Alone or by oneself?

Posted by

0

In 1958, a self-described 42-year-old kid named Robert Paul Smith penned a little book titled How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself (public library), a book of advice on how to make one’s own fun, supplied with nothing more than pencils, blades of grass, handkerchiefs, rubber bands, and broken umbrellas. These are things kids can do by themselves. There are no kits to build these things. There are no classes to learn these things, no teachers to teach them, they don’t need any help from their mother or their father or anybody.

With a wink — perhaps inadvertent — to the existential value of philosophy, Smith writes:

I understand some people get worried about kids who spend a lot of time all alone, by themselves. I do a little worrying about that, but I worry about something else even more; about kids who don’t know how to spend any time all alone, by themselves. It’s something you’re going to be doing a whole lot of, no matter what, for the rest of your lives. And I think it’s a good thing to do; you get to know yourself, and I think that’s the most important thing in the whole world.

Now, alone or by oneself?

That’s a really great question because alone and by oneself are very similar in meaning, but there is one key difference. So, let’s have a look at these words, what they mean, and how you can use them in everyday English. We’ll also look at the idiom, to go it alone.

Here are the example sentences. To get the details of this English lesson, you need to listen to this podcast. And make a careful note of his comments! 😉

  • I was home alone.
  • I was home by myself.
  • Jack lives alone in Brooklyn.
  • Jack lives by himself in Brooklyn.
  • Jenny will be by herself for the first time when she moves from her parent’s house to her new apartment.
  • Jenny will be living alone for the first time when she moves from her parent’s house to her new apartment.
  • I fixed my computer by myself.
  • I baked this cake by myself. Do you like it?
  • I heard that Tommy built a computer by himself. He’s so clever!
  • My friend Lauren is good at sewing, and she even made her wedding dress by herself.
  • None of my friends wanted to go to the concert so I’m going to go it alone.
  • When Jack’s wife told him that she didn’t want to go hiking in the mountains, he decided to go it alone.
  • If you don’t want to go on the safari with me, I’m going to go it alone.

Médicos especialistas

Posted by

0

Se você precisar de um médico gastroenterologista, ou de um ginecologista quando em férias em outro país, ou em um intercâmbio, você sabe como se referir à estes profissionais em inglês?

E sabe como pedir por um atendimento?

Iniciemos pelos médicos especialistas (clique sobre a palavra para ouvir a pronúncia):

Como dizer os nomes dos médicos especialistas em inglês – Destaque

Anesthesiologist  Anestesista

Cardiologist   Cardiologista

Dermatologist   Dermatologista

Ear-nose-and-throat specialist (ENT)  Otorrinolaringologista

Gastroenterologist   Gastroenterologista

Gynecologist   Ginecologista

Hematologist   Hematologista

Nephrologist   Nefrologista

Neurologist   Neurologista

Nutritionist   Nutricionista

Obstetrician   Obstetra

Como dizer os nomes dos médicos especialistas em inglês – Imagem 1

Oncologist   Oncologista

Ophthalmologist   Oftalmologista

Orthopedic specialist    Ortopedista

Pathologist   Patologista

Pediatrician   Pedriatra

Podiatrist   Podólogo

Psychiatrist   Psiquiatra

Psychologist   Psicólogo

Pulmonologist   Pneumologista

Rheumatologist   Reumatologista

Surgeon   Cirurgião

Urologist   Urologista

Algumas sentenças importantes, são:

I need to see a cardiologist.  Eu preciso ir a/consultar um cardiologista.

I need an appointment with a dermatologist.  Eu preciso de uma consulta com um dermatologista.

I must take my daughter to the pediatrician.  Eu preciso levar minha filha ao pediatra.

Algum médico especialista não está nesta lista? Então que tal buscar saber como chamá-lo? É com você! 😉

Work and job

Posted by

0

Work and job as nouns and verbs

Work is both a verb and a noun (uncountable); job is mostly used as a noun (countable):

  • I’m busy – I have a lot of work. (uncountable noun)
  • I have a lot of works.
  • I have two jobs – I’m a taxi driver, but I also work as a part-time fireman. (countable noun)
  • I’m a teacher at a nursery. It’s a great job – I love it. (countable noun)

We say go to work, start work, finish work:

  • I start work at 8 o’clock every morning.
  • I start my job at 8 o’clock every morning.
  • I go to work by bus.
  • I travel to my job by bus.

To describe what you do to earn money

Job is much more specific than work: your job is the name of the work that you do to earn money. It refers to your particular employment position, such as a teacher, accountant, builder, manager, etc.:

  • I like my job; I’m a teacher.
  • My job is a teacher.
  • My brother has found a good job as a sales manager at Vodafone.
  • I’m looking for a new job. = I’m looking for a new position.
  • I’m looking for new work.
  • What’s your job, Peter? = What do you do for a living?

We use work to say talk about the location or who our employer is, NOT to give a specific description or title:

  • John works for Microsoft.
  • Elizabeth works for a law firm.
  • My job is for a law firm.
  • Tony works in London.
  • My job is in London.

In these last examples, we do NOT know what the people’s responsibilities are; we only know where they work or who they work for. We DON’T know exactly what John’s job is, we DON’T know exactly what Elizabeth’s job is. And we only know that Tony works in London – we don’t know what he does there: we would have to ask him what his job is.

Other meanings

As a verb, work can have other meanings, e.g. how a machine works, meaning how it functions or if it is functioning properly:

  • The photocopier isn’t working-  it’s broken.
  • Do you understand how a car works?

As a noun, a job can also mean a task, such as repairing something at home:

  • I have a few jobs to do this weekend – I have to paint the fence and fix the garage door.

OK, now it’s your turn to work – try the exercise below. Fill each gap with the correct form of either work or job:

1 How do you usually get to _____  ? By bus or by car? 

2 Ask Paul to fix your radiator. He’s a plumber – it’s his _____  . 

3 I used to _____  in Manchester but now I’m at a company near Leeds. 

4 I like my _____ ; I’m a vet and I love working with animals. 

5 I’ve had three different _____  in the last year – and I hated ALL of them! 

6 What do you do for a living? What’s your _____  ? 

7 I’m busy at the moment – I have a lot of _____  . 

8 I’ll be pretty busy at the weekend – I have a lot of small _____  to do in the house and garden.

Do you want to check your answers? Click here. 😉

Screwed up?

Posted by

0

The peak of Covid-19 in SC, Brazil, was initially forecast to mid April. Then it was said that it would be in May. And this week it was announced that it will be in June.

Are we all screwed up?

Phrasal verbs are really common in the English language, and they are a great way to help your English sound much more natural and fluent. Unfortunately they are a little hard to remember when you don’t have an opportunity to learn them in a real life situation. So, I guess this, the COVID-19 pandemic, is a good one!

If you say: I’m screwed!, it means that you’re in a very difficult situation.

So to screw something up, can mean a few different things.

Firstly it generally means to make a mess of, a mistake or completely fail at something, with consequent emotional damage.

I really screwed up at work.

I totally screwed up my relationship with my girlfriend.

When his parents divorced, it really screwed him up.

Tim got fired yesterday because he screwed up with an important client.

I screwed up on a test. (did very badly)

My schedule is completely screwed up.

I can’t believe you screwed that deal up!

To screw up can also mean to ruin something:

I screwed up the dinner. (maybe I put too much salt and it doesn’t taste good)

I screwed up my computer somehow – could you come take a look at it?

It can also mean to confuse something.

Maybe you’re late to a party and someone asks: “Hey, why are you late?” You might say: “Oh, gosh! I screwed up the times!” (confused the times)

And screw up can also mean that you hurt yourself, that is, to injure or damage physically.

If you did a skateboarding trick and you landed badly, you can say: “Oh no! I screwed up my arm!” (hurt your arm)

I screwed up my arm playing tennis.

Now, what do you think? Are we all screwed up because of this pandemic?

Remember, this is a very common and casual expression. So use it in your conversation! 😉

Sick and tired of it?

Posted by

0

be sick (and tired) of someone / (doing) something

To have experienced too much of someone or something with the result that you are annoyed:

I’m sick and tired of your excuses.

I am sick of working for other people.

I am sick and tired of listening to your complaints.

I’m sick of him whining about money.

I was sick and tired of wasting my time at long, pointless meetings.

So are you sick and tired of quarantine or containment?