English Phrases for TIME
In this American English pronunciation video,
I am filming from Umbria, on a farm, here
in Italy and I’m going to talk a little bit
about my experience in Italy and also we’re
going to talk about phrases that Americans
use when talking about time.
We’ll go over phrases that use these verbs:
kill, waste, spend, save, bank, take, give, and buy.
First, let me show you where I am.
It’s too beautiful not to show.
The breeze is blowing.
The farm is quiet. Everyone’s on their siesta.
I have decided to do a little bit of work
and share with you a video that I’m going
to make here with some reflections on my time
in Italy and also doing a contrast with some,
something cultural about America, the way
we use and talk about time.
As David and I were getting ready to go on
this trip, we listened to some podcasts, we
watched a lot of videos, travel videos, some
movies that were filmed here.
We were so excited to get to know a little
bit about culture in Italy and how it’s different
from American culture and one of the podcasts
that we listened to was an interview that
someone was doing for an American who has
moved to Italy and she was pointing out that
in America, we have all of these different
phrases that we use, all of these different
verbs that we use with time that they don’t
use in Italy.
In Italy, there seems to be more of a relaxed
feeling around time than there is in the US
where being on time is very important and
we don’t want to waste time. That would be terrible.
Time is a commodity. So it, it made me think
a lot about just the cultural difference is
there and then I was thinking it’s so interesting
the words people use, the verbs people use
when talking about time. Waste.
So we have the phrase ‘waste time’ which
means we think it is possible to waste time.
Not all time is equal.
We have the phrase: to kill time, to bank
time, to spend time.
These really sounds like money kind of terms,
don’t they?
So I found this interesting and I was very
excited to come here to Italy to sort of absorb
what does it mean to not think about time
in these terms because I am definitely guilty
of thinking about wasting time. So before I
go any further, I want to say that I have
prepared a podcast that David and I are going
to record and actually, we think we’re going
to record three that have to do with our time
in Italy and they’re gonna focus on three things.
One of them is going to be just what has it
been like to not be a native speaker, what
have we learned from that experience, and
what might you learn as a non-native speaker
of English when you’re in America.
The next podcast will be on what does it felt
like as a person to be somewhere different,
cultural differences, what’s it like as our
personalities being an outsider or someone
who’s not from here, and then the third one
is we both have terrible Italian skills and
so we have sort of struggled with speaking
and one of our main concerns is being polite.
So the third podcast, that’s going to come
out of this time in Italy, is how to be polite
in English when you’re asking for something.
So the first podcast comes out tomorrow and
then the next ones will come out in the future.
Make sure you check these out. They’re going to be so useful.
www.rachelsenglish.com/ podcast
You can also search for my podcast in the
iTunes Store or also Stitcher.
But now, let’s come back to this video and
talk about this topic.
Phrases that we might use when we’re talking
about time.
Studying vocabulary is very important and
interesting but also studying whole phrases
that we use will really aid in your conversational
ability.
So in this video, we’re going to go over phrases
that we use when we’re talking about time
in American English.
Kill time.
We use this term to mean find something to
do while we wait for something else.
For example, let’s say I’m meeting a friend
for lunch but I arrive 30 minutes early.
What will I do for those 30 minutes?
I might kill time looking in some shops in
the area.
With my son, I might say ‘We’re going to the playground to kill time before his nap.’
This phrase is neutral it’s not really positive
or negative but ‘wasting time’ now, that is negative.
We do not like to waste time.
If we’re wasting time, we’re doing something
that in the end, doesn’t matter.
For example, I don’t want to waste time working
on this report if no one’s going to read it.
Or a parent might say to a kid ‘Stop wasting
time and do your homework.’
We might also accuse someone else of wasting
our time.
My client keeps changing her mind on what
she wants, it’s a complete waste of my time.
Spend time.
The idea here is that time is precious so
what we do if it matters:
I want to spend time with my son this weekend.
I don’t want to spend time cleaning the house.
I’d rather be outside enjoying the sunshine.
He spends a lot of time exercising.
Notice with the word ‘spend’ and ‘time’,
when I say them together: spend time,
I tend to drop the D.
This is because it comes between two consonants.
And I linked the N into the T. Spend time.
I love to spend time practicing the piano.
Save time.
We use this when we’re able to do something
faster than we thought.
I can skip grocery shopping today so that
will save time.
If you use our software, you’ll save time
scheduling the meetings.
Saving time is always seen as a positive.
Bank time.
This is something you do when you’re saving
and it’s usually used with a set amount of
time like your vacation time at work.
I’m going to bank time so I can take a long
vacation over the holidays.
That means you’re not going to take much time
off until then so you can take a really long
and nice vacation.
Take time.
This can be used to show that something isa sacrifice, or it’s for something that requires some effort.
It’s not necessarily a negative.
It can be something you really enjoy.
For example: tending my garden does take time
but I do love it.
Making a good YouTube video takes time with
all the planning and editing.
Fixing my car will take too much time I’m
going to take it to the mechanic instead.
If you ‘give something time’ that means
you have to be patient with something.
It may require no effort or taking a break
from working on something.
For example: I’ve been trying so hard to
come up with a topic for my book.
Now I’m just going to give it some time and
see if a great idea comes to me.
But giving time can also mean being patient
while you continue to work on something.
I just started taking piano lessons again.
I have to give it time to feel confident in playing.
Give it time, your boss will notice how hard
you’re working.
Buy time.
This means you’re delaying something.
Let’s say you’re supposed to give a presentation
but the projector isn’t working, everyone’s already there.
You may ‘buy time’ by serving snacks while
you try to figure out the projector.
They want the first draft of my paper but
it’s not ready yet.
I’m going to try to buy some time by telling
them I’m sick.
Kill, waste, spend, save, bank, take, give, buy.
Do any of these translate directly into your
language?
Okay, guys that’s it.
I hope you’ve learned some useful phrases
that you may want to use when you’re talking
to Americans about time and also maybe this
has shed a little light.
There’s an idiom for you.
To shed light on.
Maybe this video has shed a little light on
American culture and how we relate to time.
Alright guys, that’s it.
And so from the beautiful Umbria countryside,
that’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English!