1. GRAB

• As soon as Tom saw another guy looking at his girlfriend he grabbed her hand. (Assim que o Tom viu outro cara olhando para sua namorada ele agarrou a mão dela.)
• Sarah grabbed the magazine from me before I even had a chance to look at it. (A Sarah tomou a revista de mim antes mesmo de eu ter uma chance de vê-la.)
• Our trip took a little longer because we stopped to grab some lunch. (A nossa viagem demorou mais um pouco porque nós paramos para almoçar rapidamente.)
• When Rick realized how cold it was he ran back inside the house and grabbed his coat. (Quando o Rick reparou o quanto estava frio ele correu de volta para a casa e pegou seu casaco.)
• One thing dictators do better than anyone else is grab power. (Uma coisa que os ditadores fazem melhor do que ninguém é tomar o poder à força.)
• Some public officials see no problem in grabbing public funds and using them for personal purposes. (Alguns funcionários públicos não vêem problema em pegar fundos públicos e usá-los para fins pessoais.)
• The book grabbed my attention from the very first line. (O livro chamou a minha atenção desde a primeira linha.)
• The plot of the film didn’t really grab me. (O enredo do filme não chamou a minha atenção tanto assim.)

2. UP FOR GRABS

• Now that the marketing director has resigned, the position is up for grabs. (Agora que o diretor de marketing se demitiu, o cargo está disponível.)
• The prize is for the students only. It’s not up for grabs for the teachers. (O prêmio é só para os alunos. Não é para os professores ganharem.)

Now it’s time for you to grab your chance to leave a comment!

Tchau!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Vocabulário: Grab.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Those who are confused about when to use the time expressions “at the end/beginning”, and “in the end/beginning”, please, raise their hands. Um hum, that’s what I thought. I might not be able to see you, but I imagine that most of you raised your hands!

Os que estão confusos sobre quando usar as expressões de tempo “at the end/beginning”, e “in the end/beginning”, por favor, levantem as mãos. Um, hum, é isso que pensei. Talvez eu não consiga vê-los, mas eu imagino que a maioria de vocês tenha levantado as mãos!

As usual, it’s the prepositions which ruin everything! LOL! I actually like them, exactly because changing one in an expression or after a verb can change the entire meaning of what you want to say! But, of course, I’ve been speaking English my entire life…so let me help you!

Como sempre, são as preposições que estragam tudo! Rsrs! Na verdade, eu gosto delas, justamente porque trocá-la em uma expressão ou depois de um verbo pode mudar inteiramente o significado do que você quer dizer! Mas, claro, eu tenho falado inglês a minha vida inteira…Então me deixe ajudá-los!

At the beginning

The first part of something (street, book, film, etc.); the starting point in a process; the start of a period of time

A parte inicial de algo (rua, livro, filme, etc.); o ponto de partida em um processo; o início de um período de tempo

Let’s read out loud the examples given at the beginning of chapter 10. / Vamos ler em voz alta os exemplos dados no início de capítulo 10.

The horse fell right at the beginning of the race. / O cavalo caiu logo no início da corrida.

I’m traveling to Mexico at the beginning of June. / Vou viajar ao México no início de junho.

In the beginning

At first
No princípio

In the beginning I didn’t like living in Chicago, but now I love it! / No princípio eu não gostei de morar em Chicago, mas agora eu amo!

Learning Japanese was really difficult for me in the beginning. / Aprender japonês foi muito difícil para mim no princípio.

I was in the beginning of my studies when I had to quit college to help out my ailing mother. /Eu estava no início dos meus estudos quando eu tive que desistir faculdade para ajudar a minha mãe enferma. (“in the beginning” aqui quer dizer no início, mas já tendo iniciado.)

At the end

The end part of something (street, book, film, etc.); the finishing point in a process; the end of a period of time

A parte final de algo (rua, livro, filme, etc.); o ponto que marca o término de um processo; o final de um período de tempo

My house is at the end of the street on the left. / A minha casa é no final da rua à esquerda.

The contractors were at the end of constructing the new subway line when the earthquake hit. / As empreiteiras estavam no final de construir a nova linha do metrô quando aconteceu o terremoto.

Sarah and John will be moving back to Canada at the end of the year. / A Sarah e o John vão se mudar de volta para o Canadá no final do ano.

In the end

Finally
Finalmente

We looked at four different churches for our wedding. In the end we decided to get married in the back yard of our house. / Nós vimos quatro igrejas diferentes para nosso casamento. Finalmente nós decidimos nos casar no quintal dos fundos da nossa casa.

Tony complained so much about the hotel room that, in the end, they gave him an extra day for free. / O Tony reclamou tanto do quarto de hotel que eles finalmente lhe deram mais um dia de graça.

I watched so many films over the weekend. In the end I couldn’t even remember which ones I liked! / Eu vi tantos filmes no fim de semana. No final eu nem conseguia lembrar de quais deles eu gostei!

You are now at the end of my blog. Until the next one!
Agora você está no final do meu artigo. Até o próximo!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: AT the beginning x IN the beginning.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

There are many phrasal verbs with the verb “to make”; and each one of these has various meanings. I thought I’d focus on some of the most common uses of “to make up”.

Existem muitos “phrasal verbs” com o verbo “to make”; e cada um desses tem vários significados. Gostaria de focar em alguns dos usos mais comuns de “to make up”.

This versatile phrasal verb can mean to devise as a falsehood; invent. It can also mean to compensate for; to resolve a quarrel; or to take (an examination or course) again or at a later time because of previous absence or failure.

Esse phrasal verb versátil pode significar falsidade; inventar. Pode também significar compensar por; resolver uma briga; ou fazer (um exame ou curso) novamente ou mais tarde por causa de ausência ou reprovação anterior.

1. Falsidade; inventar

• My assistant told me she had to take a week off to have a minor surgery done. Only later did I find out she had made the whole thing up. She spent the week in Hawaii with her boyfriend! (A minha assistente falou para mim que ela teve que tirar uma semana de folga para fazer uma pequena cirurgia. Só depois eu soube que ela tinha mentido. Ela passou a semana no Havaí com o seu namorado!)
• My daughter loves to make up stories about fairies and goblins. (A minha filha adora inventar histórias sobre fadas e duendes.)

2. Compensar por

• I almost never see my husband because he works around the clock. He makes up for it though, by taking me on fabulous trips. (Eu quase nunca vejo o meu marido porque ele trabalha sem parar. No entanto, ele compensa por isso me levando em viagens fabulosas.)
• I’d like to make up for the days I’ll be gone by working overtime next week. (Eu gostaria de compensar pelos dias que eu estarei ausente fazendo horas extras na próxima semana.)

3. Resolver uma briga

• Fights with my wife never last that long. Within hours of arguing we always make up. (As brigas com a minha esposa nunca duram muito tempo. Algumas horas depois de brigar nós sempre nos reconciliamos.)
• My mother used to intervene in my sister’s and my arguments all the time and force us to make up. (A minha mãe sempre intervinha nas minhas brigas com a minha irmã e nos forçava a nos reconciliar.)

4. Fazer novamente ou depois

• Serena had to make up a semester at school because she had missed too many classes. (A Serena teve que refazer um semestre no colégio porque ela matou aula demais.)
• Morgan woke up so sick on the day of his exam that he called the professor to ask if he could make it up on another day. (O Morgan acordou tão doente no dia do seu exame que ele ligou para o professor para pedir se ele poderia fazê-lo mais tarde.)

You can also “make up your mind” which is to decide between alternatives; come to a definite decision or opinion.

Também, você pode “make up your mind” que é decidir entre alternativas; chegar numa decisão definitiva ou opinião.

• My wife can never make up her mind on where she wants to travel for the holidays. (A minha esposa nunca consegue decidir para onde ela quer viajar de férias.)
• I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to study medicine. (Eu decidi. Vou estudar medicina.)

Now it’s time for you to make up your mind whether this blog was useful or not. I hope it was!

Agora é a hora para você decidir se esse artigo foi útil ou não. Espero que tenha sido, aguardo comentários!

Tchau for now!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Phrasal Verb: Make Up.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Something I have noticed a lot in the world of English teaching is the misuse of the label “false cognate” to describe a pair of words in different languages that have a similar form, but different meanings. For example, many people might call the English word “parents” (pais) and the Portuguese word “parentes” (relatives) a false cognate. However, this is wrong.

Uma coisa que eu percebi muito do mundo de ensinar inglês é o mau uso do rótulo “falso cognato” para descrever um par de palavras em línguas diferentes que tem uma forma semelhante, mas significados diferentes. Por exemplo, muitas pessoas poderiam chamar a palavra inglesa “parents” (pais) e a palavra portuguesa “parentes” (relatives) um cognato falso. Porém isso é errado.

A cognate is a word that is related to one in its own language, or another language; that is, they share the same root. An example of a cognate in two different languages is the English word “name” and the Portuguese word “nome” which both originate from the Indo-European word “nomen”. “Name” and “nome” mean the same thing, but it’s important to note that a cognate doesn’t necessarily have to share the same meaning.

Um cognato é uma palavra que é relacionada a uma na sua própria língua, ou em outra língua; ou seja, elas vêm da mesma raiz. Um exemplo de um cognato em duas línguas diferentes é a palavra inglesa “name” e a palavra portuguesa “nome” que se originam da palavra indo-européia “nomen”. “Name” e “nome” significam a mesma coisa, mas é importante reparar que um cognato não necessariamente tem que ter o mesmo significado.

A false cognate is a word that shares a similar meaning or form to another, but whose root is different. An example of a false cognate is the English verb “to have” and the Portuguese verb “haver”, which do not have a common root. “To have” comes from the Indo-European word “kap”, while the origin of “haver” is unknown.

Um falso cognato é uma palavra que tem um significado ou forma semelhante a uma outra, mas cujo raiz é diferente. Um exemplo de um falso cognato é a palavra inglesa “to have” e a palavra portuguesa “haver”, que não tem raiz comum. “To have” vem da palavra indo-européia “kap”, enquanto a origem de “haver” é desconhecida.

What English and Portuguese do have a number of are “false friends”. A false friend is a word that looks or sounds similar to a word in another language, but has a different meaning. Take a look at some classic examples of false friends in English and Portuguese:

O que inglês e português têm em abundância são “falsos amigos”. Um falso amigo é uma palavra que tem uma aparência ou som parecido com uma palavra em uma outra língua, mas tem significado diferente. Dá uma olhada em alguns exemplos clássicos de falsos amigos em inglês e português:

O que vocês acharam da dica? Tem alguma crítica ou sugestão de melhoria? Aguardo comentários!

Until the next time! Até a próxima!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: A diferença entre Falsos Cognatos e Falsos Amigos.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

Muitos dos meus alunos têm dificuldade de entender preposições em inglês, junto com todas as outras pessoas do mundo que não são falantes nativas de inglês. Em particular, eu reparei que a diferença entre “into” e “in”, e “onto” e “on” pode causar muita confusão. Eu resolvi mostrar algumas regras simples a serem seguidas que deverão ajudá-lo a usar essas preposições corretamente.

INTO

“Into” can be used when talking about going towards the inside of a place.

“Into” pode ser usado quando estiver falando sobre ir para dentro de um lugar:

• When I walked into the garden I saw the neighbor’s dog digging up my tomato plants. / Quando eu entrei no jardim eu vi o cachorro da vizinha arrancando minhas plantas de tomate.
• Richard went into the garage to get his tool kit. / O Richard entrou na garagem para pegar sua caixa de ferramentas.

It can be used to talk about being involved in a situation or an occupation.

“Into” pode ser usado para falar de estar envolvido numa situação ou ocupação:

• Lisa would like to go into medicine. / A Lisa gostaria de trabalhar em medicina.
• James got into another car accident yesterday. / O James teve outro acidente de carro ontem.

It can also be used to talk about making a shape.

Também pode ser usado para falar de fazer uma forma:

• She cut the pie into thin pieces. / Ela cortou a torta em fatias finas.
• He shaped the clay into a vase. / Ele moldou a argila em um vaso.

IN

There are many uses of “in”. Here are examples of some of its most common usages.

Tem muitos usos de “in”. Aqui temos alguns exemplos dos seus usos mais comuns:

It can be used to say the place where someone or something is.

Pode ser usado para dizer o lugar onde está alguém ou alguma coisa:

• The apples are in the fridge. / As maçãs estão na geladeira.
• Chris lives in Spain. / O Chris mora na Espanha.

It can be used to talk about how something is done:

Pode ser usado para falar de como algo é feito:

• Flávio speaks English, but he only speaks to me in Portuguese. / O Flávio fala inglês, mas ele só fala comigo em português.
• She walked out of the room in a rage. / Ela saiu da sala num furor.

“In” is also used when something is arranged in a particular way.

“In” é também usado quando algo é arranjado numa maneira específica:

• The names on the list are in alphabetical order. / Os nomes na lista estão em ordem alfabética.
• We all sat in a circle around the bonfire. / Nós todos sentamos num círculo em volta da fogueira.

ONTO

“Onto” can be used to say that someone or something moves to a position on a surface.

“Onto” pode ser usado para dizer que alguém ou alguma coisa se move para uma posição numa superfície:

• The cat jumped onto the windowsill. / O gato pulou no peitoril.
• They climbed onto the rock to get a better view. / Eles treparam na rocha para conseguir uma vista melhor.

It can be used when someone knows who did something wrong or illegal.

Pode ser usado quando alguém sabe quem fez algo errado ou ilegal:

• My brother thought he could sneak out of the house, but my parents were onto him. / O meu irmão achou que pudesse sair furtivamente da casa, mas os meus pais sabiam.
• As soon as the police found the murderer’s glove they were onto him. / Assim que a polícia encontrou a luva do assassino eles souberam quem ele era.

“Onto” can also be used when someone has discovered or produced something important or interesting.

“Onto” também pode ser usado quando alguém descobriu ou produziu algo importante ou interessante:

• As soon as the band slowed down the rhythm of the song they were finally onto something. / Assim que a banda diminuiu o ritmo da música eles finalmente conseguiram produzir algo interessante.
• Steve made many mistakes with his experiment before he got onto something he could show his investors. / O Steve fez muitos erros com seu experimento antes de produzir algo que ele pudesse mostrar os investidores.

ON

Like “in”, “on” also has many uses. Here are just a few.

Como “in”, “on” tem muitos usos. Aqui são apenas alguns:

“On” is used when something is positioned above another thing and is being supported by it; or on the surface of something.

“On” é usado quando algo é colocado acima de outra coisa e é apoiado por ela; ou na superfície de algo:

• Put the blanket on the bed. / Coloque o cobertor na cama.
• We hung our daughter’s painting on the wall in our bedroom. / Nós penduramos a pintura da nossa filha na parede em nosso quarto.

It can be used to indicate the location someone’s at.

Pode ser usado para indicar o local onde alguém está:

• We live on Dolphin Avenue. / Nós moramos na Avenida Dolphin.
• Bobby grew up on a farm. / O Bobby cresceu numa fazenda.

Finally, “on” is used when something concerns a subject.

Finalmente, “on” é usado quando algo trata de um assunto:

• My son wrote a book report on the fall of the Roman Empire. / O meu filho escreveu um boletim escolar sobre a queda do Império Romano.
• I watched a documentary on the Vietnam War last night that was really fascinating. / Eu vi um documentário sobre a Guerra do Vietnã na noite de ontem que foi muito fascinante.

One last tip: You can get in or into a car/taxi and you can get on or onto a bus/train/plane/boat.

Uma última dica: você pode entrar “in” ou “into” um carro/taxi e você pode entrar “on” ou “onto” um ônibus/trem/avião/barco.

Tchau for now!

Ashley Smith

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: In x Into x On x Onto.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

As a foreigner living in Brazil many Brazilians are curious to know about my life. In fact, if I had a dime for every time someone asked me why I moved to Brazil, I’d be a very, very…very wealthy woman.

Como estrangeira que mora no Brasil, muitos brasileiros ficam curiosos para saber da minha vida. Na verdade, se eu ganhasse dez centavos toda vez que alguém pergunta para mim porque eu me mudei para o Brasil, eu seria uma mulher muito, muito…muito rica.

If you’re one of those who would love to talk to a foreigner, but feel a little shy about your English, your worries are over! In this article you’ll learn some key phrases to start, and keep a conversation going with a foreigner.

Se você é um daqueles que adoraria falar com estrangeiros, mas se sente um pouco tímido com relação ao seu inglês, as suas preocupações acabaram! Nesse artigo você vai aprender algumas frases chaves para começar e manter uma conversa com estrangeiro.

Where are you from? / De onde você é?
How long have you been here? / Há quanto tempo que está aqui?
Why did you decide to move to Brazil? / Por que você resolveu se mudar para o Brasil?
How long are you here for? / Por quanto tempo você está aqui?

Someone visiting – alguém visitando

How do you like it here? / O que você está achando daqui?
Where do you live? / Onde você mora?
That’s a great neighborhood. / É um ótimo bairro.
Have you been anywhere else in Brazil? / Você já foi a outros lugares no Brasil?
Make sure you go to… / Não deixe de ir a….
You have to go to… / Você precisa conhecer…
I’ve (never) been to… / Eu (já/nunca) fui para….
Do you know/speak any Portuguese yet? / Você já fala alguma coisa em português?
How’s your Portuguese? / Como está o seu português?
Let’s get together some time. / Vamos combinar alguma coisa.
Can I get your number? / Posso pegar o seu telefone?
Let me give you mine. / Vou te dar o meu.
It was really nice talking to you. / Foi muito bom falar com você.
It was nice meeting/to meet you. / Foi bom te conhecer.
I’ll call you. / Te ligo.

These phrases are just to get you started; the rest is up to you. But just remember, at the end of the day, we’re more interested in what you communicate than how you communicate so don’t stress about the mistakes you make along the way! Good luck!

Essas frases são apenas para começar; o resto depende de você. Mas lembre-se que, no final das contas, nós estamos mais interessados no que você quer comunicar do que como você se comunica então não se estresse com os erros ao longo do caminho!

Boa Sorte!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Conversando com estrangeiros.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

EVERY MINUTE COUNTS
This expression is simply another way of saying time is important. It’s used quite frequently in situations where time is very limited.

• In emergency rooms, doctors are well aware that every minute counts.
• The exam was very long and we had only an hour and a half to complete it; so as you can imagine, every minute counted.

A MILE A MINUTE
We use this expression to talk about something that is very fast. It’s most commonly used with the verbs: go, talk, move, travel .

• While Claire was telling me about her trip to India she was so excited that she was talking a mile a minute.
• The guy was going a mile a minute on his bicycle and almost ran me over.

UP TO THE MINUTE
When something is “up to the minute” it means that it is the most recent, current.

• Rachel’s good about sending me up-to-the-minute data on how our product’s doing on the market.
• Nowadays most news websites are up to the minute.

WAIT A MINUTE
Aside from its literal use, which is to ask someone to wait for a short period of time, “wait a minute” can also be used to interrupt someone to say something important that you’ve just thought of.

Jane: Let’s see, I’ve fed the dog, shut all the windows, turned the heater off…
John: Wait a minute, did you lock the back door?
Steve: He’s one of my best friends from college, tall, blonde, green eyes…
Sarah: Wait a minute, what did you say his name was?

Whoops! I’ve got to go. I wanted to write some more, but I often wait until the last minute to write my articles, so…until the next one!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Idioms with the word MINUTE.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

But what about pronunciation? When I was a kid, spelling bees (competições de soletrar) left me in cold sweats. Because of the complex history of the English language there are 24-27 consonant sounds and 14-20 vowel sounds, yet there are only 26 letters in the alphabet. And, unfortunately, English speakers don’t have the benefit of accents as Portuguese speakers do. So you can imagine winning a spelling bee was no easy feat (não era nada mole, não)!

Take a look, for example, at the letter combination “ough” in this sentence:

“Although I have a rough cough, I can still climb through the boughs of the tree”, thought the man.
(“Embora eu tenha uma tosse seca, eu ainda consigo trepar nos galhos da árvore”, pensou o homem.)

Let me give you an idea of how to pronounce the various oughs in the above sentence:

• In “although” it’s similar to that of “oe” in “toe” (dedo do pé).
• In “rough” it’s similar to that of “uff” in “puff” (sopro).
• In “cough” it’s similar to that of “off” in “coffin” (caixão).
• In “through” it’s similar to that of “ue” in “true” (verdadeiro).
• In “bough” it’s similar to that of “ow” in “how” (como).
• In “thought” it’s similar to that of “o” in “hot” (quente).

Others will tell you there are even more pronunciations to this letter combination, but these are the most commonly used. And as far as I’m concerned they’re enough (“uff” as in “puff”)!

Tchau for now!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: The Pronunciation of OUGH.

Destaques da Semana

• É correto chamar o professor de Teacher?
• Como nosso cérebro aprende inglês
• Aprenda inglês com músicas
• Livros e Dicionários indicados pelo EE
• Receba outras dicas de inglês pelo Twitter ou Facebook.

IT’S ABOUT TIME

When something finally happens that should have happened a long time ago you can use the expression “it’s about time”. You can also use it to express that it is nearly, or almost time to do something.

- It’s about time the Richardson’s got a divorce. They’ve been unhappy in their marriage for years! (they’ve finally gotten a divorce)
- Don’t you think it’s about time we buy a new car? Ours is falling apart! (it’s nearly time to buy a new car)

ALL SET

The expression “all set” is another way of saying that you’re ready.
- We were all set to go to the beach when it started to rain. (we were all ready to go)
- All set? (another way of asking “are you ready?”)

A BITE TO EAT

When you want to get “a bite to eat” it means that you want to get something to eat, usually something that is quick or convenient.

- The play’s going to be long, so maybe we should grab a bite to eat before it starts. (we should get some food quickly)
- We’ve been on the road for four hours now! Can we stop to get a bite to eat? (can we stop and eat some food?)

CALL IT A DAY

If you’re finished with your work and are ready to go home you can use the expression “call it a day”.

- We’ve been working on this project for six hours and still haven’t finished it! I think we should call it a day. (we should quit working on the project and go home)

- The soccer team decided to call it a day after the center-back broke his leg during practice. (the team decided to stop playing soccer and go home)

A CLOSE CALL

When a dangerous situation almost happened you can call it “a close call”. You can also call an election or competition “a close call” when more than one person has a good chance of winning.

- I managed to swerve the car just in time to miss hitting the dog. However, it was a really close call. (I almost hit the dog)
- Today’s F1 race is a close call between Britain’s Jenson Button, Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello, and Australia’s Mark Webber. Who will win it is anyone’s guess! (they all have a good chance of winning)

And now it’s about time for me to call it a day. I’m off to go get a bite to eat! Até o próximo!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Five Useful English Idioms.

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Here’s a typical example of how an English learner uses the genitive case incorrectly: the food’s price, the curtain’s color, the book’s title, etc. To the chagrin of the English teacher, the student’s habit of using it this way becomes one quite difficult to break.

There’s much more to this case than meets the eye! Here are a few simple rules to follow:

We normally use -‘s for people, animals, or places:

- Liz’s computer isn’t working.
- Those aren’t my sneakers. They’re my sister’s.
- The dog’s food bowl is empty.
- New York City’s crime rate is at an all time low.

You can use -‘s with time expressions and periods of time:

- Have you seen the headline on the front page of today’s newspaper?
- Santa Barbara is about an hour’s drive from Los Angeles.

Remember that for plural nouns we use s + apostrophe, -s’:

- My brothers’ wives are very nice. (two or more brothers)
- The cats’ toys are in the box. (two or more cats)
- I have three months’ vacation.

For things, ideas etc., we normally use of:

- The price of a university education in The U.S. is extremely high. (NOT the university education’s price)
- The color of his shirt is the same as his shoes. (NOT the shirt’s color)
- The source of her depression comes from a failing marriage. (NOT her depression’s source)

We also say the beginning/middle/end of; the top/bottom of; the front/back/side of:

- I was in the middle of cleaning my house when you called.
- Jim’s house is at the top of the hill.
- Did you see the coat hanger on the back of the door?

Both -‘s and of can be used for an organization:

- The company’s failure was due to overspending. (OR the failure of the company)
- It was the decision of the university Council to fire the professor. (OR the Council’s decision)

Entendeu diretinho? Agora jamais vai esquecer como usar o genitive case em inglês!

Até o próximo artigo!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: OF and ‘S, the Genitive Case.

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One mistake I noticed across the board was the use of “believe in”, “acreditar em”. I would often find my students making comments like, “I was late for work because the traffic was terrible, but I don’t think my boss believed in me.”; or if he or she said something that surprised me the response to my surprise was, “You don’t believe in me?!”

At first I didn’t get it. I thought to myself, “Wow, there are a lot of undervalued people in this country!” However, the more often I heard this mistake, the more I realized that in colloquial Portuguese “acreditar em” a maioria das vezes simply means to believe.

A little confused? See, in English “to believe something/someone” and “to believe in something/someone” have different meanings. For example, if your teenage daughter comes home at 3 a.m. smelling of alcohol and tells you she was at a friend’s house “just watching movies”, you would say, “I don’t believe you!” However, if you were to tell her, “I don’t believe in you”, well, you’d be considered a pretty lousy parent; for if there is one thing a parent should never do, it is to stop believing in their children.

When you “believe someone” it means you accept that what this person is saying is true. In the above situation, your daughter is not telling the truth, so you don’t believe her. When you “believe in someone” it means you accept the existence of or recognize the value of that person. So, if you don’t believe in your daughter, or son, or whomever, then you simply don’t recognize that this person exists. He or she means nothing to you, holds no value for you.

When a father tells his son that Santa Claus will arrive on Christmas Eve to leave tons of presents under the tree, if the son no longer believes in Santa then he will not believe his father.

If a friend confesses to you one day that she has seen a ghost, and you tell her that you too have seen one, then you believe her; and therefore the two of you can say you believe in ghosts.

Have I clarified the difference for you? I hope so! Now, can anyone else think of examples of how to use these terms correctly?

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Believe vs. Believe in.

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I remember in my early days of teaching being confused by some of my intermediate and advanced students’ desires to become “fluent” in English. They were perfectly capable of holding a conversation, and they had no problem understanding me. In my book that meant fluency. However apparently for them fluency meant making no mistakes.

I began to understand this desire as I gained more fluency in Portuguese. I found myself sometimes avoiding conversations not because I was afraid I couldn’t get my point across, but because I would make a mistake. People would compliment me on my Portuguese, I would hear my friends tell others that I was fluent, yet I still hesitated before speaking. I felt like my students, wanting desperately to speak Portuguese accurately; otherwise I couldn’t consider myself fluent.

This begs the question…if fluency in a language equals speaking it accurately, that is, with no mistakes, then is anyone fluent, in any language? I mean, as much as I’d like to think that I, as a native speaker of English and as a teacher of this language, speak English perfectly, do I? In fact, I sometimes feel like I’m just as much a learner as my students are.

What are the ingredients that make up fluency when speaking another language? Do you translate in your mind what a person says as he or she is saying it? Do you find yourself getting lost in a conversation with more than one person? Do people give you a blank stare when you speak to them? If you’ve answered no to these questions, then I would say you’re fluent. In my opinion accuracy is just an optional ingredient of the many that distinguish fluency.

Writing fluently in another language, on the other hand, é outra história completamente. I might have proudly placed myself in the category of speaking Portuguese fluently, but brave enough to write in this language? Maybe an e-mail or two, but certainly not a blog!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: Fluency vs. Accuracy.

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“There is another kind of composition more frequent in our language than perhaps in any other, from which arises to foreigners the greatest difficulty. We modify the signification of many words by a particle subjoined…”

Dr. Johnson was one of the first lexicographers to pay close attention to what is referred to in Modern English as the phrasal verb; and he couldn’t have been any more accurate in stressing just how frequently we use them, and how dumbfounded foreigners are by them.

I’ve had quite a few students in my years of teaching English ask me if there is a trick to learning them, to which I have responded, “If there is I haven’t discovered it and if you find one, please let me know”. One day, though, an advanced student of mine asked me something I myself had never pondered: where do phrasal verbs come from? Why do they exist if there are already perfectly good single-word verbs that possess the same meaning? I really had no retort for him, but I became obsessed in finding the answer.

The search delivered me to various sites whose material was long and dry, but from which I was able to gain some sort of insight. I’ll try to make what I found short and interesting for you.

Apparently phrasal verbs have been present in the English language for centuries. Their ancestors can be found in Old English (mid 5th century to mid 12th) in the form of a prefix verb, meaning the particle always came attached to the verb as a prefix. Post verbal particles did exist; however they were relegated to stressing only direction, place, or physical orientation, as in “to grow up(ward)” (direction) or “to stand by” (place).

Many shifts and influences occurred in the English language which gave rise to the use of the phrasal verb during its Middle English phase. By late Middle English there were a myriad of phrasal verbs in different forms, from “understand” and “overtake” (remnants of Old English) to “take up” and “write-off”.

By early Modern English (late 15th century to mid 17th) phrasal verbs had exploded onto the scene. This is evident in the works of Shakespeare who employed them widely throughout his plays. In fact they were used quite extensively in dramatic texts from this time due to their varying shades of meaning and capacity to form new idioms. Their Latin or Old English based single-word verb roots were delegated to essays and academic writing, i.e. more formal works; a rule of thumb that exists until today.

To give you an example, the phrasal verb “to break up” is synonymous with the Latin based verb “to destroy”. Whereas “to destroy” is somewhat limited to its literal meaning, which is to ruin or demolish something completely, “to break up” has various shades of meaning, from taking something apart to ending a relationship.

Over the last four hundred years phrasal verbs have truly fixed themselves in colloquial English. However have no fear, English hasn’t abandoned its perfectly good single-word verbs…they’re just not as fun to use!

Atenção: Para acessar os recursos de áudio, vídeo ou enviar um comentário neste post, clique no link a seguir: The Origin of the Phrasal Verb.

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