LanguageTeach

[ ... ] - click on the statement to see a synonym, click again to see an idiom.
Examples - point on the statement to see examples.
[ to get on ][ to enter; board. ] Examples
Examples.

    1.     I always get on the bus at 34th Street. I catch it at 8:30 a.m.

    2.     William gets on the subway at the same station every morning. He gets the one on 8th Avenue marked "AA". Quick Quiz.
In 15 minutes he gets . . . the subway.

off        back       up

[ to call or call up (s) ] [ to telephone ] Examples
Examples.

1. I forgot to call up Mr. Jones yesterday, although I promised to call him exactly at 3 o'clock .

2. Call me up tomorrow, Jane: we'll arrange to have lunch together. Quick Quiz.

To return a phone call:

call away
call down
call back

[ right away ][ immediately, very soon ] Examples1. Can William come to my office right away? I must see him immediately.

2. It will only take me a minute to repair your shoes; they'll be ready right away.
[ at first ] [ originally, in the first instance ] Examples1. At first he seemed to find English difficult, but later he made good progress.

2. At first I thought it was Sheila at the door, but then I saw that it was Betty.
[ to put on (s) ] [ to place on oneself - usually of clothes ] Examples1. Mary put on her scarf and left the room.

2. Put your hat on before leave the house.
[ get off ] [ to leave, descent from ] Examples1. At what station did you get off the subway?

2. Do you usually get off there?
[ turn on (s) ] [ to start, begin ] Examples1. Please turn on the light; this room is dark.

2. Do you know who turned it on?

^*** The symbol (s) indicates that an idiom is separable - that a direct object may be placed between the verb and the prepositional particle
LIST   Example
To develop the list we use a special "Always Hidden Answer" technology. In this example idioms are shown in black and the equivalent expressions are shown in blue. Every click on any item in the list turns it into its synonym, so that the student can always see either the idiom or the equivalent expression, but never both of them at the same time. It helps to avoid the false "I already know that" feeling which often occurs when the students look at a list of "Question - Answer" pairs. Also the student can convert the list from "Idiom→Synonym" to "Synonym→Idiom" or mix the two. Each item has an example which appears as a Pop-Up Window. The window can be loaded with a material of any degree of complexity and at the same time doesn't take up the space in the page and doesn't divert the student's attention, if he/she is working with another item. Again, the list itself is just a top of the iceberg. A lot of material is presented besides the items in the list. A lot of work has been done to save the students' time and to increase the efficiency of teaching.

EXERCISE Substitute an idiomatic expression for the word or words in italics.
(Click on italicize word to see the correct answer. Click again to restore to the default setting.)

1. He arises gets up at the same time every morning.2. She telephoned called me very late last night.3. Helen said that she was going to mail the latter immediately right away.4. Be sure to extinguish turn off the light before you leave the room.5. Pat placed on put on herself her new hat while looking in the mirror. 6. Remove Take off your overcoat and sit down for a few minutes.7. Originally At first I thought it was Bob who was calling me.8. We boarded got on the bus at Broadway and 79th Street.9. The bus was so crowded that we had difficulty in leaving getting off.10. John took with his fingers picked up the pencil which was lying on the floor.