Phrasal Verbs with 'turn'

Hey everyone!

I've got some phrasal verb practice for you today!
Do you know what these phrasal verbs with 'turn' mean?? 😁✋

Turn up

Turn down

Turn on

Turn off

Turn into

Turn into has one meaning, but the rest have multiple meanings.
Here are some dialogues to illustrate the differences. 😀😀

Definitions are written at the end. 😊😊

1.
- Could you turn down the music, please? It's way too loud.
- Okay, but could you turn up the air-conditioning? It's so hot in here!!

2.
- So then he said that we couldn't meet anymore and that we should stop texting...
- But didn't you say that he showed up at work yesterday??
- Yes! He just turned up and acted like nothing had happened and then he asked me when I was free for dinner!!
- How weird!

3.
- How did your second job interview go?
- Pretty well. They offered me the job!
- Congratulations!! When do you start??
- I don't! I turned it down! Apparently, I'd have to move to Sweden after training to cover a position there and I don't want to move.
- Sweden? They never mentioned that!
- Exactly.
- That's too bad.

4.
- Haven't you turned on the television yet? The show is about to start!
- Oh, I forgot! Let me turn off  the oven first so I don't burn dinner.
- Don't worry, I'll do it!

5.
- How was your date last night?
- Well, he was really nice and... so polite. I never thought I'd be turned on by someone's manners before!
- Does that mean you'll be seeing him again?
- Yes, definitely!!

6.
- Why are you back so early? I thought you were spending the day at the beach?
- I was, but I got so turned off  by the amount of people there... and there were really big waves as well.
- Oh, that's a shame.
- Not only that, I was turned off  by how dirty the beach was. So many people left litter in the sand and it really pissed me off!
- That's terrible.

7.
- Where are you going?  I told you to turn off  at the exit and you just passed it!!
- You never said to turn off  there!! You said to turn off  at the last exit before the bridge!
- That was the last exit before the bridge!!
- I don't believe this!! Now we have to circle around somehow!!!
- Don't turn on me! I told you where you had to go!

8.
- What have you got there?
- New toys! Look!!
- Wow! That's so cool! You turned that horse into a giraffe! How did you do that?
- Isn't it awesome? Look at this one! You can turn a cube into a sphere!!
- These toys remind me of Transformers. They were toy cars that turned into robots!
- Oh, I remember watching a movie about them!

😀😁😎

turn up = increase intensity of something (1) /  arrive or appear (2)
turn down = reduce intensity of something (1) / refuse or reject (2)
turn on = start functioning (1)  / excite or stimulate (2) / attack someone suddenly (3)
turn off = stop something working by turning or pressing a button (1) / cause disgust (2) / leave a road in order to travel on another (3)
turn into = transform, become something else.


Have a terrific Tuesday!! 😎😁👍🙋

Word Wars: principal vs principle

Here are two homophones (since my previous post was about homophones and homonyms I thought this would be appropriate) that can be confusing especially when it comes to spelling.

Principal and Principle 

So, what's the difference??

Principal (adj) = most important / chief      
                           e.g. The principal concern is education.
Principal (noun) = a person that has controlling authority or is in a leading position, such as in a school (head teacher)                      
                           e.g. Mr. Smith is our principal. He's the man wearing the blue tie.

whereas...

Principle (noun) = a comprehensive and fundamental law or assumption (like morals) / a primary source                                      
                           e.g. He never strays far from his principles, so don't challenge him.


How's that? Have you been using these words in the right way? I hope this helps you to use these homophones correctly! 😁

Have a great day! 😊😊👍

Homonyms and Homophones

Happy Summer everybody!

I hope you're all having a great time!

I received a lovely email from Karen, an English learner, who found xamoyela helpful.👍😄😊 YAY! ✅🙆
She would like to share a link on homophones with all of you → https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/talking-aloud-talking-allowed-watch-write-make-sure-right/ ! Thank you Karen! 😊
This made me think about how we use homophones and homonyms and today I'm presenting some examples of their differences to you all.

So... what's the difference between homophones and homonyms?

Homophones are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings.
Homonyms are words that are sound the same and are spelled the same, but have different meanings.

Here are some examples of homophones. The words in bold are homophones:

1. The boy blew up a blue balloon to play with.

2. Where are the kids? They're over there riding their bikes!

3. You were right to write thank-you letters to your friends for helping you when you needed them.

4. She sent her best friend a bottle of perfume with a flowery scent, which only cost a few cents!

And now, here are some examples of homonyms. The words in bold are homonyms:

1. These oranges are so orange!

2. He circled the date of his date on his calendar.

 
3. The left bowl didn't have any cereal left!

4. She parked her car near the park.

I've also got a list of homophones here: https://xamoyela.blogspot.com/2011/11/homonyms.html

Practice makes perfect! 😁 Use your English correctly! ✅

Have a great summer!🌅
Anastasia 💝😊💖

Word Wars: listen vs hear

Word Wars for today is the difference between LISTEN and HEAR.
This is part of Grammar, too.

So, what is the difference between the verbs listen and hear?

Listen means to pay attention to or concentrate on sound.
e.g. 1. I'm listening to music.
       2. I'm listening to the news. 

Hear means to notice a sound, the ability to recognize sound.
e.g. 1. I heard what you said.
       2. My grandma can't hear very well. You need to speak up.


Here's a dialogue using both Listen and Hear 😃
-Did you hear that?
-No, I didn't hear anything.
-Listen...
A few seconds later...
-Oh, now I heard it.
-What is that?
-It's the wind rattling the tablecloth we've got outside. If you listen carefully you can hear the wind blowing.
A few seconds later...
-You're right!

😎😎

Words of the Day!

Hi there English learners!! 😊

I can't believe that it's mid-May ALREADY!!! 😱😱 

Where does the time go?? 🙉🙊🙈

Today's words are: YES and INDUBITABLY!

Yes is a very old word. It entered English before the year 900 and comes from the Old English word gese loosely meaning "be it." Before the 1600s, yes was often used only as an affirmative to a negative question, and yea was used as the all-purpose way to say "yes." (https://www.dictionary.com/e/s/yes-words/#yes)

- YES synonyms include Aye, OK, Sure and Yea / Yeah!

Indubitably: The word indubitably, like many words with a negative prefix, comes from its internal root, dubitable. 

Strangely though, the negative variation has always been more popular than its root. They both come from the Latin word dubitare meaning "to doubt."

That's all for today!

If you'd like to find out more about certain words, then go to www.dictionary.com or grab your dictionary off the shelf!! 😄😄😋😋😎😎 Dictionaries are our best friends when it comes to vocabulary! Never forget that!! 😁😉💬💪🙋

Have a great day!! 😊👍💖

Happy 2019!!

🎉🎉 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 🎉🎉

💝 HAPPY 2019!!! 💝

I hope you all had a lovely holiday! I can hardly believe that it's 2019!! 😜😜
If this is your first time visiting my blog, Welcome!!

 

I wish you all the best for 2019 and that you accomplish all your goals, starting with English!!

I'd like you to take a moment and ask yourself these questions:

1. What is your motivation for learning English? 

2. What do you hope to gain from learning English?

3. What has you learning experience been like so far?

4. What are your strengths and weaknesses in English?

By answering these questions you'll have a more rounded view of how you need to proceed with your English learning.
For example, if your motivation for learning is to be able to communicate with others from different countries, then focus on speaking and learning cultural aspects of different countries.

If you hope to gain a language certificate, then find a practice test and do it in real time (the time given in the actual test) to see how you do. Then, you can focus on the weaker parts and improve your knowledge in order to do better in the exam.

If your experience was boring or tiring or too much work or too little work, be truthful with yourself and approach your learning process with a new set of eyes and start over in a way that will motivate you to keep up the work.

If you find your strengths and weaknesses, then you'll be able to find ways to improve. For example, if you're good at speaking try to incorporate more topics and enrich your vocabulary! If you're not so good at writing, try looking at modal write-ups and practice different types of writing exercises and try to also plan your paragraphs beforehand.

All in all, the only thing you need to do to be better in English is to practice! So, practice, practice, practice because practice makes perfect!

Good luck everyone and stay tuned for new content to 2019!

😊😊 Anastasia 😁😁