Did you hear the weather forecast?

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Have you ever noticed how people seem to love talking about the weather? Whether (same pronunciation;-) they’re standing in the grocery checkout line or meeting new people at a party, the weather is quite a popular conversation starter.

Even at more formal occasions, like business meetings or other professional settings, the weather is a popular topic for small talk.

That might be because the weather is often different from day to day and from place to place, making it a relevant subject for everyone.

To carry on these conversations, you will need many words and expressions that you can learn from this What’s the weather like? introductory lesson, and from the more advanced ones: Weather expressions and Cold weather.

So first, what does weather forecast mean?

weather forecast

a description of what the weather is likely to be for the next day or few days.

Now listen carefully to the following two videos. The first one teaches the more basic vocabulary. The second video shows a more advanced vocabulary. Notice the verbs and verb tenses used. Make notes of them.

Now, just like letters build words, we need to combine words to build sentences, which are thoughts, ideas, and stories. Sentences build language. Without sentences, there’s no real communication.

So that’s how we can combine the word forecast:

FORECAST + VERB

  • says something
  • predicts something
  • suggests something
  • calls for something

The following are all possible structures:

  • Did you listen to the weather forecast?
  • The weather forecast is good for today.
  • The weather forecast is not always reliable. 
  • The weather forecast says it will be fine tomorrow.
  • The weather forecast says there will be rain.
  • The forecast says it will begin to rain tonight. 
  • The weather forecast says it’s going to rain tomorrow.
  • The weather forecast said that it would rain this afternoon, but it didn’t. 
  • The weather forecast said rain, so take your umbrella when you go out.
  • The weather forecast was right.
  • What’s the forecast for tomorrow? 
  • What’s the weather forecast for tomorrow?
  • Now it’s time for the weather forecast.
  • The weather forecast predicts it will be cooler tomorrow. 
  • The long-range forecast suggests we will have a mild winter. 
  • The weather forecast calls for light rain tonight.
  • The forecast didn’t call for rain. 
  • It will snow tomorrow according to the weather forecast.
  • According to the weather forecast, it will clear up tomorrow.
  • According to the weather forecast, there’ll be more rain on the way.
  • According to the weather forecast, the hurricane is likely to approach the coast.
  • The weather forecast warned of winds of up to 60-miles-an-hour today.
  • You can also get the weather forecast by the Internet.
  • Rain is forecast for this evening.
  • Tom does a pretty good job of forecasting the weather.

If you want more work on the weather forecast, listen to this lesson and answer the questions to practice and improve your listening skills.

Verbo “to get”

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Você sabe o que significa “I got nothing”?

Bem, depende do contexto, mas na maioria das vezes “I got nothing” significa “Não tenho nada a dizer.” Isto pode significar que você optou por não acrescentar nada a uma discussão, ou que não conseguiu pensar em mais nada a dizer.

“To get” pode ser utilizado em diversas estruturas e possui diferentes significados.

“TO GET” + objeto direto = obter, receber, comprar

  • I got my passport last week. (obter)
  • She got her driving license last week. (obter)
  • They got permission to live in Switzerland. (obter)
  • I got a letter from my friend in the US. (receber)
  • He gets $1,000 a year from his father. (receber)
  • She got a new coat from Dior in Paris. (comprar)
  • We got a new television for the living room. (comprar)

“TO GET” + expressão de lugar = alcançar, chegar em um lugar

  • How are you getting home tonight?
  • We got to London around 6 p.m.
  • What time will we get there?
  • When did you get back from New York?

“TO GET” + adjetivo = denota mudança de estado

  • I am getting old.
  • It’s getting colder.
  • The children are getting hungry.
  • I’m getting tired.
  • My mother’s getting old.
  • It gets dark very early in the winter.
  • Don’t touch the stove until is gets cool.

Outras expressões com “GET”

  • Do you get it significa “você entendeu?”
    Do you get what the teacher was explaining in class?
  • He’s getting dinner tonight significa que ele está preparando a refeição.
    You can relax. It’s my turn to get dinner tonight.
  • I’ll get the bill significa que eu pagarei a conta.
    Put your wallet away! I’ll get the bill.
  • That really gets me! significa que isso me irrita.
    It really gets me when my sister shows up late.
  • To get rid of something significa descartar algo.
    I’m going to get rid of all these old newspapers.

Abaixo um resumo:

arriveShe got to work an hour late.
receiveI got a book for my birthday.
earnI get $7 an hour.
bringCan you get that book for me?
understandDo you get the lesson?
affected by, or catchHe got a cold last week.
catch or takeI got the 4:55 train to New York.
communicate withI got him by phone.
have a strong effect onThat film really got me.
capture or seizeThe police got him at the station.

“HAVE GOT” = posse

Get também é usado para indicar posse no present perfect, indicando que alguém tem um objeto, um amigo ou parente, ou até mesmo uma situação.

  • I’ve got two children.
  • Sheila has got an appointment at three o’clock.
  • Have you got a TV in your kitchen?
  • I’ve got a cold.

Have got é usado tanto no inglês americano quanto no britânico, embora seja mais comum no inglês britânico. Lembre-se de que o past participle do get no inglês americano é gotten, mas, no inglês britânico, permanece got. Apesar dessa diferença, os americanos também usam have got apenas na indicacão de posse. Em outros casos, gotten é usado.

  • He’s got a beautiful smile.
  • They’ve got friends in Dallas.

Mas ainda veja este vídeo para complementar, e para mais exemplos:

Quiz: Do You Get It?

1. How many children have you got? “Have you got” can be replaced with…

  • do you have
  • are there
  • do you want

2. I think it’s time for us to get out of the food business. “Get out” means…

  • receive
  • leave
  • meet

3. I’m afraid I don’t get the problem at all. “I don’t get” means…

  • I don’t have
  • I don’t want
  • I don’t understand

4. My son got into Harvard last month. “Got into” means…

  • saw
  • was socially active at
  • was accepted to

5. Could you get the paper for me? “Get” means…

  • leave
  • exit
  • pick up

6. They have to get serious about their work. “Get serious” means they…

  • must work harder
  • must stop smiling at the office
  • must get to work early

My mind went blank

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English learners very often don’t remember the words they want to say. That’s when this phrase comes in handy:

my mind goes blank / is a blank

If your mind goes blank (also is a blank) , you suddenly cannot remember something: 

I tried to remember her name, but my mind went completely blank / was a complete blank.

For some reason, her mind went completely blank / was a blank.

I went blank and couldn’t think of a single example.

When she asked me his name, my mind went blank.

blank verb (FORGET)

To forget something that you know:

When he tried to remember the lyrics, he blanked.

I completely blanked on his name.

Now, if you have already learned well the phrase my mind goes blank, what about learning another one that will tell you what you have to do when your mind goes blank? Listen carefully and take notes.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pt/dicionario/ingles/go-blank

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pt/dicionario/ingles/blank

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/your-mind-is-a-blank-goes-blank

Cold weather

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Autumn mornings are often chilly. In chilly weather, you might want a light jacket, but you won’t need a heavy coat, or a scarf, or anything like that.

So chilly means that it’s a little cold. Not very cold, just a little cold.

But what if it’s very cold? You could say that it’s freezing.

Freezing means that it is very cold. Not just chilly, but very cold.

What’s the weather like? showed the more basic answers and vocabulary.

Weather expressions taught useful weather expressions, new words, phrases, and common patterns you can use to describe different kinds of weather.

But if you still didn’t find the exact words to describe the weather where you are, listen to the ones used in the following video, that you might need to describe those sunny days, stormy days, and all those in between, especially during cold weather such as:

  • damp that means that something is slightly wet;
  • overcast that means that the clouds are covering the sky and you cannot see the sun.

Take notes, look up the words you don’t know, and pay attention to pronunciation. It’s an old video, but it’s useful.

To or for?

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TO and FOR are prepositions that are often confused because they both have many different uses in English.

1. Let’s start with the basics…

If you are not sure about when to use TO or FOR, follow these two basic rules:

Rule 1: if there is a verb, use TO + infinitive

  • I came here to talk to you.
  • I study everyday to improve my English.

Rule 2: if there is a noun, use FOR

  • He came for the results.
  • I did this for the team.

That only gives us an idea of how to start, but there is much more.

I have researched and watched several videos to choose the least confusing approach. I think the following one is a smart approach. Ronnie puts it this way:

TO – TRANSFER / EXCHANGE

FOR – BENEFIT (GOOD)

“For you” or “To you”? People and pronouns

Should you say “I sent this letter to you” or “I sent this letter for you”? The answer is – both are possible, depending on what you mean. 

  • ‘I sent this letter to you’ means that, hopefully, you will receive my letter, because you are the recipient.
  • ‘I sent this letter for you’ means that I did you a favor and took the letter to the mailbox, but the recipient is a third person.

So remember these two rules:

If there is a transfer of something to someone → TO

  • Can you give this to her?
  • I wrote the letter to her. (I wrote the letter and she will receive it soon)

If the person will benefit from a service or a favor → FOR

  • This present is for him.
  • I wrote the letter for her. (She wasn’t able to write it and I did it for her as a favor)

Now we are going to work on another video. I would like you to start with the “5 levels” lesson below. The lesson has five parts. Each section will give you a challenge. Each section is designed to be more difficult than the previous ones.

If you find a section easy move on to the following one, but if you find it difficult, stop it and start working on the second video. Watch it carefully and take notes. Then read the rest of this lesson and then finish the “5 levels” lesson.

Read the full script, take notes and take the quiz on this lesson here.

So let’s look at some key points:

To Indicate the Destination

  • Our CEO is going to Rome tomorrow.
  • We’ll head to the headquarters in a second.
  • I am traveling to our branch in Bristol next month.

We use to when we indicate the destination, and usually there is movement involved. We often use verbs such as: go to, travel to, come to, head to, mail to, send to.

But there’s one common exception: you say go home, without to.

In the construction “from … to …”

  • It’s about 5km from my house to the university.
  • I work from 5 to 9.

To tell the time

In the USA, it is quite common to tell the time by saying the hour + the minutes.

Examples:

  • 5:30 – It’s five thirty.
  • 8:50 – It’s eight fifty.

However, especially in the UK, it is very common to express how many minutes there are left until you reach the next hour, once it is 30 minutes after o’clock.

Examples:

  • 5:40 – it’s twenty to six.
  • 8:50 – it’s ten to nine.

With the verb “to give”

We also use to with the verbs of giving, such as give, lend, pay, deliver. However, with these verbs, it’s common to use a structure without to. For example, with give, you can give someone something, or give something to someone. Both structures are possible, but the first is more common.

  • So, you can say: Give the bottle to me.
  • Or: Give me the bottle.

Both are possible, but the second is more common.

Giving a reason

Reason tells you why someone does something. Here, you can use to plus an infinitive or for plus a noun. Don’t use for plus an -ing verb.

Examples:

  • We need to go to the shop to buy some batteries.
  • We need to go to the shop for some batteries.

Again, you’re talking about why you’re going to the shop.

Function

Function tells you what something is used for, for example a tool. Here, you can use three structures: to plus infinitive verb, for plus -ing or for plus noun.

Examples:

  • She developed a tool to analyse data collected at different times and places.
  • She developed a tool for analysing data collected at different times and places.

Expressing the benefits of something

  • Getting this certificate will be good for your career.
  • Fruits and vegetables are good for your health.

Doing a favor

  • He picked up the mail for me.
  • I didn’t know how to write the letter and she did it for me.

Scheduling something for the future

  • I set up our interview for May 4.
  • I will schedule our next session for next Tuesday.