Help me improve my English!
- Thread starter Delphine
- Start date
my Spanish teacher proudly spent the whole lesson saying how much easier Spanish was than French before proceeding to rap my boyfriend on the knuckles for drumming his fingers on the table and saying "Se?or Dragon!"
tbh I think French is a lot easier than Spanish but Spanish has lots more cognates
idk xD
tbh I think French is a lot easier than Spanish but Spanish has lots more cognates
idk xD
I wouldn't lie to you.....
I know I know I was just kidding XD <3
Hahaha XD Well I have to agree with your teacher, but maybe French is not that much harder, let us not exagerate
Thought I'd bump this thread just in case someone can think of 'high-leveled' vocabulary, expressions or such.
I want to learn, gimme the resources people, please ;A;
- - - Post Merge - - -
Note to self: link to this post where I quoted Zulehan and put the words I didn't know in bold
http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?205127-Ask-Zulehan-stuff&p=3826279&viewfull=1#post3826279
I want to learn, gimme the resources people, please ;A;
- - - Post Merge - - -
Note to self: link to this post where I quoted Zulehan and put the words I didn't know in bold
http://www.belltreeforums.com/showthread.php?205127-Ask-Zulehan-stuff&p=3826279&viewfull=1#post3826279
Phobias that you'll probably never need to know:
Triskaidekaphobia (Tri-skuh-de-cuh-fo-be-uh) Fear of the number 13.
Ebulliophobia (E-boo-lee-oh-fo-be-uh) Fear of bubbles.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (Hih-po-poh-toh-mon-stroh-sus-quih-ped-ellio-fo-be-uh) Fear of long words.
I'm taking French and I find it pretty easy.
Triskaidekaphobia (Tri-skuh-de-cuh-fo-be-uh) Fear of the number 13.
Ebulliophobia (E-boo-lee-oh-fo-be-uh) Fear of bubbles.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (Hih-po-poh-toh-mon-stroh-sus-quih-ped-ellio-fo-be-uh) Fear of long words.
I'm taking French and I find it pretty easy.
Dasbreenee
Crystal Gems!
I could probably help you if you had a list of words or something, that you don't know.
Or maybe some homophones? I know some people have trouble with English homophones because there's so many.
Or maybe some homophones? I know some people have trouble with English homophones because there's so many.
Phobias that you'll probably never need to know:
Triskaidekaphobia (Tri-skuh-de-cuh-fo-be-uh) Fear of the number 13.
Ebulliophobia (E-boo-lee-oh-fo-be-uh) Fear of bubbles.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (Hih-po-poh-toh-mon-stroh-sus-quih-ped-ellio-fo-be-uh) Fear of long words.
I'm taking French and I find it pretty easy.
Haha well thank you for that! Glad to know you're not having any problem with French
Ce n'est pas si dur quand on y pense Think I'm good with homophones, but if you can think of any please let me know n_n
Oh wow you're from Singapore? I am, too
Did/Are you taking any 3rd Lang? Mine is French kinda wish I took Japanese, though XP (sorry Delphine!)Yeah, that's one thing I want to learn one day, too! Anyways, for English advice, like most people are suggesting, you should watch more English shows and the like "and the like" means other things that are similar..
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Well I already watch a lot of TV shows and movies... I read a lot in English, too. But it's more or less always the same vocabulary and sentences construction... :/ Hence why I've been trying to read The Economist but I'm getting short on ideas.
Well, some hard words:
brusque
(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner offended the passengers.)
buffet
1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.)
2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)
burnish
(v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before setting the table.)
buttress
1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.)
2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)
cacophony
(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)
cajole
(v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)
capricious
(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl’s capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)
conundrum
(n.) puzzle, problem (Interpreting Jane’s behavior was a constant conundrum.)
credulity
(n.) readiness to believe (His credulity made him an easy target for con men.)
cupidity
(n.) greed, strong desire (His cupidity made him enter the abandoned gold mine despite the obvious dangers.)
cursory
(adj.) brief to the point of being superficial (Late for the meeting, she cast a cursory glance at the agenda.)
defile
(v.) to make unclean, impure (She defiled the calm of the religious building by playing her banjo.)
deleterious
(adj.) harmful (She experienced the deleterious effects of running a marathon without stretching her muscles enough beforehand.)
demure
(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)
deprecate
(v.) to belittle, depreciate (Always over-modest, he deprecated his contribution to the local charity.)
deride
(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies derided the foreign student’s accent.)
desecrate
(v.) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (They feared that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the preserved wilderness.)
egregious
(adj.) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes across the cafeteria was punished for his egregious behavior.)
enervate
(v.) to weaken, exhaust (Writing these sentences enervates me so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)
ephemeral
(adj.) short-lived, fleeting (She promised she’d love me forever, but her “forever” was only ephemeral: she left me after one week.)
eschew
(v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschews all green food.)
evanescent
(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent because I discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly office.)
fallacious
(adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)
fastidious
(adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards (Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems imperfect to him.)
fatuous
(adj.) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes fatuous limericks.)
feral
(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)
fetid
(adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)
florid
(adj.) flowery, ornate (The writer’s florid prose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)
brusque
(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain’s brusque manner offended the passengers.)
buffet
1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.)
2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)
burnish
(v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before setting the table.)
buttress
1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.)
2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)
cacophony
(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)
cajole
(v.) to urge, coax (Fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)
capricious
(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl’s capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)
conundrum
(n.) puzzle, problem (Interpreting Jane’s behavior was a constant conundrum.)
credulity
(n.) readiness to believe (His credulity made him an easy target for con men.)
cupidity
(n.) greed, strong desire (His cupidity made him enter the abandoned gold mine despite the obvious dangers.)
cursory
(adj.) brief to the point of being superficial (Late for the meeting, she cast a cursory glance at the agenda.)
defile
(v.) to make unclean, impure (She defiled the calm of the religious building by playing her banjo.)
deleterious
(adj.) harmful (She experienced the deleterious effects of running a marathon without stretching her muscles enough beforehand.)
demure
(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)
deprecate
(v.) to belittle, depreciate (Always over-modest, he deprecated his contribution to the local charity.)
deride
(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies derided the foreign student’s accent.)
desecrate
(v.) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (They feared that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the preserved wilderness.)
egregious
(adj.) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes across the cafeteria was punished for his egregious behavior.)
enervate
(v.) to weaken, exhaust (Writing these sentences enervates me so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)
ephemeral
(adj.) short-lived, fleeting (She promised she’d love me forever, but her “forever” was only ephemeral: she left me after one week.)
eschew
(v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschews all green food.)
evanescent
(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent because I discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly office.)
fallacious
(adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)
fastidious
(adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards (Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems imperfect to him.)
fatuous
(adj.) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes fatuous limericks.)
feral
(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)
fetid
(adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)
florid
(adj.) flowery, ornate (The writer’s florid prose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)
Oh, it's no problem! Here are more c:
garrulous
(adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk-show hosts are so garrulous that their guests can’t get a word in edgewise.)
grandiloquence
(n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)
gregarious
(adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if you’re not gregarious, I don’t know why you would want to go to a singles party!)
hackneyed
(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear “I love you” so many times before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningless.)
hapless
(adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)
harangue
1. (n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher’s harangue about gum chewing in class before.)
2. (v.) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher harangued the class about the importance of brushing your teeth after chewing gum.)
ignominious
(adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)
impassive
(adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impassive; it’s healthy to cry every now and then.)
imperious
(adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.)
impertinent
(adj.) rude, insolent (Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don’t wish to dignify them with an answer.)
impervious
(adj.) impenetrable, incapable of being affected (Because of their thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the cold.)
impetuous
(adj.) rash; hastily done (Hilda’s hasty slaying of the king was an impetuous, thoughtless action.)
impudent
(adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadn’t asked him.)
inchoate
(adj.) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage (The country’s government is still inchoate and, because it has no great tradition, quite unstable.)
incontrovertible
(adj.) indisputable (Only stubborn Tina would attempt to disprove the incontrovertible laws of physics.)
indefatigable
(adj.) incapable of defeat, failure, decay (Even after traveling 62 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.)
ineffable
(adj.) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words (It is said that the experience of playing with a dolphin is ineffable and can only be understood through direct encounter.)
inexorable
(adj.) incapable of being persuaded or placated (Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me stay out all night after the prom.)
ingenuous
(adj.) not devious; innocent and candid (He must have writers, but his speeches seem so ingenuous it’s hard to believe he’s not speaking from his own heart.)
insidious
(adj.) appealing but imperceptibly harmful, seductive (Lisa’s insidious chocolate cake tastes so good but makes you feel so sick later on!)
jubilant
(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)
juxtaposition
(n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparison (The interior designer admired my juxtaposition of the yellow couch and green table.)
laconic
(adj.) terse in speech or writing (The author’s laconic style has won him many followers who dislike wordiness.)
languid
(adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer months, the great heat makes people languid and lazy.)
largess
(n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great largess by giving me a new car.)
latent
(adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund’s dream represented his latent paranoid obsession with other people’s shoes.)
limpid
(adj.) clear, transparent (Mr. Johnson’s limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.)
maelstrom
(n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)
magnanimous
(adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)
malediction
(n.) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policeman and the entire police department.)
malevolent
(adj.) wanting harm to befall others (The malevolent old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)
manifold
(adj.) diverse, varied (The popularity of Dante’s Inferno is partly due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretations.)
maudlin
(adj.) weakly sentimental (Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)
mercurial
(adj.) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality (Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)
modicum
(n.) a small amount of something (Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her boss’s affair in front of the entire office.)
myriad
(adj.) consisting of a very great number (It was difficult to decide what to do Friday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun.)
nefarious
(adj.) heinously villainous (Although Dr. Meanman’s nefarious plot to melt the polar icecaps was terrifying, it was so impractical that nobody really worried about it.)
obfuscate
(v.) to render incomprehensible (The detective did not want to answer the newspaperman’s questions, so he obfuscated the truth.)
oblique
(adj.) diverging from a straight line or course, not straightforward (Martin’s oblique language confused those who listened to him.)
obtuse
(adj.) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect (Political opponents warned that the prime minister’s obtuse approach to foreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war.)
odious
(adj.) instilling hatred or intense displeasure (Mark was assigned the odious task of cleaning the cat’s litter box.)
officious
(adj.) offering one’s services when they are neither wanted nor needed (Brenda resented Allan’s officious behavior when he selected colors that might best improve her artwork.)
opulent
(adj.) characterized by rich abundance verging on ostentation (The opulent furnishings of the dictator’s private compound contrasted harshly with the meager accommodations of her subjects.)
ostensible
(adj.) appearing as such, seemingly (Jack’s ostensible reason for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality, he was afraid of flying.)
pallid
(adj.) lacking color (Dr. Van Helsing feared that Lucy’s pallid complexion was due to an unexplained loss of blood.)
paragon
(n.) a model of excellence or perfection (The mythical Helen of Troy was considered a paragon of female beauty.)
pariah
(n.) an outcast (Following the discovery of his plagiarism, Professor Hurley was made a pariah in all academic circles.)
pathos
(n.) an emotion of sympathy (Martha filled with pathos upon discovering the scrawny, shivering kitten at her door.)
pejorative
(adj.) derogatory, uncomplimentary (The evening’s headline news covered an international scandal caused by a pejorative statement the famous senator had made in reference to a foreign leader.)
perfunctory
(adj.) showing little interest or enthusiasm (The radio broadcaster announced the news of the massacre in a surprisingly perfunctory manner.)
petulance
(n.) rudeness, irritability (The nanny resigned after she could no longer tolerate the child’s petulance.)
pithy
(adj.) concisely meaningful (My father’s long-winded explanation was a stark contrast to his usually pithy statements.)
platitude
(n.) an uninspired remark, clich? (After reading over her paper, Helene concluded that what she thought were profound insights were actually just platitudes.)
plethora
(n.) an abundance, excess (The wedding banquet included a plethora of oysters piled almost three feet high.)
precocious
(adj.) advanced, developing ahead of time (Derek was so academically precocious that by the time he was 10 years old, he was already in the ninth grade.)
primeval
(adj.) original, ancient (The first primates to walk on two legs, called Australopithecus, were the primeval descendants of modern man.)
proclivity
(n.) a strong inclination toward something (In a sick twist of fate, Harold’s childhood proclivity for torturing small animals grew into a desire to become a surgeon.)
propensity
(n.) an inclination, preference (Dermit has a propensity for dangerous activities such as bungee jumping.)
protean
(adj.) able to change shape; displaying great variety (Among Nigel’s protean talents was his ability to touch the tip of his nose with his tongue.)
puerile
(adj.) juvenile, immature (The judge demanded order after the lawyer’s puerile attempt to object by stomping his feet on the courtroom floor.)
quagmire
(n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire characterized by the Vietnam War.)
querulous
(adj.) whiny, complaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Brendan becomes querulous.)
quixotic
(adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)
rancor
(n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a fight, I could see the rancor in her eyes.)
rebuke
(v.) to scold, criticize (When the cops showed up at Sarah’s party, they rebuked her for disturbing the peace.)
recalcitrant
(adj.) defiant, unapologetic (Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.)
rectitude
(n.) uprightness, extreme morality (The priest’s rectitude gave him the moral authority to counsel his parishioners.)
replete
(adj.) full, abundant (The unedited version was replete with naughty words.)
reprobate
(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)
reprove
(v.) to scold, rebuke (Lara reproved her son for sticking each and every one of his fingers into the strawberry pie.)
ribald
(adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous (While some giggled at the ribald joke involving a parson’s daughter, most sighed and rolled their eyes.)
rife
(adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the famous novelist’s writing was rife with spelling errors.)
ruse
(n.) a trick (Oliver concocted an elaborate ruse for sneaking out of the house to meet his girlfriend while simultaneously giving his mother the impression that he was asleep in bed.)
sagacity
(n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective (With remarkable sagacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children’s plan to ship him off to a nursing home.)
sanctimonious
(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (The sanctimonious Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.)
sanguine
(adj.) optimistic, cheery (Polly reacted to any bad news with a sanguine smile and the chirpy cry, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”)
serendipity
(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them (In an amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $20 bill in the subway station.)
servile
(adj.) subservient (The servile porter crept around the hotel lobby, bowing and quaking before the guests.)
solicitous
(adj.) concerned, attentive (Jim, laid up in bed with a nasty virus, enjoyed the solicitous attentions of his mother, who brought him soup and extra blankets.)
spurious
(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible (Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality.)
staid
(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained (The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened.)
stupefy
(v.) to astonish, make insensible (Veronica’s audacity and ungratefulness stupefied her best friend, Heather.)
surmise
(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of the students, the teacher was able to surmise what had caused the fight.)
surreptitious
(adj.) stealthy (The surreptitious CIA agents were able to get in and out of the house without anyone noticing.)
sycophant
(n.) one who flatters for self-gain (Some see the people in the cabinet as the president’s closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants.)
tacit
(adj.) expressed without words (I interpreted my parents’ refusal to talk as a tacit acceptance of my request.)
taciturn
(adj.) not inclined to talk (Though Jane never seems to stop talking, her brother is quite taciturn.)
tantamount
(adj.) equivalent in value or significance (When it comes to sports, fearing your opponent is tantamount to losing.)
tenuous
(adj.) having little substance or strength (Your argument is very tenuous, since it relies so much on speculation and hearsay.)
timorous
(adj.) timid, fearful (When dealing with the unknown, timorous Tallulah almost always broke into tears.)
torpid
(adj.) lethargic, dormant, lacking motion (The torpid whale floated, wallowing in the water for hours.)
transient
(adj.) passing through briefly; passing into and out of existence (Because virtually everyone in Palm Beach is a tourist, the population of the town is quite transient.)
transmute
(v.) to change or alter in form (Ancient alchemists believed that it was possible to transmute lead into gold.)
turgid
(adj.) swollen, excessively embellished in style or language (The haughty writer did not realize how we all really felt about his turgid prose.)
ubiquitous
(adj.) existing everywhere, widespread (It seems that everyone in the United States has a television. The technology is ubiquitous here.)
undulate
(v.) to move in waves (As the storm began to brew, the placid ocean began to undulate to an increasing degree.)
upbraid
(v.) to criticize or scold severely (The last thing Lindsay wanted was for Lisa to upbraid her again about missing the rent payment.)
usurp
(v.) to seize by force, take possession of without right (The rogue army general tried to usurp control of the government, but he failed because most of the army backed the legally elected president.)
vacuous
(adj.) lack of content or ideas, stupid (Beyonc? realized that the lyrics she had just penned were completely vacuous and tried to add more substance.)
vapid
(adj.) lacking liveliness, dull (The professor’s comments about the poem were surprisingly vapid and dull.)
venerate
(v.) to regard with respect or to honor (The tribute to John Lennon sought to venerate his music, his words, and his legend.)
veracity
(n.) truthfulness, accuracy (With several agencies regulating the reports, it was difficult for Latifah to argue against its veracity.)
verdant
(adj.) green in tint or color (The verdant leaves on the trees made the world look emerald.)
vex
(v.) to confuse or annoy (My little brother vexes me by poking me in the ribs for hours on end.)
vicarious
(adj.) experiencing through another (All of my lame friends learned to be social through vicarious involvement in my amazing experiences.)
vicissitude
(n.) event that occurs by chance (The vicissitudes of daily life prevent me from predicting what might happen from one day to the next.)
vilify
(v.) to lower in importance, defame (After the Watergate scandal, almost any story written about President Nixon sought to vilify him and criticize his behavior.)
viscous
(adj.) not free flowing, syrupy (The viscous syrup took three minutes to pour out of the bottle.)
vitriolic
(adj.) having a caustic quality (When angry, the woman would spew vitriolic insults.)
wanton
(adj.) undisciplined, lewd, lustful (Vicky’s wanton demeanor often made the frat guys next door very excited.)
winsome
(adj.) charming, pleasing (After such a long, frustrating day, I was grateful for Chris’s winsome attitude and childish naivete.)
wistful
(adj.) full of yearning; musingly sad (Since her pet rabbit died, Edda missed it terribly and was wistful all day long.)
wizened
(adj.) dry, shrunken, wrinkled (Agatha’s grandmother, Stephanie, had the most wizened countenance, full of leathery wrinkles.)
zephyr
(n.) a gentle breeze (If not for the zephyrs that were blowing and cooling us, our room would’ve been unbearably hot.)
Hope this isn't too much I may have gone a little overboard...
Here are more c:garrulous
(adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk-show hosts are so garrulous that their guests can’t get a word in edgewise.)
grandiloquence
(n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)
gregarious
(adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if you’re not gregarious, I don’t know why you would want to go to a singles party!)
hackneyed
(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear “I love you” so many times before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningless.)
hapless
(adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)
harangue
1. (n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher’s harangue about gum chewing in class before.)
2. (v.) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher harangued the class about the importance of brushing your teeth after chewing gum.)
ignominious
(adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)
impassive
(adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impassive; it’s healthy to cry every now and then.)
imperious
(adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.)
impertinent
(adj.) rude, insolent (Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don’t wish to dignify them with an answer.)
impervious
(adj.) impenetrable, incapable of being affected (Because of their thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the cold.)
impetuous
(adj.) rash; hastily done (Hilda’s hasty slaying of the king was an impetuous, thoughtless action.)
impudent
(adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadn’t asked him.)
inchoate
(adj.) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage (The country’s government is still inchoate and, because it has no great tradition, quite unstable.)
incontrovertible
(adj.) indisputable (Only stubborn Tina would attempt to disprove the incontrovertible laws of physics.)
indefatigable
(adj.) incapable of defeat, failure, decay (Even after traveling 62 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.)
ineffable
(adj.) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words (It is said that the experience of playing with a dolphin is ineffable and can only be understood through direct encounter.)
inexorable
(adj.) incapable of being persuaded or placated (Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me stay out all night after the prom.)
ingenuous
(adj.) not devious; innocent and candid (He must have writers, but his speeches seem so ingenuous it’s hard to believe he’s not speaking from his own heart.)
insidious
(adj.) appealing but imperceptibly harmful, seductive (Lisa’s insidious chocolate cake tastes so good but makes you feel so sick later on!)
jubilant
(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)
juxtaposition
(n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparison (The interior designer admired my juxtaposition of the yellow couch and green table.)
laconic
(adj.) terse in speech or writing (The author’s laconic style has won him many followers who dislike wordiness.)
languid
(adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer months, the great heat makes people languid and lazy.)
largess
(n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great largess by giving me a new car.)
latent
(adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund’s dream represented his latent paranoid obsession with other people’s shoes.)
limpid
(adj.) clear, transparent (Mr. Johnson’s limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.)
maelstrom
(n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)
magnanimous
(adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)
malediction
(n.) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policeman and the entire police department.)
malevolent
(adj.) wanting harm to befall others (The malevolent old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)
manifold
(adj.) diverse, varied (The popularity of Dante’s Inferno is partly due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretations.)
maudlin
(adj.) weakly sentimental (Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)
mercurial
(adj.) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality (Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)
modicum
(n.) a small amount of something (Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her boss’s affair in front of the entire office.)
myriad
(adj.) consisting of a very great number (It was difficult to decide what to do Friday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun.)
nefarious
(adj.) heinously villainous (Although Dr. Meanman’s nefarious plot to melt the polar icecaps was terrifying, it was so impractical that nobody really worried about it.)
obfuscate
(v.) to render incomprehensible (The detective did not want to answer the newspaperman’s questions, so he obfuscated the truth.)
oblique
(adj.) diverging from a straight line or course, not straightforward (Martin’s oblique language confused those who listened to him.)
obtuse
(adj.) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect (Political opponents warned that the prime minister’s obtuse approach to foreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war.)
odious
(adj.) instilling hatred or intense displeasure (Mark was assigned the odious task of cleaning the cat’s litter box.)
officious
(adj.) offering one’s services when they are neither wanted nor needed (Brenda resented Allan’s officious behavior when he selected colors that might best improve her artwork.)
opulent
(adj.) characterized by rich abundance verging on ostentation (The opulent furnishings of the dictator’s private compound contrasted harshly with the meager accommodations of her subjects.)
ostensible
(adj.) appearing as such, seemingly (Jack’s ostensible reason for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality, he was afraid of flying.)
pallid
(adj.) lacking color (Dr. Van Helsing feared that Lucy’s pallid complexion was due to an unexplained loss of blood.)
paragon
(n.) a model of excellence or perfection (The mythical Helen of Troy was considered a paragon of female beauty.)
pariah
(n.) an outcast (Following the discovery of his plagiarism, Professor Hurley was made a pariah in all academic circles.)
pathos
(n.) an emotion of sympathy (Martha filled with pathos upon discovering the scrawny, shivering kitten at her door.)
pejorative
(adj.) derogatory, uncomplimentary (The evening’s headline news covered an international scandal caused by a pejorative statement the famous senator had made in reference to a foreign leader.)
perfunctory
(adj.) showing little interest or enthusiasm (The radio broadcaster announced the news of the massacre in a surprisingly perfunctory manner.)
petulance
(n.) rudeness, irritability (The nanny resigned after she could no longer tolerate the child’s petulance.)
pithy
(adj.) concisely meaningful (My father’s long-winded explanation was a stark contrast to his usually pithy statements.)
platitude
(n.) an uninspired remark, clich? (After reading over her paper, Helene concluded that what she thought were profound insights were actually just platitudes.)
plethora
(n.) an abundance, excess (The wedding banquet included a plethora of oysters piled almost three feet high.)
precocious
(adj.) advanced, developing ahead of time (Derek was so academically precocious that by the time he was 10 years old, he was already in the ninth grade.)
primeval
(adj.) original, ancient (The first primates to walk on two legs, called Australopithecus, were the primeval descendants of modern man.)
proclivity
(n.) a strong inclination toward something (In a sick twist of fate, Harold’s childhood proclivity for torturing small animals grew into a desire to become a surgeon.)
propensity
(n.) an inclination, preference (Dermit has a propensity for dangerous activities such as bungee jumping.)
protean
(adj.) able to change shape; displaying great variety (Among Nigel’s protean talents was his ability to touch the tip of his nose with his tongue.)
puerile
(adj.) juvenile, immature (The judge demanded order after the lawyer’s puerile attempt to object by stomping his feet on the courtroom floor.)
quagmire
(n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire characterized by the Vietnam War.)
querulous
(adj.) whiny, complaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Brendan becomes querulous.)
quixotic
(adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)
rancor
(n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a fight, I could see the rancor in her eyes.)
rebuke
(v.) to scold, criticize (When the cops showed up at Sarah’s party, they rebuked her for disturbing the peace.)
recalcitrant
(adj.) defiant, unapologetic (Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.)
rectitude
(n.) uprightness, extreme morality (The priest’s rectitude gave him the moral authority to counsel his parishioners.)
replete
(adj.) full, abundant (The unedited version was replete with naughty words.)
reprobate
(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)
reprove
(v.) to scold, rebuke (Lara reproved her son for sticking each and every one of his fingers into the strawberry pie.)
ribald
(adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous (While some giggled at the ribald joke involving a parson’s daughter, most sighed and rolled their eyes.)
rife
(adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the famous novelist’s writing was rife with spelling errors.)
ruse
(n.) a trick (Oliver concocted an elaborate ruse for sneaking out of the house to meet his girlfriend while simultaneously giving his mother the impression that he was asleep in bed.)
sagacity
(n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective (With remarkable sagacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children’s plan to ship him off to a nursing home.)
sanctimonious
(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (The sanctimonious Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.)
sanguine
(adj.) optimistic, cheery (Polly reacted to any bad news with a sanguine smile and the chirpy cry, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”)
serendipity
(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them (In an amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $20 bill in the subway station.)
servile
(adj.) subservient (The servile porter crept around the hotel lobby, bowing and quaking before the guests.)
solicitous
(adj.) concerned, attentive (Jim, laid up in bed with a nasty virus, enjoyed the solicitous attentions of his mother, who brought him soup and extra blankets.)
spurious
(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible (Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality.)
staid
(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained (The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened.)
stupefy
(v.) to astonish, make insensible (Veronica’s audacity and ungratefulness stupefied her best friend, Heather.)
surmise
(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of the students, the teacher was able to surmise what had caused the fight.)
surreptitious
(adj.) stealthy (The surreptitious CIA agents were able to get in and out of the house without anyone noticing.)
sycophant
(n.) one who flatters for self-gain (Some see the people in the cabinet as the president’s closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants.)
tacit
(adj.) expressed without words (I interpreted my parents’ refusal to talk as a tacit acceptance of my request.)
taciturn
(adj.) not inclined to talk (Though Jane never seems to stop talking, her brother is quite taciturn.)
tantamount
(adj.) equivalent in value or significance (When it comes to sports, fearing your opponent is tantamount to losing.)
tenuous
(adj.) having little substance or strength (Your argument is very tenuous, since it relies so much on speculation and hearsay.)
timorous
(adj.) timid, fearful (When dealing with the unknown, timorous Tallulah almost always broke into tears.)
torpid
(adj.) lethargic, dormant, lacking motion (The torpid whale floated, wallowing in the water for hours.)
transient
(adj.) passing through briefly; passing into and out of existence (Because virtually everyone in Palm Beach is a tourist, the population of the town is quite transient.)
transmute
(v.) to change or alter in form (Ancient alchemists believed that it was possible to transmute lead into gold.)
turgid
(adj.) swollen, excessively embellished in style or language (The haughty writer did not realize how we all really felt about his turgid prose.)
ubiquitous
(adj.) existing everywhere, widespread (It seems that everyone in the United States has a television. The technology is ubiquitous here.)
undulate
(v.) to move in waves (As the storm began to brew, the placid ocean began to undulate to an increasing degree.)
upbraid
(v.) to criticize or scold severely (The last thing Lindsay wanted was for Lisa to upbraid her again about missing the rent payment.)
usurp
(v.) to seize by force, take possession of without right (The rogue army general tried to usurp control of the government, but he failed because most of the army backed the legally elected president.)
vacuous
(adj.) lack of content or ideas, stupid (Beyonc? realized that the lyrics she had just penned were completely vacuous and tried to add more substance.)
vapid
(adj.) lacking liveliness, dull (The professor’s comments about the poem were surprisingly vapid and dull.)
venerate
(v.) to regard with respect or to honor (The tribute to John Lennon sought to venerate his music, his words, and his legend.)
veracity
(n.) truthfulness, accuracy (With several agencies regulating the reports, it was difficult for Latifah to argue against its veracity.)
verdant
(adj.) green in tint or color (The verdant leaves on the trees made the world look emerald.)
vex
(v.) to confuse or annoy (My little brother vexes me by poking me in the ribs for hours on end.)
vicarious
(adj.) experiencing through another (All of my lame friends learned to be social through vicarious involvement in my amazing experiences.)
vicissitude
(n.) event that occurs by chance (The vicissitudes of daily life prevent me from predicting what might happen from one day to the next.)
vilify
(v.) to lower in importance, defame (After the Watergate scandal, almost any story written about President Nixon sought to vilify him and criticize his behavior.)
viscous
(adj.) not free flowing, syrupy (The viscous syrup took three minutes to pour out of the bottle.)
vitriolic
(adj.) having a caustic quality (When angry, the woman would spew vitriolic insults.)
wanton
(adj.) undisciplined, lewd, lustful (Vicky’s wanton demeanor often made the frat guys next door very excited.)
winsome
(adj.) charming, pleasing (After such a long, frustrating day, I was grateful for Chris’s winsome attitude and childish naivete.)
wistful
(adj.) full of yearning; musingly sad (Since her pet rabbit died, Edda missed it terribly and was wistful all day long.)
wizened
(adj.) dry, shrunken, wrinkled (Agatha’s grandmother, Stephanie, had the most wizened countenance, full of leathery wrinkles.)
zephyr
(n.) a gentle breeze (If not for the zephyrs that were blowing and cooling us, our room would’ve been unbearably hot.)
Hope this isn't too much
I may have gone a little overboard...
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Oh, yeah! Have you ever read this french textbook, Alter Ego? Published by hachette. It has some of the weirdest things, like in Alter Ego 2, there's this passage on, and I quote: "L'?cole de la s?duction" XD
Also, do you think I should take the DELF, even though I'm not planning to work in France? A2 would be enough, right? You've most likely taken it, so how hard would you say it is? According to my French teacher, it's not all that hard, but I'd like a second opinion
Also, do you think I should take the DELF, even though I'm not planning to work in France? A2 would be enough, right? You've most likely taken it, so how hard would you say it is? According to my French teacher, it's not all that hard, but I'd like a second opinion
Ah thanks for the words! I never get enough! <3
I didn't read this textbook but it sure sounds funny XD
And as for the DELF, I didn't even know it existed I suppose it's Dipl?me d'Etudes en Langue Fran?aise? We don't pass it in my country, we already have a diploma when we finish school and it validates our level. So I'm not the best one to give you advise here, sorry XD But it could be interesting to at least try it. You should give it a try in my opinion
<3I didn't read this textbook but it sure sounds funny XD
And as for the DELF, I didn't even know it existed
I suppose it's Dipl?me d'Etudes en Langue Fran?aise? We don't pass it in my country, we already have a diploma when we finish school and it validates our level. So I'm not the best one to give you advise here, sorry XD But it could be interesting to at least try it. You should give it a try in my opinion Yeah, that's what it is I am pretty interested in taking the exam, but I'm too lazy XD Maybe next year...
Sometimes, our lessons are pretty weird. One year, the for the r?daction for the contr?le, we had to write about a cameraman who ran away with the bride... It was really funny XD But hard to write about. I had to resort to simply going on and on about "nos regards se sont crois?s", "l'amour coup de foudre", "une d?charge ?l?ctrique", etc ._.
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Also, might you have any advice for COD vs COE, Subjonctif vs Infinitif and Pass? compos? vs Imparfait?
My exam is next Friday, and I. Have. Not. Studied. At. All. I don't even want to think about l'examen oral it's on Tuesday!!! ;~; Also, I have my Chinese and English exams on Thursday, and I have to prioritise studying for Chinese, as my Chinese is absmal...
I am pretty interested in taking the exam, but I'm too lazy XD Maybe next year... Sometimes, our lessons are pretty weird. One year, the for the r?daction for the contr?le, we had to write about a cameraman who ran away with the bride... It was really funny XD But hard to write about. I had to resort to simply going on and on about "nos regards se sont crois?s", "l'amour coup de foudre", "une d?charge ?l?ctrique", etc ._.
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Also, might you have any advice for COD vs COE, Subjonctif vs Infinitif and Pass? compos? vs Imparfait?
My exam is next Friday, and I. Have. Not. Studied. At. All. I don't even want to think about l'examen oral it's on Tuesday!!! ;~; Also, I have my Chinese and English exams on Thursday, and I have to prioritise studying for Chinese, as my Chinese is absmal...
Yeah, that's what it is
Sometimes, our lessons are pretty weird. One year, the for the r?daction for the contr?le, we had to write about a cameraman who ran away with the bride... It was really funny XD But hard to write about. I had to resort to simply going on and on about "nos regards se sont crois?s", "l'amour coup de foudre", "une d?charge ?l?ctrique", etc ._.
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Also, might you have any advice for COD vs COE, Subjonctif vs Infinitif and Pass? compos? vs Imparfait?
My exam is next Friday, and I. Have. Not. Studied. At. All. I don't even want to think about l'examen oral it's on Tuesday!!! ;~; Also, I have my Chinese and English exams on Thursday, and I have to prioritise studying for Chinese, as my Chinese is absmal...
Yeah my redactions in English classes were always stupid as well, it must be universal to write dumb things in your second language XD I can't remember of any but I always wrote lots of sarcastic lines, the teachers loved them
Argh so many work, poor you ;-;
By COE I think you mean COI, well to make things simple: the COD must answer to the question 'to what?' and the COI must answer to the question 'to who?', COD = object and COI = subject. Hope that's clear...
J'ai parl? ? starlark = I talked to starlark. Who did I talk to? I talked to starlark. starlark is the COI.
We use pass? compos? like we would use preterit (pretty much). Imparfait is for narration/description...
Subjonctif is to express a wish/desire/possibility. Infinitif is well... Used after a conjugated verb? Like "Je veux y aller", aller is in infinitif.
Yeah really hope it helps somehow, if it doesn't let me know n_n'
And cool site where you can practice: http://www.francaisfacile.com
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The joys of globalization!
Yeah more French learners!
So I've noticed your posts here and there because you have a cute avatar and your crazy togepi collectible quest (ahem, I have also been on a similar quest... so I am also crazy ), and I would have never known you were not a native English speaker, your posts are so good. I am always so impressed with Europeans and their ability to speak and write English. Puts us Americans to shame, imo. Good job.
), and I would have never known you were not a native English speaker, your posts are so good. I am always so impressed with Europeans and their ability to speak and write English. Puts us Americans to shame, imo. Good job. So I've noticed your posts here and there because you have a cute avatar and your crazy togepi collectible quest (ahem, I have also been on a similar quest... so I am also crazy
My reaction as well! I had no idea you were French until I saw your giveaway :')
So I've noticed your posts here and there because you have a cute avatar and your crazy togepi collectible quest (ahem, I have also been on a similar quest... so I am also crazy
W-wow that's such a nice thing to say... I'm so touched, thank you! ;u; <3 You have no idea how happy it makes me feel
And yeah the Togepi Crusade haha hope to reach my goal one day but I'm poor as of now XD I like all your collectibles' collections, they look so good!
Aww thanks a bunch! <3 This giveaway was really funy for me
