00:30 Second Lessons
Both of these words are “conocer” in Spanish, so it’s important to know when to use which. Meet is what we use for the first time you’re introduced to someone. I met my wife on a beach in Acapulco. Janey met Mark in 2005. After that first meeting, you know that person. I got to […]
This word, as an adjective, has a similar meaning to its Spanish equivalent, but it’s completely different as a verb. Spanish uses the verb as a mathematical operation, which in English is “subtract”. The English “rest” is all about what you do when you sit down and relax after a long, hard day. Like […]
When we want to add emphasis to what we’re saying, we usually add a lot of stress to the auxiliary verb in the sentence: I can’t go! I have to work! He has to be around here somewhere! When a sentence doesn’t have an auxiliary, however, we add in “do”: Normal: I want to […]
This word, rooted in Latin, is used in Spanish to talk about setting something, making it stick or permanent, and that definition is also used in English. However, we also use “fix” to mean “repair”, both as a noun and a verb. I need to take the car to garage to get it fixed. […]
Spanish uses this cognate ‘carrera’ to focus on schooling, especially university. Whereas, the English word for receiving a certification for education is degree. So, what does career mean in English then? English uses the word career to talk about what happens after you get your degree at university, and before you retire: all those years […]
We use this fun expression to mean that someone knows what they need to know; to be informed. Examples: I have to go now, but keep me in the loop regarding any progress you all make. No one on my team keeps me in the loop, and then I look like an idiot in front […]
Smoking is often considered a nasty habit, and those who want to quit have several ways to give up the habit. Some try to slowly reduce, perhaps with the help of patches or gum. Others turn to electronic cigarettes. A few even do acupuncture or hypnosis. But often the quickest, cheapest, and most dramatic way to give up smoking is to quit cold turkey.
This is an expression we use when making predictions. If we are very sure of the prediction, we use this idiom to make sure everyone listening remembers that we said it and we said it early.
Easter vacation is coming soon. Mark my words, traffic is going to be terrible!
(It doesn’t have to be a difficult prediction!)
When we have to stay up late at night to finish a big project that’s due the next day, or because we have an exam the next morning, we say that we’re burning the midnight oil.
I’m going to really have to burn the midnight oil tonight if I want to pass my test tomorrow.
Marianne and I burned the midnight oil last night to finish the project on time, and then the boss didn’t even need it today!
This is a common expression, both on its own and as a part of a larger sentence.
Be careful with it, because neither “you” nor “tell” means what you might think at first.
“You” here is the generic you; it doesn’t mean the speaker is actually talking to someone. Spanish often uses either “tú” or the reflexive in these cases.