Ways to Say You Are Annoyed
2020-07-17
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Do you ever get annoyed about something that a person does or says often?
2More than likely, the answer is yes.
3We are all human, after all.
4As we spend long periods at home, for example, some of our loved ones' behaviors might become annoying.
5Maybe you wish they would give you more space or privacy, for example.
6Or maybe they make too much noise, use your belongings or rarely do their share of cleaning.
7Listen to a short exchange between friends:
8How are things going at home?
9Mostly fine. But my brother is getting on my nerves.
10He is constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom.
11And he's always hogging the computer.
12The speaker used present continuous verbs to show that these things happen often - and that she finds them annoying.
13On today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore a few forms English speakers use to talk about the present and the past.
14Let's first discuss the present and stay with the present continuous.
15Sometimes, English speakers use the present continuous verb form to express annoyance or complain about a repeated action or habit.
16Alone, this verb form does not express negative emotion.
17It must be used with adverbs that mean "all the time," such as "always" "constantly" or "continually."
18Let's listen to part of the earlier exchange again.
19This time, listen for the verbs and notice where the speaker puts the adverbs.
20As a reminder, the present continuous verb tense is formed with is/are plus a verb ending in -ing:
21He is constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he's always hogging the computer.
22Did you find the verbs? They are "is leaving" and "is hogging."
23And, the speaker put the adverbs in between the verbs, such as in the phrase "is constantly leaving."
24Another way we casually complain about present behavior is with the form wish + would.
25Listen to a speaker talk about a current problem:
26I wish you would take your health seriously. You have not visited the doctor in over a year.
27For some English speakers, the wish + would sentence structure may be a little difficult because it contains a noun clause.
28You can learn more about "wish" clauses in earlier Everyday Grammar programs. [LINK]
29Note that we can use the form wish + would in positive sentences with "would" or negative sentences with "wouldn't" to express the same basic meaning.
30Here's an example:
31I wish you wouldn't ignore your health.
32You have not visited the doctor in over a year.
33Now let's talk about ways English speakers express annoyance about past behavior.
34We can use a continuous tense - this time the past continuous - to say that something aggravating happened often in the past.
35Suppose the girl who lives with her brother moved to some other place.
36So, she was able to talk about her annoyance as a past problem.
37Listen for the verbs in the next example.
38As a reminder, the past continuous verb tense is formed with was/were + a verb ending in -ing:
39He was constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he was always hogging the computer.
40Did you find the verbs? They are "was leaving" and "was hogging."
41Again, with this verb tense, adverbs like "always" and "constantly" are needed to express a negative emotion about repeated behavior.
42Finally we move to the past form kept + gerund.
43As a reminder, a gerund is a noun ending in -ing.
44You may remember an earlier Everyday Grammar program that talked about keep + gerund, which has a few uses, such as to express that something that happens again and again [link].
45For today's program, let's focus on kept + gerund for expressing annoyance at a repeated past action.
46Listen to an example and pay attention for the form kept + gerund:
47Our dog kept chewing on everything.
48He was becoming a real nuisance until we brought in a behavioral specialist.
49Did you find the form kept + gerund? The gerund here is "chewing."
50Kept + gerund has a similar meaning to the past continuous when expressing annoyance or aggravation about a past problem.
51And, we sometimes explain how we solved whatever problem we were facing.
52Well, that's our program for today.
53Join us again soon for another lesson on grammar for everyday speaking and writing.
54I'm Alice Bryant.
1Do you ever get annoyed about something that a person does or says often? More than likely, the answer is yes. We are all human, after all. 2As we spend long periods at home, for example, some of our loved ones' behaviors might become annoying. Maybe you wish they would give you more space or privacy, for example. Or maybe they make too much noise, use your belongings or rarely do their share of cleaning. 3Listen to a short exchange between friends: 4How are things going at home? 5Mostly fine. But my brother is getting on my nerves. He is constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he's always hogging the computer. 6The speaker used present continuous verbs to show that these things happen often - and that she finds them annoying. 7On today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore a few forms English speakers use to talk about the present and the past. 8Let's first discuss the present and stay with the present continuous. 9Present continuous 10Sometimes, English speakers use the present continuous verb form to express annoyance or complain about a repeated action or habit. Alone, this verb form does not express negative emotion. It must be used with adverbs that mean "all the time," such as "always" "constantly" or "continually." 11Let's listen to part of the earlier exchange again. This time, listen for the verbs and notice where the speaker puts the adverbs. As a reminder, the present continuous verb tense is formed with is/are plus a verb ending in -ing: 12He is constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he's always hogging the computer. 13Did you find the verbs? They are "is leaving" and "is hogging." And, the speaker put the adverbs in between the verbs, such as in the phrase "is constantly leaving." 14Wish + would 15Another way we casually complain about present behavior is with the form wish + would. Listen to a speaker talk about a current problem: 16I wish you would take your health seriously. You have not visited the doctor in over a year. 17For some English speakers, the wish + would sentence structure may be a little difficult because it contains a noun clause. You can learn more about "wish" clauses in earlier Everyday Grammar programs. [LINK] 18Note that we can use the form wish + would in positive sentences with "would" or negative sentences with "wouldn't" to express the same basic meaning. Here's an example: 19I wish you wouldn't ignore your health. You have not visited the doctor in over a year. 20Past continuous 21Now let's talk about ways English speakers express annoyance about past behavior. 22We can use a continuous tense - this time the past continuous - to say that something aggravating happened often in the past. 23Suppose the girl who lives with her brother moved to some other place. So, she was able to talk about her annoyance as a past problem. 24Listen for the verbs in the next example. As a reminder, the past continuous verb tense is formed with was/were + a verb ending in -ing: 25He was constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he was always hogging the computer. 26Did you find the verbs? They are "was leaving" and "was hogging." Again, with this verb tense, adverbs like "always" and "constantly" are needed to express a negative emotion about repeated behavior. 27Kept + gerund 28Finally we move to the past form kept + gerund. As a reminder, a gerund is a noun ending in -ing. 29You may remember an earlier Everyday Grammar program that talked about keep + gerund, which has a few uses, such as to express that something that happens again and again [link]. For today's program, let's focus on kept + gerund for expressing annoyance at a repeated past action. 30Listen to an example and pay attention for the form kept + gerund: 31Our dog kept chewing on everything. He was becoming a real nuisance until we brought in a behavioral specialist. 32Did you find the form kept + gerund? The gerund here is "chewing." 33Kept + gerund has a similar meaning to the past continuous when expressing annoyance or aggravation about a past problem. And, we sometimes explain how we solved whatever problem we were facing. 34Well, that's our program for today. Join us again soon for another lesson on grammar for everyday speaking and writing. 35I'm Alice Bryant. 36Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 37________________________________________________________________ 38Words in This Story 39annoying - adj. causing someone to feel slightly angry 40get on (one's) nerves - expression. 41constantly - adv. happening all the time or very often over a period of time 42hog - v. to take, keep or use something in a way that prevents other people from having or using it 43negative - adj. expressing dislike or disapproval 44phrase - n. a small group words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence 45clause - n. a part of a sentence that has its own subject and verb 46aggravating - adj. causing annoyance or exasperation 47habit - n. something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way 48focus - v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific 49nuisance - n. a person, thing or situation that is annoying or that causes trouble or problems