Archive for the ‘Idioms’ Category

Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs

Jeudi, mai 12th, 2011

 What is a Phrasal Verb?

A phrasal verb consists of a verb and a preposition or adverb that modifies or changes the meaning; ‘give up’ is a phrasal verb that means ’stop doing’ something, which is very different from ‘give’. The word or words that modify a verb in this manner can also go under the name particle.

Phrasal verbs are idiomatic expressions, combining verbs and prepositions to make new verbs whose meaning is often not obvious from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. They are widely used in both written and spoken English, and new ones are formed all the time as they are a flexible way of creating new terms.

UsingEnglish.com presents A reference of 2,993 current English Phrasal Verbs (also called multi-word verbs) with definitions and examples.

You can Search the dictionary, Browse it or  Take a Phrasal Verb Quiz.

There is also an interesting Quiz on  Prepositions and Particles used to make up Phrasal Verbs.

UsingEnglish.com is always updating it database. You can check the latest entries here!

Phrasal Verbs are often used in Idiomatic Expressions. An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand. Here, UsingEnglish.com provides a dictionary of 3,540 English idiomatic expressions with definitions.

Many idioms have been classified into topic groups, which you can browse by using categories.

Idioms By Country

Posted in Phrasal Verbs, Idioms | No Comments »

Voice of America: learning “Special English”

Lundi, février 7th, 2011


Pierre Geslin via VOA Learning English (Special English)

VOA (The Voice Of America) is a great Website (you can also follow VOA on Facebook) to learn American English.VOA uses “Special English”… But what is so “special” about it?

 

 

 

Three Elements Make Special English Unique.It has a core vocabulary of 1500 words. Most are simple words that describe objects, actions or emotions. Some words are more difficult.  They are used for reporting world events and describing discoveries in medicine and science. 

 

Special English writers use short, simple sentences that contain only one idea. They use active voice.  They do not use idioms.

Special English broadcasters read at a slower pace, about two-thirds the speed of standard English.  This helps people learning English hear each word clearly.  It also helps people who are fluent English speakers understand complex subjects.

 

 

Interactive Learning | The Classroom | Learning English

www.voanews.com

Posted in Lessons On-Line, Idioms, Reading | 1 Comment »

The Teacher: English Idioms on Video

Lundi, janvier 12th, 2009

The BBC TeacherThe Teacher is the BBC award-winning video series designed to make learning English idioms fun. Each unit has a video you can watch and download to your computer. There’s also an opportunity for you to practise using the idioms by sending in your ‘homework’.

Try it HERE!

Posted in Idioms, Videos Online | No Comments »

The Phrase Finder

Samedi, juillet 14th, 2007

Find the meaning and origins of Phrases, Sayings and Idioms

Browse the alphabetical list of 1,200 phrases and sayings:

[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U,V] [W] [X,Y,Z]

Posted in Idioms, Vocabulary | No Comments »

‘A Phrase A Week’: common idioms

Samedi, juillet 14th, 2007

‘A Phrase A Week’ is a free service - an e-mail explanation of the origin of a commonly-used English phrase each week.

The origins of phrases are continuously researched and published in an idioms and phrases section.

Posted in Idioms, Vocabulary | 1 Comment »