Speaker 1: Man, I'd give anything to have a day off. Have
you ever felt this way? I know that learning another
language is not easy and requires daily practice. I'm pretty
sure that since you listen to this podcast, you must
give it your best shot when it comes to learning English.
I give you a lot of credit trying to learn
this crazy language.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
This is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight sixteen, Conversational Idioms
with Give. Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining me for
another episode of the Happy English Podcast. I'm your English teacher, Michael,
and I'm so glad you've decided to tune in and
check it out. Today, we're going to look at some
super useful and natural expressions all built around the verb give. Now,
usually when we think of give, we think of handing
something over, like give me the pen. But in real
everyday English, give pops up in a bunch of phrases
that don't always involve well giving anything at all. So
let's break them down and look at how we use
them in conversation, and let's start with this one. I'd
give anything. This one's all about desire. When you really
want something, not just want it, you'd give anything for it.
Like after a long week, you might say I'd give
anything to be on a beach right now. This sounds
pretty good, right, Or if someone's talking about a concert
or a vacation, they might say I would give anything
to see my favorite band live, and personally, on some
Monday mornings, I'd give anything to sleep in just one
more hour. I'd give anything. It's a great phrase when
you're dreaming about something you don't have but really really want.
Next up is give it your best shot, which means
try your hardest, even if you're not sure how it'll go.
Just do your best, give it your best shot. Like
if someone's nervous about taking a test, you might tell
them don't worry, just give it your best shot. Or
maybe you're trying something new, like applying for a job
that feels a bit out of reach. You still want
to give it your best shot and see what happens.
Even when things don't go your way, you can say, well,
I gave it my best shot. That kind of attitude
really helps when you're learning a crazy language like this one,
don't you think. Now, let's talk about something a little
more positive. Give someone credit. When you give someone credit,
you're recognizing what they did right. You're showing appreciation. For example,
if your teammate helped finish a project, you might say,
you've got to give her credit. She really saved the
day and helped us out. Or maybe someone didn't succeed,
but they tried hard. You might say, even though he
didn't win, I give him credit for putting in the effort.
Sometimes people do amazing things behind the scenes and they
deserve recognition and praise. That's when you say, let's give
them some credit. They really helped us out. Okay, now
buckle up, because it's time for a stronger one. Give
hell to someone. This one means to scold someone harshly
or really let them have it when they've messed up.
Like my parents gave me hell for coming home late.
You can imagine how that conversation went. Or at work,
the boss gave us hell when we lost the Johnson
account ouch even between roommates, he gave me hell for
leaving dishes in the sink for three days. This phrase
is intense but super common when people are angry or frustrated,
and now here's a softer one. Give something a shot.
This is a great go to phrase when you're trying
something out, maybe for the first time, maybe not. Like
if your friend says, hey, you want to try salsa dancing,
you might say, sure, I'll give it a shot. Or
if you're not so sure about that new tie restaurant
around the corner, Hey, you know what, I've never been there,
but let's give it a shot. Even in bigger life decisions,
like Johnny gave online dating a shot, but it wasn't
for him. It's casual and shows you're open to trying.
Next up, let's talk about give it a rest. This
one's a little sarcastic. You use it when someone won't
stop talking about something and you're done hearing it, like, Okay,
we get it. You love your new phone, Give it
a rest already, Or when your friend keeps complaining about
the same thing over and over. You know you've been
talking about breaking up with that guy for two months.
Give it a rest. Sometimes it's playful and sometimes it's
a little annoyed, but always useful when someone is just
going on and on and on. If that happens to you,
just tell them, hey, give it a rest. The last
one today is give notice. This one's a bit more formal,
but it's really important. If you're working in an English
speaking job. To give notice means to officially tell your
boss or company that you're quitting. Usually it's two weeks
in advance, so you might say I gave notice yesterday,
I'm starting a new job next month, or Jenny gave
notice but offered to help train the new person before
she leaves. Give notice. Well, it's a professional way to
leave a job, not just walking out the door. Okay,
keep in mind the best way to remember English like
this and any other word or phrase in English, is
to take that word or phrase, write it in a
sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. And did you know You
can get more practice using your English when you join
my podcast Learner's Study Group. There you can make new friends,
join us for live group lessons every week where we
practice these podcasts lessons together. Plus you get access to
the pdf transcript and audio download for every Happy English
podcast in the past and in the future and on
top of that, each episode has exercises where you can
practice this English point with speaking and writing checked by me.
That's right. To learn more, just visit Myhappy English dot
com and choose podcast lesson eight sixteen. Remember, learning another
language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm
here to help you on your journey.
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