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Deception is a type of lie. It’s when someone makes or lets you believe something that isn’t true. I was deceived into thinking the capital of New York State was New York City. It’s Albany Everyone fell for Melissa’s deception; no one suspected the truth. Disappointment is what we feel when our expectations were […]
This expression is rather self-evident: nothing in life is free. We like to use this when someone is trying to convince us that something is totally free, because it reminds us there must be a catch—they want something in return, and even if it’s not money, it’s something intangible but with value.
In English, we do not usually use “the” when talking about time periods, like days or weeks. Look at these examples: I went to the shops on Sunday. Bill flew to San Francisco last Tuesday. Last week, I saw Mary. Next year, I’m going to travel to Japan. See how we never use “the” in […]
People who have no scruples about attaining certain goals will use this expression as a way to explain what they’ve done. For them, reaching the goal was all that mattered; the damage that was done to get there is irrelevant. It’s the motto of Machiavellians. Example: He’s campaigning with illegal funds on the theory that […]
A profound expression that we use to remind ourselves that despite wanting the best, there can be unexpected negative consequences that negate our positive desires. It’s also used to remind ourselves that even if we want the best, we can’t get anything if we don’t actually go out and do something about it.
In English, as in Spanish, we use “other” in front of plural nouns or after the definite article. Be sure to ask other people besides your mother. I’ll take the other one. Unlike Spanish, we use “another” in front of singular nouns. Would you like another cup of tea? I was hoping we could […]
One of my favorite expressions is a quote by the ever-wise Ben Franklin, who came up with a lot of great witticisms. “Good fences make good neighbors” Its meaning is pretty obvious: the best way to keep a positive relationship with other people is to ensure that boundaries are kept and maintained. Imagine […]
Spanish has a tendency to put subjects after verbs. Vino mi familia a visitarnos. Eso es lo que dijo Verónica. English, however, doesn’t allow for that. Except in certain circumstances, the subject must always go in front of the verb My family came to visit us. That’s what Veronica said. Spanish speakers, […]
We use this expression to talk about how things that we get easily, things we didn’t have to work for, oftentimes disappear just as easily, usually because we don’t value them because we didn’t have to earn them. Example: He won 10 million euros in the lottery and spent it all in one […]
Common Mistakes: For / During / Since When we want to talk about how long something has lasted, we have two options, “for” for the duration of time (I’ve lived here for 10 years) and “since” for points in time when something started (I’ve lived here since 2005). In the first example, many Spanish […]