EXPRESSIONS WITH “ONCE”

Dialog: “Well, have the report sent to me once the numbers are finalized.”

There are many expressions we use with the word “once”. Here are a few. “At once” means at the same time; or immediately, promptly; “once in a while” means at intervals, occasionally; and “once and for all” means decisively, finally. Check out some examples.

1) AT ONCE

• I couldn’t understand what they were saying because they were all speaking at once. (Eu não conseguia entender o que eles estavam dizendo porque todos eles estavam falando ao mesmo tempo.)
• We must leave at once. (Nós temos que sair agora mesmo.)

2) ONCE IN A WHILE

• I have lunch with my co-workers every once in a while. (Eu almoço com os meus colegas de trabalho de vez em quando.)
• Once in a while I like to prepare a nice meal at home. (De vez em quando eu gosto de preparar uma boa refeição em casa.)

3) ONCE AND FOR ALL

• I’d like to clarify this once and for all. (Eu gostaria de esclarecer isso de uma vez por todas.)
• They decided to stop drinking once and for all. (Eles decidiram parar de beber de uma vez.)

EXPRESSIONS WITH “ONCE”

Dialog: “Well, have the report sent to me once the numbers are finalized.”

There are many expressions we use with the word “once”. Here are a few. “At once” means at the same time; or immediately, promptly; “once in a while” means at intervals, occasionally; and “once and for all” means decisively, finally. Check out some examples.

1) AT ONCE

• I couldn’t understand what they were saying because they were all speaking at once. (Eu não conseguia entender o que eles estavam dizendo porque todos eles estavam falando ao mesmo tempo.)
• We must leave at once. (Nós temos que sair agora mesmo.)

2) ONCE IN A WHILE

• I have lunch with my co-workers every once in a while. (Eu almoço com os meus colegas de trabalho de vez em quando.)
• Once in a while I like to prepare a nice meal at home. (De vez em quando eu gosto de preparar uma boa refeição em casa.)

3) ONCE AND FOR ALL

• I’d like to clarify this once and for all. (Eu gostaria de esclarecer isso de uma vez por todas.)
• They decided to stop drinking once and for all. (Eles decidiram parar de beber de uma vez.)

DIFFERENT USES OF “DEGREE”

Dialog: “I received my degree in finance and for the last six years I’ve worked in corporate sales.”

The noun “degree” can have different meanings depending on the context. It can mean the qualification that you get when you finish a course at university; it can be a unit for measuring temperature; or the level or amount of something. Check out some examples.

1) DEGREE – diploma

• She has a degree in Literature. (Ela tem um diploma em Literatura.)
• I’ll be getting my degree in a month. (Eu vou conseguir o meu diploma em um mês.)

2) DEGREE – temperature

• Today the low was 10 degrees Fahrenheit. (Hoje a mínima foi de 10 graus Fahrenheit.)
• You are supposed to bake it at 200 degrees. (Você deve cozinhá-lo a 200 graus.)

3) DEGREE – intensity

• This is an operation with a high degree of risk. (Essa é uma operação com um alto grau de risco.)
• I agree with you to a certain degree. (Eu concordo com você até certo ponto.)

PHRASAL VERBS WITH “PUT”

Dialog: “You know, if we had put this task force together sooner, we would have saved a lot of money.”

Put can be used in a number of popular phrasal verb expressions. “To put someone through” can mean three completely distinct things depending on the context: to subject someone to an unpleasant or difficult experience; to connect someone by telephone to another person or place; or to pay for one’s child to attend school or college. “To put something away” can mean to place or put back so as to clean up an area; to save money for future use; or to consume food or drink in large quantities. And “to put someone down” can mean either to physically place someone on the ground or to criticize someone. Let’s see some examples.

PUT SOMEONE THROUGH

• I didn’t want to put you through so much trouble for me to stay just one night. (Eu não queria te dar tanto trabalho para eu ficar só uma noite.)
• Hold on just a moment, sir, and I’ll put you through. (Espere só um momento, senhor, e eu lhe transferirei.)
• We were able to put both our kids through college without taking out a loan. (Nós conseguimos pagar a faculdade dos nossos dois filhos sem pegar empréstimo.)

PUT SOMETHING AWAY

• Let me put these toys away so you can sit down. (Deixe-me colocar esses brinquedos em algum lugar para que você possa sentar.)
• My parents were able to put some money away for their retirement. (Os meus pais conseguiram economizar um pouco de dinheiro para a sua aposentadoria.)
• I can’t believe how many cheeseburgers Margaret put away at lunch yesterday! (Eu não acredito quantos cheeseburgueres a Margaret comeu no almoço ontem.)

PUT SOMEONE DOWN

• Put me down before I fall down! (Me largue no chão antes que eu caia.)
• The jocks were always putting down the nerds in school. (Os atletas sempre estavam criticando os nerds na escola.)
• It’s not polite to put someone down just because they are different than you are. (Não é educado criticar alguém só por ser diferente de você.)

EXPRESSIONS WITH “KEEP”

Dialog: “…I keep them from harm’s way…”

We use keep in this lesson in the expression “to keep someone from harm’s way”. It can also be used in a number of other useful expressions like “to keep an eye out for”, which means to look for or to be watchful for something. “To keep an eye on” means to watch carefully or to supervise someone or something. And “to keep one’s chin up” means to remain cheerful under difficult circumstances. Let’s take a look at some of these expressions used in sentences.

1) TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR

• Keep an eye out for your brother. He’s meeting us here in a few minutes. (Fica atento para o seu irmão. Ele está nos encontrando aqui daqui a alguns minutos.)
• When you go hiking I want you to keep an eye out for snakes. (Quando você for caminhar, eu quero que você fique atento para as cobras.)

2) TO KEEP AN EYE ON

• Jonas, can you keep an eye on little Suzy while I take a shower? (Jonas, você pode ficar de olho na pequena Suzy enquanto eu tomo banho?)
• Keep an eye on the clock so the turkey doesn’t overcook. (Fique de olho no relógio para que o peru não queime.)

3) TO KEEP ONE’S CHIN UP

• Come on, keep your chin up. Everything’s going to be all right. (Vamos lá, não se desanime. Vai ficar tudo bem.)
• When times get tough, my advice to you would be to keep your chin up and take it one step at a time. (Quando as coisas ficam difíceis, o meu conselho para você seria de não se desanimar e dar um passo de cada vez.)

EXPRESSIONS WITH “EDGE”

Dialog: “What do you think are some of the key factors that have given our company such a strong competitive edge?”

There are many expressions with the word “edge”. Let’s take a look at a few. “To be on edge” means to be highly tense or nervous; worried; “to be on the cutting edge” means to be trendy and very up-to-date; or to be of the latest design; and “to lose one’s edge” means to lose a special quality or skill that made you stand out at a certain job or activity in the past. Check out some examples.

1) TO BE ON EDGE

• Our boss has been on edge because of the recent strikes. (O nosso chefe tem estado muito tenso por causa das recentes greves.)
• Parents are always on edge when their teenage kids stay out late and don’t call home. (Pais estão sempre preocupados quando os seus filhos adolescentes ficam na rua até mais tarde sem ligar para casa.)

2) TO BE ON THE CUTTING EDGE

• This new French designer is on the cutting edge of fashion. (Esse novo estilista francês está na vanguarda de moda.)
• Our company is famous for always being on the cutting edge of technology. (A nossa companhia é famosa por sempre estar na vanguarda da tecnologia.)

3) TO LOSE ONE’S EDGE

• Mary was the best at customer service here, but she lost her edge a little with time. (A Mary era a melhor no serviço de atendimento ao consumidor aqui, mas ela perdeu o jeito um pouco com o tempo.)
• If you lose your edge, it’ll be harder for you to find another job. (Se você perder a prática vai ser mais difícil conseguir outro emprego.)

PHRASAL VERBS WITH “CARRY”

Dialog: “We also carried out more complex tasks….”

When paired up with a preposition, the verb “to carry” can have different meanings. “To carry on” means to continue without stopping; or to persevere; “to get carried away” means to be affected strongly by emotion or enthusiasm; and “to carry through” means to accomplish, complete; to support or help through a difficult situation; or to continue or be prevalent in; persist. Check out some examples.

1) TO CARRY ON

• You’re doing a wonderful job, gentlemen. Carry on! (Vocês estão fazendo um ótimo trabalho, cavalheiros. Continuem assim!)
• She carried on despite the tragedy that changed her life forever. (Ela foi em frente apesar da tragédia que mudou a sua vida para sempre.)

2) TO CARRY AWAY

• Sally got carried away and spent her entire salary on new clothes. (A Sally exagerou e gastou todo o seu salário em roupas novas.)
• I know you’re upset, but don’t get too carried away; it’s only an audition. (Eu sei que você está chateada, mas não se preocupe tanto; é apenas uma audição.)

3) TO CARRY THROUGH

• They decided to carry through with the marketing project. (Eles decidiram ir até o fim com o projeto de marketing.)
• He carried his mother through her illness until she recovered. (Ele segurou a barra com a mãe durante a sua doença até a sua recuperação.)
• Despite all the problems, she carried through and finally opened her store last week. (Apesar de todos os problemas, ela persistiu e finalmente abriu o seu restaurante.)

DIFFERENT USES OF “TRAFFIC”

Dialog: “I think I found a solution to help us generate more traffic on our site.”

The word “traffic” can be used as a noun and a verb. It was used in this lesson to refer to the number and volume of visitors to a website. As a noun it can also mean the vehicles traveling on roads and highways, and the commercial transportation of goods and passengers. As a verb it means to deal or trade in something illegal!

1) NOUN

• Why is traffic so terrible this time of day? (Por que o trânsito está tão ruim nesse horário do dia?)
• I got stuck in traffic for three hours last Friday. (Eu fiquei preso no trânsito durante três horas na sexta-feira passada.)
• Air traffic controllers have the most stressful job. (Os controladores de tráfico aéreo têm o trabalho mais estressante.)
• Drug traffic from Mexico to the U.S has increased considerably in the last ten years. (O tráfico de drogas do México para os Estados Unidos aumentou significativamente nos últimos dez anos.)

2) VERB

• They were sent to jail for ten years for trafficking* in endangered species. (Eles foram mandados para prisão por dez anos por contrabandear animais em extinção.)
• Trafficking in illicit drugs is not only illegal, but it’s also very dangerous. (Vender drogas ilícitas não é so ilegal, mas também muito perigoso.)
• Many African nations still traffic in humans for slavery. (Muitas nações africanas ainda vendem os seres humas à escravidão.)

*Notice that the letter “k” is added to the -ing form of the verb – trafficking.

EXPRESSIONS WITH “UP”

Dialog: “I’ll let you know as soon as the site’s up and running again, ok?”

There are a lot of expressions with the word “up” in the English language. Let’s take a look at a few. “To be up to” means to be equal to; or to be engaged in something with the purpose of doing ill or mischief; “up close” means being at very close range; and “up to date” means in accordance with current information, styles, or technology. Check out some examples.

1) TO BE UP TO

• Do you think our new manager is up to the job? (Você acha que o nosso novo gerente está à altura do cargo?)
• I have no idea what those boys are up to. (Eu não tenho ideia do que aqueles meninos estão tramando.)

2) UP CLOSE

• Working here you’ll have an up-close experience of what the everyday routine of a programmer is like. (Trabalhando aqui você verá bem de perto como é a rotina diária de um programador.)
• When you are up close to the paiting you can see the direction of the artist’s brush strokes. (Quando você está bem perto da pintura você pode ver a direção das pinceladas do artista.)

3) UP TO DATE

• Stay up to date with the weather in your city using our website! (Fique atualizado com o tempo na sua cidade usando o nosso site!)
• This isn’t good. Our directory isn’t up to date with all of our new clients yet. (Isso não é bom. A nossa lista ainda não está atualizada com todos os nossos novos clientes.)

EXPRESSIONS WITH “BREAK”

Dialog: “My stabilizer broke last week during a power outage and I lost everything!”

The word “break” can be used in several interesting expressions. Let’s take a look at some of them. “To break one’s back” means to put a lot of effort into doing something. “To break even” means to get to the point where one makes as much as one spends. And “break a leg” is what you say to wish someone good luck before they participate in a play or a musical. Take a look at the examples below.

1) TO BREAK ONE’S BACK

• John’s been breaking his back to get a promotion. (O John tem se esforçado tanto para conseguir uma promoção.)
• I broke my back to get where I am today. (Eu me esforçei muito para chegar onde eu estou hoje.)

2) TO BREAK EVEN

• Most companies take years to break even. (A maioria das empresas demora anos para sair sem lucrando nem perdendo.)
• After losing thousands of dollars, the gambler finally broke even. (Depois de perder milhares de dólares, o apostador finalmente saiu sem ganhando nem perdendo.)

3) BREAK A LEG

• Just one more thing before you go on stage, Tammy. Break a leg! (Só uma coisa antes de você ir para o palco, Tammy. Boa sorte!)
• I would tell you to break a leg, but you don’t need any! (Eu te desejaria boa sorte, mas você não precisa de sorte.)