switch switch /swtʃ/ noun a small object which you push up or down to stop or start a piece of electrical equipment 쑗 The switch to turn off the electricity is in the cupboard.. switch
Trang 1switch 320 system
on and move backwards and forwards,
usually outdoors 쑗 She sat on the swing
and ate an apple.
switch
switch /swtʃ/ noun a small object
which you push up or down to stop or
start a piece of electrical equipment 쑗
The switch to turn off the electricity is in
the cupboard 쑗 There is a light switch
by the bed 쐽verb 1 to do something
different suddenly 쑗 We decided to
switch from gas to electricity 2 to
change or exchange something 쑗 Let’s
switch places 쑗 He switched flights in
Montreal and went on to Calgary 쑗 The
job was switched from our British
facto-ry to the States.
switch off phrasal verb to make an
piece of electrical equipment stop 쑗
Don’t forget to switch off the TV before
you go to bed 쑗 She forgot to switch her
car lights off or switch off her car lights.
쑗 The kettle switches itself off
automat-ically when it boils.
switch on phrasal verb to make a piece
of electrical equipment start 쑗 Can you
switch the radio on – it’s time for the
evening news 쑗 When you put the light
on in the bathroom, the fan switches
it-self on automatically.
swollen
swollen / swəυlən/ past participle of
swell 쐽 adjective much bigger than
usual
swoop
swoop /
quickly 쑗 The planes swooped (down)
low over the enemy camp.
swop
swop / swɒp/ noun, verb same as swap
sword
sword /
dle and a long sharp blade
swore
swore /
swum
swum / swm/ past participle of swim
swung
swung /swŋ/ past tense and past
parti-ciple of swing
syllable
syllable / sləb(ə)l/ noun a whole word
or part of a word which has one single
sound
symbol
symbol / smbəl/ noun a sign, letter, picture or shape which means
some-thing or shows somesome-thing 쑗 The crown was the symbol of the empire 쑗 The ol-ive branch is a symbol of peace 쑗 Pb is the chemical symbol for lead.
sympathetic
sympathetic /smpə θetk/ adjective showing that you understand someone’s problems
sympathise
sympathise / smpəθaz/, sympa-thize verb to show that you understand
someone’s problems 쑗 I sympathise with you, my husband snores too 쑗 I get back pains, and I sympathise with all fellow sufferers.
sympathy
sympathy / smpəθi/ noun a feeling of understanding for someone else’s
prob-lems, or after someone’s death 쑗 We re-ceived many messages of sympathy when my wife died 쑗 He had no sympa-thy for his secretary who complained of being overworked.
symptom
symptom / smptəm/ noun 1 a change
in the body, showing that a disease is
present 쑗 He has all the symptoms of
flu 2 a visible sign which shows that
something is happening 쑗 Rubbish eve-rywhere on the pavements is a symptom
of the economic crisis facing the bor-ough.
synonym
synonym / snənm/ noun a word which means almost the same as
anoth-er word
syrup
syrup / srəp/ noun a sweet liquid 쑗 To make syrup, dissolve sugar in a cup of boiling water.
system
system / sstəm/ noun 1 a group of
things which work together 쑗 the tem of motorways or the motorway sys-tem 쑗 the London underground railway
system 2 a way in which things are
or-ganised 쑗 I’ve got my own system for dealing with invoices.
Trang 2t
t /
phabet, between S and U
table
table / teb(ə)l/ noun 1 a piece of
furni-ture with a flat top and legs, used to eat
or work at 쑗 We had breakfast sitting
round the kitchen table 쑗 He asked for
a table by the window 쑗 She says she
booked a table for six people for 12.30.
2 a list of numbers, facts, or
informa-tion set out in an organised way
tablecloth
tablecloth / teb(ə)l klɒθ/ noun a cloth
which covers a table during a meal
tablet
tablet / tblət/ noun a small round pill
taken as medicine 쑗 Take two tablets
be-fore meals.
table tennis
table tennis / teb(ə)l tens/ noun a
game similar to tennis, but played on a
large table with a net across the centre,
with small round bats and a very light
white ball
tackle
tackle / tk(ə)l/ verb 1 to try to deal
with a problem or job 쑗 You can’t tackle
a job like changing the central heating
system on your own 쑗 You start
clean-ing the dinclean-ing room and I’ll tackle the
washing up 2 (in football, etc.) to try to
get the ball from an opposing player 쑗
He was tackled before he could score 쐽
noun equipment 쑗 He brought his
fish-ing tackle with him.
tail
tail / tel/ noun 1 a long thin part at the
end of the body of an animal or bird,
which can move 쑗 All you could see was
a slight movement of the cat’s tail 쑗
The dog rushed up to him, wagging its
tail 2 an end or back part of something
쑗 The tail of the queue stretched round
the corner and into the next street 쑗 I
prefer to sit near the tail of the aircraft.
take
take / tek/ verb 1 to lift and move
some-thing 쑗 She took the pot of jam down
from the shelf 쑗 The waiter took the
ta-blecloth off the table 2 to carry
some-thing to another place 쑗 Can you take
this cheque to the bank for me, please?
3 to go with someone or something to
another place 쑗 He’s taking the children
to school 쑗 They took the car to the ga-rage 쑗 We took a taxi to the hotel 4 to
steal something 쑗 Someone’s taken my
watch 5 to go away with something
which someone else was using 쑗 Some-one has taken the newspaper I was read-ing 쑗 Who’s taken my cup of coffee? 6.
to use or occupy something 쑗 Sorry, all
these seats are taken 7 to do a test 쑗
You must go to bed early because you’ll
be taking your exams tomorrow morn-ing 쑗 She had to take her driving test
three times before she finally passed 8.
to accept something 쑗 If they offer you
the job, take it immediately 9 to do
cer-tain actions 쑗 We took our holiday in September this year 쑗 She’s taking a shower after going to the beach 쑗 She took a photograph or took a picture of the Tower of London 쑗 She needs to
take a rest 10 to need a certain amount
of time or number of people 쑗 It took three strong men to move the piano 쑗
They took two days or it took them two days to get to London 쑗 When he wants
to watch a TV programme it never seems
to take him long to finish his homework.
(NOTE: takes – taking – took / tυk/ – taken / tek(ə)n/)
take away phrasal verb 1 to remove
something or someone 쑗 Take those scissors away from little Nicky – he could cut himself 쑗 The ambulance came and took her away 쑗 The police took away piles of documents from the
office 2 to subtract one number from
another (NOTE: Take away is usually
shown by the sign – : 10 – 4 = 6: say
‘ten take away four equals six’.)
take off phrasal verb 1 to remove
something, especially your clothes 쑗 He took off all his clothes or he took all his clothes off 쑗 Take your dirty boots off before you come into the kitchen 쒁 hat
Trang 3takeaway 322 tape
2 to make an amount smaller 쑗 He took
£25 off the price 3 (of a plane) to leave
the ground 쑗 The plane took off at 4.30.
take over phrasal verb 1 to start to do
something in place of someone else 쑗
Miss Black took over from Mr Jones on
May 1st 쑗 When our history teacher
was ill, the English teacher had to take
over his classes 쑗 The Socialists took
over from the Conservatives 2 to buy a
business by buying most of its shares 쑗
The company was taken over by a big
group last month.
take up phrasal verb 1 to fill a space
or time 쑗 This settee takes up too much
room 쑗 Being in charge of the staff
sports club takes up too much of my
time 2 to remove something which was
on a floor or other low surface 쑗 You
will need to take up the rugs if you want
to polish the floor.
takeaway
takeaway / tekəwe/ noun a shop
where you can buy cooked food to eat
somewhere else 쑗 There’s an Indian
takeaway round the corner 쑗 We had a
Chinese takeaway 쐽 noun, adjective a
hot meal that you buy in a shop and eat
somewhere else 쑗 We had a takeaway
Chinese meal.
taken
taken / tekən/ past participle of take
tale
tale /tel/ noun a story (literary) 쑗 A tale
of princesses and wicked fairies.
talent
talent / tlənt/ noun an ability or skill 쑗
Her many talents include singing and
playing the piano.
talented
talented / tləntd/ adjective with a lot
of talent
talk
understand what he was talking about.
쑗 We must talk to the neighbours about
their noisy dog – it kept me awake again
last night 쐽 noun 1 a conversation or a
discussion 쑗 We had a little talk, and
she agreed with what the committee had
decided 쑗 I had a long talk with my
fa-ther about what I should study at
uni-versity 2 a lecture about a subject 쑗 He
gave a short talk about the history of the
town.
talk over phrasal verb to discuss
some-thing
talkative
talkative /
talk a lot, or sometimes too much
tall
tall /
than normal 쑗 the tallest building in London 쑗 Can you see those tall trees over there? 쑗 He’s the tallest boy in his class 쑗 How tall are you? – I’m 1 metre
68 centimetres 쑗 His brother is over six feet tall (NOTE: taller – tallest Tall is
used with people and thin things like trees or skyscrapers; for things which are a long way above the ground use
high: high clouds, a high mountain.)
tame
tame /tem/ adjective a tame animal can live with people because it is no longer
wild 쑗 Don’t be afraid of that fox – he’s perfectly tame.
tan
tan /tn/ noun a brownish-yellow colour
of the skin after being in the sun 쑗 She got a tan from spending each day on the beach 쐽verb to get brown from being
in the sun 쑗 She tans easily – just half an hour in the sun and she’s quite brown.
(NOTE: tans – tanning – tanned)
tank
tank / tŋk/ noun 1 a large container for
liquids 쑗 How much oil is left in the
tank? 2 an army vehicle which is
cov-ered in strong metal, has tracks instead
of wheels and has powerful guns 쑗
Tanks rolled along the main streets of the town.
tap
tap /tp/ noun an object which you turn
in order to let liquid or gas come out of
a pipe 쑗 He washed his hands under the tap in the kitchen 쐽verb to hit
some-thing gently 쑗 She tapped him on the knee with her finger 쑗 A policeman tapped him on the shoulder and arrested him (NOTE: taps – tapping – tapped)
tape
tape / tep/ noun 1 a long narrow piece of
cloth or plastic 쑗 She stitched tape along the bottom of the sleeves to stop it
fraying 2 왍 magnetic tape special
plastic tape on which sounds and pic-tures can be recorded, also used for re-cording computer data 쐽 verb 1 to
record something on tape or on video 쑗
The whole conversation was taped by the police 쑗 I didn’t see the programme because I was at work, but I’ve taped it.
2 to attach something with sticky tape
쑗 She taped up the box before taking it
to the post office.
Trang 4target 323 tear
target
target /
you aim at, e.g with a gun 쑗 His last
shot missed the target altogether 쑗 She
hit the target three times in all 2
some-thing which you intend to achieve
task
task /
piece of work, that has to be done 쑗 He
had the unpleasant task of telling his
mother about it.
taste
taste / test/ noun 1 the sense on your
tongue that allows you to be aware of
the flavour of something when you put
it in your mouth 쑗 I’ve got a cold, so
I’ve lost all sense of taste 2 a flavour of
something that you eat or drink 쑗 The
pudding has a funny or strange taste 쑗
Do you like the taste of garlic? 쑗 This
milk shake has no taste at all 쐽 verb 1
to notice the taste of something with
your tongue 쑗 Can you taste the onions
in this soup? 쑗 She’s got a cold so she
can’t taste anything 2 to have a certain
flavour 쑗 This cake tastes of soap 쑗
What is this green stuff? – It tastes like
cabbage 쑗 The pudding tastes very
good 3 to try food or drink to see if you
like it 쑗 Would you like to taste the
wine? 쑗 She asked if she could taste the
cheese before buying it.
tasty
tasty / testi/ adjective with a pleasant
taste (NOTE: tastier – tastiest)
taught
taught /
ple of teach
tax
tax /tks/ noun money taken by the
gov-ernment to pay for govgov-ernment services
쑗 The government is planning to
intro-duce a tax on food 쑗 You must pay your
tax on the correct date 쑗 The
newspa-per headline says ‘TAXES TO GO UP’.
taxi
taxi / tksi/ noun a car which you can
hire with a driver 쑗 Can you call a taxi
to take me to the airport? 쑗 Why aren’t
there any taxis at the station today? 쑗
There are no buses on Sunday
after-noons, so we had to take a taxi to the
party (NOTE: also often called a cab
and sometimes taxicab)
tea
tea /
water which has been poured onto the
dried leaves of a tropical plant 쑗 Can I
have another cup of tea or some more
tea? 쑗 I don’t like tea – can I have coffee
instead? 2 a cup of tea 쑗 Can we have
two teas and two cakes, please? 3 the
dried leaves of a tropical plant used to
make a warm drink 쑗 We’ve run out of tea, can you put it on your shopping
list? 4. a meal eaten in the late afternoon
or early evening 쑗 The children have had their tea.
teach
teach /
to do something 쑗 She taught me how to dance 쑗 He teaches maths in the local school (NOTE: teaches – teaching – taught /
teacher
teacher /
teaches, especially in a school 쑗 Mr Jones is our maths teacher 쑗 The French teacher is ill today 쑗 He trained
as a primary school teacher 쒁 pet
teaching
teaching /
ing a teacher or of giving lessons 쑗 The report praised the high standard of teaching at the college 쑗 He was work-ing in a bank, but has decided to go into teaching instead.
team
team /
who play a game together 쑗 There are eleven people in a football team and fif-teen in a rugby team 쑗 He’s a fan of the local football team 쑗 Our college team
played badly last Saturday 2 a group of
people who work together 쑗 They make
a very effective team 쑗 In this job you have to be able to work as a member of
a team.
teapot
teapot /
is used for making tea in
tear
tear 1 /tə/ noun a drop of salt water which forms in your eye when you cry
쑗 Tears were running down her cheeks.
왍 in tears crying 쑗 All the family were
in tears 왍 to burst into tears to
sud-denly start crying
tear
tear 2 /teə/ verb 1 to make a hole in
something by pulling 쑗 He tore his trou-sers climbing over the fence 쑗 My coat
is torn – can it be mended? 2 to pull
something into small pieces 쑗 He tore the letter in half 쑗 She tore up old news-papers to pack the cups and saucers.
(NOTE: tears – tearing – tore / torn / 쐽 noun a place where something has a hole in it from being
torn 쑗 Can you mend the tear in my jeans?
Trang 5tease 324 temple
tease
tease /
to annoy someone on purpose 쑗 He
teased her about her new haircut 쑗
Stop teasing that poor cat.
teaspoon
teaspoon /
spoon for stirring tea or other liquid 쑗
Can you bring me a teaspoon, please?
technical
technical / teknk(ə)l/ adjective
relat-ing to industrial processes or practical
work 쑗 Don’t bother with the technical
details of how the machine works, just
tell me what it does 쑗 The instructions
are too technical for the ordinary
per-son to understand.
technique
technique /tek
ing something 쑗 He developed a new
technique for processing steel 쑗 She
has a specially effective technique for
dealing with complaints from
custom-ers.
technology
technology /tek nɒləd"i/ noun the use
or study of industrial or scientific skills
쑗 We already have the technology to
produce such a machine 쑗 The
govern-ment has promised increased support
for science and technology.
teenager
teenager /
son aged between 13 and 19 쑗 She
writes stories for teenagers.
teeshirt
teeshirt /
shirt with a round neck and no buttons
or collar, usually with short sleeves
teeth
teeth /
telephone
telephone / telfəυn/ noun a machine
which you use to speak to someone who
is some distance away 쑗 I was in the
garden when you called, but by the time
I got to the house the telephone had
stopped ringing 쑗 She lifted the
tele-phone and called the ambulance 쐽 verb
to call someone using a telephone 쑗
Your wife telephoned when you were
out 쑗 Can you telephone me at ten
o’clock tomorrow evening? 쑗 I need to
telephone our office in New York (NOTE:
Telephone is often shortened to
phone: phone call, phone book.)
telescope
telescope / telskəυp/ noun a piece of
equipment for looking at objects which
are very far away, consisting of a long
tube with a series of lenses in it 쑗 With
a telescope you can see the ships very
clearly 쑗 He watched the stars using a telescope in his back garden.
television
television /tel v"(ə)n/ noun 1 sound
and pictures which are sent through the air or along cables and appear on a
spe-cial machine 쑗 television programmes
쑗 We don’t watch television every night.
쑗 Is there any football on television
to-night? 2 a piece of electrical equipment
which shows television pictures 쑗 I switched off the television before going
to bed (NOTE: Television is often writ-ten or spoken as TV /
tell
tell / tel/ verb 1 to communicate
some-thing to someone, e.g a story or a joke
쑗 She told me a long story about how she got lost in London 쑗 I don’t think
they are telling the truth 2 to give
in-formation to someone 쑗 The policeman told them how to get to the post office 쑗
He told the police that he had seen the accident take place 쑗 Don’t tell my mother you saw me at the pub 쑗
No-body told us about the picnic 3 왍 to tell someone what to do to give someone
instructions 쑗 The teacher told the chil-dren to stand in a line 쑗 Give a shout to
tell us when to start 4 to notice
some-thing 쑗 He can’t tell the difference be-tween butter and margarine 쑗 You can tell he is embarrassed when his face goes red (NOTE: tells – telling – told
/təυld/)
temper
temper / tempə/ noun the state of
be-coming angry 쑗 You have to learn to control your temper 쑗 He has a violent temper 쑗 She got into a temper.
temperature
temperature / temprtʃə/ noun 1 heat
measured in degrees 쑗 The temperature
of water in the swimming pool is 25° 쑗
Temperatures in the Arctic can be very low 쑗 I can’t start the car when the tem-perature is below zero 쑗 Put the ther-mometer in the patient’s mouth – I want
to take her temperature 2 an illness
where your body is hotter than normal 쑗
She’s off work with a temperature 쑗
The doctor says he’s got a temperature and has to stay in bed.
temple
temple / tempəl/ noun a building for worship, usually Hindu or Buddhist, or
ancient Greek or Roman 쑗 We visited the Greek temples on the islands.
Trang 6temporarily 325 terrific
temporarily
temporarily /temp(ə) rerəli/ adverb
for a short time only
temporary
temporary / temp(ə)rəri/ adjective
ex-isting or lasting only for a limited time
쑗 She has a temporary job with a
con-struction company 쑗 This arrangement
is only temporary.
tempt
tempt /tempt/ verb to try to persuade
someone to do something, especially
something pleasant or wrong 쑗 Can I
tempt you to have another cream cake?
쑗 They tried to tempt him to leave his
job and work for them.
ten
ten /ten/ noun the number 10 쑗 In the
market they’re selling ten oranges for
two dollars 쑗 She’s ten (years old) next
week 쑗 The next plane for Paris leaves
at 10 (o’clock) in the evening.
tend
tend / tend/ verb 1 to look after
some-thing 쑗 His job is to tend the flower beds
in front of the town hall 2 왍 to tend to
do something to be likely to do
some-thing 쑗 She tends to lose her temper
very easily.
tendency
tendency / tendənsi/ noun the way in
which someone or something is likely to
act 쑗 The photocopier has a tendency to
break down if you try to do too many
copies at the same time 쑗 He has an
un-fortunate tendency to sit in a corner and
go to sleep at parties.
tender
tender / tendə/ adjective 1 (of food)
easy to cut or chew 쑗 a plate of tender
young beans 쑗 The meat was so tender,
you hardly needed a knife to cut it 2.
showing love 쑗 The plants need a lot of
tender loving care 3 painful when
touched
tennis
tennis / tens/ noun a game for two or
four players who use rackets to hit a ball
over a net 쑗 He’s joined the local tennis
club 쑗 Would you like a game of tennis?
tenor
tenor / tenə/ adjective with a high pitch,
similar to that of a tenor 쑗 He plays the
tenor saxophone 쑗 He has a pleasant
tenor voice Compare bass 쐽noun a
man who sings with the highest male
voice 쑗 The tenors start the song,
fol-lowed by the sopranos.
tense
tense /tens/ adjective nervous and
wor-ried 쑗 I always get tense before going to
an interview 쑗 The atmosphere in the
hall was tense as everyone waited for the result of the vote 쐽 noun the form of
a verb which shows the time when the action takes place
tension
tension / tenʃən/ noun 1 nervous or
worried feelings 쑗 Tension built up as
we waited for the result 2 feelings of
anger or hate between countries or races
쑗 There is tension in the area caused by
fighting between tribes 3 the state of
being tight 쑗 You need to adjust the ten-sion in your tennis racket.
tent
tent /tent/ noun a shelter made of cloth, held up by poles and attached to the ground with ropes
tenth
tenth /tenθ/ adjective number 10 in a
se-ries 쑗 That’s the tenth phone call I’ve had this morning 쑗 She came tenth in a national competition 쐽 noun the thing
that is number 10 in a series 쑗 the tenth
of April or April the tenth (April 10th)
term
term /
school or university year 쑗 The autumn term ends on December 15th 쑗 Next term I’ll be starting to learn the piano.
2 a word or phrase which has a
particu-lar meaning 쑗 He used several technical terms which I didn’t understand 쑗
Some people use ‘darling’ as a term of affection.
terminal
terminal /
an airport where planes arrive or leave 쑗
The flight leaves from Terminal 4 쐽 ad-jective referring to the last period of a
serious illness that will lead to death 쑗
The condition is terminal.
terrace
terrace / terəs/ noun 1 a flat outdoor
area which is raised above another area
쑗 The guests had drinks on the terrace
before going in to dinner 2 a row of
similar houses connected together
terrible
terrible / terb(ə)l/ adjective very bad 쑗
We shouldn’t have come to this party – the music’s terrible 쑗 There was a ter-rible storm last night.
terribly
terribly / terbli/ adverb 1 very 쑗 I’m terribly sorry to have kept you waiting.
쑗 The situation is terribly serious 2 in
a very bad way 쑗 The farmers suffered terribly from drought.
terrific
terrific /tə rfk/ adjective 1 extremely
good 쑗 We had a terrific time at the
Trang 7par-terrify 326 that
ty 2 very big or loud 쑗 There was a
ter-rific bang and the whole building
col-lapsed.
terrify
terrify / terfa/ verb to make someone
very frightened 쑗 The sound of thunder
terrifies me (NOTE: terrifies –
terrify-ing – terrified)
territory
territory / tert(ə)ri/ noun 1 a large area
of land 쑗 They occupied all the territory
on the east bank of the river 2 land
which belongs to a country 쑗 A group of
soldiers had wandered into enemy
terri-tory 3 an area which an animal or bird
thinks belongs only to it 쑗 Animals
of-ten fight to defend their territories.
(NOTE: The plural is territories.)
terror
terror / terə/ noun great fear 쑗 They live
in constant terror of terrorist attacks.
terrorist
terrorist / terərst/ noun a person who
practises terrorism 쑗 Terrorists hijacked
a plane and told the pilot to fly to Rome.
쐽 adjective referring to terrorism 쑗
Ter-rorist attacks have increased over the
last few weeks.
test
test / test/ noun 1 an examination to see
if you know something 쑗 We had an
English test yesterday 쑗 She passed her
driving test 2 an examination to see if
something is working well 쑗 The doctor
will have to do a blood test 쑗 It is a
good test of the car’s ability to brake
fast 쐽 verb 1 to find out how well
someone can do something or how well
someone knows something 쑗 The
teacher tested my spoken German 2 to
examine someone or something to see if
everything is working well 쑗 We need to
test your reactions to noise and bright
lights 쑗 He has to have his eyes tested.
쑗 She tested her new car in the snow.
text
text /tekst/ noun the written parts of a
document or book, not the pictures 쑗
It’s a book for little children, with lots of
pictures and very little text.
textbook
textbook / tekstbυk/ noun a book
which students use to learn about the
subject they are studying
text message
text message / tekst mesd"/ noun a
message sent by telephone, using short
forms of words, which appear on the
screen of a mobile phone
than
than /ðən, ðn/ conjunction used to
show a comparison 쑗 It’s hotter this week than it was last week 쐽 preposi-tion used to link two parts of a
compari-son 쑗 His car is bigger than mine 쑗 She was born in London, so she knows it bet-ter than any other town 쑗 You can’t get more than four people into this lift 쑗
It’s less than five kilometres to the near-est station.
thank
thank /θŋk/ verb to say or do some-thing that shows you are grateful to
someone for doing something for you 쑗
She thanked the policeman for helping her to cross the street 쑗 Don’t forget to thank Aunt Ann for her present.
thanks
thanks /θŋks/ noun a word showing
that you are grateful 쑗 We sent our thanks for the gift 쑗 We did our best to help but got no thanks for it 쑗 The com-mittee passed a vote of thanks to the school for having organised the meet-ing 쑗 Many thanks for your letter of the 15th 쐽 interjection used to show you
are grateful 쑗 Do you want some more tea? – No thanks I’ve had two cups al-ready 쑗 Anyone want a lift to the sta-tion? – Thanks, it’s a long walk from here.
thanks to
thanks to /
for saying that someone or something is responsible for something or to blame for something
thank you
thank you /
showing that you are grateful 쑗 Thank you very much for your letter of the 15th 쑗 Did you remember to say thank you to your grandmother for the present? 쑗 Would you like another piece
of cake? – No thank you, I’ve had enough 쐽 noun something that you do
or say to show you are grateful 쑗 Let’s say a big thank you to the people who organised the show.
that
that /ðt/ adjective used to show some-thing or someone that is further away or
in the past 쑗 Can you see that white house on the corner over there? 쑗 Do you remember the name of that awful
hotel in Brighton? Compare this (NOTE:
The plural is those.) 쐽 pronoun
some-thing or someone that is further away 쑗
That’s the book I was talking about 쑗
Trang 8thaw 327 then
Do you know who that is sitting at the
next table? 쑗 Is that the one? – Yes,
that’s it Compare this 쐽 relative
pro-noun used to give more information
about someone or something just
men-tioned 쑗 Where is the parcel that she
sent you yesterday? 쑗 Can you see the
man that sold you the ticket? 쑗 There’s
the suitcase that you left on the train!
(NOTE: When it is the object of a
rela-tive clause, that can sometimes be left
out: Where’s the letter he sent you?
Here’s the box you left in the bedroom
When it is the subject, that can be
re-placed by which or who: a house that
has red windows or a house which has
red windows; the man that stole the
car or the man who stole the car.) 쐽
conjunction used after verbs like ‘say’
or ‘think’ and adjectives like ‘glad’ or
‘disappointed’, and after ‘so’ or ‘such’
쑗 The restaurant was so expensive that
we could only afford one dish 쑗 It
rained so hard that the street was like a
river 쑗 We had such a lot of work that
we didn’t have any lunch 쑗 There was
such a long queue that we didn’t bother
waiting 쑗 They told me that the
manag-er was out 쑗 I don’t think they knew
that we were coming 쑗 I’m glad that the
weather turned out fine (NOTE: That is
often left out: He didn’t know we were
coming; It’s so hot in here we all want
a drink of water.) 쐽 adverb to such a
de-gree 쑗 You must remember him, it’s not
all that long ago that we had a drink
with him 쑗 His new car is not really
that big.
thaw
thaw /
which makes snow and ice melt 쑗 The
thaw came early this year 쐽 verb to
melt 쑗 The ice is thawing on the village
pond.
the
the / ðə/; before a vowel /ð/ article 1.
meaning something in particular, as
op-posed to ‘a’ 쑗 Where’s the book you
brought back from the library? 쑗 That’s
the cat from next door 쑗 The town
cen-tre has been made into a pedestrian
zone 2 used with something of which
only one exists, e.g in the names of
places 쑗 an expedition to the Antarctic
쑗 A spacecraft landed on the moon 쑗
The sun came up over the hills 3 used
for referring to a thing in general 쑗
There’s nothing interesting on the tele-vision tonight 쑗 She refuses to use the telephone 쑗 The streets are crowded at lunchtime 쑗 Both sisters play the flute.
4 meaning something special 쑗 It’s the shop for men’s clothes 쑗 She’s the doc-tor for children’s diseases 쑗 That’s not
the Charlie Chaplin, is it? 5 used to
compare 쑗 The more he eats the thinner
he seems to get 쑗 The sooner you do it the better 쑗 This is by far the shortest way to London 쑗 She’s the tallest per-son in the office.
theater
theater / θətə/ noun US spelling of the-atre
theatre
theatre / θətə/ noun a building in which
plays are shown 쑗 I’m trying to get tick-ets for the theatre tonight 쑗 What is the play at the local theatre this week? 쑗
We’ll have dinner early and then go to the theatre.
their
their /ðeə/ adjective belonging to them 쑗
After the film, we went to their house for supper (NOTE: Do not confuse with
there, they’re.)
theirs
theirs /ðeəz/ pronoun the one that
be-longs to them 쑗 Which car is theirs – the Ford? 쑗 She’s a friend of theirs 쑗 The girls wanted to borrow my car – theirs wouldn’t start.
them
them / ðəm, ðem/ pronoun 1 referring to
people or things that have been
men-tioned before 쑗 Do you like cream cakes? – No, I don’t like them very much 쑗 There’s a group of people wait-ing outside – Tell them to come in 쑗
She saw her friends and asked them to
help her 2 referring to a single person, used instead of him or her 쑗 If someone phones, ask them to call back later.
theme
theme /
book or article 쑗 The theme of the book
is how to deal with illness in the family.
themselves
themselves /ðəm selvz/ pronoun re-ferring to the same people or things that
are the subject of the verb 쑗 Cats always spend a lot of time cleaning themselves.
쑗 It’s no use going to the surgery – the doctors are all ill themselves.
then
then / ðen/ adverb 1 at that time in the
past or future 쑗 He had been very busy
Trang 9theory 328 think
up till then 쑗 Ever since then I’ve
re-fused to eat oysters 쑗 We’re having a
party next week – What a pity! I’ll be in
Scotland then 2 after that 쑗 We all sat
down, and then after a few minutes the
waiter brought us the menu 쑗 It was a
busy trip – he went to Greece, then to
It-aly and finally to Spain.
theory
theory / θəri/ noun 1 an explanation of
something which has not been proved
but which you believe is true 쑗 I have a
theory which explains why the police
never found the murder weapon 2 a
careful scientific explanation of why
something happens 쑗 Galileo put
for-ward the theory that the earth turns
round the sun 3 a statement of general
principles which may not apply in
prac-tice 쑗 In theory the treatment should
work, but no one has ever tried it.
(NOTE: The plural is theories.)
there
there /ðeə/ adverb 1 in that place 쑗 Is
that black van still there parked outside
the house? 쑗 Where have you put the
tea? – There, on the kitchen counter 2.
to that place 쑗 We haven’t been to the
British Museum yet – Let’s go there
to-morrow 쑗 Have you ever been to
Chi-na? – Yes, I went there last month 3.
used when giving something to
some-one 쑗 There you are: two fish and chips
and a pot of tea (NOTE: Do not confuse
with their, they’re.) 쐽 pronoun used
usually before the verb when the real
subject follows the verb 쑗 There’s a
lit-tle door leading onto the patio 쑗
There’s someone at the door asking for
you 쑗 There are some pages missing in
my newspaper 쑗 Were there a lot of
people at the cinema? 쑗 There seems to
have been a lot of rain during the night.
therefore
therefore /
son 쑗 I therefore have decided not to
grant his request 쑗 They have reduced
their prices, therefore we should reduce
ours if we want to stay competitive.
thermometer
thermometer /θə mɒmtə/ noun an
in-strument for measuring temperature
these
these /
they
they / ðe/ pronoun 1 referring to people
or things 쑗 Where do you keep the
spoons? – They’re in the right-hand
drawer 쑗 Who are those people in
uni-form? – They’re traffic wardens 쑗 The children played in the sun and they all
got sunburnt 2. referring to people in
general 쑗 They say it’s going to be fine this weekend (NOTE: When it is the
ob-ject, them is used instead of they: We
gave it to them; The police beat them with sticks; also when it follows the
verb to be: Who’s that? – It’s them!)
they’re
they’re /ðeə/ short form they are (NOTE:
Do not confuse with their, there.)
thick
thick / θk/ adjective 1 bigger than usual
when measured from side to side 쑗 He cut a slice of bread which was so thick it wouldn’t go into the toaster 쑗 The walls
of the castle are three metres thick 쑗
Some oranges have very thick skins 쑗
He took a piece of thick rope 2 growing
close together 쑗 They tried to make their way through thick jungle 쑗 The field
was covered with thick grass 3 (of a
liquid) which cannot flow easily 쑗 If the paint is too thick add some water 쑗 A bowl of thick soup is just what we need
on a cold day like this.
thief
thief /
(NOTE: The plural is thieves /
thigh
thigh /θa/ noun the part at the top of the leg between your knee and your hip
thin
thin /θn/ adjective 1 not fat 쑗 The table has very thin legs 쑗 He looks too thin –
he should eat more 2 not thick 쑗 a plate of thin sandwiches 쑗 The book is printed on very thin paper 쑗 The parcel
was sent in a thin cardboard box 3 (of
a liquid) which flows easily, often
be-cause of containing too much water 쑗
All we had for lunch was a bowl of thin soup 쑗 Add water to make the paint thinner.
thing
thing /θŋ/ noun 1 an object 쑗 Can you see that black thing in the pan of soup?
쑗 What do you use that big blue thing
for? 2 something in general 쑗 They all just sat there and didn’t say a thing 쑗
The first thing to do is to call an ambu-lance 쑗 That was a stupid thing to do!
think
think / θŋk/ verb 1 to consider
some-thing 쑗 We never think about what peo-ple might say, we always do what we
think is right 2 to have an opinion 쑗 I think London is a nicer town to live in than Frankfurt 쑗 Everyone thinks we’re
Trang 10third 329 those
mad to go on holiday in December 쑗
The weather forecasters think it’s going
to rain 쑗 The gang is thought to be
based in Spain 3 to make a plan to do
something 쑗 We’re thinking we might
open an office in New York (NOTE:
thinks – thinking – thought / 앳
to think twice to consider very
careful-ly 쑗 Think twice before you sign that
contract 쑗 I’d think twice about
spend-ing all the money you’ve saved.
think about phrasal verb 1 to have
someone or something in your mind 쑗 I
was just thinking about you when you
phoned 쑗 All she thinks about is food.
2 to have an opinion about something 쑗
What do you think about the
govern-ment’s plans to increase taxes?
think of phrasal verb 1 to consider a
plan in your mind 쑗 We are thinking of
going to Greece on holiday 2 to have
an opinion about something 쑗 What do
you think of the government’s plans to
increase taxes? 쑗 I didn’t think much of
the play 쑗 She asked him what he
thought of her idea 앳 to think better
of something to change your mind
about something 쑗 He was going to pay
the whole cost himself, and then thought
better of it.
think up phrasal verb to invent a plan
or new idea
third
third /
ries 쑗 She came third in the race 쑗 The
cake shop is the third shop on the right.
쑗 It will be her third birthday next
Fri-day 2 next after the longest, best,
tall-est etc (followed by a superlative) 쑗
This is the third tallest building in the
world 쑗 He’s the third most senior
member of staff 쐽 noun 1 the thing that
is number three in a series 쑗 Her
birth-day is on the third of March or March
the third (March 3rd) 2 one of three
equal parts of something 쑗 A third of the
airline’s planes are jumbos 쑗
Two-thirds of the staff are part-timers.
thirsty
thirsty /
you want to drink 쑗 It’s so hot here that
it makes me thirsty.
thirteen
thirteen /
쑗 He’s only thirteen (years old), but he
can drive a car 쑗 She’ll be thirteen next Monday.
thirteenth
thirteenth /
13 in a series 쑗 It’s her thirteenth birth-day on Monbirth-day 쐽 noun the thing that is
number 13 in a series 쑗 The thirteenth
of September or September the thir-teenth (September 13th).
thirtieth
thirtieth /
in a series 쑗 her thirtieth birthday
(NOTE: With dates thirtieth is usually written 30th: May 30th, 1921; June 30th, 1896 (American style is June 30, 1896): say ‘the thirtieth of June’ or
‘June the thirtieth’ (American style is
‘June thirtieth’).) 쐽 noun the thing that
is number 30 in a series
thirty
thirty (years old) 쑗 Over thirty people complained 왍 they are both in their thirties they are both aged between 30
and 39 years old 왍 the (nineteen-) thir-ties (1930s) the period from 1930 to
1939
this
this /ðs/ adjective, pronoun used to show something which is nearer or in the present, in contrast to something
else 쑗 This is the shop I was telling you about 쑗 I prefer these earrings to those ones 쑗 I saw him on the train this morn-ing 쑗 My mother is coming for tea this afternoon 쑗 I expect to hear from him this week (NOTE: The plural is these.)
쐽 adverb so much 쑗 I knew you were going to be late, but I didn’t expect you
to be this late.
thorn
thorn /
some plants 쑗 Most roses have thorns.
thorough
thorough / θrə/ adjective 1 dealing
with everything very carefully 쑗 The police have carried out a thorough
search of the woods 2 used for
empha-sis 쑗 They made a thorough mess of it.
쑗 It was a thorough waste of time.
thoroughly
thoroughly / θrəli/ adverb 1 in a
complete and careful way 쑗 We searched the garden thoroughly but
couldn’t find his red ball 2 used for
emphasis 쑗 I’m thoroughly fed up with the whole business.
those
those / ðəυz/ plural of that
... you have to be able to work as a member ofa team.
teapot
teapot /
is used for making tea in
tear
tear... on
May 1st 쑗 When our history teacher
was ill, the English teacher had to take
over his classes 쑗 The Socialists...
take / tek/ verb to lift and move
some-thing 쑗 She took the pot of jam down
from the shelf 쑗 The waiter took the
ta-blecloth