Daily English Phrases
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Entries in clauses (24)

Sunday
Jan292012

“I came across an article the other day about how sitting for long periods is supposedly horrible for your health.”

I came across an article the other day about how sitting for long periods is supposedly horrible for your health.

You're talking with a coworker at lunch. She complains that she's tired of sitting in front of her computer all day. This reminds you of something you read on the Internet. You say:

I came across an article the other day about how sitting for long periods is supposedly horrible for your health.

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Wednesday
Jan042012

“Does that mean what I think it means?”

English lesson: Does that mean what I think it means?

Your coworker came to work today wearing a diamond ring. You think that she's engaged now. You want to check to see if it's true.

Does that mean what I think it means?

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Saturday
Dec102011

“I'm not even remotely interested in hearing what he has to say.”

English lesson: Not even remotely intersted

You got a telephone call from your ex-boyfriend. You had a bad breakup with him, so you don't want to talk to him. Your friend asks if you are going to call back. You say:

I'm not even remotely interested in hearing what he has to say.

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Sunday
Sep042011

“Please note that these dates are tentative.”

English Lesson: These dates are tentative.

You're in charge of planning a release schedule for the software that your team creates at work. You're sending the schedule for the next 6 months to a large group of people. You want everyone to know that the dates might change a little. In your email, you write:

Please note that these dates are tentative.

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Sunday
Jul102011

“It seems like it was only yesterday that we first met here.”

English Lesson: It seems like it was only yesterday that we first met here.

You've been living in the U.S. for 6 months as an exchange student. Now it's time for you to go back home. Your host mother is dropping you off at the airport. You feel nostalgic because this is the same airport that she picked you up in 6 months ago. You say:

It seems like it was only yesterday that we first met here.

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Wednesday
Jul062011

“You promised me that you would be responsible for him.”

English Lesson: You promised me that you would be responsible for him.

You got your daughter a pet rabbit. When you got it for her, you made her promise that she would take care of it. Now you've noticed that the rabbit's cage is dirty and its food is all gone. You say to her:

You promised me that you would be responsible for him.

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Wednesday
Apr202011

“Please tell me I don't have to start over from scratch...”

You're writing a resume for applying to jobs. You've been working on it for over an hour, but you forgot to save it. The computer program crashed, and now you hope that your work was automatically saved so you don't have to re-write it. You think to yourself:

Please tell me I don't have to start over from scratch...

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Tuesday
Apr052011

“You'd never guess they were related.”

You'd never guess they were related.

You know two guys who are brothers but don't look or act the same at all. You're talking about them with a friend who just met them. You say: 

You'd never guess they were related.

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Friday
Mar112011

“First and most importantly, you need to make sure that all your students are accounted for.”

Make sure that all your students are accounted for.

You're an administrator at a school. You're giving a presentation to the teachers about your school's plan for what to do in an emergency. You start by telling them the most important point:

First and most importantly, you need to make sure that all your students are accounted for.

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Monday
Oct252010

“I had chocolate cake for dessert, which was good but nothing special.”

You went out to eat at a restaurant, and now you're writing a review of your meal on a restaurant-review website. You're writing about a piece of cake that you ate, which wasn't very bad or very good.

I had chocolate cake for dessert, which was good but nothing special.

(have something) for dessert

You can use the word "have" to describe eating something:
We had Italian food. What are you having?

(something), which is (adjective)

Use this pattern to combine two ideas. For the example at top, the two ideas are:
I had a chocolate cake for dessert. The chocolate cake was good but nothing special.
Here are a few more examples of how you can use "which":
We're planning a trip to Australia, which we've never been to. Eric's mother is coming to visit us, which is great. It was less than $100 for the four of us, which is quite reasonable.

(something) is nothing special

The phrase "nothing special" describes something that is not bad, but not particularly good either. Use this when you wanted or expected something to be good, but it wasn't.