Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1.Teenagers only lay down the rules but do not bother to explain why they do.
- �lay down the rules� here means �ignore the rules�, right?

2.It�s for your own good, because I love you.
- ���..own good� here means �I do all these good things just because of you�, right?

3.It�s time to bust out the �you�re living under my roof, you will obey my rules�.
- �bust out� here means �say�, right?

4.I can�t deal with her attitude.
- �deal with� here means �stand� or �cope with�?

5.I really don�t think you should give up on her.
- I think �on� is redundant, right?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[Nef]

1.Teenagers only lay down the rules but do not bother to explain why they do.
- �lay down the rules� here means �ignore the rules�, right?
To "lay down the rules" usually means to say what the rules are, to establish the rules. (Maybe the idea is that teenagers are laying down the rules for other teenagers or TRYING to set the rules for adults?)

2.It�s for your own good, because I love you.
- ���..own good� here means �I do all these good things just because of you�, right?
Close, but not necessarily. It can mean whatever I am doing (and you might not like some of what I do) will benefit you in the long term. For instance, you might not want to study but I insist that you study.

3.It�s time to bust out the �you�re living under my roof, you will obey my rules�.
- �bust out� here means �say�, right?
I think so. It's time to offer that argument.

4.I can�t deal with her attitude.
- �deal with� here means �stand� or �cope with�?
Yes

5.I really don�t think you should give up on her.
- I think �on� is redundant, right?
No. To "give up on someone" or something is somewhat different from to "give up someone" or something. For instance, if I am an English teacher and I "give up on" a particular student, that means I don't believe that student can or will work and learn much more. To "give up on" something or someone is to stop having expectations about that thing or person. I may still go through the motions of trying to teach that particular student, but I don't have much hope of good results.

[emile]

stevenukd:

Here goes:

1 No, 'lay down' the rules means set the rules. We often say 'Lay down the law'

2 That's right

3 You're pretty much right, but more accurately, it means 'bring out'

4 'Cope with' is correct

5 'on' is not redundant. 'Give up on someone' means lose hope for them. There's a song called 'Don't give up on me baby'


I'm guessing that you got these sentences from an American sitcom. Am I right?





my site: www.roadtogrammar.com

6

[emile]

LOL,

Nef posted the answers same time as me. So now you've got two sets of answers.

Well, at least we both agree.




my site: www.roadtogrammar.com