Same word – different meaning: people/peoples, sheep, fish …
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Topic: Surf lifesavers – keeping Australia’s beaches safe. Every summer, thousands of volunteers in red and yellow uniforms watch the beaches and help swimmers in trouble. In this unit you practise three typical tasks from the Use of English part of your exam.
people = Menschen, Leute (plural of person): Many people live in Sydney.
a people → peoples = Volk → Völker: the Aboriginal peoples of Australia
✅ two people (normal) · two persons (only in very formal language)
one sheep – two sheep · one fish – many fish · one jellyfish – two jellyfish · one species – two species
❌ sheeps, specieses
🔎 Trick: look at the verb – The sheep loves = one · The sheep love = many
tweezers (Pinzette) · plains (Ebene) · current affairs (aktuelle Ereignisse) · congratulations
Where are the tweezers? – Congratulations on your good grades!
❌ a tweezer · ❌ Congratulation!
insect repellent · vinegar · advice · information are uncountable.
Don’t forget your insect repellent! – She gave me some good advice.
❌ an advice, informations → ✅ a piece of advice
while = während: While we were waiting, it started to rain.
a while = eine Weile: I lived in Perth for a while.
a friend / mate of mine, yours, his, hers, ours = einer meiner Freunde
Jack is a friend of Cooper’s. Kate is a mate of mine.
❌ a friend of me / him / her / us
1. trotzdem: It’s cold and rainy, but I’ll go by bike anyway.
2. sowieso: I can take you to York – I’m driving there anyway.
apologize for saying · congratulate sb on getting · deny having · dream of sailing · campaign for making
recommend: I would recommend a visit / seeing a doctor · You should recommend your dad to see a doctor · I would recommend that you see a doctor.
Both are possible: I couldn’t bear seeing / to see my dog suffer.
Stress on the 1st syllable: EXpert · ACcent · PERfect · AMateur
Stress on the 2nd syllable: ilLEgal
calm: the l is silent · bear – bore – borne
nursery /ˈnɜːsəri/ = Kinderzimmer or Kinderkrippe.
The dots in my nursery are permanent.
❌ nursery ≠ nurse (Krankenpfleger/-in) · ❌ nursary
🐑 Fun fact: Australia has more sheep than people – millions more!
Choose the right answer. Look carefully at the verbs, the plural and the little words like of, on, for!