Vocabulary: BOTHER
Bother is a verb and a noun with several meanings.
As a noun, something that is a bother is something annoying or something that requires a lot of effort that the speaker does not want to make.
“It’s really a bother to carry my shopping because I live on the third floor and there’s no lift (elevator)”
“Yes, I can help you, it’s no bother, really”
The verb “to bother” like the noun can have the meaning of causing annoyance to someone:
“That’s the third time you’ve called this morning, so please stop bothering me.”
“To bother” used in negative sentences means that the speaker didn’t feel like, or was too lazy to make the effort to do something (Fr: avoir la flemme).
“I’m not bothering to vote in the local elections – it’s doesn’t make any difference”
“Don’t bother to go to the bakery, I have enough bread for lunch time”
It has the same meaning when used as an adjective: “bothered”. This is almost always used with the modals “can’t” and “couldn’t”
“I wanted to go to the swimming pool, but I couldn’t be bothered”
“A lot of young people can’t be bothered to call their friends these days, they prefer to use SMS or Twitter”
Did you know that you can cut down many nouns in English that end in “-ation” to make a verb? This is useful because the noun form is the same as in French – so you can quickly learn a lot of verbs! Here are a few examples (and exceptions!):
communication – to communicate
demonstration – to demonstrate
articulation – to articulate
calculation – to calculate
penetration – to penetrate
stimulation – to stimulate
simulation – to simulate
location – to locate
annihilation – to annihilate
participation – to participate
dedication – to dedicate
hesitation – to hesitate
innovation – to innovate
animation – to animate
violation – to violate
irritation – to irritate
and here are a couple exceptions:
information – to inform
consultation – to consult
It’s also worth noting that every one of these verbs is regular, because they are Latinate words, and not Anglo-Saxon.
Language learning is a strange thing. We often understand what has been said, but are unable to reproduce the exact words. Listening comprehension is almost always better than oral expression. We need to force ourselves to consciously take note of structures used so we can use them again in our conversations. This is easier said than done.
In class, I often have conversations that go like this:
Teacher: That’s great, where are you going on holiday?
Student: I go to Mauritius
Teacher: Mauritius – cool! I’m jealous. Who are you going with?
Student: I go with my girlfriend
Teacher: And what are you planning to do when you’re there?
Student: I will do some hiking in the mountains and I will dive
The student has understood everything that I asked him, without noticing that I consistently used the present continuous to talk about his next holiday. If he had listened to the structure in my questions, he might have found logical to use the same in his answers. But I’m not sure if we are even able to do this – perhaps it’s too much for our brains to cope with at the same time.
My advice: listen to English as much as you can every day – on the net, download podcasts, listen to songs. You will learn to speak better by assimilating language than by studying grammatical structure. And then – practise, practise, practise! Translation companies should be used only for complicated translations requiring research such as technical, patent research.
With lots of talk in the news about public debt, billionaires, tax avoidance etc, I just thought I would show you how to translate “paradis fiscal” into English. It’s not “paradis” or “heaven”.
Is the news all doom and gloom? For two weeks it’s not all doom and gloom on the television and in the newspapers as journalists celebrate medals won at the Olympic games.
But there’s lots of doom and gloom when one talks about the economy or the Middle East or the future of Birmingham City FC (my football club)!!
The video explains what doom and gloom means and gives some advice on learning this and other English expressions.
Voici quelques raisons pourquoi vous devriez essayer Gymglish:
Ludique et motivant : Scénariser la trame permet au participant d’oublier le côté contraignant de tout apprentissage. Une touche d’humour permet de préserver la motivation.
Opérationnel & Business : La diversité des thèmes professionnels abordés permet d’enrichir considérablement le vocabulaire de l’utilisateur (Management, R&D, IT, marketing…). Il s’agit avant tout de permettre à l’apprenant de manier avec aisance un anglais pratique et ‘business’.
Anglais actuel : Les histoires sont écrites par une équipe de jeunes auteurs anglophones qui sont à la fois des professeurs et des créatifs. Cliquez ici pour profiter de cette offre
The rule is: don’t pronounce the b after an m if it is at the end of a word or before a vowel:
bomb
bomber
lamb (agneau)
plumber (plombier)
plumbing (plomberie)
However, if the b is followed by an l, you pronounce the b. French speakers will know the word “crumble” – its pronunciation in French is more or less the same in English.
We use short responses to show that we are in agreement or if we have had the same experiences. Like short answers to questions, they can vary according to the tense and the auxiliary used. Here are some examples:
I like chocolate – “so do I” (moi aussi)
I don’t like cabbage – “me neither” (moi non plus)
I’m not going to the meeting – “I am” (moi si)
Use the flashcards to practice, using the cues (agree) or (disagree)
If you want to add some variation to your language, you need to learn some slang! Here are two words that natives use to replace “excited”. Use with moderation!
It’s a quiet night for Alice at work. Suddenly she’s faced with an emergency. How will she cope? Find out in episode 18 Emergency from BBC Learning English.
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