Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

TI love reading the news online. There are so many words and expressions that you can learn! I picked up some interesting ones from what I've been reading. Here you are:

*I'm usually gung-ho (crazy about) for every new technological thing.

* If so, count me in, but if it's going to be like the 3-D movies I've seen, I'll pass.

* People are being enticed away from the profession by higher salaries elsewhere.

* The adverts entice the customer into buying things they don’t really want.
(Entice means persuade someone in a pleasant way.)

* She had to hand her sister her cell phone.

* My mother always keep the house tidied up. (clean and organized)

* He had a lot of murky schemes but all of them backfired.
(Murky means dark and dirty - Backfired means something that went wrong.)

* James has ants in his pants (excited) today because of the test. If he succeed, he'll have a new life from now on!

* I haven't met him again... sorry, despite of being boring, he has a face that only a mother could love! (the poor guy is ugly)

* He can’t spend all his afternoon watching this movie. You have to agree that it’s a bit much, don’t you? (means excessive or annoying)

* She's a little bit down in the dumps (depressed) today. What happened to her?

Take a look at Using English, a4EL, English Idioms,and English Grammar for more examples and acitivities. There is also a list of idioms by theme, click here to check it out!

The Indefinite Article A/AN

The indefinte article a/an is the same for all genders: a girl, a cat, an eraser, an egg.

The indefinte article has no plural form: a girl - girls, a cat - cats, an egg, eggs.

We use an if the following word starts with a vowel sound:
- an egg, an envelope, an apple.

We use a if the following word starts with a consonant sound:
- a cat, a dog, a door, a girl

We must use the indefinite article a/an before phrases of time and measurements (per week/weekly):

- We have Spanish classes 3 times a week.
- I go on holiday once a year.
- This Ferrari can do 350 kilometres an hour.
- Oranges are $1 a kilo.

Before phrases of jobs:
- George is an engineer.
- I'm a teacher.

Before phrases of nationality:
- Elton John is an English singer
- Antonio Banderas is a Spanish actor

Half/Quite:
- Stella needs half a kilo of sugar
- This is quite a good song

So far, so good. Further on, I'll explain about the article the.