Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1.So sorry, John of the past is dead, I�m now totally a new person. You should start looking for a new boyfriend.
-Is this natural?

2.It�s so cool!
-This means �it�s so wonderful� or �it�s great / so interesting!�, right?

3.What�s the difference between � at the end� and �by the end�?
4.Let�s pick up some pizza on the way home.
-What does �pick up� mean here?

5.Don�t blow up, buddy.
-This means �don�t get mad, buddy�, right?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[sissi01]

1.I don't think so.John of the past ?
John of the past? What do you want to mean by this?
a new person? Maybe another one is more natural.
start looking for? Maybe find

2.Right.

3.at the end is a point,while by the end is a segment.
You can use the former in the primary tenses and past tense,the later in the pulperfect and present perfect.

4.It means to buy some pizza here.Of couse this phrase have different means in other sentence.
eg.Could you pick up the book for me.It means to take up something by hand.
Let's pick up our bedroom this weeked.It has the meaning of tidying up.
The mean in the sentence you give.

5.It means to boast here.

[bud]

1. The more usual way to express this idea is, "the old John." A natural sentence would look something like this:

So sorry - the old John is dead. I�m now a totally new person. You should start looking for a new boyfriend.

4. Correct, Sissi! "Pick up" means "to buy," and it also has a sense of doing it quickly. Stopping at a pizza parlor to buy a pizza takes only a few minutes.

5. It could have that meaning, Sissi, but in this sentence it probably means what Steven suggested. The context would make it clear.