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Say or tell ? - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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Used to and would are both use to describe something that happened regularly in the past but doesn't happen any longer, as shown in the following two sentences about quitting smoking:

1. I used to smoke, but I quit last year.

2. Whenever I craved a cigarette, I would chew gum instead.

However, there are two important differences between used to and would. The first difference is that would should not be used unless it has already been established that the time frame is in the past, while used to does not require this. This example, with used to at the beginning, sounds natural:

I used to watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I rarely watch TV.

However, when used to is replaced with would, the same example becomes awkward and ungrammatical:

*I would watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I rarely watch TV.

But if the past time frame is established before would appears, would sounds fine.

When I was little, I would get up and watch cartoons every Saturday morning. Now I rarely watch TV.

The second difference between used to and would is that would is not used with stative verbs such as love, be, understand, and feel. Compare these two sentences with the stative verb love:

1. When I was a student, I used to love sleeping late on the weekends. (natural and grammatical)

2. *When I was a student, Isleeping late on weekends. (awkward and ungrammatical)

To summarize, the use of would is more restricted than that of used to. Therefore, if you aren't sure which one to use, it's best to choose used to.

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The difference between USED TO and WOULD | Britannica Dictionary

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Used to and would are both use to describe something that happened regularly in the past but doesn't happen any longer, as shown in the following

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BBC World Service | Learning English | The Flatmates - Language Point 69

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The Flatmates, an English language teaching soap. The language point page for episode 66

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Some reporting verbs may appear in more than one of the following groups because they can be used in several ways.

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What is the first thing you do every morning?

You probably open your eyes and then immediately start studying your English book, right?

I'm sure you do, because you're such a great student!

Seriously though, grammar is very important for learning English-but vocabulary for describing your daily routine is even more important.

Here we'll review lots of basic, essential vocabulary that you can use to talk about your daily routine.

You may have learned some of these words before, and most of them are very common words. But you need to know how to talk about your daily routine because it's routine and common. Since these are the things that you do every day, they're also things that you probably talk about and think about very frequently.

This article is divided into five parts: Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Evening and Night. Each section includes words and phrases to talk about places, times, and actions.

Before we start with the routine, I want to quickly talk about something that confuses many of my students. This is when should we say in, on, at, and other words like them.

You'll notice that these words are in many of the sections below, so we should understand how and when to use them first.

Where and When Does Your Daily Routine Happen?

Before we go into the main list of phrases, we're going to talk about how to use in, on, at and other similar words.

This is a complicated topic, but there are a few things you should remember.

First of all, this video has a great general explanation about when to use these words, which are called prepositions:

The video talks about using these words with transportation, location and time, but in this article we'll focus mostly on location and time.

There are some exceptions, but here's how to generally use them.

Talking About Location
Use at with a general location or an idea
The most common uses of this are:

When I say "work," for example, I'm using "work" as an idea. I can also say "at the office," but then I'm talking about the general area of the office. In other words, I might be in the break room, in the bathroom or even outside of the building, but I'm probably not inside my private office. If I'm standing inside my office, I'll probably say in instead of at.

The same is true for home, which is an idea, so you say "I am at home." Meanwhile, house is the physical building that you walk in and out of, so you would say "I am in my house."
Use in if you're inside or contained within something bigger
The most common phrases with in when talking about daily routines are:

For most of these, the person talking is inside a building.

For example, I can say "right now I'm in my house," because my house is a building and I'm inside of it.

But don't forget that if I'm just in the general area, I may say at. For example, if I'm standing outside in my garden and talking on my phone with a friend, I may tell my friend that I'm "at" my house, but not "in" my house, since I'm not actually inside of it.

In can also be used with cities, countries, states and other larger geographic areas. For example, you could say "I work in Los Angeles, in California."
Use on if you're touching something or on the surface
This one is a bit more difficult to explain. Some examples of phrases with on are:

on the beach (walking on the sand, but not in the water)

on an island(for example, "I'm onLong Island," or "I'm onHokkaido.")

You can use on anytime a person or object is touching the top or surface of something.

For example, I could say "My computer is on my desk, and there's a picture of my family hanging on the wall."

In both cases, the object is touching another one, but not inside it.
Use on with specific days
Talking About Time

If you're giving an exact day, use on. For example:
Use in with longer periods of time like months, years, and parts of the day
"We'll meet on Monday, or maybe on July 15th."

For example, you can meet in July, in 2017 or in the 21st century.

For parts of the day, the main phrases you'll hear are in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening. Note that the word at is usually used with night.

If you're talking about an exact time, use at. For example:

"We'll meet at 7:30 p.m."

"Let's meet at noon" (remember that noon is 12 p.m.).

Use at with night in most cases:

"I always work better at night than I do in the morning."

Okay, so now that we understand that, let's start talking about the different parts of the day!

In the Morning

Most people start their days in the morning (unless they work at night or have trouble sleeping), so the morning is often the busiest time of day. That also means that there's a lot of vocabulary you should know to talk about the things you do in the morning.

If you don't have a problem with songs for children, there are also many videos on YouTube with daily routine songs for kids. It might be a good idea to watch them when you're done reading this article to review the vocabulary.

Morning Time Vocabulary

Early Morning. Some languages have a special name for the period of time between approximately 12 midnight and 6:00 a.m., but English doesn't. Instead, just say "early morning" or " really early morning."

Sunrise. This is when the sun appears in the morning, usually between 5 and 7 a.m. in most places. This is when the day starts. The word rise means "go up," and we can also use it as a verb and say "the sun rises."

Dawn. Dawn is another name for the period of time when the sun rises.

Mid-morning. Mid-morning isn't an official time, but it's about halfway between when you wake up and when you eat lunch.

Late morning. This refers to any time close to 12:00 (noon) but still before then.

From ___ to ___. You'll probably use this phrase to talk about many of your daily activities. If you do something for a period of time, you can use this phrase and mention the start and end time of that activity.

Jennifer works from 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

At + (specific time). Like we saw in the explanation above, use at if you're talking about a specific time (but not a period of time).

Jennifer usually gets to work at 8 a.m.

On + (date or day of the week). Use on for specific days or dates.

I normally work on Tuesdays, but on January 1st I won't have to work.

Our boss said no one had to work on New Year's Day because it's a holiday.

In + (month or year). Use in for longer periods of time like months, years, and seasons.

We often start work at 8 a.m, but in winter the office opens at 9.

That "winter time" schedule starts in November this year, but we won't do that in 2017.

Morning Place Vocabulary

In bed. This is the place where most of us start our day. You can also say "on the bed" if you're sitting, but usually not if you're laying down.

In the bedroom. This one is more logical. If you're talking about a specific room in your house, office or any other building, you can say in, since you're usually inside those rooms.

In the bathroom. Most people spend time in the bathroom as part of their morning routine. In the next section we'll look at some of the most common actions people do there.

In the kitchen. This is another example of using in with rooms.

At work. Many people start working in the morning. When they're working, you can say they're at work.

On + larger vehicles or one-person transportation. You can say:

on the bus

on the train

on the airplane

on the tram/streetcar

on the ferry/boat

At school. If you take any kind of class, you will probably spend some of your morning time at school. In English, you can use the word school for most educational institutions, including universities. But remember if you say "atschool," you're probably talking about the general area. You can also mention a specific area in the building, like in the lunchroom, in the gymnasium or in the principal's office.

In + smaller vehicles (or large ones). I'll admit this is confusing. For all of the large vehicles in the last point, you can also say in if you want, but it's less common. So you can say "in the bus" or "on the bus," but on is more common. In is more common with smaller vehicles for only a few people. You can say "in a car," "in a taxi" or even something more modern like "in an Uber."

By + type of transportation. If someone asks you "How do you get to work?" you can respond with by and then the type of transportation. If you walk, you can say "by foot," but there are many other options:

You should also say on a bike, on a motorcycle or on a horse because you're on top of those things-and if you ride a horse to work, you probably have a more exciting job than I do!

Morning Actions

Mornings are usually a busy time, so there are a lot of common actions you'll want to talk about then. You can also do most of these actions later in the day, so remember them when we're talking about other parts of the day.

Wake up. This means to stop sleeping. When you're sleeping, you're asleep, and after you wake up, you're awake.

Get ready. When you get ready, you do all of the things that you need to do to start your day. This can include different actions for different people, but now we'll show you some common morning actions.

Take a shower/bath. This means to clean your body. If you take a bath, it's in a . Most people these days don't take baths, but instead take showers. It's also common to say " have a shower/bath," especially in British English. The verb for all these actions is .

Brush your teeth. This is when you clean your teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Dentists also recommend that you floss your teeth with dental floss.

Comb/brush your hair. This is what you do with your hair (if you have hair). These words can be verbs or nouns. A comb is usually made of plastic and flat, and a brush is larger and usually circular.

Put on makeup. Some people put on makeup in the morning. Makeup is different colored substances that people put on their faces to enhance or cover different parts of the face.

Go to work/school. If you live far away, or have to drive or take public transportation, the process of going is also called commuting, and you can say "I have to commute to work." Some people work from home, and they're often called telecommuters.

Those are the most common words and phrases you'll need to talk about your morning routine. Remember that you can use a lot of the vocabulary from this section at other times of day.

At Noon

Noon is the most common word for 12:00 p.m. You might hear people say midday, but that's usually a more general time. Noon is more exact and much more common.

Because noon is in the middle of work or school days, most people eat lunch around this time.

Noon Time Vocabulary

Lunch break / Lunch hour. This is a period when people stop working or studying so that they can eat lunch. It's usually around noon and about an hour long.

Noon Place Vocabulary

In the lunchroom/cafeteria/restaurant. These are different places where people often eat lunch. A lunchroom is usually connected to a school or a company's office, and it's generally just for people who work or study there.

Another word for a lunchroom is a cafeteria. Note that a cafeteria isn't a place that serves mainly coffee (that's a coffee shop) or a small, informal restaurant (that's a cafe).

Noon Actions

Eat lunch / Go out to eat. If you go out or go out to eat, then you leave your office or school to eat somewhere else, usually a restaurant. You can also use the phrase eat out.

In the Afternoon

The afternoon starts at 12 p.m. (because it's after noon, 12 p.m.), and it ends around the time it gets dark outside.

I don't have any additional time vocabulary for the afternoon, so let's look at place vocabulary.

Afternoon Place Vocabulary

Happy hour. This is a period of time when some bars or restaurants offer special prices on drinks or food, but it isn't necessarily one hour. Bars and restaurants have happy hours to attract customers, so happy hours are usually after most people stop working, but before they eat dinner.

Afternoon Actions

Get off work. This is a phrase that means to stop working. You can also say stop working, but it's more common to hear something like:

I get off work at 5, so would you like to meet me at 5:20 at the bar for happy hour?

Leave school. This is when you finish your classes and leave the school or campus.

Go out for dinner / drinks. This is like eating out for lunch, but usually after people finish working. If you go out for drinks or cocktails, you probably go to a bar or restaurant.

Hang out, Relax. This is when you spend your free time doing things that interest you or spending time with your friends. It's usually an informal time and an informal phrase.

I try to exercise every afternoon before dinner.

Make dinner. If you like to cook (and have the time), you might make dinner. That means to prepare the food for dinner. Some people aren't interested in cooking (or they may not have time), so they can also eat out for dinner, or even order food for delivery, which means that a restaurant brings the food right to their house.

In the Evening

I've noticed that not every language has a word like evening. In English, evening is generally the period of time after the sun goes down (when it becomes dark), but before you go to bed. The pronunciation is sometimes a bit difficult, also. Click here to hear it, and note that it has two syllables, not three.

Evening Time Vocabulary

I don't have any additional evening place vocabulary for you, so let's look at some common evening actions.

Evening Actions

There's not always a clear division between afternoon, evening and night, so many people do these actions at different times.

Eat dinner. Dinner is the last meal (serving of food) of the day. It's also called in some places, and dinner can sometimes refer to a formal meal at different times of the day.

Watch TV or a movie. You probably know what this means, but just note that if you go out to watch a movie, you can say"I'm going to the movies" or "I'm going to the movie theater." In British English, a movie theater is often called a cinema, and a movie is often called a film.

At Night

Remember that this is the exception, so you normally say at night. You may hear some phrases that use in the night, but at is still more common.

Also, note that good night isn't a greeting (a way to say "hello"). If you say "good night" to someone, it's like saying "goodbye. " You can also say it right before you go to sleep.

Night Time Vocabulary

Midnight. This is at 12 a.m., in the middle of the night. It's the opposite of noon.

Night Actions

Get ready for bed. This is the reverse of what you do when you get ready in the morning. You may take off or change your clothes and maybe put on pajamas (or whatever you wear when you sleep). It's also common to wash your face, brush your teeth and maybe take a shower. Some people like to read or do other relaxing activities before bed.

You can set your alarm to wake you up in the morning, set out things for breakfast the next morning or maybe lay out the clothes that you'll wear the next day. That way, you won't have to make decisions when you're tired in the morning!

Go to bed / Get in bed. This is when you physically move to your bed. It's the opposite of get up in the morning.

Go to sleep. This is when you stop being awake and start sleeping.

Sleep tight! This is a common phrase that people say, but it doesn't actually make much sense. It rhymes with "good night," so you may hear someone say "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!" ( Bedbugs are small insects that live in beds and bite people when they sleep.)

If you remember and use these phrases, you should have no trouble talking about what you do during your daily routine.
Ryan Sitzman teaches English and sometimes German in Costa Rica. He is passionate about learning, coffee, traveling, languages, writing, photography, books, and movies, but not necessarily in that order. You can learn more or connect with him through his website Sitzman ABC.
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How to Describe Your Entire Daily Routine in 65 English Vocabulary Words

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What is the first thing you do every morning?You probably open your eyes and then immediately start studying your English book, right?I'm sure you do, because you're such a great student!Seriously though, grammar is very important for learning English-but vocabulary for describing your d

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Present Simple or Present Continuous Tense?

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When to use the present simple or present continuous / present progressive tense in English.

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When we know about the future, we normally use the present tense.

1. We use the present simple for something scheduled:

We have a lesson next Monday.
The trainarrives at 6.30 in the morning.
The holidaysstart next week.
It's my birthday tomorrow.

2. We can use the present continuous for plans or arrangements:

4. We use be going to:

Be careful! You are going to fall. (= I can see that you might fall.)
Look at those black clouds. I think it's going to rain. (= I can see that it will rain.)

5. We use will be with an -ing form for something happening before and after a specific time in the future:

6. We can use instead of the present continuous or when we are talking about plans, arrangements and intentions:

7. We often use verbs like would like, plan, want, mean, hope, expect to talk about the future:

I might stay at home tonight or I might go to the cinema.
Wecould see Mary at the meeting. She sometimes goes.

9. We can use should if we think there's a good chance of something happening:

Talking about the future 1

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Talking about the future 2

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In time clauses with words like when, after, until we often use present tense forms to talk about the future:

In clauses with if we often use present tense forms to talk about the future:

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Level: intermediate When we know about the future, we normally use the present tense. 1. We use the present simple for something scheduled: We have a lesson next Monday. The train arrives at 6.30 in the morning. The holidays start next week. It's my birthday tomorrow.

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The positives and negatives of using social networking sites

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How social media helped me deal with my mental illness

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Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Television

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Free ESL Current Affairs Lesson with Lesson Plan

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Listen to the radio programme and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.

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Inventor and MacArthur fellow Saul Griffith shares some innovative ideas from his lab -- from "smart rope" to a house-sized kite for towing large loads.

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Also called the future progressive tense

The future continuous tense isn't taught very much in English classes but, in fact, English speakers use it a lot. You will sound much more natural if you master this tense.

report this ad Click here to download this explanation as a pdf.
Click here to learn about how to USE this tense.

Here's how to make it:

The positive (will + be + verb-ing):

At 10 am tomorrow,

In the same way as with the future simple, usually we use the short form ('ll be verb-ing) when we are speaking.

Sometimes students don't use the short form, because they are not sure how to pronounce it. Here are some examples to help.

Here's an exercise about making the future continuous positive.

Here's the negative:

When John gets home,

As with the positive, we usually use the short form (won't + be + verb-ing) when speaking.

Here's an exercise to practise the negative.

Next, the question.

'Yes / no' questions:

When she arrives at the party,

'Wh' questions:

Next weekend,

Here's an exercise about 'yes / no' and 'wh' questions.

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The future continuous (or future progressive) tense - clear explanations and lots of exercises

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Look at the essay and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

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continuous tense: any tense, past, present or future, formed with the auxiliary verb be and a main verb in -ing form (for example: he is speaking, they have been working)

There are some verbs that we do not normally use with continuous (or progressive) tenses. And there are other verbs that have one meaning with simple tenses and a different meaning with continuous tenses.

Non-continuous Verbs

Non-continuous verbs are verbs that we do not normally use with continuous tenses. These "stative" verbs are about state, not action, and they cannot express the continuous or progressive aspect. Here are some of the most common non-continuous verbs:

feeling: hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish

senses: appear, feel, hear, see, seem, smell, sound, taste

communication: agree, deny, disagree, mean, promise, satisfy, surprise

thinking: believe, imagine, know, mean, realize, recognize, remember, understand

other states: be, belong, concern, depend, involve, matter, need, owe, own, possess

Look at these example sentences, right and wrong:

Notice that we often use can + see/hear:

I can see someone in the distance. not I am seeing someone in the distance.

I can't hear you very well. not I am not hearing you very well.

With verbs that we cannot use in continuous tenses, there is no real action or activity. Compare hear and listen. The verb "hear" means "receive sound in your ears". There is no action or activity by you. We cannot use hear with continuous tenses. But listen means "try to hear". You make an effort to hear. There is a kind of action or activity. We can use listen with continuous tenses.

Dual Meaning Verbs

Some verbs have two different meanings or senses. For one sense we cannot use a continuous tense. For the other sense we can use any tense.

For example, the verb think has two different meanings:

1. to believe, to have an opinion
I think red is a sexy colour.

2. to reflect, to use your brain to solve a problem
I am thinking about my homework.

In sense 1 there is no real action, no activity. This sense is called "stative". In sense 2 there is a kind of action, a kind of activity. This sense is called "dynamic".

When we use the stative sense, we cannot use a continuous tense. When we use the dynamic sense, we can use any tense, depending on the situation.

Look at the examples in the table below:

no real action

a kind of action

non-continuous tense

continuous tense

non-continuous tense

I think she is beautiful.

Be quiet! I'm thinking!

I will think about this problem tomorrow.

I don't consider that he is right for the job.

We are considering your job application and will give you our answer in a few days.

We consider every job application very carefully.

This table measures 4 x 6 feet.

She has been measuring the room for a new carpet.

A good carpenter measures his wood carefully.

Does the wine taste good?

I was tasting the wine when I dropped the glass.

I have always tasted wine before drinking it.

Mary has three children.

Please phone later. We are having dinner now.

We have dinner at 8pm every day.

If you have a doubt about a particular verb, ask yourself the question: "Is there any real action or activity?"

be and Continuous Tenses

The verb be can be an auxiliary verb ( Marie is learning English) or a main verb ( Marie is French). On this page we look at be as a main verb.

Usually we do not use main verb be with continuous tenses. For example, we say:

London is the capital of the UK. not London is being the capital of the UK.

Is she beautiful? not Is she being beautiful?

Were you late? not Were you being late?

Sometimes, however, we can use main verb be with a continuous tense. This is when the real sense of be is "act" or "behave". Also, the action is temporary. Compare the examples in the table below:

Mary is a careful person. (Mary is always careful - it's her nature.)

John is being careful. (John is acting carefully now, but maybe he is not always careful - we don't know.)

Is he always so stupid? (Is that his personality?)

They were being really stupid. (They were behaving really stupidly at that moment.)

Andrew is not usually selfish. (It is not Andrew's character to be selfish.)

Why is he being so selfish? (Why is he acting so selfishly at the moment?)

Notice that we also make a difference between "to be sick" and "to be being sick":

She is sick (= she is not well)

She is being sick (= she is vomiting)

Here is main verb be conjugated in the Present Continuous tense:
I am being
You are being
He, she, it is being
We are being
They are being

Continuous Tenses and Meaning Quiz

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continuous tense: any tense, past, present or future, formed with the auxiliary verb be and a main verb in -ing form (for example: he is speaking, they have been working) There are some verbs that we do not normally use with continuous (or progressive) tenses.

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Tech Gadgets! List of tech gadgets with pictures and examples. Learn these technology vocabulary words to improve your English.

Technology Vocabulary

Tech Gadgets List

Technology Vocabulary Words with Pictures

Mouse

- Click on the printer icon with the mouse.

MP3 player

- I've recently bought an MP3 player.

Webcam

- You could even watch her on the webcam.

Hard drive

- You'll need to upgrade your hard drive to 4Mb before running this software.

Microphone

- We need a microphone so that people in the back can hear us.

Digital camera

- He's just bought a new digital camera.

Headphones

- He's wearing headphones, an infraction of school rules.

- I have a WinTV nova-t memory stick.

Floppy disc

- Standard letters can be stored on floppy discs.

Router

- I've been thinking about buying a router for years.

Computer

- In her work she cannot do without a computer.

Laptop

- This kind of laptop doesn't come cheap.

Memory card

- The memory card still works okay in the camera.

Printer

- Can I connect my printer to your computer?

Tech Gadgets | Picture

Tools and Equipment Vocabulary

List of tools & equipment classified by different categories.

Household items list:

Other tools, devices, appliances and equipment:

Technology Vocabulary Video

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Technology Vocabulary: List of Tech Gadgets with Pictures - 7 E S L

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Tech Gadgets! List of tech gadgets with pictures and examples. Learn these technology vocabulary words to improve your English. Mouse - Click on the printer icon with the mouse. MP3 player - I've recently bought an MP3 player. Webcam - You could even watch her on the webcam.

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In these sessions we're looking at the past perfect continuous. You may also hear it called the past perfect progressive, it's exactly the same thing.

Let's start with a story about a girl called Maria.
Last Sunday when Maria woke up and looked outside the weather was fine. There wasn't a cloud in the sky but there were puddles in the street and the garden was wet. It had been raining. She had been planning to go for a ride on her new bike but she decided to wait until it had dried up. She didn't want to get her bike dirty.
There are two examples of the past perfect continuous here: it had been raining and she had been planning.

Let's take a closer look.

Question: When did Maria look out of the window, now or in the past?
Answer: In the past, last Sunday.

Question: At this time in the past was it raining?
Answer: No, the weather was fine.

Question: There were puddles in the street, so when did it rain? Before, after or the same time as Maria looked out of the window?
Answer: Before she looked out of the window.

Question: So, why was the street wet?
Answer: Because it had been raining.

This example shows us that we use the past perfect continuous to talk about something that was happening over a period of time up to or before another point in the past.

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BBC Learning English - Course: intermediate / Unit 14 / Session 2 / Activity 1

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In these sessions we're looking at the past perfect continuous. You may also hear it called the past perfect progressive, it's exactly the same thing. Let's start with a story about a girl called Maria. Last Sunday when Maria woke up and looked outside the weather was fine.

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Island-hopping in Cambodia - Lonely Planet travel video

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A collection of TED Talks (and more) on the topic of travel.

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Rose and Jack are talking about holiday plans. Listen and answer true or false.

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connectives with present simple for future meaning

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connectives with present simple for future meaning

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Because of and because are both used to introduce reasons. Because of is a preposition, it is generally followed by a verb+ing or a noun. Because is a conjunction, it is followed by a subject and a verb. Here is an example of Because : * Because Maria was feeling sick, she didn't go to the superm...

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BBC World Service | Learning English | Grammar Challenge

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Every week, a different student takes our grammar challenge. A continuing online course with quizzes, downloads and grammar tables.

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Arianna Huffington on Brain Maintenance  | Big Think

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It’s 4am, and the big test is in 8 hours. You’ve been studying for days, but you still don’t feel ready. Should you drink another cup of coffee and spend the next few hours cramming? Or should you go to sleep? Shai Marcu defends the latter option, showing how sleep restructures your brain in a way that’s crucial for how our memory works.

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Claudia Aguirre: What would happen if you didn't sleep?

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In the United States, it's estimated that 30 percent of adults and 66 percent of adolescents are regularly sleep-deprived. This isn't just a minor inconvenience: staying awake can cause serious bodily harm. Claudia Aguirre shows what happens to your body and brain when you skip sleep.

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Is it right to sleep at work? Some experts think we work better if we can close our eyes and have a short rest in the office. So, is it time for bosses to put beds in the workplace?

Rob and Finn discuss the benefits of sleeping on the job.
This week's question
When the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was in power, she did her job with very little sleep. Do you know how many hours a night she slept?

a) Three hours

b) Four hours

c) Five hours

Vocabulary

napping
sleeping for a short period of time

(to) nod off
to fall asleep

sleeping on the job
sleeping when you should be working

insomniac
a person who has difficulty falling sleep

40 winks
(informal) nap for a short period of time

power-nap
a short sleep that gives you energy

naptivist
a made-up name for someone who actively campaigns for napping at work

attitude
opinion or feeling about something

counter-cultural
opposite to what most people think or do

work ethic
belief about how we should work

wellbeing
feeling of being happy and health

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript

Rob Hello I'm Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm joined today by Finn. Hello Finn.

Finn ...

Rob
Finn? ...Hello Finn?

Oh sorry Rob, you caught me napping. It's that time of day when I need to nod off - or in other words, fall asleep.

Finn
Oh really! That's good to hear. I would have thought that sleeping at work was against the rules.

Rob
Not in every office, Finn, and I'll tell you why soon as well as explaining some sleep-related vocabulary. But now you're wide awake, how about a question?

Finn
OK, let's hear it.

Rob
When the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was in power, she did her job with very little sleep. Do you know how many hours of sleep she is said to have had each night?

a) Three hours

b) Four hours

c) Five hours

Finn
I always thought she got by, she managed her job, with just four hours of sleep a night.

Not much, is it? We'll find out if you are right or wrong later. I'm not sure if she chose not to sleep for long or she just wasn't able to sleep for long. Someone who can't sleep is called an insomniac.

Finn
And I'm certainly not an insomniac. I enjoy sleeping all night and some of the day too. And Rob, you said napping during the day is a good thing?

Thea O'Connor, health writer and speaker:
I think that our culture is a bit crazy not to embrace it, and one of the reasons we don't is our attitude, you know it's quite counter-cultural to do nothing in order to get ahead. I just really see that it's time to disrupt the prevailing work ethic which is all about work longer and harder.

Finn
Well, there aren't any in our office yet Rob. I think putting beds or areas for naps in the office would help us workers feel more able to rest and recharge our minds.

Rob
My problem with a siesta is that if I have a sleep in the afternoon I'd never wake up!

Finn
Well before you nod off now Rob, could you please tell me the answer to today's question.

Rob
Yes. I asked you if you knew how many hours of sleep the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, is said to have had each night? Three, four or five hours?

Finn
I said four hours Rob.

Rob
You are right. It has often been said she needed just four hours of sleep - only on weekdays, not weekends. Well before you have another power-nap, could you remind us of some of the vocabulary we've heard today:

Finn
Yes, we heard:

napping

nod off

sleeping on the job

insomniac

40 winks

power-nap

naptivist

attitude

counter-cultural

work ethic

wellbeing

nine-to-five

siesta

Rob
Thanks. We hope you've enjoyed today's programme. Please join us again soon for another 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

Both
Bye.

From the archives

All 6 Minute English programmes pre-September 2014 can be found here.

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BBC Learning English - 6 Minute English / Sleeping on the job

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Is it right to sleep at work? Some experts think we work better if we can close our eyes and have a short rest in the office. So, is it time for bosses to put beds in the workplace? Rob and Finn discuss the benefits of sleeping on the job.

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answers to optional homework: passive voice

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answers to optional homework: passive voice

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https://www.esl-lab.com/music/musicrd1.htm

https://www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/arguing-about-music?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

http://www.elllo.org/english/Mixer051/T074-Music.htm

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https://elt.oup.com/student/solutions/int/grammar/grammar_02_022e?cc=gb&selLanguage=en

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https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/used-to.html

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https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive.html

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https://www.ef.co.uk/english-resources/english-grammar/passive-voice/

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Join the rabbits class Quizlet. Play, check your vocab at home.

https://quizlet.com/join/K7yXK9Jpq

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http://grammar.ctx.ef.com/modals/modals-of-possibility-and-probability

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modals of advice, suggestion and obligation

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modals of advice, suggestion and obligation

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http://grammar.ctx.ef.com/modals/modals-of-suggestion-advice-and-obligation

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How diet can affect the brain - Eat, Fast, Live Longer - Horizon - BBC

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A man and woman taught about weight loss strategies.

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https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1901/190127-genes.html