How do you like being a dentist?

Hi everyone, today's post will look at a useful phrase you can use when talking about someone's job.

How do you like being X?

This is a question you can use when discussing someone's current state such as their job, being a father/mother/grandfather/uncle, in a band, etc.

When you answer you usually use one of two structures: one for positive feelings and one for negative ones.

It's negative adjective. I have to (do something unpleasant).

or

It's positive adjective. I get to (do something pleasant).

In the negative structure, you are forced to do something and so you don't enjoy your situation.

In the positive structure, you are permitted to do something and so you like your situation.

Let's look at some examples:

A: How do you like being married?

B: It's great. I get to be with the love of my life.

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A: How do you like being a factory worker?

B: It's so boring. I have to do the same thing all day everyday.

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A: How do you like being a doctor.

B: It's tough but rewarding. I get to save lives.

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A: How do you like being on the basketball team?

B: It's fun. I get to spend a lot of time with my friends.

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A: How do you like being a freelancer?

B: It's hard. I always have to look for new clients.


Any questions? Have a nice weekend,

Phil

He's not a team player

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted a new English Tip. Sorry about that, I'll try to post more regularly.

Today I'll look at 3 idioms:

To Be a Team Player

This means that you support your team and help them, you do your fair share of the work and work well as part of the group.

Bill's a real team player, he's always helping out people in the office.

If you're a team player, you'll do great as part of our company.

A glory hog

This is someone who selfishly wants to keep all the glory to themselves. 

I think LeBron James is a glory hog he always acts like he was the only person responsible for his team winning.

When I was in college, I was a glory hog who always had to be in the spotlight.

A show off

This is someone who likes to display his/her things or his/her skills to demonstrate that they are better than others. It can also be used as a phrasal verb.

Stop being such a show off, I know you're great at skateboarding but if you're not careful you'll hurt yourself.

Terry's always showing off his new Rolex these days.

Any questions? Here's a little dialogue using all three:


Al: Why'd David get fired?

Tom: He wasn't a team player. He was a glory hog always trying to steal the credit for other people's work

Al: Really? What a jerk! I knew he was a show off who liked to brag about all his expensive things but I didn't realize he was that bad.