Monday, May 24, 2010

More prepositions: in/on/at

I'm going to Poland in June. I'm leaving on Thursday next week. 
I'll be in Poland for 2 weeks. 
I was in Poland in March last year. 
This will be my first visit in summer (well, almost summer). 

Sometimes it's hard to stay awake at my desk in the afternoon. 
My eyes get so tired from working on the computer all day. 

I worked at home on Friday last week. 
I was hard at work early in the morning--at 6:00 a.m. 

I'm going to visit my brother, Bill, at his apartment on Sunday. 
I'm going to my brother Bill's apartment on Sunday. 

My birthday is in August. My birthday is on August 2. 
Well, I'm going (no "to" here) home to bed.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

for/to

Back to those pesky prepositions, let's look at some examples with 'for' and 'to'. 

Thank you for the email you sent to me yesterday. 
I'm thankful for your friendship. 
Thanks to you, I know what a real friend is. 
Say "Hello" to your wife for me. 
It's a privilege for me to talk to you. 
I'm glad you want to improve your English. 
Would you introduce me to your friend? 
I'm going to his flat for dinner. 
Do you have time for me now? 

That's all for now. It's time to go.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Having found my glasses . . .

Having found my glasses, I began to read the morning paper. 
Looking up at the clock, I noticed I was late. 
Grabbing my coat, I ran out the door. 
Waiting for the bus, I saw a man wearing a long coat and a hat. 
Running from the bus stop, breathing heavily, I entered the office. 
Hoping my boss wouldn't be upset with me for being late, I sat down at my desk. 
Starting to work, I felt more comfortable. 
While translating the latest piece of text from Russian into English, I found 2 new English words.
After working for 2 hours, I took a break and drank a cup of coffee. 
Returning to my task, I was relieved to discover that I knew all the words I needed for the translation. After reviewing my work for errors, I showed it to my boss. 
Smiling happily, he told me I'd done a great job. 
Seeing my uneasy expression, he told me not to worry about being late. 
Feeling encouraged by my success, I went home that night and relaxed.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Up

There is a two-letter word that may have more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP." 

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky, but . . . In the morning, why do we wake UP? 
When my son says "What's UP?" it's not really a question. He's just saying "Hi."

When you're talking to a friend, why does a topic come UP? 
Why do we speak UP and why are the candidates UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? 
We call UP our friends to see what they're UP to. 
We brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. 
We lock UP the house and some guy fixes UP my car. 
People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. 
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. 
And this UP is confusing: 
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. 
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. 
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! 
To find the more uses of UP, look UP the word ‘UP’ in the dictionary. 
In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. 
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. 
It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. 
When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. 
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. 
I could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP.