Disagreeing with a colleague's plan without turning the meeting into a fight
Two colleagues disagree about a launch date and keep the meeting from turning into an argument.
B2 Upper Intermediate
B2 is the level most employers and universities actually ask for. You are here if you can follow a normal conversation between fluent speakers and say what you mean, but your language still flattens out when the subject turns abstract. The material covers how verbs shift when you pass on what someone said, which pattern follows which verb, rewriting an exam question in your own words, and the more figurative side of two-part verbs. If reported speech is new to you, take the lesson before the practice.
Find the word that takes the beat when a sentence corrects an idea
Find the word that carries the strongest beat when a sentence rejects one idea and replaces it with another.
The beat of the sentence: which words carry it and which almost vanish
Content words carry the rhythm of spoken English; the grammar words between them shrink to fit.
The half you cannot guess: expressions about the body, weather and money
Fill the gap that hides the fixed word in expressions about the body, the weather and money.
Expressions you can half-guess: the body, the weather and money
Expressions built from the body, the weather and money, half guessable from their ordinary words.
The four parts of a strong interview answer, and what weakens it
A good interview answer is a tiny story in four fixed parts, and most weak answers skip one of them.
To carry more weight than a competing consideration
The formal verb of written argument for saying one consideration matters more than another.
Idioms you must learn whole
Fixed expressions behave like single vocabulary items: their verb bends into any tense, while every other word is locked and no synonym may be substituted.
Refusing a request without causing offence
Complete the fixed phrases that let a work email say no without giving offence.
Which strong adverb goes with which adjective
Strong adverbs keep a small circle of regular adjective partners; this table lists the pairs worth learning.
Set expressions for saying something was easy or hard
Ready-made expressions for saying that something was effortless or a struggle, sorted by tone.
Put back the missing word in the fixed expression
Put back the locked noun in each set expression for something easy or difficult.
Paraphrasing the question in IELTS Writing Task 2: what examiners reward
IELTS Writing Task 2 paraphrasing, judged against the band descriptors: which techniques earn marks, which words to leave alone, and where a rewrite costs you.
To think of an idea, plan, or answer
The everyday three-part verb for producing an idea, a plan or an answer.
How the verb steps back when you pass on someone's words
What happens to tenses, pronouns and time expressions when you pass on yesterday's words today.
Shifting the verb back when reporting
Move the verb one step back in time when passing on what someone said.
The busiest verb and its two-part combinations
The busiest verb in English combined with its small words, one meaning per combination.
Anyone with an interest in how a project turns out
Core project vocabulary for anyone with an interest in how something turns out.
Rewriting the question in your own words
How to reword an essay prompt so the examiner sees your language, not the question's.
What comes after the verb: the two patterns
Which verbs are followed by the -ing form and which by the to-form, learned pair by pair.
Avoiding a decision between two sides
An idiom for the person who refuses to commit to either side.
Able to recover quickly from something difficult
A warm, approving adjective for people, economies and materials that spring back after a blow.