Phrases & Expressions

To see or show clearly how two similar things are different from each other.

• Media literacy lessons teach pupils to distinguish between fact and opinion when they read news online.
• People with colour blindness often cannot distinguish between red and green, which can make reading some maps and charts difficult.

To study at university for a qualification in a particular subject.

• After doing a degree in biology, he decided to train as a secondary school science teacher.
• Some mature students do a degree in business part-time while they continue to work full-time.

To test a process, event or activity to check that it works before doing it for real.

• The night before her presentation, she did a trial run in front of her flatmates.
• The city council will do a trial run of the new bus timetable during the summer holidays.

To write the first version of a letter, which you will check and improve later.

• Before you send a complaint to the company, it's a good idea to draft a letter and ask a friend to check it.
• The lawyer drafted a letter to the landlord, but we decided to rewrite it in a more polite tone.

A steady pain that is not sharp or strong but is still unpleasant.

• I've had a dull ache in my jaw ever since the dentist removed my wisdom tooth.
• The pain started as a dull ache in his stomach and became sharper over the next few hours.

In the period when a particular king, queen or emperor was ruling a country.

• Many of Istanbul's finest mosques were built during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century.
• Trade with Asia expanded rapidly during the reign of the first emperor of the new dynasty.

To eat a food only in sensible, limited amounts, not too much or too often.

• My grandmother lived to 98 and always said her secret was to eat everything in moderation.
• You don't have to give up chocolate completely; just try to eat it in moderation.

To help people work together effectively as a group towards a shared aim.

• Open-plan offices are often designed to encourage teamwork and communication between departments.
• Group projects at school encourage teamwork, although some students end up doing most of the work.

Something that suggests a situation is improving or that success is likely.

• Falling unemployment is an encouraging sign that the economy is starting to recover.
• Doctors say it is an encouraging sign that the patient is now breathing without help.

To add new and more varied words to the ones you already know and use.

• Reading newspapers and novels in English is one of the best ways to enrich your vocabulary.
• She enriched her vocabulary by noting down useful phrases from podcasts and reviewing them every evening.