Hi there !
I am Teacher Val .
I´ve been teaching English for a long time, since 1998 and here in my blog I´m posting some questions and answers that we discuss in class . I hope that these questions and answers can be useful for you , becasuse I know that ...
These Questions Could be yours!!!
Why sometimes we say "a" book and sometimes we say "ei" book?
Well, often when we speak more slowly, we may say "ei" book, but when we speak in a faster speed or even in a normal speed we probably would say "a" book.
What does the expression "Oh my goodness!" mean?
When someone says "Oh my goodness", that’s when they are expressing surprise with something that has happened. Usually something bad has happened. So for example, you say to your wife: I had a car accident. I hit my car against a wall, and she would say: Oh my goodness!
The expression "Oh my goodness" is a polite sort of an informal way of expressing surprise.
Some people, of course, express surprise by using a bad word that you usually listen in movies or in a play.
What does the expression "Against all odds" mean?
The expression against all odds means with great difficulty. When something is very difficult to do and yet you do it anyway, you can say you’re doing it against all odds. When you are able to do something that no one else thought you could do because it’s very difficult.
Let’s say that it’s very cold and it’s raining a lot outside and the wind is blowing very hard and you decide you are going to go running. Well, that may be possible, but it would be very difficult to do and if you do it anyway, you are doing it against all odds.
What does the expression "At this point" mean?
Well, that’s something you say very often in a conversation. Someone says: I think that at this point we should go to the store.
When you are talking about, when you are planning something and you are thinking in doing something different you can use this expression. For example, I go to the store and I’m looking for a clock and I can’t find the clock and I go to this store and I go to that store and finally I decide to try another way to buy the clock. So I say, well at this point I’m just going to order the clock on the internet. I tried other things and now I’m going to do this.
What is the difference between a dove and a pigeon?
Well, a dove is a small white bird and it’s a type of pigeon, but when people use the word pigeon they are usually talking about a bigger bird usually one that we found in a park.
Pigeons are very popular in American parks and people feed them with little pieces of bread.
Technically a dove is a type of pigeon so you could call a dove a pigeon but people usually use the word dove for a small white type of pigeon.
Technically a dove is a type of pigeon so you could call a dove a pigeon but people usually use the word dove for a small white type of pigeon.
When do I say "Do you get it"and when do I say "Did you get it"?
Well, first of all “to get it” here means “to understand”. So “do you get it” means “do you understand”. We usually use that expression when we are explaining something to someone and after we have done it we say: “do you get it?”
Did you get it, in the past tense, refers to weather you understood something in the past so, for example, you go to a college classroom and you hear the professor talking about a subject and after class you go to your friend who was there and you say: I didn’t understand what the professor was saying. Did you get?
So, one is used in the present when the things are happening or just happened and the other is used for the past tense.
What is the correct form of the sentence: He talks as if he knows everything or He talks as if he knew everything?
Well, technically the most correct answer would be: “as if he knew (past tense) everything”, and not: “as if he knows (present tense) everything”. However, in common conversation the difference is no longer important for many people, so you will hear people say: “He talks as if he knows everything.”
The language is changing overtime and that is becoming more acceptable.
What is the difference between the words policy and politics?
Policy can mean any rule or regulation that an organization has. Policy can also be your plan, your program to fix some problem; so for example, the government has a policy on the environment (I hope). What they are going to do to help the environment.
Politics is anything related to the way the government or an organization works. Usually when we talk about politics in government we are talking about people trying to get elected, for example to become president, to become a member of the congress, that’s all part of politics.
What is the difference between the words pretty and quite?
Well, if I say that someone is pretty good I mean that he’s good… a little good, he’s ok but if I say that he’s quite good I mean that he’s very good.
So someone who is pretty good is not as good as someone who’s quite good.
Well, first of all “to get it” here means “to understand”. So “do you get it” means “do you understand”. We usually use that expression when we are explaining something to someone and after we have done it we say: “do you get it?”
Did you get it, in the past tense, refers to weather you understood something in the past so, for example, you go to a college classroom and you hear the professor talking about a subject and after class you go to your friend who was there and you say: I didn’t understand what the professor was saying. Did you get?
So, one is used in the present when the things are happening or just happened and the other is used for the past tense.
What is the correct form of the sentence: He talks as if he knows everything or He talks as if he knew everything?
Well, technically the most correct answer would be: “as if he knew (past tense) everything”, and not: “as if he knows (present tense) everything”. However, in common conversation the difference is no longer important for many people, so you will hear people say: “He talks as if he knows everything.”
The language is changing overtime and that is becoming more acceptable.
What is the difference between the words policy and politics?
Policy can mean any rule or regulation that an organization has. Policy can also be your plan, your program to fix some problem; so for example, the government has a policy on the environment (I hope). What they are going to do to help the environment.
Politics is anything related to the way the government or an organization works. Usually when we talk about politics in government we are talking about people trying to get elected, for example to become president, to become a member of the congress, that’s all part of politics.
What is the difference between the words pretty and quite?
Well, if I say that someone is pretty good I mean that he’s good… a little good, he’s ok but if I say that he’s quite good I mean that he’s very good.
So someone who is pretty good is not as good as someone who’s quite good.
What is the difference between the words "effect" and "affect"?
Effect is a noun and refers to the result of something, for example, if I hit you in the nose with my hand or my fist, the effect will be perhaps you’ll have blood coming out of your nose. You might also hit me back so that’s effect.
Affect is a verb and means to change or to make a difference, for example, the news affected me, meaning it has changed me, made difference for me.
Good and well.
Good is an adjective, so if you describe a pizza you can say: it’s a good pizza.
Well is an adverb, so you can say: he drives very well.
Normally when someone asks how you feel, you can say: I feel good or I feel well because sometimes well is an adjective.
What is the difference between the words: "amazing" and "awesome"?
Amazing is something we usually use for somewhat surprising accomplishment, for example, you see a young child and he runs very fast, faster than an adult. Well, that would be amazing, it would be very surprising.
We also use the expression amazing just to mean really, really good sometimes. So I can say: that was an amazing movie. It means you really liked it.
Amazing can also be used in a negative way; someone says to you: my friend didn’t call me back last night. That’s amazing! Here it means more surprise. It’s very surprising that he didn’t call you back.
Awesome is usually nowadays just used to mean great or wonderful. So it can be used in the same way as amazing when you mean it’s very, very good. So you can say that it is an awesome movie meaning the same as amazing or great movie.
What is the difference between "got" and "have got"?
Sometimes, have got and got mean the same thing such as: I have a pen. I got a pen or I have got a pen we probably would say.
Differences between "I have had" and "I had had".
Well, when we say I have had we are talking about something that happened in the past, so I can say: I have had many cups of coffee today.
When I say: I had had, we use that when we are talking about something else going on in a past, so for example I can say: When my wife arrived home last night I had had three cups of coffee. Here, we are talking about the past in the past.
What does the expression “Jump across the pond” mean?
Well, the word pond is a small body of water. A body of water can be large or small. Large like an ocean or small like a lake. A pond is even smaller than a lake and you usually can see across it or walk around it.
The expression jump across the pond, actually refers to someone going from the United States to Great Britain, for example, from New York to London, so you can say: I’m going to jump across the pond, and the pond here is a sort of aj oke because we are taking about the Atlantic Ocean which of course is not a small body of water, but that is an expression that people use about going to England or going to other countries in Europe.
