DISPATCHES from the EFL front
Week beginning: 16/04/2012
This week’s selection of vocabulary, grammar and other language points – but mostly vocabulary
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GRAMMAR |
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Add a little olive oil and a little of the chopped onion |
I had dinner with a few friendsI had dinner with a few of my friends | |
| A little reminder: certain expressions of quantity (a few, many, most, some) only need ‘of’ if there is a determiner (the, this, these, that, those, and the possessive adjectives) | Un petit rappel: certaines expressions de quantité (ici, un peu de) n’ont besoin de of que s’il y a un déterminant (the, this, these, that, those, et les adjectifs possessifs) | |
| VOCABULARY | ||
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We do it every month |
We do it all the month | |
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EVERY = ALL THE = |
tous les, toutes lestout le, toute la | |
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VOCABULARY |
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Mould is harmful to humans |
and can damage walls | |
| A lexical distinction: harm to humans, damage to structures, health, etc. | Distinction lexique entre ‘nuisible’ aux humains ou aux structures, à la santé, etc. | |
| VOCABULARY | ||
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I went to a conference |
and attended an interesting lecture | |
| Conference: event lasting several days including various activitiesLecture: presentation by one person on a subject | Conference : événement sur plusieurs jours et incluant plusieurs activitésLecture : intervention par une personne sur un sujet | |
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VOCABULARY |
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How much profit did you make last year? |
What benefits do the employees get? | |
| Profit: sales revenue minus costsBenefit: advantage, good effect, government cash help, etc. | Profit = bénéficeBenefit = avantage, bienfait, allocation… | |
| VOCABULARY | ||
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Basically, I’m a problem solver |
(so long as they’re easy problems) | |
| Never fear expressing yourself simply in English, and tell them straight off by saying ‘Basically’ to commit yourself to keeping what you say simple. | En anglais, n’ayez jamais peur de la simplicité, et annoncez la couleur en disant « Basically » pour vous engager à garder vos propos simples | |
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PREPOSITIONS |
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She fell in the stairs |
She fell down the stairs | |
| French-speakers tend to say ‘fell in’ but this means she fell but stayed on the same step.‘Fell down’ is much more serious because she went down all the steps | Elle est tombée dans l’escalier mais est-ce qu’elle est simplement restée sur la même marche (fell in) ou, plus grave, a-t-elle descendu toutes les marches (fell down)? | |
| VOCABULARY | ||
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Favourites Front runners |
Neck and neckAlso rans | |
| The Presidential election reminds us how frequent sporting expressions are in politics (and in business).Here, horse racing provides expressions to describe the excitement of the race and the relative position of the participants. | L’élection présidentielle nous rappelle la fréquence d’expressions d’origine sportive en politique (et en affaires).Ici, les courses hippiques nous donnent ‘favoris’, ‘cou à cou’, ‘le peloton de tête’ et les ‘les autres coureurs’ | |
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VOCABULARY |
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Wearing clothes inside out brings good luck |
(back to front / upside down) | |
| Finally, the tendency of French speakers to say simply ‘the wrong way round’ (à l’envers) where English speakers are more specific – in this case. | Finalement, ‘à l’envers’ se decline en ‘dedans dehors’, devant derrière’ et ‘tête bêche’. |
English by Email – Friday, 20 April 2012