Talking about weather, seasons and temperature

There are various ways to describe a place's weather and climate.

You can describe weather and temperature.

It's often windy. It's often windy.

It's so cold and cloudy. It's so cold and cloudy.
It gets to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. That'
It gets to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. That's, like, 46 degrees Celsius!
Celsius!

You can use adjectives of feeling and opinion.

Fall is perfect. Fall is perfect.

Winter is terrible. Winter is terrible.
It's lovely in spring. It's lovely in spring.

You can compare times, places and conditions.

It gets cooler at night. It gets cooler at night.

It's nicer here than in the desert. It's nicer here than in the desert.
It's hot in summer and cold in winter. It's hot in summer and cold in winter.

Reading strategy

When you read in a second language, you may encounter words and expressions that are unfamiliar.
One strategy for dealing with this is to work out the meaning of a new word by reading the words and
sentences around it. You can often find synonyms, antonyms, definitions and explanations of the new
word near it.

In the following first sentence, you see the word waterfall. In the next sentence, you read an
explanation: water from the Paine River falls beautifully into Pehoe Lake. You can use this to guess
the meaning of the word waterfall.

Take a hike to Salto Grande waterfall. There, water from the Paine River falls beautifully into Pehoe
Lake.
Patagonia trip
In the mountains, at the ocean

January 27 to February 6

Travel to the far mountains and clean oceans of Chile and Argentina.

Camp at the snowy Perito Moreno Glacier, a river of ice where it sometimes gets to 28 degrees
Fahrenheit, or -2 degrees Celsius.

Visit the warm, sunny wilderness at Torres del Paine Park. Find cool lakes, amazing rocky hills and
many colorful birds flying through the gorgeous wilderness.

Asking for and giving information about places

One way to encourage someone to talk about their hometown is to ask them whether they like it.

A: Where are you from? Where are you from?

B: I'm from Ottawa. I'm from Ottawa.
A: Do you like it there? Do you like it there?
B: Oh, yeah. There are fantastic museums and festivals. Oh, yeah. There are fantastic museums an

To ask about something specific, you can use the expression What's the + noun + like? Remember, this use of like is
different from that of Do you like ...?

A: What's the weather like in your hometown? What's the weather like in y
B: It's cold and snowy in winter. It gets to -30 degrees. But it's warm in summer and It's cold and snowy in winte
fall. But it's warm in summer an

A: What's the food like in Ottawa? What's the food like in Otta
Well, we eat a lot of fish. An
B: Well, we eat a lot of fish. And poutine is popular. It's special french fries with cheese.
special french fries with che

A: What are the people like? What are the people like?
Many people are university
B: Many people are university graduates and can speak English and French.
English and French.
'Be' + 'going to' for plans, and 'will' for predictions

Use be + going to + verb to talk about a firm plan or intention for the future.

A: What are you going to do on vacation?

What are you going to do on vacation?
B: I'm going to visit friends and family. And I'm not going to
I'm going to visit friends and family. And
work.

Use will + verb to say what you predict or believe will happen. In spoken English, the pronoun and the verb are u

We'll probably stay in a hotel. We'll probably stay in a hotel.

I'll be happy living by the sea. I'll be happy living by the sea.
You'll like Paris. You'll like Paris.

When the pronoun and the verb are not contracted, it's usually for a particular emphasis.

You will have fun. You will have fun.

We will not fight. We will not fight.

For negative meaning, use will + not + verb. The short form is won't.

I won't get sick. I won't get sick.

They won't come with us. They won't come with us.

To specify time, you can add future time expressions:

I'm going to go horseback riding on Thursday. I'm going to go horseback riding on Thursday.
The next two days will be an adventure. The next two days will be an adventure.

KARA: What are you doing ?

SETH: Oh, nothing much. I'm just relaxing. Listening to some music.
KARA: What's that book there?
SETH: Uh, I'm reading about Prague. The history. I'm really enjoying it.
KARA: Oh, that's right - you're going there on vacation next month.
SETH: Yep. It'll be great.
KARA: I'm sure it will. What are you going to do in Prague?
SETH: Umm, I'm going to go sightseeing in the Old Town. I'm going to walk everywhere.
Across the Charles Bridge ...
KARA: Excellent!
SETH: Yeah ... And I'll eat lots of good food.
KARA: You're so lucky! Where are you going to stay ?
SETH: Oh, I'll probably camp somewhere. Maybe I'll pay for a nice hotel on the weekend.
Expressing doubt

Use expressions like the following to express doubt. Notice how the intonation reinforces
the speaker's doubtfulness.

Are you sure about that? Are you sure about that?
If you say so. If you say so.

Another way to express doubt is to repeat or contradict what a person has just said. Notice again the intonation
of the person expressing doubt.

A: I'll probably go to the spa tonight. I'll probably go to the spa tonight.
B: The spa? The spa?
A: We're going to travel through Europe this year. We're going to travel through Europe this year.
B: You're not going to Asia? You're not going to Asia?

Language note: Be careful how, and to whom, you say these expressions of doubt. For example, it might not
be a good idea to say If you say so to your boss!

Will' for offering or volunteering

Use will + verb to offer or volunteer to do something in the near or more distant future.

Let's go to Istanbul. I'll make the plane reservations right

Let's go to Istanbul. I'll make the plane reserv
now.
I'll drive you to the airport next week, if you want. I'll drive you to the airport next week, if you

Use will + subject + verb to make informal requests.

A: When I go on vacation, will you take care of my dog? When I go on vacation, will you take care of
B: Sure, I'll take care of little Sammie. Sure, I'll take care of little Sammie.

You can use will not to refuse a request, but be careful: It could be considered too direct and may offend
people.

A: Will you get my luggage? Will you get my luggage?

B: No, I won't. No, I won't.
Farewell language

Use expressions like these to bid farewell when someone leaves on a trip:

Have a great trip! Have a great trip!

Drive safely! Drive safely!
Have a good flight. Have a good flight.
Call me when you get there. Call me when you get there.
Don't worry about anything. Don't worry about anything.

You can use the phrase Bon voyage! when someone leaves on a trip. The phrase is taken directly from
French.

A: OK, then. I'm going. OK, then. I'm going.

B: Bon voyage! Bon voyage!

The verbs 'try,' 'remember' and 'stop'

The meanings of the verbs try, remember and stop change depending on the form of the verb that follows them.

'Try'

When the verb try is followed by an infinitive (to + verb), like to buy, it describes an attempt to do something.
I can't go to the mall. Maybe I'll try to buy something
I can't go to the mall. Maybe I'll try to buy someth
online.

When the verb try is followed by a gerund (verb + -ing), like swimming, it means doing something for the first time or
doing something different.
I don't like biking. Maybe I'll try swimming on my vacation. I don't like biking. Maybe I'll try swimming on my

'Remember'

When the verb remember is followed by an infinitive, like to call, it describes remembering to do a duty or task.
I always remember to call my mother on Sunday. I always remember to call my mother on Sunday
When the verb remember is followed by a gerund, like calling, it describes a memory of something done in the past.
I remember calling the neighbors. I remember calling the neighbors.

'Stop'

When the verb stop is followed by an infinitive, like to eat, it describes stopping one action to begin another. In this
example, the person was working, but stopped her work to eat.
I stopped to eat when I got hungry. I stopped to eat when I got hungry.

When the verb stop is followed by a gerund, like eating, it describes a discontinued action.
I stopped eating when I felt sick. I stopped eating when I felt sick.

Did you remember to call your mother?

I remember seeing you at the party last week.
I'll try to eat more fruit and vegetables.
I'm nervous, but I'm going to try sailing for the first time.
I stopped at the office to do some work.
I stopped working at six o'clock.

Reduced forms

Remember that, in spoken English, not every sound of every word is always pronounced.
Vowel sounds, especially, are often shortened or reduced. These forms are rarely used in written English, but
it's important to be able to recognize them when you hear them.

Listen to the reduced forms for going to, have to and want to. Notice the differences between how they are
written and spoken.

'Going to'
We're going to fly to Hawaii. ( going = gonna ) We're going to fly to Hawaii.
I'm going to call my mom. I'm going to call my mom.
It's going to rain. It's going to rain.
She's going to play computer games. She's going to play computer games.

'Have to'
I have to go. I have to go.
We have to be quick. We have to be quick.
She has to leave. She has to leave.
He has to get up early. He has to get up early.

'Want to'
I want to go to bed. ( want to = wanna ) I want to go to b
 Do you want to g
Do you want to go to the movies?
movies?
She wants to eat out. She wants to ea
He wants to go home. He wants to go h

Notice that the spoken reduced forms for have to and want to change if the subject pronoun is he, she or it; the reduced
forgoing to, however, doesn't change.

So' for describing a result

You can use so to describe the result of an action or event. Notice that the cause (he lost his passport), comes
before the result (he went to the embassy).

Shawn lost his passport, so he went to the embassy. Shawn lost his passport, so he went to the embass

Be careful: So is used to introduce a result; because is used to introduce a reason. Notice the difference
between the following sentences:

Emily recommended Corcovado, so we went there. Emily recommended Corcovado, so we went there
We went to Corcovado because Emily recommended it. We went to Corcovado because Emily recommend

Hi!

I'm writing from Las Vegas. What a crazy trip! I got lost when I drove down here. I'm staying in a
terrible hotel because the city is so crowded. It's snowing heavily, so I can't drive to the Grand
Canyon today. I'll try to take a tour tomorrow. I can't do what I want to do, so I'm having fun playing
blackjack at the nice hotels.

See you soon.

Jeremy
Sarah found great places to eat, so because we're having amazing food.

Eric lost his passport, so because we have to go to the embassy.

I'm going to visit my aunt in Rome because so she's not feeling well.

We're about to take a tour, so because I'll write more later!

Expressing purpose

Use in order to + base verb to express purpose. Use a comma if the in order to clause comes before
the main clause of the sentence. If it comes after the main clause, a comma is not needed.

In order to reserve our room, I called the hotel.

In order to reserve our room, I called the h
I called the hotel in order to reserve our room.

You can omit in order altogether and simply use to. In fact, to is far more common, especially in spoken Englis

Courtney went early to avoid the crowds. Courtney went early to avoid the crowds.

You can also use so that + clause to express purpose. Use a comma after the so that clause if it comes before the main
clause. If it comes after the main clause, a comma is not needed.

I turned off my phone so that I could relax.

I turned off my phone so that I could relax.
So that I could relax, I turned off my phone.

You can omit that, and simply use so.

I saved my money so I could visit Terry. I saved my money so I could visit Terry.
I exercise four times a week in order so that that I stay healthy.

I was really tired, because so in order to I went to bed.

Because In order to So pay for my study, I took a weekend job.

I didn't like the meal because so to it was too spicy.

I put on a sweater to so because keep warm.

September 6

Hi, Nicole!

How are you? I'm going to stay another night in Mali so that I can relax and do more sightseeing.
Tomorrow, I'll take a tour of Djenne to see the amazing old buildings. The downtown market is full of
wonderful smells, so I'm eating a lot of good food. I hope my money lasts because I'm buying many
beautiful clothes. I'll give some to you!

See you in a week!

Love,

Megan
Using appropriate register

It's important to use the correct register when writing to someone. Here are some expressions for opening
and closing in informal and formal ways.

Informal opening
Dear Kim, Dear Kim,
Hi, Mom! Hi, Mom!

Informal closings
Love, Love,
Take care. Take care.
See you soon. See you soon.

Formal openings
Dear Ms. Tackett, Dear Ms. Tackett,
To whom it may concern: To whom it may concern:

Formal closings
Sincerely yours, Sincerely yours,
Best regards, Best regards,

Writing a postcard

Write a postcard to a friend or relative describing a place. You can write to them about the place you
live now or pretend you are on vacation. Don't include an address.

Type in the input box. Write 40-60 words.