My lesson "B"

When we heard the bad news, we were very upset. Too much coffee is bad for you.

Something that is bad is unpleasant or harmful.

The storm is getting worse. It was the worst day of my life.

The comparative and superlative forms of bad are worse and worst.

The project was badly managed.

Don't use bad as an adverb. Say "I did badly in my exam".

I badly need this job.

Badly has another different meaning. If you need or want something badly, you need or want it very much.

... a bag of crisps.

A bag is a container made of paper or plastic that something is sold in.

Mia put the shopping bags on the kitchen table.

A bag is also a soft container for carrying things.

Carol took her mobile phone out of her bag.

You can call a woman's handbag her bag.

They went into their hotel room and unpacked their bags.

You can call someone's luggage their bags.

The taxi driver helped me with my suitcase.

A single piece of luggage is a case or a suitcase.

Jane's feet were bare.

Bare is an adjective. You can describe a part of the body as bare if it is not covered with any clothing.

The flat has bare wooden floors.

You can also say that a surface is bare if it is not covered or decorated with anything.

She was so afraid, she could barely breathe. Jawad's whisper was barely audible.

Barely is an adverb. It has a totally different meaning from bare. If you can barely do something, you can only just do it. If something is barely noticeable, you can only just notice it.

Don't use not with barely.

Say "We could barely hear him".

She was lying in the bath.

In British English, a bath is a long container that you fill with water and sit or lie in to wash your body.

I got into the bathtub.

In American English, a container like this is called a bathtub.

We need to bath the baby.

If you bath someone, you wash them in a bath.

I'm going to have a bath. In the afternoon she took a bath.

Say that you have a bath or take a bath.

I went back to my apartment to bathe and change.

In American English, instead of saying that someone has a bath or takes a bath, you can say that they bathe.

It was painful, of course, but he bore it.

Bear is used to talk about experiencing unpleasant situations.

I can't bear him!

If you say that you can't bear something or someone, you mean that you dislike them very much.

He kept on shouting and I couldn't stand it any longer.

You can also say that you can't stand someone or something if you dislike them very much.

The local people have to put up with a lot of tourists.

If you put up with something, you accept it, although you do not like it.

His stepfather used to beat him.

If you beat someone or something, you hit them several times very hard.

They beat him, and left him on the ground.

The others forms of beat are beats, beat, beaten.

Arsenal beat Oxford United 5-1.

If you beat someone in a game, you win the game.

My mother was forty when I was born.

When a baby is born, it comes out of its mother's body.

Caro was born on April 10th. Mary was born in Glasgow in 1959.

You often say that a person was born at a particular time or in a particular place.

Greta wants to become a doctor.

When a person or thing becomes something, they start to be that thing. If you become a doctor, a teacher, or a writer, for example, you start to be a doctor, a teacher, or a writer.

When did you first become interested in politics?

If someone or something becomes a certain way, they start to have that quality.

I'm getting cold. It's getting dark.

In conversation, get is sometimes used to talk about how people or things change and start to have a different quality.

He went blind twenty years ago. Katrina went red with embarrassment.

Go is used to talk about a sudden change in a person's body. Like get, it can be used only before an adjective. For example, you can say that someone goes blind or deaf.

Something has gone wrong with our car. Tom went mad and started shouting at me.

Go is always used in the phrases go wrong and go mad.

They parked the motorcycle behind some bushes.

If you are behind something, you are at the back of it.

The helicopter was seven minutes behind schedule.

If you are behind schedule, you are later doing something than you had planned.

The other police officers followed behind in a second vehicle. Several customers have fallen behind with their payments.

Behind can also be an adverb.

Please believe me. I don't believe a word you're saying.

If you believe someone, or if you believe what they say, you think that what they say is true.

Police believe that the fire was started deliberately.

If you believe that something is true, you think that it is true.

I don't believe in magic.

If you say that you believe in something you mean that you believe it exists.

... a country that believes in justice and freedom.

You can also say that you believe in an idea. This means that you think that it is good or right.

Everything you see here belongs to me.

If something belongs to you, it is yours.

This bag belongs to me. This money belongs to my sister.

When belong is used with this meaning, it must be followed by to.

The plates don't belong in that cupboard.

You can also use belong to say that someone or something is in the right place.

A written letter is sometimes better than an email. The team is playing better than ever.

Better is the comparative form of both good and well. Say that something is better or is done better

The doctor thinks I will be better by the weekend.

You can also say that someone is better, or feeling better.

You'd better hurry if you want to get there on time. We'd better not say anything.

If you say that someone had better do something, you mean that they should do it.

Janice was standing between the two men. Northampton is roughly halfway between London and Birmingham.

If something is between two things, it has one thing on one side and the other thing on the other side.

There were teenagers sitting among the adults.

Don't say that something is between several things. Say that it is among them.

What is the difference between European and American football? There isn't much difference between the three parties.

You talk about a difference between two or more things. Don't use "among"

She had to choose between work and her family. Choose between tomato, cheese or meat sauce on your pasta.

You say that someone chooses between two or more things. Don't use among.

This is a big house, isn't it? Most of the large houses had been made into flats.

When you are describing the size of an object, you can say that it is big or large. Big is usually used in conversation, and large is more formal.

A large number of students passed the exam.

Use large to describe amounts. You don't usually talk about a big amount or a big number.

Traffic is one of London's biggest problems.

Use big when you are describing a problem or danger. You don't usually talk about large problems.

I have a bad cold. I've got a terrible headache.

Don't say that a cold or a headache is big or larger. Use an adjective such as bad or terrible.

There's a bit of cake left. He found a few bits of wood in the garage.

A bit is a small amount or a small part of something.

She looks a bit like her mother. He was a bit deaf.

A bit means to a small degree.

She hadn't changed a bit.

You can add a bit at the end of a negative statement to make it more strongly negative.

Police blamed the bus driver for the accident. Don't blame me! Jane blames all her problems on her parents.

If you blame someone or something for something bad that happened, you think that they made it happen. You can also blame something on someone.

It was an accident - no-one was to blame.

You can also say that someone is to blame for something bad that has happened.

It's not our fault if the machine breaks down. This was all Rishi's fault.

Don't say that something is someone's blame. Say that it is their fault.

They crossed the border into Mexico.

The border between two countries is the line between them.

They introduced stricter frontier controls.

A frontier is a border with official points for people to cross, often with guards.

... a small Dutch town near the border with Germany.

You talk about one country's border or frontier with another.

I am bored with this film.

If you are bored with something or someone, you are not interested in them.

Many children get bored during the summer holidays.

If you have nothing to do, you can say that you are bored.

It was a very boring job. He's a kind man, but he's a bit boring.

Don't confuse bored with boring. If you say that something is boring, you mean that it is not interesting.

Could I borrow your pen? I borrowed this book from the library.

If you borrow something that belongs to someone else, you use it for some time and then return it.

She lent me £50. Would you lend me your calculator?

If you lend something you own to someone else, you allow them to use it for some time. The past tense form and the past participle of lend is lent.

Could I use your garage next week? She let me use her office while she was on holiday.

You don't usually talk about borrowing or lending things that cannot move. You ask to use something, or you say that you will let someone use something.

This is my favourite brand of cereal. The advert promotes a new brand of shampoo.

A brand is a product that has its own name, and is made by a particular company. You use brand to talk about things that you buy in shops, such as food, drink, and clothes.

This is a very popular make of bike.

Don't confuse brand with make. You use make to talk about the names of products such as machines or cars.

What brand of coffee do you drink? What make of car do you drive?

You always use brand of and make of followed by an uncountable noun or singular noun.

Please bring your calculator to every lesson.

If you bring someone or something with you when come to a place, you have them with you.

My secretary brought my mail to the house. I've brought you a present.

The past tense form and past participle of bring is brought.

Can you bring me some water?

If you ask someone to bring you something, you are asking them to carry it to the place where you are.

He took me to the station.

If you take someone or something to a place, you carry or drive them there. The past tense form of take is took. The past participle is taken.

Don't forget to take your umbrella.

If you take someone or something with you when you go to a place, you have them with you.

I went and fetched another glass.

If you fetched something, you go to the place where it is and return with it.

Ron was brought up in a working-class family. When my parents died, my grandparents brought me up.

When you bring up children, you look after them throughout their childhood, as their parent or guardian.

Lien raised three children on her own. They want to get married and raise a family.

Raise can be used to mean bring up.

I was educated in an English public school.

Bring up and raise do not have the same meaning as educate. When children are educated, they are taught different subjects over a long period, usually at school.

Are you going to Tokyo for business or pleasure?

Business is the work of making, buying, and selling goods or services. In this sense, business is an uncountable noun.

I've got some business to do.

When you use business in this sense, say some business.

She owns a successful hairdressing business.

A business is a company, a shop, or an organization that makes and sells goods or provides a service. In this sense, business is a countable noun.

but

You use but to introduce something that contrasts with what you have just said.

It was a long walk but it was worth it.

But is usually used to link clauses.

We are poor but happy. Quickly but silently she ran out of the room.

You can also use but to link adjectives or adverbs that contrast with each other.

I'm going to buy everything that I need today. He bought a first-class ticket.

When you buy something, you get it by paying money for it. The past tense form and past participle of buy is bought.

Let me buy you a drink.

If you pay for a drink for someone else, you say that you buy them a drink.

She was woken by a loud noise. I was surprised by the letter.

By is most often used in passive sentences. If something is done or caused by a person or thing, that person or thing does it or causes it.

I'll be home by eight o'clock. By 1995 the population had grown to 3 million.

If something happens by a particular time, it happens at or before that time.

She was sitting in a chair by the window... a cottage by the sea.

You can use by to say that something is beside or close to something.

Winston Churchill was born near Oxford.

Don't use by with the names of towns or cities. Use near instead.

Are you paying by cash or cheque? He sent the form by email. I always go by train.

You can use by with some nouns to say what you use to do something. You don't usually put a determiner (a word such as "a", "that" or "my") in front of the noun.

Turn the meat over with a fork.

However, if you want to say that you use a particular object or tool to do something, you often use with, rather than by. With is followed by a determiner.