On my mother's side...

Hey everyone, do you know the above expression? Today's mini-lesson will explain it and I think it will be my last lesson this year as I am off to India in a few more days and need to start packing...



On my mother's side...



and



On my father's side...



are used when talking about your extended family. Your immediate family is one step from you: your parents, your kids, your brothers or sisters. Your extended family is everyone beyond that: your grandparents, your uncles, your aunts, your cousins, etc.

We use these expressions to specify WHICH grandmother we are talking about, your father's mother(father's side) or your mother's mother(mother's side).

Baba is my grandmother on my father's side.

I have 5 cousins on my mother's side.

Well everyone have a

Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year~!

Phil

Things you need to do...

Today, we will talk about our NEEDS. In Japanese, you say 要る (いる) as a verb and 必要 (ひつよう) as a noun/adjective. In English, we can use 4 different expressions:

MUST

This is the most formal and possibly the strongest.

You must study for tomorrow's test.

NEED TO

This is a bit less formal and weaker than must.

You need to study for tomorrow's test.

HAVE TO

This is more casual and often used in North American English, in conversation it is often pronounced HAFTA~!

You have to(hafta) study for tomorrow's test.

GOT TO

This is a bit more casual than have to and I feel it sounds a bit younger to me. I feel it is often used by kids/teenagers... in conversation it is pronounced GODDA...

You got to (godda) study for tomorrow's test.

Hmm, it is time for dinner guys so:

I godda go~!

Phil

There's no use beating a dead horse...

The other day, after I posted my blog I remembered this similar sounding expression:

There's no use beating a dead horse.

You might also hear someone say flogging a dead horse... have you heard this saying before? While it sounds similar to "There's no use crying over spilled milk" it has a pretty different meaning!

It means it is time to give up, if you are riding a horse and you flog it to make it run faster... once it has died from exhaustion hitting it again will not make it move~!

It comes from the idiom: to beat a dead horse. It means that something is a waste of time since the result has already been decided. If I continue doing it, it will have no result so what's the point?

A: I don't mean to beat a dead horse but you really should see Avatar.
B: I TOLD you, I hate sci-fi movies. Drop it~! You're getting on my nerves...

So do you guys understand? When you beat a dead horse you're doing something pointless, it will have no result!

Have a good week,

Phil

P.S. check out these links for more info

GoEnglish - Beat a Dead horse

Wikipedia - Flogging a dead horse

There's no use crying over spilled milk...

Have you guys heard this idiom before? It's a really common saying we use when someone is complaining or whining about something. It means that you can't change the past so there is no use crying about it. Crying about the past will not change anything...

Another way of saying it is:

What's done is done.

Meaning it happened we can't change it so we need to move on. Anyways, the reason I brought these expressions up is that I'm sorry I didn't post more often on my blog last month but I was too busy planning some trips, studying for my test(which I think went fine) and getting ready for my move... so I'm sorry but:

There's no use crying over spilled milk~!

Phil

P.S. More lessons coming soon, I'm aiming for 4-6 posts this month, wish me luck!