DUE (elektro's vocabulary)

Daysleeper40 said:
If you were watching a singer perform on Eurovision and thought they were really good, the next singer would have to be even better to impress you. The first singer is a "tough act to follow" because everyone thought they were brilliant and the next singer will be compared to them.


An easy act to follow would be someone everyone thought was rubbish - you wouldn't have to try very hard to be better than them.
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Oh, I see!!!
Mike Tyson is a tough act to follow for anybody of TP's members. :D
I would say - no one of us can be compared with him.
Am I clear?
 
elektro said:
For example Rocky or Rambo?
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:thumbs:

Tough is a word that usually describes someone that you would not pick a
fight with.
Is that better?

elektro said:
Oh, I see!!!
Mike Tyson is a tough act to follow for anybody of TP's members. :D
I would say - no one of us can be compared with him.
Am I clear?
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Not really
Its a little more specific than that
Its just a saying and I think that you may be being misled by it.
You are comparing two different things.
Example
2 or more people are doing the same thing ( what ever it is)
the first does it incredibly well
the others have a "tough act to follow"
or it ( or they) will be incredibly difficult to beat ( tough to beat / hard to beat)
Is that better?
 
'Tough luck' means unlucky

'Tough as old boots' means they're strong (like Rambo or Rocky) - another good phrase for this is 'hard as nails'
 
Cobra said:
Not really
Its a little more specific than that
Its just a saying and I think that you may be being misled by it.
You are comparing two different things.
Example
2 or more people are doing the same thing ( what ever it is)
the first does it incredibly well
the others have a "tough act to follow"
or it ( or they) will be incredibly difficult to beat ( tough to beat / hard to beat)
Is that better?
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In my opinion I meant the same thing talking about Mike Tyson :thinking:

candlestick said:
'Tough luck' means unlucky

'Tough as old boots' means they're strong (like Rambo or Rocky) - another good phrase for this is 'hard as nails'
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Superb idioms! Thanks a lot.
 
candlestick said:
'Tough as old boots' means they're strong (like Rambo or Rocky) - another good phrase for this is 'hard as nails'
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I'd say that tough as old boots means able to handle lots of wear/punishment. Someone doesnt have to be strong to be described as tough. It could easily be used to describe an old woman for example.

Hard as nails (although you would usually just say 'hard') implies an attitude rather than just physical strength - although someone so described is likely to be strong. Someone 'Hard' is someone that you would not want to get into a dispute with.
 
Hi, guys!
I have some problem with AIN'T.
I am waiting for your examples...
;)
 
Ain't is a slang abbreviation for:

is not

am not

are not

As someone from outside the UK, you shouldn't use "ain't" yourself (it simply wouldn't sound right).
 
Also add: have not.

It used to be used by members of 18th/19th century "high society" (wealthy people) but is now used for effect (by writers etc.) and by people who perhaps want to identify themselves as an underclass (Cockney Londoners; Black Americans).

No offence intended to anyone. If you choose to use slang, take the rap!
 
elektro said:
Did you want to say using AIN'T is bad form? :thinking:
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Ain't that the truth :D
It is not "proper English" but it is used quite a lot. Ain't it? :D
 
Well, I know the meaning AIN'T now.
Next word is DUE.
I got confused with translating this sentence:
Mary applied for housing at several places, but was't accepted due to outstanding debts.
 
In this context 'because of''. Generally Due means 'owing'. (You could in fact say owing to outstanding debts).

Also Steve is due a promotion /owed a promotion.

The Train is due to arrive at 9:30 but is now running 10 minutes late.

I would guess that the derivation is related to duty/obligation.
 
I am continuing to ask my stupid questions :D
What does KINDA mean?
 
again it is slang, not a propper word

it's kinda like this = it's kind of/sort of like this

In fact its not even british slang , instead coming from American films

not be confused with 'kinder' which means more kind , as in "Cobra can be unkind but Kelly is kinder"
 
big soft moose said:
again it is slang, not a propper word

it's kinda like this = it's kind of/sort of like this

In fact its not even british slang , instead coming from American films

not be confused with 'kinder' which means more kind , as in "Cobra can be unkind but Kelly is kinder"
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Thank you, Pete!
You was very clear for me
 
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only if you want a meaningful pause

I'm watching you, Pete

or i'm watching you Pete

are both valid

Of course what Chris meant to write was "you're so wonderful and inteligent Pete, I wish I was like you" - but I can read between the lines :lol:
 
Incidentally

its "you were very clear for me", not "you was"

I was

He was

She was

You were

They were
 
Hey guys
It's clear to me you, both, are intelligent and wonderful.
And it is not between the lines, it is from the bottom of my heart ;)
 
I am always confused by using articles (btw Russian language doesn't have any).
Can anybody explain me how to use them? I need simple examples and ways how can I check them.
So A & THE
Also it would be so good, if you examine me :)

Don't pass by - help me :bonk:
 
This is going to be a bit complicated so bear with me trying to simplify

Firstly

'a' is applied to only to things that you have one of so " a bus" , " a cow" " a pig" etc - so you wouldnt have 'a cows'

the can be applied to either singular or plural so either "the cow" or "the cows" - however you wouldnt usually use it for singluar for something you had more than one of

so if you wrote "I'm going to get the cow" it would imply that that was the only cow you had wheras if you had three and you were going to get all of them you'd write " I'm going to get the cows "

If you had three and were only going to get one you'd say " I am going to get a cow"

With me so far ?

Also another difference is that if you were already talking about one thing you'd use 'the' to refer to it further

so if I said " Ive got a cow with a sore foot, i'm going to get the cow now" it would imply that you are going to get that particicular cow - wheras if you said "... i'm going to get a cow now" , it could be any cow.

I'm probably not explainibg this too well so let me know if that reads like crap
 
Hi Oleg,

I'm note sure that I'm going to explain this very well, but I'll give it a try - it's one of those things that native English speakers tend to do intuitively.

"The" is used to refer to one specific item or indeed to the only existing item in a particular context.

"A" is used to refer to a non-specific / random item or to one of many items in a group.


Examples

1) The dog caught the ball.

Which dog? In this case we would be talking about a specific dog.
It could be said in a conversation about my dog, where I was talking about my specific dog.
Or if we were talking about a park in which there was only one dog, we would use "the" because there are no other dogs in that situation and we know immediately which dog we mean.

2) A dog caught the ball.

Which dog? In this case we could be talking about any dog.
It could be said in a general conversation about pets, where I was telling a story about a random non-specific dog catching a ball.
Or if we were talking about a park in which there were many dogs, I would use "a" to mean any one of the dogs in that group.
Of course (and just to confuse) if my dog was one of the many in the park I might say "the dog" to refer to my particular dog, as in the example above.



The easiest way to check yourself on this is to think about the plurals because they're often easier to get right. Using the examples above, the plurals would be :

1) The dogs caught the balls.
(Which dogs? Those specific dogs over there)
If that is what you would say in the plural, use "the" for the singular.


2) Some dogs caught the balls
(Which dogs? I don't know - just some dogs / any dogs)
If that is what you would say in the plural, use "a" for the singular.


And in situations where you might also say :
One of the dogs caught the ball.
use "a"

EDIT : While I was trying to explain all that, Pete's already posted but he seems to have approached it the opposite way. Hopefully, we haven't managed to completely confuse you.
 
Some more examples for when you read this tomorrow :

1) I'm going to London to see the Queen.
By using "the", the inference here is that there is only one queen existing in our scenario.
Since we're talking about London and we only have one queen in residence people will know that you mean the Queen of England.

2) I'm going to London to see a queen.
(Assuming that there is some visiting royalty in London, therefore there may be several queens present)
By using "a" you've not identified which specific queen you are going to see - you could mean any one of them.

3) I'm going to London to see the Queen of Spain.
(Assuming that she is visiting the UK as part of the royal party in example 2)
You're talking about a specific queen that you've identified in your sentence, so you use "the".


No.4 just for illustrative purposes :

4) I'm going to London to see a Queen of Spain.
By using "a", the inference here is that you are going to see a non-specified one amongst several Queens of Spain.
Since we know that there is only one Queen of Spain this sentence doesn't make sense.
 
In english grammar the following applies

A is the indefinite article, it is not specific and is without precise identity.

The is the definite article and is something very specific and identifiable.

Example,

A cat sat on the mat

which means...

A cat (it doesn't matter which cat) sat on the mat (the one by my front door)
 
Thank you very much for your explanations and examples!
It is very clear for me if we are talking of queens, cows and dogs, my problem consist of if I face with nouns which we cannot touch or see or smell.
My English is very bad for a better explanation (btw do i have to use a before better?)
 
elektro said:
(btw do i have to use a before better?)
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yes - though better is an adjective so you are actually applying the a to 'explanation' - 'a better explanation' - ie its a better explanation but not the only one possible , if you said 'the explanation' it would mean that it is the only one possible

incidentally another article rule is that we don't use "a" imediately before words that begin with vowels (e,i,o,a & u ) - we use 'an' instead - so you wouldnt say

'a egg', you'd say 'an egg'

not 'a explantation' but 'an explanation'
 
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big soft moose said:
yes - though better is an adjective so you are actually applying the a to 'explanation' - 'a better explanation' - ie its a better explanation but not the only one possible
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I understood that A I used to word explanation, not better:)
My problem is with these words like EXPLANATION **** ones we can't touch...
 
big soft moose said:
This is going to be a bit complicated so bear with me trying to simplify

Firstly

'a' is applied to only to things that you have one of so " a bus" , " a cow" " a pig" etc - so you wouldnt have 'a cows'
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Also if the word begins with a vowel,(a, e, i, o, u,) we we would usually but not always use an instead of a, An Orange, an egg, an insect, an understanding
 
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elektro said:
Thank you very much for your explanations and examples!
It is very clear for me if we are talking of queens, cows and dogs, my problem consist of if I face with nouns which we cannot touch or see or smell.
My English is very bad for a better explanation (btw do i have to use a before better?)
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Incidentally we don't usually use 'consist' like that - and although you can say 'talking of' its an old fashioned construction - most people use "talking about"

so we'd say

It is very clear if we are talking about queens etc, my problem is if I face nouns which we cannot touch or see or smell.

Also although its fine to say "My English is very bad' if you are going on to say 'for a better explantion' we'd usually say " My English isnt good enough for a better explanation" or " My English is too bad for a better explanation"

Don't ask me to explain why - because I'm not sure I can

(as I've said before really don't apologise about your poor English - we are happy to help and most of us don't speak russian at all - mine is limited to a very rude phrase, yes and no, and dosvidanya (which i've probably spelt wrong) - I couldn't begin to join in on a russian forum )
 
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elektro said:
I understood that A I used to word explanation, not better:)
My problem is with these words like EXPLANATION **** ones we can't touch...
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Its the same theory, if there's only one explanation then its 'the explanation'

"The staff room has run out of jaffa cakes , the explanation is that Cobra has eaten them all." This states without any doubt Chris definitely ate all the jaffa cakes (seems likely to me :lol:)

If theres more than one possible explanation then its 'an explanation'

"The staffroom has run out of jaffa cakes, an explanation is that Cobra has eaten them all" This says Chris may have eaten them all but equally he might not have done.

With notional words (that is words describing things you can't see, touch, smell etc like explanation, understanding, reason) it is usually better to use a or an unless you know for a fact that there's only one.
 
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Just Dave said:
Do svidanya = good bye :)
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yep like Auf Weidersein and Sayonora - I can say good bye in multiple languages - but there's no way I could do what Oleg is doing here on a Russian forum (or for that matter a german or japanese one)
 
big soft moose said:
yep like Auf Weidersein and Sayonora - I can say good bye in multiple languages - but there's no way I could do what Oleg is doing here on a Russian forum (or for that matter a german or japanese one)
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Me neither I couldnt do it, and how far has he come on,

Ive known Oleg for a few years, from when he first started learning English and Russell was a great help they phoned.skyped each other often,
 
big soft moose said:
, the explanation is that Cobra has eaten them all." This states without any doubt Chris definitely ate all the jaffa cakes (seems likely to me :lol:)
.
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big soft moose said:
yep like Auf Weidersein and Sayonora - I can say good bye in multiple languages -
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So can I, but the only one that counts on here,
is my prefered one for
Big Soft Moose

:p
 
There aren't enough people on here who like you Chris, for you to start banning the few that do :lol: :p
 
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