GIVE, KEEP, BREAK, CATCH, SEE


These common verbs have many different meanings. This unit looks at some important meanings of these verbs, and in some cases they combine with specific nouns, e.g. give someone a ring, break the law, etc. You can learn these as expressions.


Give


I´ll give you a ring this evening. (= phone you this evening)
Could you give me a hand? (= help me)
Please give my regards to Paul. (= please say "hello" to him from me) or If you see Paul, please give him my regards.


Keep


The coat will keep you dry; the gloves will keep your hands warm. (= the coat/gloves will help you to stay dry/warm) (keep + noun/pronoun + adjective)
I keep losing my glasses. I keep getting backache. (= I lose my glasses / get backache again and again) (keep + ing)
Please keep in touch. (= don´t forget to stay in contact, eg. phone or write to me sometimes)
The school keeps a record (= clear written information) of the number of times that students are absent.


Break


He broke the world record again. (= created a new record, e.g. He ran the 100 metres in 9.85 seconds, which is 0.1 seconds faster than anyone else)
Most people break the law at some point in their life. (= do something wrong/against the law)
In my first lesson with a new class, I usually do something to break the ice. (= to make people feel more relaxed when they first meet strangers)


Catch


We can catch a bus down the road. (= take a bus/travel by bus)
How did you catch that cold? (= get that cold/virus)
Catch the ball and throw it to James.


See


A: This part of the picture doesn´t look right compared with the other part.
B: Yes, I see what you mean. (= I understand what you are saying)

A: Do you think we need to hire a car?
B: I don´t know. I´ll see (= I´ll ask and find out) what the others say.

I don´t/can´t see the point of practising six hours a day. (= I don´t understand the reason for practising six hours a day)

(from the book English Vocabulary in Use by Stuart Redman - Cambridge University Press)

MAKE, DO, HAVE, TAKE


There are many common expressions with these verbs, and often they are different in other languages, so you need to learn them.


Things we make


a mistake                              He made a few mistakes in the exam.
a meal (prepare, cook)         I had to make my own dinner last night.
money (become rich)            He made a lot of money when he worked in America.
friends                                  It´s not always easy to make friends in a foreign country.
a decision                             We must make a decision before 6 pm;
a noise                                 I can´t work when the children make a lot of noise.
progress (U)                        Her English is good now; she has made a lot of progress.


Things we do


homework (U)                          I forgot to do my English homework last night.
the housework (U)                    My mother does all the housework in our house.
(study) subjects                        Did you do English at school?
a course                                   I did a one-week course in word processing.
the shopping (buy food)            I always do the shopping at the weekend.
research (U)                             He´s doing research in physics at Rome University.
(someone) a favour                   Can you do me a favour and lend me some coffee?
something/anything/nothing         I didn´t do anything last night. That boy has done nothing all day.
                                                 She must have done something to him. He´s very angry.


Things we have


a rest                                        They had a long rest after the game.
food and drink                          I had steak but Paul just had a cup of tea.
a drink                                      Let´s have a drink before dinner.
a bath/a shower                        I always have a bath when I get up.
a party                                     I´m having a party for my birthday.
a baby                                     Mary is having a baby next month.
a (nice/great/terrible) time         We had a very nice time in Switzerland last year.


Things we take


an exam (also "do an exam")      I´m going to take four exams next month.
a photo                                     She took lots of photos on holiday.
a decision (also "make")            I´m not very good at taking decisions.
a shower (also "have")              I´m just going to take a shower before lunch.
a bus/train/plane/taxi                 We were late, so we took a taxi to the airport.

NOTE: Notice the use of be + adjective in these expressions:

She was lucky.               I´m hungry.                 I´m thirsty.


(From English Vocabulary in Use by Stuart Redman - Cambridge University Press)

PREPOSITION + NOUN


Common patterns


There are many expressions formed by a preposition + noun, and sometimes a preposition is used with a particular meaning in a number of expressions, so they are very common.

A book by Stephen King, a film by Steven Spielberg, a song by Elton John.
You can go for a walk, for a drive, for a run, for a swim
You can go in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening (but at night)
You can travel by car, by plane, by bus, by coach, by train, by taxi (but on foot)
I heard it on the radio; I saw it on TV; I spoke to her on the phone (but I read it in the newspaper, in a magazine)
The man in the dark suit; the woman in the red dress.


Fixed expressions


Sometimes it is difficult to know why a particular preposition is used, and you must learn these as fixed expressions.

I took his pen by mistake.
I did all the work by myself. (but on my own)
The shoes are made by hand.
The workers are on strike.
I met them by chance.
The children are on holiday.
He broke the plate by accident.
He broke the plate on purpose.
There are two million out of work.
There are at least fifty people at the party.


In time or on time?


Sometimes two prepositions can be used with the same noun, but the meaning is different.

Lessons begin at 8.30 and I always arrive on time. (= at 8.30)
Lessons begin at 8.30 and I always get there in time. (= before 8.30; I´m not late)

In the end we went home. (= finally, after a long period)
At the end of the book they get married.

The two men are in business. (= they are businessmen)
The two men are in Germany on business. (= they are there for work and not for a holiday.)

I´ll see you in a moment. (= very soon)
I can´t speak to you at the moment. (= right now)

(From the book English Vocabulary in Use by Stuart Redman - Cambridge University Press)

ZERO AFFIXATION


What is zero affixation?


Many words in English can funtion as a noun and verb, or noun and adjective, or verb and adjective, with no change in the form. The meaning is not always the same, but this unit looks at examples where the words do have the same meaning.


What´s the answer? (noun)
Answer the question. (verb)

I must clean my room. (verb)
It´s a clean room. (adjective)

I don´t like the cold. (noun)
I don´t like cold weather. (adjective)

I didn´t reply to the letter. (verb)
I wrote a reply to the letter. (noun)

Other examples: ache (v, n), damage (v, n), dry (v, adj)




Noun and verb


You may know these words in one form but not the other:
smile, laughm increase, dream, smell, taste, rain, queue, brake, diet, guess, ring, push, murder, stay, drink, rest, look, cost, wait. 




Which verb?


When you use these words as nouns, you need to choose the correct verb to use with it.

Verb                                                              Noun


We stayed in Paris for a short time.                We had a short stay in Paris.
We rested for a while.                                   We had a short rest.
She braked quickly.                                       She put on the brakes quickly.
He needs to diet.                                           He needs to go on a diet.
I´m going to ring him.                                     I´m going to give him a ring.
I looked in the paper.                                    I had a look in the paper.
He pushed me.                                             He gave me a push.
I dreamt about you last night.                        I had a dream about you last night.

(From the book English Vocabulary in Use by Stuart Redman - Cambridge University Press)

ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES


Suffixes change word class, e.g. from verb to noun or noun to adjective, but they can also change meaning.


Noun or verb + suffix


Noun or verb                              Suffix               Adjectives


danger, fame                                -ous                  dangerous, famous
music, politics                              - al                    musical, political
industry, economics                                              industrial, economical
cloud, fog, sun, dirt                      - y                    cloudy, foggy, sunny, dirty
attract, create                               - ive                  attractive, creative

Note:  Sometimes there is a spelling change. Here are common examples:
double the consonant: sun/sunny; fog/foggy
leave out the final "e": create/creative; fame/famous
leave out the final "s" before "-al": politics/political; economics/economical
change "y" to "i" before "-al": industry/industrial




-able


This suffix (also -ible in some words) is used to form many adjectives from nouns or verbs:

enjoyable, comfortable, knowledgeable, suitable


Quite often, -able (and -ible) has the meaning "can be done". For example, something that is washable "can be washed". Other examples include:

drinkable, comprehensible, reliable


Words ending -able quite often express the opposite meaning by adding the prefix un-


undrinkable, unreliable, unbreakable, unsuitable, uncomfortable


Words ending -ible add the prefix in-


incomprehensible, inflexible, inedible




-ful and -less


The suffix -ful often means "full of" + the meaning of the adjective: careful, helpful, painful, useful, thoughtful.


The suffix -less means "without" + the meaning of the adjective: careless, painless, useless, thoughtless, jobless, homeless


Note:  You can see that -ful and -less are often used with the same words to form opposites. This is not always true.


(From the book English Vocabulary in Use - by Stuart Redman - Cambridge University Press

NOUN SUFFIXES


Verb + suffix


Many nouns are formed this way.

Verb                                Suffix                   Noun


improve                            -ment                   improvement
manage                             -ment                   management
elect                                 -ion                      election
discuss                             -ion                      discussion
inform                              -ation                    information
organise                           -ation                    organisation
jog                                  -ing                        jogging
spell                                -ing                        spelling

Note: Sometimes there is a spelling change. The most common is the omission of the final "e" before the suffix "-ion" or "-ation": translate/translation; organise/organisation.




Adjective + suffix


Nouns are also formed by adding a suffix to an adjective. Two suffixes often added to adjectives to form nouns are "-ness" and "-ity".

Adjective                        Suffix                    Noun


weak                              -ness                      weakness
happy                             -ness                      happiness
dark                               -ness                      darkness
stupid                             -ity                         stupidity
punctual                         -ity                         punctuality
similar                            -ity                         similarity


Pronunciation


The addition of these suffixes may change the pronunciation.

Nouns ending "-ion" or "ity" have the main stress on the syllable before, so the pronunciation may be different from the verb or adjective.

Verb                    Noun                 Adjective              Noun


educate                education            similar                   similarity
translate               translation            stupid                   stupidity
discuss                discussion            punctual                punctuality


-er/-or and -ist

These are common noun suffixes added to existing nouns or verbs, and they describe people and their jobs.

-er                    -er                    -or                    -ist


dancer             driver               actor                artist
singer              manager           director           economist
murderer        footballer          tranlator         psychologist
farmer            employer           operator         journalist


Note: Notice the common spelling changes: translate/translator; operate/operator; economy/economist;  psychology/psychologist.


From the book English Vocabulary in Use by Stuart Redman (Cambridge University Press)






          

PREFIXES


With the meaning "not"


Prefixes (un-, in-, il-, ir-, and dis-) are often used to give adjectives (and some verbs and nouns) a negative meaning. Here are some common examples:

happy - unhappy
possible - impossible
correct - incorrect
like - dislike
legal - illegal
regular - irregular

UN- is used with many different words, e.g., unfriendly, unable, unbearable, unemployed, untidy

IM- is used before some words beginning with M or P, e.g., impolite, impatient


IL- is used before some words beginning with L, e.g., illegible


IR- is only used before some words beginning with R, e.g., irresponsible


DIS- is used before some adjectives, e.g., dishonest, and a few verbs, e.g., dislike, disagree


IN- is used before a limited number of words, e.g. invisible


Note: A prefix does not normally change word stress, e.g., happy / unhappy; possible / impossoble


Verb prefixes: un- and dis-


These prefixes have two meanings: they can have a negative meaning (as above), but they can also mean "the opposite of and action" or "to reverse an action". This meaning is used with certain verbs.

I locked the door when I left, but I lost the key, so I couldn´t unlock it when I got back.

I had to pack my suitcase very quickly, so when I unpacked at the hotel, most of my clothes looked terrible.

The plane appeared in the sky, then suddenly disappeared behind a cloud.

In the morning you get dressed; when you go to bed, you get undressed.


Other verb prefixes with specific meanings


re- (again)     My homework was terrible, so I had to redo it.
                     The shop closed down but will reopen next month.
                     I failed my exam but I can retake (or redo/resit) it next year.

over- (too much)     I think my boss is overdoing it at the moment. (= working too hard; also overwork)
                               I went to bed very late and I overslept this morning.
                               The shop assistant overcharged me.

mis- (badly or incorrectly)     I´m afraid I misunderstood what he said.
                                             Two of the students misread the first question.


(from the book English Vocabulary in Use) by Stuart Redman (Cambridge)


More prefixes:


un-, im-, il-, in-, ir-, dis-, non-, anti-, mis-, de-, counter-, co-, over-, out-, ex-, re-, under-, a-, hyper-, mal-. mono-, neo-


unattainable, non-existent, illegitimate, irresistible, inaccessble, unprepared, unaware, inexpensive, unconscious, intolerant, unlikely, improbable, dissatisfied, impatient, uncomplicated, unable, incapable, unenthusiastic, illegible, irrational, imperfect, non-resident


undo, disapprove, anticlockwise, misunderstand, disused, misused, unused, debriefing, miscast, unwrap, disembark, decentralize, anticlimax, disprove, declassify, disincentive, unconfirmed, dismount, undamaged, uncommon, unemployment, depersonalize, misfire, anticyclone


co-worker, overbalance, counterbalance, co-pilot, counterclain, co-author, overpriced, counterattack, overestimate, overreact, co-director, co-operate, overanxious, counter-espionage, overboard, oversimplify, coeducational, overdue, overdose


outpouring, ex-wife, outlast, outvote, redirect, undercooked, reoganize, ex-boyfriend, re-elect, undermine, outsize, redistribute, underexposure, outstay, reclaim, reunite, reassure, underclothes, underachiever, reintegrate


hyperactive, amoral, malnutrition, neo-Nazi, malformation, apolitical, hypersensitive, monosyllable, neoclassical, hypercritical, malfuncion, asymetrical, maladjusted, hypermarket, monotone


(from the book Recycling Advanced English - by Clare West (Georgian Press)


Some words with "out" and "over"


Outbid: to offer more money than another person in order to buy something, e.g., at an auction (sobrepujar num lance ou licitação)

Overbid: to offer to pay too much for something in relation to its value (oferecer mais do que vale; cobrir o lance ou oferta)

Overcharge: to charge too much money for something, usually deliberately (cobrar em excesso)

Outmanoeuvre:  to do better than an opponent, etc by acting more skillfully and cleverly (superar em estratégia, "passar a perna", vencer em habilidade)

Outnumber: to be greater in number than somebody/something (exceder em número)

Outrun: to develop faster than something, to run faster than somebody/spmething (correr mais que alguém, ultrapassar, exceder, deixar para trás)

Overrun: to continue beyond or exceed the time allowed or the expected cost (exceder, ultrapassar)

Outstrip: to become larger, more important, etc than somebody/something

Oversubscribe: if a company issues shares on the stock market and they are oversubscribed, the demand for shares is more than the number of shares available.

Overtake: to increase in number or amount so as to be more than something else

Outvote: to defeat somebody by gaining a larger number of votes (vencer por votos)


"Over" is used, among other things, to say that something is higher than something else.
"Out" is used, among other things, to say that something is not inside something, and to talk about leaving or move away from a place. To say that something goes beyond a particular level or number.