Marmara Elt Resources

Common Idioms-Idioms -J
jam on the brakes
- quickly put the brakes on in a car to stop

He jammed on the brakes and was able to avoid hitting the child.
jam-packed
- crowded, full

The train that we took this morning was jam-packed with people.
jazz up
- brighten up, add more noise or movement or color

They really jazzed up the community center for the party tonight.
John Doe
- name used for an unknown person

Why do the application forms use “John Doe” as the name of the person who is applying for something?
John Henry (John Hancock)
- signature

Please sign your John Henry here and we will process your order right away.
Johnny-come-lately
- new-comer

He`s a Johnny-come-lately and doesn`t really know what he is talking about.
Johnny-on-the-spot
- be at the right place when needed, right on time

He`s always Johnny-on-the-spot. Just when we need him he arrives.
jump all over someone
- criticize, scold, blame

As soon as I began to talk about my plans for the summer he jumped all over me.
jump at
- take or accept quickly and gladly

He jumped at the chance to go to Europe on company business.
jump bail
- run away and fail to come to trial and give up the money you have already paid to the court

He jumped bail and decided to go and live in a foreign country.
jump down someone`s throat
- criticize or become angry with someone

As soon as I reached the office he jumped down my throat over the missing file.
jumping-off place
- the starting place of a long trip

We gathered early in the morning at the jumping-off place for our trip to the mountains.
jump on someone
- scold, criticize, blame

Everyone jumped on him at the meeting because they were angry about the new schedules.
jump on the bandwagon (also get or climb on the bandwagon)
- join a popular activity

Everyone has jumped on the bandwagon to try and stop smoking in the workplace.
jump out of one`s skin
- be badly frightened

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw him at the window.
jump the gun
- start before you should

He jumped the gun and started selling the tickets before he should.
jump through a hoop
- do whatever one is told to do, obey any order

He is always ready to jump through a hoop for his boss so he is not very popular with the other employees.
jump to conclusions
- make a quick conclusion without thinking

Please don`t jump to conclusions over who broke the computer.
just about
- nearly, almost

I waited just about one hour before the concert started.
just now
- this very moment, a minute ago

The accident happened just now. The police haven`t even arrived yet.
just so
- with great care, very carefully

She always makes sure that her hair is just so before she goes out.
just the same
- nevertheless

I told her not to come early but just the same she came early anyway.

Conjunctions :and, but, or, because, so
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that conjoin things - they connect sentences and parts of a sentence. This post deals with five conjunctions: and, but, or, so and because.

And
And is oftne used to join nouns, for example:
- I like spaghetti and pizza.
And is also used to show time sequence, for example:
- I ate spaghetti for lunch and pizza for dinner.
But

But is used to show an exception or conflict. For example:
- I like spaghetti, but I don’t like hamburgers.

Or
Or is used to show choice, for example:
- You can eat spaghetti or pizza for dinner.

So
So is used to show the result of something. For example:
- I like all Italian food, so I like pizza.
So can also be used give additional information, for example:
- I like Italian food, and so does my brother.

Because
Because is used to show the cause of something. For example:
- I eat a lot of pizza because I like it.
- I study English because I want a good job.

Grammar Points :There is-there are
“There” is a kind of pronoun used to show something you know exists.
Compare these two sentences:
- “A fly is in my soup.”
- “There is a fly in my soup!”
The first sentence is factual and impersonal. The fly is the subject, and the soup is the object. In the second sentence the object is “a fly in my soup”, so the subject is “There”. “There” functions as a kind of dummy subject that represents a more personal perspective, rather than a factual statement.
Especially in spoken English we usually use the contraction “there’s”, rather than “there is”.
There is usually subject-verb agreement when using there is/there are. For example:
- There are ten students in my class.
- There is ten students in my class.

Quantifiers -Few-Little-A Few-A Little
THese quantifiers are used to show a small quantity of something, for example “I have a few books” means I have a small quantity of books.
A Few
A few is used with countable nouns to show a small quantity. It is used in affirmative statements, but not negatives. We generally use any or questions. For example:
- I have a few books.
- I don’t have a few books
This is incorrect.
- I don’t have any books
This is correct.
- Do you have a few books?
Sometimes this is possibe, but generally speaking we use any for questions, for example “Do you have any books?”
Read the rest of this entry »