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Miniphrase
A
Basic or First List of Idioms and
Expressions for Beginners in a New Language
Erik
V. Gunnemark
(ed. Amorey Gethin)
What
follows is a list of the idioms or expressions that are the most useful to know
in any new language that you are starting to learn. The list is based on many
years of research, but any such list is bound to be subjective to some extent.
This particular version of the list was made with translation into Italian in
mind; the list will vary slightly according to the language it is intended to
be translated into.
Alternatives
are separated by /.
At
the very beginning, the only practical way to learn quickly is to translate.
But as soon as possible you should try to forget your own language, and connect
the expressions in the new language directly to situations in real life. Your
own language should disappear from your mind. Avoid the translation mentality at all costs!
You
may find it useful to study this list in combination with the page on learning
vocabulary at www.lingua.org.uk/voc.html ,
particularly section II, First Steps.
|
ACCIDENT There's been
a (bad) accident. Bruno's had
a (bad) accident. It's not
serious. AFRAID I'm
afraid not/I can't. Don't be
afraid or frightened. AGE - See OLD ALL RIGHT All right, or O.K., I'll come. That's all
right. or That's O.K. (after
"Sorry!") That's all
right. (= It
doesn't matter, don't worry about it.) Is that all
right? or Is that O.K.? (= Is that
agreed?) Fine! O.K. See you
tomorrow. Are you all
right? BED I'm sleepy.
I'm going to bed. BIRTHDAY Happy
birthday! BOTHER (Please)
Don't bother. It's
no bother. (I'm) Sorry
to bother you (but I wonder if you could help me). BY - See TRANSPORT CALL - See NAME, SAY CALM Keep calm! Calm down! or Take it easy! CAN, COULD - See also MAY,
PLEASE, HAVE, HELP & HOW Could or Can I have another cup of coffee? Certainly. or Of course. or Sure. Could I have
my key please? Number 22.
Could you
bring me another knife? This one's dirty. Can I have
five kilos of potatoes Can I smoke
here? No,
it's not allowed. Yes,
that's all right. Can you
drive? Yes,
I can. No,
I can't. CARE - See also LOOK Take care of
yourself/selves. I don't
care. CAREFUL (Be)
Careful! CHANGE I've changed
my mind. I must
change (my clothes). I'd like to
change my room. CHEERS Cheers! (=
toast) CHRISTMAS Merry
Christmas! CLOCK - See TIME COLD I'm cold. It's cold.
(= weather) COME Come here. I'm coming! Come in. Do come in. Where do you
come from? I'm
from COMPASS, POINTS OF It's in north/south/east/west They live
about 30 kilometres north of We must go
south. CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations! COST What does
this cost? or How much is this? COULD - see CAN COURSE, OF Yes, of
course. DATES What's the
date (today)? (on)
1st/2nd/30th January 1999 What day
will you arrive? The
eighteenth. in 1848/2000 in the
nineteen sixties DAY - see DATES DEAR Dear Nina/Bruno,... Dear Mrs/Miss/Mr Rossi,... DIRECTION - see WAY DISTURB - See BOTHER DO - See also HELP, STOP,
& WORK Can I do
something (for you)? Don't do
that! EASY - see CALM, SLOWLY ENJOY - See GOOD ENOUGH That's
enough. EXACTLY Exactly! EXCUSE Excuse me. (= apology
or preliminary to request) Excuse me. (= request
for permission to pass or enter - "May I come in?") FAR - see HOW FAR FINE - See ALL RIGHT and
HOW ARE FUN - See also GOOD We had great
fun. GIVING something to
somebody - see THERE GLAD - See also WELCOME I'm glad to
hear that. I'll be glad
to (do it). GOOD Good morning/day. Good afternoon/evening. Good night. Good! Have a good
time. or Enjoy yourself. Have a good
trip or journey. Good luck! GOODBYE Goodbye. Bye-bye. or Cheerio. All the
best. GREETINGS - See HOW DO,
HULLO, MEET, REGARDS, W HALF - see TIME HAVE Can I have
four of those apples/them? or
I'll take four of those apples/them. HAVE DONE Where can I
have my bicycle/this part repaired? HEALTH - See HOW ARE HELLO - See also TELEPHONE Hullo! or Hi! HEAR Sorry, I
didn't hear what you said. HELP Help! Could you
help me? Certainly.
or Sure. Can I help
you? It can't be
helped. or There's nothing we can do. HERE - see also THERE Here he is/I am! HI! Hi! HOME Is he/she at home? Let's go
home. HOPE I hope
so./Let's hope so. I hope not. HOT I'm hot. It's hot. (=
weather) HOW (Can you
show me) how to do it? or How does one do it? HOW ARE How are you? Very
well, thank you. And you? I've
got a cold. I've
got a headache/sore throat/ stomach-ache. Not
too bad. I don't feel
well. He/She became ill yesterday. HOW ARE THINGS How are
things (going)? or How are you getting on? HOW DO How do you
do. or Pleased to meet you. my name's Tom Scott. How
do you do. or Pleased to meet you. I'm Luca Rossi. HOW FAR How far is
it to HOW LONG How long
does it take (by train)? How long
have you been here? I've/We've been here (for) a week. How long are
you staying here? Till
Monday. HOW MUCH - See COST HOW...SAY - See SAY HULLO - See HELLO &
TELEPHONE HUNGRY Are you hungry/thirsty.? HURRY I'm in a
hurry. There's no
hurry. Hurry up! HURT It/That hurts (here). Have you
hurt yourself? My feet
hurt. IDEA That's a
good idea. ILL - See HOW ARE ISN'T IT?, AREN'T YOU?,
HAVEN'T THEY?, etc. JOB See WORK JOURNEY - See GOOD KIND That's very
kind of you. KNOW I (don't)
know. I didn't
know that. LATE I'm sorry
I'm late. LAVATORY - see TOILET LEFT - See also WAY Is there any
wine left? There's nothing/no bread left. LET Let's go/have something to eat? or Shall we go/have something to eat? Let him go.
(2nd pers. sing. & plur.) Let go! Let me know
when you're ready. Let's see. LIKE - See also CAN, LOVE,
WEATHER Do you like
coffee? Yes,
I do, but I prefer tea. We don't
like it. I like you
very much. I'd like a
room facing south. Would you
like some coffee/a beer? Yes,
I'd love some coffee/a beer. Have you had
enough or would you like some more? Would you
like to go for a walk? LISTEN Listen! LOOK You
look well. It looks
good. He looks
tired. Look out! I'll look
after/take care of that. or I'll attend to it. LOOK FORWARD We're
looking forward to seeing you. I was so
looking forward to her visit. LOVE We'd/I'd love to come. Give our
love to Nina. She's/He's in love (with Bruno/Nina). make love LUCK Good luck! What luck! What bad
luck! |
MARRIED I'm/He's,
She's married (to Nina/ Bruno). MATTER What's the
matter? Oh,
nothing to worry about. It doesn't
matter. MAY - See also CAN, COULD,
EXCUSE, MIND May I (put
the television on)? Of
course (please do). I'd
rather you didn't, if you don't mind. May I come in/come by or pass? MEAN What
does this
word/"caldo" mean? What do you
mean (by that)? MEET - See also HOW DO,
WELCOME It was nice
meeting you. When shall
we meet? I'll meet
you at the airport. MIND - See also BOTHER,
MATTER, WORRY Never mind.
(= Don't bother). Never mind. (=
You'll have forgotten all about it tomorrow). Do you
mind if I smoke/me smoking? No,
not at all. or No, that's all right. Go ahead. MISTAKE I'm afraid
I've made a mistake. I think
there's a mistake here/in MOMENT - See WAIT MUCH - See COST and
Minilex NAME - See also TELEPHONE What's your
name? Could I have
your name please? first
name/Christian name surname/family
name My name is
Tom Scott. NEW YEAR Happy New
Year! NO - See THANK YOU NOT AT ALL - See also
THANK YOU Not at all.
(= Not in the least.) NOTE Let me make
a note of it. NOTHING - see HELP OCCUPIED - see TAKEN O.K. - See ALL RIGHT OLD How old
is she/he? She's/He's twenty-five. How old
is she/he/it? (= babies, small animals) PAIN - See HOW ARE, HURT PARDON - See HEAR, SORRY PITY What a pity! PLEASE - See also CAN,
COULD Please. Yes please. PLEASED - See HOW DO,
MEET, WELCOME POINT _ see WORTH QUICK(LY)! - See also
HURRY QUIET Be quiet! RADIO - See TELEVISION REALLY (Oh),
really? REGARDS Give my
regards to your husband / your wife / your parents / Nina. REMEMBER I don't
remember (it or that). RIGHT - See also WAY You are
right. Is this right? (= correct) SAME (Thank you.)
The same to you. SAY - see also SORRY Could you
please say that again? How do you
say "hot" in Italian? What do you
call that in Italian? What should
I say? SEE See you this evening/tomorrow/soon. It was nice/good to see you. When can I
see you again? I see. SERIOUS - See ACCIDENT SHALL What shall I
do? Shall I give
you a ring? Shall I open
the window? SHOW - See also HOW Will you
show me your photos? Can you show
me where it is on my map? SIT Please sit
down. SLEEP Sleep well! Did you
sleep well? SLOWLY Slowly! or Easy! SORRY - See also ALL
RIGHT, HEAR I'm sorry. I'm so terribly or really very sorry. That's
all right. I'm sorry to
hear that. Sorry I'm
late. I beg your
pardon. (= Sorry) Sorry? What
did you say? or Pardon? or I beg your pardon? SOUND That sounds
interesting. She/He sounded happy. SPEAK Do you speak
English? Only/Yes, a little. I'm
afraid not. Is there
anyone here who speaks English? Could you
speak a bit more slowly? Could I
talk to you/to Nina for a moment? SPELL How do you
spell it? STOP Stop! Stop it! STUFF These are
all my things. or This is all my stuff. TAKE - see HAVE, HOW LONG TAKEN Is this
place taken? or Is this seat occupied? No,
it's free. TELEPHONE - see also SHALL Hello! Could I
speak to Bruno/Mr. Masi? Who am I
speaking to? This is
Bruno Scott speaking. TELEVISION & RADIO -
See also MAY I saw/heard it on television/the radio.
THANK YOU Thank you
(very much). Thank you
very much for your trouble/ help. Not
at all. or That's O.K. or Don't mention it. You're
welcome. No thank
you. THERE There you
go. or Here you are. THERE IS Is there a
telephone near here? Yes,
there's one in front of the post office. THINK I think so. I don't
think so. What do you
think (of it)? THIRSTY - see HUNGRY TIME What's the
time? (It's)
six o'clock. (At) What
time is she coming?/does the bus for (At) five (o'clock). It begins at
twelve (o'clock). quarter of
an hour half an hour (at) a quarter/twenty to four (at) a quarter/seventeen minutes past four (at) half
past four (in the morning/ evening). It's
time for us to go/we went/ he went. I fear we
haven't got time. TOILET Excuse me,
where is the toilet/ lavatory?
TRANSPORT How are you
going? We're flying/cycling. They're
coming by air/by bus/by car/ by sea/by train/on foot. UNDERSTAND Do you
understand English? Yes,/only a little. I'm
afraid not. I'm sorry, I
don't understand (French). Do you
understand? I
understand. URGENT It's urgent. USE That's no
use. or It's no use (waiting). WAIT Could you
wait a moment. or One moment please. Let's wait. WAY - See also HOW Excuse me,
can you tell me the way to the station? Straight
on. Go
down here, and first to the left then second to the right. The station is immediately on your right. Which way
(should I go)? Go that/this way. Your
suitcase is in the way. WEATHER - See also COLD,
HOT, WHAT What's the
weather like? The
weather's bad. The
weather's good. It's raining
(hard). The sun's
out or shining. WELCOME - See also THANK
YOU, THERE Welcome (to WELL - See HOW ARE WHAT - See also FUN, SAY What
weather! What a
wonderful or lovely or
beautiful day! What a waste
of time! WHERE - See COME WISH I wish she/he was here. I wish you
would tell me. I wish I was
younger. I wish I had
a car. I wish I
could go too. WORK expressions - See
also WRONG What do you
do? (= What sort of work do you do? What's your job?) What are you
doing now or at the moment? WORRY Don't worry. Don't worry
about that. I'm worried
(about my son). WORTH It's not
worth it. or There's no point (in
doing that). WOULD - See LIKE WRONG It's wrong. He/She is
wrong. There's
something wrong with the engine. YES - See COURSE, PLEASE |
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