Phrases & Expressions

To find it hard to do something.

• Many international students have difficulty following lectures during their first few weeks at university.
• Older people sometimes have great difficulty using online banking apps without help.

To be so annoyed by something that you are no longer willing to accept it.

• The residents have had enough of the noise from the new nightclub and have started a petition to close it.
• After three years of unpaid overtime, Selin had had enough of her job and handed in her notice.

A person who smokes a large number of cigarettes regularly.

• He was a heavy smoker for twenty years before quitting.
• Being a heavy smoker damaged her lungs.

To take some food or drink for yourself without waiting for someone to serve you.

• Guests at the conference were invited to help themselves to coffee and pastries during the break.
• There's plenty of food in the kitchen, so please help yourself to anything you like.

To say or do something that upsets a person emotionally.

• He didn't mean to hurt her feelings.
• That joke really hurt his feelings.

Used before saying something that you feel slightly embarrassed or unwilling to say.

• I must admit that I found the first term of the course much harder than I had expected.
• I must admit, the online classes turned out to be far more useful than I thought they would be.

Used to ask someone, often with some irritation, to start or stop doing something.

• I wish you would tell me when you're going to be late, because I always end up worrying.
• I wish you wouldn't leave your wet towels on the bathroom floor every single morning.

(informal) in a very short time; very soon.

• The kettle has just boiled, so the tea will be ready in a sec.
• Wait for me, I'll be ready in a sec.

Printed in thick, dark letters so that the words stand out.

• Key terms are printed in bold so that students can find them quickly when they revise.
• The most important warning on the label is written in bold.

Between the punctuation marks that show that words are someone else's exact words or a title.

• If you use a writer's exact words, you must put them in quotation marks and give the source.
• The word 'free' was in quotation marks, which suggested that the offer was not really free at all.