Describing Your Day: The Evening
2021-10-15
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1Near the end of The Remains of the Day, a famous book by Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the characters says the following words:
2"The evening's* the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it."
3In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore the connection between grammar and evening time.
4You will learn about how to describe your favorite part of the day and common evening activities.
5Let's start with a few important terms and ideas.
6Adjectives describe people or things.
7Think of words like old or big. You might describe someone as an old friend.
8You might describe a structure as a big building.
9But when English speakers use adjectives to compare people or things, something happens.
10These adjectives take on a comparative form and are often followed by the word than.
11So, old becomes older, big becomes bigger.
12Here is an example:
13Bob is older than Jim.
14English has adjectives that are irregular in the comparative form.
15Good is one of these adjectives. In comparisons, good becomes better, as in:
16Bob is better than Jim.
17Sometimes you might want to compare many things.
18One of those things is at the top.
19You could use a form known as the superlative.
20Superlatives often have an -est ending, as in oldest or biggest.
21Once again, English has adjectives that are irregular in the superlative form. One of these adjectives, good, becomes best.
22That is how we arrive at a statement such as:
23The evening's the best part of the day.
24This statement is comparing a group of things - times of the day.
25These times might include morning, afternoon, evening and night.
26English speakers use certain verbs and verb forms to describe common evening activities.
27Common examples include: watch, listen to, play, or talk to.
28For example, people might watch television in the evening.
29Or they might listen to music or listen to the radio.
30They might play sports - football, basketball, tennis, or cricket.
31They might even talk to friends or talk to family.
32English speakers also use expressions - phrasal verbs and different kinds of idioms - to describe evening activities.
33For example, people might run errands after work, or run errands after school.
34An errand is a short trip you take to get something or do something.
35But it generally does not involve running.
36You could run errands in a car, by bus or by bike.
37And when you run errands, you might pick up things or people.
38In this case, the phrasal verb pick up means to go out in order to bring back someone or something.
39You could pick up food or pick up your brother from school, for example.
40In today's report, we explored some ideas about comparisons and common evening activities.
41Take what you have learned and ask yourself some questions.
42What is your favorite part of the day?
43 Do you agree that evening is the best time of the day?
44What common activities do you like to do in the evening?
45Write in the comments section of our website, learningenglish.voanews.com
46I'm John Russell.
1Near the end of The Remains of the Day, a famous book by Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the characters says the following words: 2"The evening's* the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it." 3In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore the connection between grammar and evening time. You will learn about how to describe your favorite part of the day and common evening activities. 4Let's start with a few important terms and ideas. 5Comparatives and superlatives 6Adjectives describe people or things. Think of words like old or big. You might describe someone as an old friend. You might describe a structure as a big building. 7But when English speakers use adjectives to compare people or things, something happens. These adjectives take on a comparative form and are often followed by the word than. 8So, old becomes older, big becomes bigger. 9Here is an example: 10Bob is older than Jim. 11English has adjectives that are irregular in the comparative form. Good is one of these adjectives. In comparisons, good becomes better, as in: 12Bob is better than Jim. 13Sometimes you might want to compare many things. One of those things is at the top. You could use a form known as the superlative. Superlatives often have an -est ending, as in oldest or biggest. 14Once again, English has adjectives that are irregular in the superlative form. One of these adjectives, good, becomes best. 15That is how we arrive at a statement such as: 16The evening's the best part of the day. 17This statement is comparing a group of things - times of the day. These times might include morning, afternoon, evening and night. 18Evening activities 19English speakers use certain verbs and verb forms to describe common evening activities. 20Common examples include: watch, listen to, play, or talk to. 21For example, people might watch television in the evening. 22Or they might listen to music or listen to the radio. 23They might play sports - football, basketball, tennis, or cricket. 24They might even talk to friends or talk to family. 25English speakers also use expressions - phrasal verbs and different kinds of idioms - to describe evening activities. 26For example, people might run errands after work, or run errands after school. 27An errand is a short trip you take to get something or do something. But it generally does not involve running. You could run errands in a car, by bus or by bike. 28And when you run errands, you might pick up things or people. 29In this case, the phrasal verb pick up means to go out in order to bring back someone or something. 30You could pick up food or pick up your brother from school, for example. 31Closing thoughts 32In today's report, we explored some ideas about comparisons and common evening activities. 33Take what you have learned and ask yourself some questions. 34What is your favorite part of the day? Do you agree that evening is the best time of the day? What common activities do you like to do in the evening? 35Write in the comments section of our website, learningenglish.voanews.com 36I'm John Russell. 37John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor. 38*This is short for evening is. 39_____________________________________________________________ 40Words in This Story 41character - n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show 42evening - n. the last part of the day, usually between 6pm and bedtime 43certain - adj. used to refer to something or someone that is not named specifically