of examples, because I want you to get familiar with the right way to say “mais três” in English. It’s more than just that, actually – I want you to become so accustomed to the right way of saying it that the next time you’re about to utter something like “more three” you will immediately correct yourself.

Imagine you’re in a bar having beer with a couple of friends. You’re almost done with your beer and you would like one more. You’d like to have one more beer. The waitress approaches your table and you say “One more beer, please”. And then your friend says “Oh, and one more side of french fries.” That’s right: you guys are having some fries with your beer but, as it turns out, one serving of fries wasn’t enough so your friend is ordering one more serving. One more beer, one more side of french fries.

Imagine if every morning you had one more hour to stay in bed. Maybe two more hours! Now, think of something you have done that did not end well. Let’s say you tried your hand at some sport and you failed. Let’s say it was capoeira. You failed miserably! Now imagine if the opportunity showed up for you to try it one more time.

And here’s a very common sitch in my life: I buy, let’s say, a shirt. Next day, I realise I love it; it fits me perfectly, I love the fabric and I decide I want two more of that shirt. So I go back to the store and buy two more shirts just like the one I bought the day before. Sometimes I buy three more units of that thing I love – of course, I don’t do it all the time.

And here’s one more example: let’s say you are giving some instructions… to someone. You tell them “Do this, then do that, and be careful about this. Understood?” And they say “Understood.” And then you think of one more piece of instruction you have to give that person, and you say “Oh, one more thing: Don’t forget to shut the door when you leave.” One more thing, one more time.

Now let’s say you’re the office manager and you’re in charge of purchasing all the office supplies. Supplies are running low so you decide to call the shop and put in an order for two cases of pens, three packs of printer paper and ten notepads. Only the next day you realise you under-ordered. So you call the shop again and you say “I need to amend my order: I actually need one more case of pens, so that’s a total of three cases; two more packs of printer paper, so that’s a total of five packs; and three more notepads – a total of thirteen pads.” One more case of pens, two more packs of printer paper, three more notepads.

So I would like to ask you: which of the situations I just described have you been through?

Let me know! One more time: let me know… And talk to you next time.

Keywords

Glossary

utter = falar – usado no sentido de “dizer as palavras ou a frase”, e não no de “conversar”

one more side of french fries = mais uma porção de batata frita

as it turns out = no fim das contas

sitch = forma mais curta, informal, de “situation”

Hello, everybody. No episódio de hoje, eu falo sobre pesar os prós e contras de uma situação em inglês.

Hello, everybody. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

So what do you do when you have to make a decision and… you’re torn? So let’s start with the last bit: you’re torn. What does that mean? That means you’re divided. You can’t decide. You probably have two options; there are two different courses of action you can take regarding an issue, but it’s hard to decide. You can’t make up your mind. You are torn.

Let’s say you really want to go to college and you’ve spent this year studying very hard. So your next step is to apply for two different schools.  Both of them are great; one is in your hometown and the other is in a different city. So finally you get a letter from each school saying that you’re in! That’s right: both schools want you as a student. You’re beside yourself with joy; however… You’ve got to make a decision. Only, you feel like you can’t make a decision. You’re torn! You think both schools are amazing – in fact, you would like to attend both if you could.

Only you can’t. You’ve got to choose one. A few days go by and you’re still feeling torn. You think to yourself,  “I’m torn between School A and School B”. So you tell your friend Mark how you feel and ask for some advice. “Mark, what should I do? I’m so torn”. Mark says “Well, you should make a list of the pros and cons for each school”.  And you say “That is a great idea. I’m going to weigh the pros and cons of each school, and then I’m sure it’ll be easier to come to a decision.

Pros and cons. Pros and cons are the good and bad parts of a situation. Pros are obviously the good parts, and cons are… yep, the bad parts. So let’s say that is exactly what you do: you make a list of the pros and cons of both schools. School A’s pros are: it’s in your hometown (so you don’t have to move) and it’s cheaper than School B. Now the cons for School A are, it is in your hometown (yeah, you would actually like to live somewhere else) and it doesn’t have a strong sports tradition. You’re crazy about sports and you know that in School A you won’t have that many opportunities to practice your favorite sports. So there you have it: for School A, the pros are – in your hometown and cheaper. The cons are – in your hometown, and not too focused on sports.

What about School B? Here are the pros: you would move to a great city; and it’s got a strong sports presence. So you would get to live in a very nice town, and you would have many more opportunities to practice your favorite sports. And what are the cons? It would be more expensive to go to School B, because it would mean moving to a different town, and also – School B does not have a Music program, which is something you would like to do on the side. So, there you go: the pros for School B are, very nice town; focus on sports. Cons for School B are no Music program, and more expensive overall.

So now all you have to do is look at your lists of pros and cons and think about them. You will follow your friend’s advice, and weigh the pros and cons of this situation. Here’s an example from my own life: I recently moved to a different city and I had to weigh the pros and cons of that move. In my case, the good parts, or the pros, heavily outweighed the cons so it was an easy decision for me.

Have you ever made a decision based on an analysis of the pros and cons? Did you have to weigh the pros and cons to come to a decision? Tell us how you did it. What were the pros and cons? Talk to you next time.

Keywords

Glossary

you can’t make up your mind = você não consegue se decidir

apply for a school = fazer sua ‘inscrição’ no processo de seleção da escola. Essa inscrição geralmente envolve responder várias perguntas, enviar resultados de testes, etc. Neste caso, “escola” quer dizer faculdade.

you’re beside yourself = você não se aguenta (de maneira positiva)

do (something) on the side = fazer (algo) paralelamente

heavily outweighed = tinham muito mais peso que

Hi, everyone. No episódio de hoje, você vai me ouvir falando sobre as estruturas if only e  I wish, usadas para lamentar que alguma coisa não seja do jeito que você queria, ou desejar que aquilo fosse diferente do que na realidade é. Você vê alguém passeando com cachorro e pensa “Ah, se eu tivesse um cão…” Qual é a realidade? Você não tem um cão.

A estrutura básica é assim, sempre com a segunda parte usando um verbo na forma do passado simples:

I wish OR If only       I had / he ate / they were / we believed / etc.

Hi, everyone. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

Alright – so today let’s take a look at “I wish” and “If only”, two phrases used to express some kind of regret. Well, “I wish” in particular can be used for different reasons, but today we’re focusing on regrets about the present. Yes, today we’re regretting; we’re lamenting the way things are. This is a very whiny episode. We’re focusing on regrets about the present state of things. We have had an episode for regrets about the past with ‘if only’ and ‘I wish’ – check it out later if you haven’t yet done so.

So here’s an example: my best friend lives far away from me, and I wish she lived in my neighbourhood. Again: my best friend lives far away from me. That’s the present; that’s what is right now. The current situation. My best friend lives far away from me. It takes me an hour to get to her place. So, here’s what I wish: I wish she lived in my neighbourhood. I wish she LIVED in my neighbourhood. Notice that I’m using the past form of the verb LIVE. How do we say that in Portuguese? We say Eu queria que ela morasse no meu bairro. That is a Subjunctive verb tense – in Portuguese we call it “Pretérito Imperfeito do Subjuntivo” and we have a whole new set of verb forms for this tense in our language. In English we simply use the past form for everyone: I wish I lived, I wish you lived, I wish he lived, I wish we lived and so on.

So let’s say you go to a furniture shop because you want to buy a new desk for your bedroom. You get there and you see all the available desks and it turns out you don’t like any of them… Actually, you kinda like a few of them but you don’t like their colors. You want a yellow desk and none of the desks you’ve seen are yellow! One of the desks for sale at the shop is just the right size, it’s got three drawers, it’s perfect. However, it’s not yellow. So what do you say? I wish they had it in yellow. If only they had it in yellow. If only they had this desk in yellow… I would definitely buy it.

So what’s the difference between “I wish” and “If only”? Basically, none… You could go with either one of them and get the same message across: there is something happening right now, or there’s a certain reality in front of you and you would like it to be different. “If only I had more money”, you say, as you see an advert for a five-bedroom apartment. “I wish I had a dog”, you think, as you go for a stroll and see people walking their dogs. “If only I knew how to cook”, you think, as you flip through the pages of a new cookbook at the bookshop.

Sometimes I wish there were more hours in a day, not just twenty four. I wish I had more free time. If only I knew how to play chess…!

What are your wishes? Let me know in the comments, and talk to you next time.

Keywords

Glossary

regret = arrependimento

whiny = reclamão, que fica choramingando (reclamando) como uma criança

an advert = um anúncio

a stroll = uma andada

Áudio do presidente Barack Obama vem deste vídeo.

Hello, all. No episódio de hoje, você vai ouvir vocabulário de inglês relacionado a uso de cartão de crédito.

Hello, all. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

So today we talk about using your credit card and the vocabulary involved in that. And what inspired this episode was a video that shows US president Barack Obama telling the audience about a little incident involving his credit card. Listen to Obama talk about it [Obama speaks]. So he said “(…) I guess I don’t use it enough. So they thought there was some fraud going on. Fortunately Michele had hers. I was trying to explain to the waitress, no, I really think that… I’ve been paying my bills.”

So what happened? Well, Obama’s credit card was declined. That’s when you try to make a payment using your credit card and the shop person operating the little credit card machine returns the card to you and says “Sorry, it’s been declined.” And why would a credit card be declined? There are a few possible reasons… Sometimes it’s just a mistake and if you try it again, it’ll work. Other times, your card being declined means that you haven’t paid your credit card bill! Mr. Obama said that he tried to explain to the waitress that he had been paying his bills – more specifically, his credit card bill. And the other common reason for your card to be declined is that you have maxed out your credit card.

When you max out your credit card… That means that you have used up all the credit you had available for a certain period of time. Different credit cards have different spending limits, right? Do you have a credit card? What is your spending limit? Some people may have a spending limit of five hundred reais on their credit card. Other people may have a spending limit of two thousand reais, and so on. That’s the amount of money you can use to make payments. If you try to go over that limit – if you try to go over your spending limit, your card will probably be declined. Why? Because you have maxed out your credit card. Before being able to use your credit card again, you will have to make a payment.

You will either have to pay off your balance, or pay the minimum payment every month. When you pay off your balance, that means you pay your balance in full. Your balance, which you can see on your credit card statement, is the total amount of money you owe. So you can pay it in full, every month. Or, you can choose to pay only the minimum payment.

So have you ever maxed out your credit card? I have. It was a long time ago, and I wasn’t being very responsible with my spending. I started to spend, to pay for stuff with my card, and then one day my card got declined. That happened because I had maxed out my credit card. And in the past, sometimes I used to pay only minimum payments. Nowadays, I’d rather pay off my balance every month. I’d rather pay my balance in full if possible.

Do you look at your credit card statements often? I get mine on email- no more paper for me. Has your credit card ever been declined? Come on, tell us. What was the reason? Did you forget to pay your credit card bill? Did you max out your credit card? Let me know, and talk to you next time!

Keywords

Áudio do presidente Barack Obama vem deste vídeo.

Hi, everybody. Se você acompanha os podcasts aqui do Inglês Online, quero te convidar a dar uma atenção especial ao episódio de hoje! Antes de ir para o áudio, vamos fazer um teste:

Responda mentalmente, o mais rápido que puder – como se você estivesse numa conversa ao vivo, em tempo real:

Como você diz em inglês, usando o Possessive Case (‘s)?
1) O carro que pertence à Ana e ao Tim (o carro pertence aos dois)
2) Os carros da Maria e do Antonio (um carro é da Maria, e o outro do Antonio)

Aqui vão as respostas: 1- Ana and Tim’s car; 2- Maria’s and Antonio’s cars.

Se foi fácil, ótimo. Mas se você está entre os que hesitaram e se enrolaram um pouco, e é ouvinte deste podcast, então este episódio é pra você mesmo. Essa é uma dica relacionada aqui no blog.

Hi, everybody. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

So in today’s episode I wanna talk about the possessive case, which is the grammatical name of something like this: Jenny’s shoes. We’re talking about the shoes that belong to Jenny. Mark’s house. Here. we’re talking about the house that belongs to Mark. These are the simple cases, though, and they’re not our focus today.

Monica and Sara are sisters. They bought a house together, and they both live in the house. The house belongs to Monica and Sara. It is Monica and Sara’s house. Or you can say, why not? It’s Sara and Monica’s house. Sara and Monica’s house is medium-sized. It is Monica and Sara’s house.

Johnny and Tina are brother and sister. Johnny and Tina have the same mother and the same father, of course. They have the same parents. So this is how we say that: Johnny and Tina’s parents. If you look at the picture, you will see Johnny and Tina’s mother. You will also see Johnny and Tina’s father. Those are Tina and Johnny’s parents.

You may have noticed that when “something” belongs to more than one person, and we are listing out the owners – Mary, John, Jenny, Mike, etc. – the possessive case goes on the last name. Listen again: That blue car is Ana and Tim’s car. That house is Monica and Sara’s house. That man and that woman are Johnny and Tina’s parents. Ana and Tim’s, Monica and Sara’s, Johnny and Tina’s.

Now I would like you to think of people you know who have shared ownership of something. That’s right, they share ownership of a house, or a car. Or just go for a simple example of two brothers or two sisters and their parents. Please leave your example for this situation in the comments!

Moving on – here’s a different situation. Now we are talking about Donald, who owns a red car, and Lesley, who owns a black car. Donald and Lesley are friends and, coincidentally, they’re both having car problems. Both cars are now in the car shop for some maintenance. Donald’s car is in the car shop; and Lesley’s car is in the car shop as well. So this is how we say it: Donald’s and Lesley’s cars are in the shop. Donald’s car; Lesley’s car; Donald’s and Lesley’s cars. Yeah, they’re in the shop for maintenance. Donald’s and Lesley’s cars are in shop for some maintenance.

Still on Donald and Lesley: both of them have dogs. Donald’s dog is small and white; Lesley’s dog is small and brown. Both dogs are small. Donald’s and Lesley’s dogs are small. Both of them: the one that belongs to Donald, and the one that belongs to Lesley. Two different dogs! Donald’s and Lesley’s dogs are small.

Now hear this: little Timmy and Annie are classmates. So they know each other from school. They’re the same age. Timmy’s parents are from Canada; and Annie’s parents are from Canada as well. Both sets of parents are Canadian. So hear this: Timmy’s and Annie’s parents are from Canada. Timmy’s and Annie’s parents are Canadian. Timmy’s mother is from Canada; Timmy’s father is from Canada; Timmy’s parents are from Canada. Now, Annie: Annie’s mother is also from Canada; Annie’s father is from Canada; so Annie’s parents are from Canada. Timmy’s and Annie’s parents are from Canada, all four of them.

So if I say this: Jane and Karen’s parents are from England. Are Jane and Karen sisters?

If I say – Robert’s and Mike’s parents are from Australia… Are Robert and Mike brothers?

Think of a few examples from your life and post them in the comments. Talk to you next time!

Keywords

Glossary

They have shared ownership of =  Eles compartilham “a posse” de (ou seja, todos os envolvidos são donos)

both sets of parents = os dois pares/grupos de pais (os dois casais de pai e mãe)

Hello, all. No episódio de hoje, temos mais do -ING (doING, eatING, etc) aplicado de uma maneira que eu quase nunca ouço alunos usarem. Vamos falar dele, o gerúndio do inglês, numa forma que não tem nada a ver com o que fazemos em português: com a função de substantivo.

VEJA ISSO! Aqui no site você encontra várias dicas sobre -ING em geral e sobre seu uso como sujeito ou substantivo tmbém. Recomendo dar uma olhada nessa, nessa aqui e também nessa.

Encontre no texto todos os exemplos de gerúndio (e expressões começando com gerúndio) que fazem a função de substantivo.

Hello, all. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

So… Are you guys ready? Today’s topic is a favorite of mine to write or talk about because I know that not many English students have incorporated these words into their speech yet, or into their writing even.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about words like writing, eating, seeing, working and so on. Verbs in the -ING form… Which to us is simply “escrevendo, comendo, vendo, trabalhando.” So what’s the big deal? “I am writing” means “Eu estou escrevendo”; “Eu estou comendo” means “I am eating.” So what?

Well, at the beginning of this post I suggested you read three of my past tips that talk about the -ING form being used as a noun. Now, notice that I’m not saying “name.” What I mean is a “noun.” A noun is a word for a place, a person or a thing. And what would that thing be? An activity. A task. An occupation. Anything that describes the act of doing something.

Let’s take writing, for example. The activity of writing, or the action of writing. Now really listen to these examples:

Now, in the first example I said “He did the writing.” How would we even say that in Brazil? I guess we could simply say “Ele escreveu.” If we wanted to be more literal in our translation, we could say “Ele fez a escrita.” So Jack did the writing. That task, writing, was completed by Jack. And there was another task involved: editing. The text needed to be edited. Jack did the writing and I did the editing. Editing was fast; writing it took a bit longer. Listen to this one again: editing was fast but writing it took a bit longer.

Now think about how we say that kind of thing in Portuguese. “Editar foi rápido mas escrever demorou.” We frequently use the infinitive – editar, escrever – to describe an activity, to give it a name. In English, most of the time, we go with the -ING form. Editing was fast. Now, writing it took a while. I did the editing, the task of editing the report; and Jack did the writing. The task of writing the report was done by Jack.

My friends and I prepared the beach house for the weekend together. I did the washing, Mary did the cleaning and Jenny did the grocery shopping. It took me two hours to complete the washing. Washing the dishes was a bit boring but I did some listening while I washed. The cleaning got done in less than an hour. Cleaning the house was fast and simple. Jenny did the shopping. Shopping was fun. Shopping took a few hours, though… Jenny got stuck in traffic on her way back.

Are you ready to leave a few examples? I’d love to see them. Talk to you next time!

Keywords

Hi, everybody. O episódio de hoje é, of course, sobre a expressão do título. Mas antes de chegar nela eu falo sobre um anúncio que o departamento de transporte colocou no metrô de Londres, que faz um pedido às pessoas que abrem e comem seus lanches do McDonalds dentro do vagão.. hehe.

Hi, everybody. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

So the other day I was on the tube here in London when I saw this ad, which is an ad put up by the Transport for London department of the British government. I’m gonna read it out for you:

There is a special type of beast

As you can tell, all the verses rhyme. By the way, I posted the other day about an ad for handyman services that sounded like a poem as well, remember? Very poetic :)

So what’s the one on the tube about? Well – take a look at the glossary for this episode, for word meanings. The general message here is, basically… Don’t eat food that smells when you’re riding the tube. Why would they ask you that? Well, it’s a confined space, sometimes there’s no ventilation and the smell gets really strong, and some people are really bothered by it and sometimes they even feel sick. It’s happened to me on the train – a guy eating french fries (or chips, as they’re called here)… Pretty strong smell.

I mean, to be honest, on a short ride I personally don’t think that’s a huge problem but that’s because I’m quite the foodie and I like watching food shows on TV even when it’s some kind of food that I don’t like… On the other hand, it’s understandable that some people may feel annoyed by it on their journey back home after a long day’s work. It is a pretty small, confined space and it would actually be really nice to wait and eat your smelly food when you get out of the tube.

So I thought it was interesting not only how the government would start a campaign about that, but also that they used verses and rhymes to present it. They’re getting the message across and telling people it’s rude to eat smelly food on the train, but it sounds light-hearted because it’s sort of a humorous poem.

Let’s zoom in on one phrase for a minute: “takeaways (although easy) can make others feel quite queasy.” Takeaways (although easy)”  – that’s a very useful structure in English. It means that although takeaways are easy, convenient, handy, they may bother other people. So another way of saying “although takeaways are easy” is “takeaways, although easy.” Listen to this one: I just made a lemon pie. The filling, although tasty, was too sweet.” “The filling, although tasty” is a more succint way of saying “Although the filling of the pie was tasty.” So there you go: the filling, although tasty, was too sweet.

The movie we watched, although long, was very enjoyable. The hotel, although cheap, was very comfortable. Barry, although young, is a very accomplished lawyer. My dog, although small, is very strong.

Care to leave your own example in the comments? I’d like to read it. Talk to you next time.

Keywords

Glossary

beast = “besta”, no sentido de animal feroz (aqui, é usado figurativamente, é claro)

feast = comer muito, se esbaldar de comer

unaware of = alheio a

the fuss = a comoção, o distúrbio (que seria causado pelo cheiro da comida)

takeaways = comida que você compra pra levar e comer em outro lugar

queasy = nauseadas

foodie = pessoa que gosta de comida (não só porque está com fome)

getting the message across = passando a mensagem

zoom in on (something) = olhar (alguma coisa) mais de perto

filling = recheio

accomplished = que já realizou e alcançou muitas coisas

Care to… = Você gostaria de…?

Hello, all. O episódio de hoje é sobre diferentes maneiras de se dizer que algo é bom (good) em inglês.

Hello, all. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

So anyone who’s been in contact with English for a while is aware of the common words used to say that something or someone is, basically, good. What are some very popular words for describing something as nice, positive, good? “Interesting” is a popular one. Great and excellent are common. Beautiful is another popular one. What are the ones, though, that we don’t hear much when people who are still learning English speak? Well, there are so many ways to describe something in a positive way. A few years back we published a post on Inglês Online that covered exactly that: collocations with words that are frequently used to describe something or someone positively.

I stumbled upon that old tip today and thought it would be a good idea to have our podcast around that topic.  If you check out the post, you’ll see that there are certain words that frequently go together with some other words, such as fun and party. What a fun party! That was a fun party. Can we say “What a nice party”? Sure. It’s just that you will hear the combination “fun party” way more often, and you will sound a bit more natural saying “What a fun party!” than if you said “What a nice party!” That’s basically the definition of a collocation: a combination of words that you will hear very often as spoken by native speakers.

So, as always, I’d like to bring to the fore a few combinations that I don’t hear very often from Brazilian speakers. Remember: these are natural combinations of words – preferred combinations, if you will – that pop up a lot in native English conversation. Let’s start with advice: useful advice; helpful advice. Has anyone ever given you a useful piece of advice? I’ve been given useful advice several times in my life. A while ago when I was planning a trip someone advised me to get a travel bag with wheels. That was a useful piece of advice. What’s your example?

Here are a couple of words for weather: pleasant weather, perfect weather. What do you think of the weather right now, wherever you may be? Here where I am (São Paulo) it’s kinda hot. It’s bit too hot to describe it as pleasant. I guess I consider sunny, cool weather to be pleasant weather. Actually I think sunny and cool is perfect weather. What is your idea of perfect weather? Or just pleasant weather?

When we talk about an actor or actress – we say a talented actor or actress, of course. A talented actor. And when we watch a movie or a theater play and really enjoy that actor’s performance – here are a couple of words: an outstanding performance; a brilliant performance. An outstanding performance by Al Pacino, a brilliant performance by Meryl Streep. I still remember the first Leo Di Caprio film I watched; it was called Gilbert Grape or something like it. What a brilliant performance! So tell me – out of the last few movies you’ve watched, which one had a brilliant performance and who was the talented actor in question?

And to wrap things up for today, let’s talk about a room. It could be your bedroom, or the living room (by the way, in the UK they say “lounge” very frequently instead of “living room”). So we can say “This is such a cozy room,” or a comfortable room. When you say something is cozy, you mean that it makes you feel comfortable, warm, relaxed. A cozy room; a comfortable room.

I’m waiting for your examples! Talk to you next time.

Keywords

Glossary

a few years back = a few years ago

bring to the fore = colocar em evidência

if you will = vamos dizer (similar a “so to speak”)

wheels = rodas

wherever you may be = onde quer que você esteja

Hi, everyone. O episódio de hoje é sobre uma expressão do inglês que eu acho bem engraçadinha… e com a qual quase todo mundo vai conseguir se identificar de vez em quando.

Hi, everyone. Here’s a 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. Thanks for telling your friends, your neighbors, your family and keep listening!

So let’s get on to the idiom, or term I’d like to talk about this week… I’ve heard it twice, actually, this week. Once from an American, on a podcast, and once from an English man on a TV show. This idiom has the word mail in it – the American version has the word mail in it, to be more accurate. What’s “mail”? It’s a verb that we use when we want the post-office to deliver our letter to someone, for example. You have to mail your letter – so you drop it into one of those mailboxes… If I remember correctly I think they’re blue in the United States. And then a postal worker will come by some time later and open the mailbox and collect all that mail. You know, all the letters, cards, maybe small packages – all that stuff people need mailed to someone else. So “mail” is also a noun – it means correspondence.

Now, I find this expression kind of funny, and the reason is… Well, let me give you an example that will make it clearer. So… I was listening to this podcast that is hosted by three people. They have been doing the podcast together for a while. One of them was telling about how he had a few friends over on the weekend and they were eating potatoes and something funny happened and blah blah blah… And then one of the other hosts said “Well, I’m sure my invite got lost in the mail!”

She said it as a joke – what does that mean, though? Well, it means that she wasn’t invited to that little gathering on the weekend, so she’s being sarcastic and saying that she is sure that she actually was invited but the problem was, her invite got lost in the mail. Something happened to her invite. Maybe the postal worker lost it or mishandled it somehow, so she never got the invite and THAT is the reason why she wasn’t aware of her friend’s little party.  So that’s why the woman said “I’m sure my invite got lost in the mail.” Obviously, she’s joking and it’s ok to say that to a close friend, for example.

Sometimes people say that because they are actually upset that they were not invited to something. That’s the case of the English man on the TV show I watched this week. His friends told him they were going on a ski trip, and the guy said “Well, I’m sure my invitation got lost in the post.” In the United Kingdom it’s very common to say post instead of mail. Also, invite is kind of an abbreviation for invitation… So invite or invitation, it doesn’t matter.

I think it’s usually kind of funny when someone says “Well, I’m sure my invite got lost in the mail” to a friend, because they’re actually teasing the friend, right? Do we have an expression for that in Brazil? Maybe “Valeu por me chamar” or something like it?

Can you remember feeling left out of a party and thinking “I’m sure my invite got lost in the mail”? Let me know and talk to you next time.

Keywords

Glossary

gathering = reunião de pessoas (geralmente por motivo social)

teasing = provocando