Help me to learn English Like a native

[Darth Marsden]

1) "Getting to that shroud is all that matters". A shroud is an actual item, used to cover or protect something.

2) "We've made it back outside" means that the group has managed to safely exit the building (or wherever they were).

3) "You're looking at hope" - I don't know.

4) "The was once a world full of beauty. Given a chance, it can be again". The world used to be beautiful, but for whatever reason it no longer is. When a character says 'given a chance', he means that, if people were to try, then the world could be beautiful again.

5) The difference between "tremor" and "quake" is that a tremor is a fairly small event - usually not causing any damage - while a quake, which is sort for earthquake, is a massive event, causing a huge amount of destruction.

6) If someone is "Preoccupied", then it means that someone is busy with something. There's not a lot of difference between the two words.

7) "Break off!" in this case means 'stop what you're doing!'.

8) To "shake" someone to to try and stop them from following you.

[N7.]

Originally Posted by Darth Marsden

1) "Getting to that shroud is all that matters". A shroud is an actual item, used to cover or protect something.

2) "We've made it back outside" means that the group has managed to safely exit the building (or wherever they were).

3) "You're looking at hope" - I don't know.

4) "The was once a world full of beauty. Given a chance, it can be again". The world used to be beautiful, but for whatever reason it no longer is. When a character says 'given a chance', he means that, if people were to try, then the world could be beautiful again.

5) The difference between "tremor" and "quake" is that a tremor is a fairly small event - usually not causing any damage - while a quake, which is sort for earthquake, is a massive event, causing a huge amount of destruction.

6) If someone is "Preoccupied", then it means that someone is busy with something. There's not a lot of difference between the two words.

7) "Break off!" in this case means 'stop what you're doing!'.

8) To "shake" someone to to try and stop them from following you.

Thanks, about "We've made it back outside" It was a simple sentence! I don't know why I asked this question

[Chyron8472]

Something that occurs to me that is crucial in sounding not only like a native but also competent, is that you seriously need to know the difference between different words that are homonyms (words that sound the same but are spelled differently).

Specifically, I'm talking about the differences between: your and you're; their, there, and they're; two, to and too ...and other such homonyms.


Please, PLEASE understand and acknowledge the differences between these words. There are people, even people on these forums, who use "there" instead of "they're" or "their" and it just drives me crazy sometimes.

I don't see how someone could ever think they'd be taken seriously by anyone ever in the corporate world when they can't even use something as basic as "they're" or "their" properly in a sentence. An 8-year-old child should understand the difference, so if someone is a teenager or an adult, English is their primary language, and they can't use these words properly... then they have no excuse.

I'm not complaining at you, N7. Not at all. I'm just stressing how important it is to not sound illiterate.

[KuroShiro]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

Something that occurs to me that is crucial in sounding not only like a native but also competent, is that you seriously need to know the difference between different words that are homonyms (words that sound the same but are spelled differently).

Specifically, I'm talking about the differences between: your and you're; their, there, and they're; two, to and too ...and other such homonyms.

Those are homophones, actually. Homonyms are words that are both spelled and sound the same, but have different meanings. Words like "stalk" (of a plant) and "stalk" (follow a person).

Of course your overall point remains valid.

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by KuroShiro

Those are homophones, actually. Homonyms are words that are both spelled and sound the same, but have different meanings. Words like "stalk" (of a plant) and "stalk" (follow a person).

It seems that I'm both wrong and right.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homonym

"The word HOMONYMS (“same” + “names”) is, strictly speaking, either a synonym for homophones or a name for words that are at once homophones and homographs —alike in both spelling and pronunciation—such as the two words spelled b-e-a-r and the three spelled s-o-u-n-d. As a practical matter, however, the terms homophone, homograph, and homonym are often distinguished from one another by the contexts in which they are found. Homophone and homograph —the first focused on sound and the second on spelling—appear primarily in technical or academic writing, where fine distinctions are important. The more familiar word HOMONYM, heard in classrooms from early grades on, has become an all-inclusive term that describes not only words that are both homophonic and homographic, but words that are either one or the other. In common parlance, then, words that sound alike, look alike, or both, can be called homonyms."

[N7.]

Thanks, here I have some more questions

1-What does "we're exposed" mean ?
2- What is the meaning of we've beaten the odds before ?
3-What does mean this sentence ? " She has a temper "
4- And what's the difference between champion and hero ?

[Darth Marsden]

1) "We're exposed" is another way of saying "There's nothing protecting us" or "We've been discovered". I suspect it's probably the first one, given you're playing Mass Effect.

2) "We've beaten the odds before". This one requires some explaining. If you beat the odds, then you are succeeding at doing something that, statistically, you should fail at. For example, if there's only a 10% chance of me jumping off a building without injuring myself, and I do it, then I have beaten the odds, because it was far more likely that I would break my legs. In this instance, the team has accomplished something unlikely before, and they're using that as a reason to try and do so again.

3) "She has a temper". If someone 'has a temper', then they are quick to anger and are likely to yell and be violent.

4) Champion and Hero... it depends upon the context, really. A hero is usually someone who does good deeds, defeats evil and is considered a saviour, while a champion is just someone who's proven themselves victorious at something - say, combat. Some people use the word champion when they mean hero though, so bear that in mind.

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by N7.

Thanks, here I have some more questions

1-What does "we're exposed" mean ?
2- What is the meaning of we've beaten the odds before ?
3-What does mean this sentence ? " She has a temper "
4- And what's the difference between champion and hero ?

1) In this case, "exposed" means to be without shelter or protection.

2) "Odds" in this case refers to are the chance that something will happen--such as the whether or not you will win when gambling. "We've beaten the odds before" means that we've succeeded before when it was very likely at the time that we would fail.

3) A "temper" refers to a person's ability to become angry quickly. Another thing some people might say when talking about someone who gets angry quickly is to say they have a "short fuse" which, of course, refers to a fuse for a bomb (in this case the person is the bomb and when they "blow up" they get angry.)

4) A champion can be a couple of things. First, a champion can be a person who is chosen to protect or represent someone else in combat. Second, a champion can be someone who participates in a competition and then becomes the winner.

A hero is someone whom other people look up to and admire. This person can also be a champion, as someone might look to them as a hero because of their success as a champion. Usually someone is a hero (or is "heroic") when they do something that is very good, noble or courageous; something that they have done which other people admire them for.

Being a hero is different from being famous. Fame is merely when someone is popular, and doesn't account for whether what they're popular for is admirable.

[N7.]

Very helpful, thanks
Clear and useful

I suspect it's probably the first one, given you're playing Mass Effect.

Yes, Shepard never hide

[N7.]

Hi again, I'm back with more questions

First of all where should we use "stabilize" ?

What does "bypass" mean ?

And what is the meaning of following sentence?
"someone else might have gotten it wrong"

Thanks

[Darth Marsden]

1) Stabilize. There's two uses for this, and they're both very similar.
- One use is medical. If someone is ill or in surgery, then their vital signs (heartbeat, brain readings, etc.) can be all over the place. To stabilize someone is to make sure those readings are normal, thus meaning the patient isn't likely to die and further medical treatment can take place.
- The other use is more basic. If you knock something and it's wobbling, then making sure that it's safe and not going to fall over is to stabilize it.

2) Bypass. If there's a blockage of some sort, then to bypass it is to find another way around it.

3) "Someone else might have gotten it wrong". I'm going to use an example with this one.

Let's say there's a question. 'How long until I get to ban a spambot?' The first person to answer that question says 3 days. The second person to answer says 1 day. When told that the first person said three days, the second person says that the first person 'might have gotten it wrong', meaning that the answer the first person gave isn't necessarily right, because it has yet to be proven.

[N7.]

Thank you, good as ever

What's the difference between Commence and Start ?

What is the meaning of this sentence ? "he's putting in a good word for us"

And what's the meaning of "Hell of thing you just pulled off"
That's what Hackett told Shepard about curing the genophage

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by N7.

What's the difference between Commence and Start?

In this case, nothing.

"Commence" I suppose is a bit more formal sounding than "start" but other than that, they mean the same thing. There is a different definition for "start" which means to suddenly jump or twitch, usually from being surprised (or startled), but that definition is not the case here, I'm sure.

What is the meaning of this sentence ? "he's putting in a good word for us"

"putting in a good word" is to give a good recommendation.

Basically, he is going to talk to someone and say good things about us.

And what's the meaning of "Hell of a thing you just pulled off"

You left out the word "a" so I put it there.

To "pull off" can mean to accomplish or to succeed at doing something.

"Hell of a" means something is either very good or very bad. The "thing" referred to can be a good or a bad thing, as expressed by your tone of voice. You can also use other words instead of "thing," depending on what you're talking about. Keep in mind, some people squish the words together to spell "Helluva" but it sounds the same and means the same thing.

[Debbie82]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

"Hell of a" means something is either very good or very bad. The "thing" referred to can be a good or a bad thing, as expressed by your tone of voice. You can also use other words instead of "thing," depending on what you're talking about. Keep in mind, some people squish the words together to spell "Helluva" but it sounds the same and means the same thing.

You can also say, "hella", since "hella" is a short term for "hell of a", if that helps.

[Alcoremortis]

Originally Posted by Debbie82

You can also say, "hella", since "hella" is a short term for "hell of a", if that helps.

That's a Bay Area thing, though.

[Darth Marsden]

Or a Cartman thing, IIRC.

[N7.]

Thank you guys, Good as ever. I'll back with more questions
thanks

[KuroShiro]

Originally Posted by Debbie82

You can also say, "hella", since "hella" is a short term for "hell of a", if that helps.

"Hella" as it's actually used (mainly in northern CA and sometimes in NY) is in no way short for 'hell of a'. It means 'very'.

[N7.]

Hi, What does "I used to" mean? for example someone says "Do you know her?"
and other one saying "I used to"

[coolsome]

Originally Posted by N7.

Hi, What does "I used to" mean? for example someone says "Do you know her?"
and other one saying "I used to"

It means it is something you did in the past. Like your example would mean at one point you knew this person in the past but now you don't IE you knew a friend in school but after you lost touch so you used to know them but now don't.