33

Time and sequence

When aw:l as-soon as
I'll phone my uncle when I get home. / As soon as I get home I'll phone my uncle. When you've finished you can go home. / You can go home as soon as yo u've finished.

Note: Th e meaning is the same, but as soon as suggests it is more immediate. Note also thai both items can be followed by the present tense or the present perfect (but not will).

Pat w ro te some letters while I cooked th e dinner. (two actions in the same period of time) The accident happened while I was on my way to work. '(H ere there is a longer action 'on my way to work' and a shorter act ion 'the accident'. We can also use when or as here.] I saw him (just) as I came our of the office. (For two very short acti ons we use as (not while) , and we often use just as to emphasise that these two short actions happened at exactly the same moment: He opened the door just as 1 touched th e ha ndle.}

One thing after another

We met the others in the cafe, and then we went to the match. I finished my homework, after that I played a couple of comp uter games. After my visit to N ew York, I decid ed to have a rest. We had something to eat before we went out.

Note : We can also follow before and after with an -in g form:
After visiting New York, I... We had something to eat before going out.

We had a great holiday. First of all we spe nt a few days in St . Moritz. Then / After that we drove down to the Itali an Riviera and stayed in Portofino for a week. Finally, we went back to Switzerland and visited some old friends in Lucerne.

Note : If one action happens soon afte r the ot her, we often use afterwards in place of after (that): First of all we met the oth ers for a meal, and afterwards we went to the disco.

If you want to say that something hap pened after a lot of tim e and/or a lot of pr obl ems, you can use eventually or in the end. We took several wrong turnings and th e tra ffic wa s awful, but eventually w e got th ere.

There ar e different combinations of wor ds and ph rase s we can use her e: SON : Wh y ca n't we go away this weeke nd ? DA D: Firstrly) becau se I'm busy this weeke nd . Second (ly) you' ve got a lot of schoo l work to do . And third(1y) we're planning to go aw ay next we ekend.

Note: We can als o sta rt with th e phrases to begin with / to start with. In spoken English we can sta rt with for one thin g, followed by and for another (thing), For th e second or final reason, we sometim es use (and ) besides or an yw ay (in(m l) : We can 't go to tha t club beca use it's toO far. And besides, I'm not a member.
70 English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & Intermediate)

34

A ddit io n and cont rast

In addition, moreover, etc. (X and Y)
Wh en yo u add a second piece of info rmation in a sentence to suppo rt th e first piece of informa tio n, you ofte n use and, e.g.The foo d is exc ellent and very good value. W hen you p ut this information in two sentences, these link words an d phrases are commo n: Th e food is usually very goo d. Furthermore, it is on e of th e chea pest resta urant s in town. T he set menu is 10, which is exce llent value. Irr addition, you get a free glass of w ine . T he restaurant has a rep utation for exce llent food . It's -also very go od va lur T he foo d is excellent in tha t restau rant. It's very go od value as well (or to o t. You get very good foo d in th at place. What's mo re, it's 'ex cellent value.

N ote: T he fir st two ex amples are more forma l an d more common in written Eng lish . T he last two examp les a re more common in sp oken Eng lish.

Although, in spite of, etc. (X but Y)

W hen yo u want to co ntras t two pieces of inf orm at ion in a single sentence and say tha t the second fa ct is surprising after th e first , yo u can use these link words: She still won the game although / th ou gh / even thou gh she ha d a ba d kn ee. Th ey still w ent for a walk in spite of th e fact that it was pou ring with rain. The service is worse despite th~ that they have more staff.

Note: In th ese exa mp les yo u can also begin the sen tence wi th the link word : Although she ha d a ba d knee, she still wo n the game . It is very co mmon to use still in these sentences to emphasise t he sur prise (as in ex am ples). In th e last tw o exam ple sente nces you can use a noun or -ing form : They went for a wa lk in spite of th e ra in. T he service is worse despite h avin g more staff. Afte r altho ugh, yo u can only have a noun/pro no un + verb (i.e. although she h ad a bad knee / her knee was bad ).

Whereas
This word is used to co nne ct a fact or opi n ion about a perso n, pla ce or thing, w ith so me thing different a bo ut another person, p lace or th ing (you can also use whilst ). In other w ords , the seco nd fac t is a contrast with the first, but not always a sur pr ise .as in B s hove]. John is very car eful wh ereas Ch risto phe r makes lots of mistak es. The south is hot and dry wh ereas th e north gets quite a lot of ra in.

However
You can use h owe ver to contrast two ideas in two sent ences , and say that th e seco nd sent ence is surpr ising afte r th e first (as in B); an d yo u can use h owever o r on the other hand to m ake a contra st between different peop le/p laces or things (as in C a bove) :

r don't

agree wit h a Jot o f his met ho ds. H ow ever, he is a goo d teach er. We didn't like th e note] at all. Howe ver, we still enjoyed ourselves. Marcel th ought it was a great film. Joe , ho wever / on the other hand , th o ught it w as stu pid. Most big ca ts, such as tiger s an d leop ard s, are very so litary crea tu re' , Lions, ho w ever / on the o the r han d, spend mu ch of th eir time in gro up s.
English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)

72

..-

3S

Sim ilar it ies, differences and condit ions

Similarities
Th ese a re wa ys of saying that two or more th ing s are simila r, or have som ething th e same. Peter is similar to (= like) his brother in many wa ys. Peter and his br other ar e very similar. Peter and his br other a re quite alike . Mari a and Rebecca both passed their ex ams . (= M aria p assed and Rebecca passed ) But neither wants to go to uni versity. (= Maria doesn't want to go and Reb ecca do esn 't wa nt to go eith er) T he two boy s have a lot in co m m on . (= they ha ve many things e.g. hobbies, interests, beliefs, th at ar e the same o r ver y similar ) See also sectio n B.

Differe nces
These are ways o f saying that two or more things are di fferent. H is early films ar e different from his later o nes. Paula is quite unlike (= very different from ) her sister. They have nothing in common. (= the y have no in terests or belie fs that are the sam e)

Using 'compare'
We w ant to compare the pr ices of all the tel evisions before we decide which one to b uy. They made a comparison of av er age sa lari es in different parts of the coun try. Our new flat is very big compared with/to o ur old o ne. (= if yo u com pare it with the other) If you compare thi s one with the others, I'm sure yo u' ll see a diffe r ence .

Exceptions
When we ma ke a gener al sta te me n t ab out things or peo pl e and then say that o ne thing or per son is not included o r is di fferent fr om t he others, w e use these wo rds and phrases:

It snowed everyw here excep t on th e we st coa st . The t w o girls are ver y simila r excep t that Louise has sligh tl y lo ng er hair. The museum is open every day except (for) / apart from Sunday(s) . Everyone heard th e fire alarm except (for) ( apart from th e two bo ys in ro om 7.

No te: Ex cept ca n be fo llowe d by d ifferent wo r ds (nouns, pre po sitio ns, etc .), bu t except for and ap art from are fo llo we d by nouns or noun phr ases.
Conditions H ere are some wo rds/p h rase s w h ich introduce or co nne ct co ndi tions . Lik e ' if ' , they are used with certa in tens es, and th e ru les a re qui te di fficult. For the m ome nt, not ice the tenses underlined in th e examples, and use them in this way until yo u m eet other exam ples . We "Yill be lat e unless we hurrx . (= we 'l! be late if we don't hurry) Unless the weathe r improves (= if the weat her doesn 't improve), we wo n't be a ble to go. r mus t go now otherwise (= because if I d on 'i ) I' ll mis s th e las t bus. You can borrow it as long as (= o n condition that) yo u br ing it ba ck by Thursday.

N ote: The mea ning is very similar to if here, but the use of as long as shows th at rhe cond ition is very import a nt to the speaker.
Take yo ur umbrella w it h yo u in cas e it ra ins. (= because o f the possibility j( ma y ra in later) I bro ugh t foo d in ca se w e W hun gr y. (= because of the possi bility w e may be h ungry later)

74

English V ocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)

Reason, purpose and result

Reason
I went home early because/as/since I was feeling a bit tired.

N ote: With as or since, t he reason (in this example 'feelin g tired ') is often known to the listener or read er, so it is less important. It is also comm on to put as/since at th e beginning o f the sentence: 'As/since' I was feeling tired, I went home ea rly'. In spoken English, ma ny native speakers would use so after the reas on: I was feeling a bit tired , so I went home early .
We can also use because of, but with a different construction. Co mpare: We always go there because th e weather is absolutely wonderful. (becau se + no un + verb) We always go th ere because of the wonderful weath er. (because of + (ad jective) + noun) Due to and owing to have the same meaning as because of, but the y are more for mal, and are often used in sentences whi ch explain the reason for a problem: Th e plane was late due to bad weather. (due to is often used afte r the verb ' to be' ) Du e to / Owing to the power cut last night, I missed th e late film on TV.

'Cause' and 'result' verbs

There are som e verbs whi ch we can use in similar w ays to th e words ab ove: Police think th e bus caused the accident. (= was responsible for th e accident) The extra investment should lead to more jobs. (= result in more job s) 'Cause' and 'result' ver bs sometim es appear toge ther in this way: Police think that a cigarette caused th e fire which resulted in the destruction of the building.

Purpose
A 'purpose' is an intention, an aim or a rea son for doing so meth ing: The purpose of buying this book was to improve my Engli sh . But we often introduce a purpose usin g so (that ): I bou ght this book so (that) I can impro ve my English . They went home earl y so (that) they could watch the match on televi sion. We moved ho use so (that) we could send our children to thi s sch ool. N ote: In spo ken Engli sh, people often just say so (without that) . It is also very common (as in the exam ples) to use a mo dal verb, e.g. can or could, after so that.

Result

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These words int roduce a result:

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tb e tick er at ho~ I'm afraid I had to bu y an ot her one. I forgot to send the lette rs. Consequently, some peopl e didn't know about th e meeting. She was extremel y hard-wo rking and th erefore deserved t he promoti on . Both the manager and his assista nt wer e ill. As a result , the re wa s no-one to ta ke decision s. Note: So is the most common, and usually links ideas in a single sentence. As a result and consequently are more formal, an d usually connect idea s in two sepa rate sentences (as in t he examples). Therefo re (also more for mal ), can be used in a sing le sent ence (as in the exa mple), but may also con nect two sentences.

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E.ngfish Vocabufary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)

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