English 3 Step 1

All the time

Most of the time 

Very regularly, very frequently 

A lot of the time 

quite often, quite frequently, quite regularly 

pretty often, pretty frequently, pretty regularly 

fairly often, fairly frequently, fairly regularly 

Occasionally 

From time to time 

Every now and again/then

Once in a while 

quite rarely, quite seldom 

pretty rarely, pretty seldom 

fairly rarely, fairly seldom

Very seldom 

almost never 

Hardly ever 

I hardly ever ride my bike.

My ... is to be able to ...

I'm .... / I'd .... to be able to ...

speak English fluently.

understand almost everything.

I think...

In my opinion...

In my view...

I'd say that..

I would argue that..

Definitely / Absolutely / Certainly / I totally agree / That's very true 

I agree to an extent / I agree up to a point 

I'm not sure I agree.

Definitely not / Absolutely not / Certainly not / I totally disagree 

I went last year 

I was there for three weeks 

I stayed in Montreal for the first week.

I enjoyed it.

I flew from... to...

I took a night flight.

I traveled in economy class.

It was pretty tiring.

It was the most expensive meal I've ever had.

This is the coldest weather we've had so far this year.

It's the best laptop I've had to date.

... a lot / much / way / far / slightly / a little / a bit / a touch...

... better.

It's exceptional / incredible / unbelievable / remarkable / extraordinary 

It's wonderful / spectacular / breathtaking 

It's unique 

Apartment building / neighborhood / residential area / downtown / outskirts (Stadtrand) / suburban / the suburbs (Vorort) / office building / superstore / shopping mall / plant / warehouse / condominium / business district / superstore 

A rectangle 

A circle 

A triangle 

A square 

A curve 

An arch 

A slope 

tiny / small/little 

big/large / huge/enormous/massive 

size -> quality-> age -> shape-> color -> material-> use

A big, ugly, old, rectangular, red, wooden entrance door.

size: small, huge, big, little 

quality: clean, ugly 

age: old, contemporary, young, new

shape: round, squared, 

colour: white, black, red...

material: wood, plastic, metal, concrete, glass, paper, carton, gold

use: tennis (ball)

My alarm goes off at..

I set off at about...

... get on (the train)

... get off (the train)

I get into (the office) at...

I get down to work.

... get on with work.

I get through more work...

I get back home at...

pick up the cup / put down the cup 

set off = leave 

give up = stop

picking up ... / picking... up / picking her up

fill up (the car) / fill  (the car) up

drop off / drop... off

print out ... / print... out / print it out 

I'm getting off (of the train) / I'm getting off it.

We went up the hill. / We went up it.

start / take up

continue / keep (it) up

continue (runn)ing / keep on doing..

tried / try it out 

stop / give (it) up

enjoys / is into something 

starting to enjoy / getting into ..

start.. again / get back to..

tiring / tires (you) out

knife, cutting board -> cutting, chopping, slicing 

wooden spoon-> to stir = to mix

peeler-> to peel 

grater -> to grate (grated cheese)

mash (potatoes)

whisk -> to whisk (eggs and milk)

beater-> to beat (eggs)

rolling pin-> for rolling out (pastry)

sieve/colander -> to sieve flour 

a scale is for weighing 

flour, butter, eggs, sugar 

onions, garlic 

salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, curry powder, herbs and spices -> to season

sauce, soy sauce, mustard 

olive oil, vinegar, vegetable oil 

ice cream, fresh cream 

tomato paste 

seasoning (Würze)

Chop/chop up (the onions)

Slice/slice up (the carrots)

Heat/heat up (the mixture)

Mix/mix up/mix together (the ingredients)

Mix in (the sugar)

Pour in the milk/pour the milk into the bowl 

Pour on the sauce/ pour the sauce onto/over the (cake)

Sprinkle on (some parmesan)/ sprinkle... onto/over

Present perfect initially to mention something that we've done. Then past simple to discuss what happened.

I've seen lions in the wild.

-> I saw them in Kenya. I was there four years ago.

I've bought a new car.

-> I ordered it at the end of January. I picked it up yesterday.

I've ever seen = ever in my life (nie)

I've done to date = to date = so far (bis heute)

Incredible, unbelievable, remarkable, extraordinary, wonderful, spectacular, breathtaking, unique 

to cut (up) / to chup (up) / to slice (up)

to mix (up/in/together)

to peel / to grate / to whisk / to beat / to weigh 

to sprinkle (on/onto/over)

to pour (in/on) (into/onto/over)

to mash (up) / to roll (out) / to heat (up) / to season 

The appliance 

can be (used...)

must be ...

should be ...

has to be ...

needs to be (used..)

allows you to ...

enables you to ...

can cope with...

can withstand ...

It was invented about 100 years ago (-> finished)

They were first designed in the 1920s. (-> finished)

It has been used for about 100 years. (-> is still used)

They have been improved a lot since they were first designed. (-> is not finished)

The new technology 

will be

is going to be 

could be 

may be

might be 

      used widely 

careful careless 

confident nervous 

friendly unfriendly 

helpful unhelpful 

kind unkind 

organized disorganized

outgoing quiet 

confident nervous 

thick-skinned sensitive 

He's / she's 

very good 

good 

bad/not very good 

hopeless/useless

  at doing...

He / she

loves 

likes/enjoys

doesn't mind (ist egal)

doesn't like/dislikes

hates/detests/can't stand

doing ...

I've washed the car. It's clean. -> focusing on results

I've been washing the car. That's why my jacket's wet. -> focusing on action.

I've cooked dinner. It's ready. -> focusing on results

I've been cooking. That's why I'm wearing an apron. -> focusing on action.

fairly (=ziemlich) warm, quite mild, pretty warm, fairly cool

temperate - not too hot in summer and not too cold in winter 

freezing-> subzero temperatures 

... the ground heats up, then at night it cools down 

They get a lot of damp weather there.

In a tropical climate, the weather is very humid - hot and wet.

It's exposed to the wind.

It's a sheltered (geschützt) position.

The prevailing wind (vorherrschend) means the direction that the wind usually blows from.

boiling (hot), heatwave 

drought, bone-dry

freezing cold, chilly (=kühl)

pouring down, I got soaking wet 

heavy rain, torrential rain, cloudburst (Wolkenbruch), downpour 

violent thunderstorms 

flood

A short period of rain is called shower.

When it's raining lightly, we say it's drizzling. (The drizzle)

strong winds, high winds, it was blowing a gale (= Orkan, Sturm) here.

gust of wind-> wind blows harder for a few seconds (=Windböe)

hurricane 

A very light wind is called a breeze.

snowdrift-> deep snow that's been blown into a wave form by the wind 

blizzard is a heavy snow 

thick fog, dense fog-> visibility is low, you can't see very far ahead 

global warming 

greenhouse effect 

greenhouse gases 

CO2 = carbon dioxide

CO2 emissions 

carbon footprint 

fossil fuels 

renewable energy 

sea level 

polar icecaps 

predict - to make predictions 

predictable / unpredictable 

forecast / projection

to forsee / anticipate