[ti:Grammar and Talking about Hot Weather]
[al:Everyday Grammar]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-06-07]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]In many places where our readers and listeners live, the weather is getting hotter because of the changing seasons and weather-related events. 
[00:13.02]This week on Everyday Grammar, we will discuss ways to talk about hot weather in English.
[00:20.21]One common way to talk about hot weather is with phrasal verbs.
[00:25.29]A phrasal verb is a group of words that acts as a verb and is made up of a verb and a preposition, an adverb, or both. 
[00:36.71]Let us begin with an American pop song from 1979. 
[00:41.49]In the song, Too Hot, the group Kool and the Gang sang about finding shelter in the shade:
[00:47.81]Oh, it's too hot (Too hot)
[00:50.45]Too hot, lady (Too hot)
[00:54.03]We gotta run for shelter
[00:55.80]Gotta run for shade
[00:58.67]Note that the singer uses the expression "run for" before the words shelter and shade.
[01:05.52]The phrasal verb "run for" something means to work towards a goal.
[01:10.60]You may have heard of people who run for a public office.
[01:14.78]To "run for shade" is to move into an area where the direct light of the sun is blocked. Usually, it is cooler in the shade.
[01:23.68]Another phrasal verb we use is "heat up."
[01:27.36]Like other phrasal verbs with the preposition "up," it means there is an increase in something.
[01:33.78]Here, the increase is in the temperature. For example,
[01:38.56]The day started cool in the morning but heated up in the afternoon.
[01:44.63]Another way of speaking about hot weather involves collocations. 
[01:49.76]A collocation is a particular combination of words that we hear at the same time.
[01:56.87]For example, one collocation is "sweltering" with "heat" or "summer."
[02:03.46]The southern half of Japan gets sweltering summers.
[02:09.70]We go to the pool to escape the sweltering heat.
[02:15.70]A third way is to describe the weather with words we use for cooking. 
[02:21.96]We are making a metaphor when we compare the effects of heat on us to cooking methods.
[02:27.78]To sear meat, for example, is to heat the surface quickly. We might say,
[02:35.04]He never turns on the air conditioner, even in the searing heat of summer.
[02:42.58]To scorch is to slightly burn something. 
[02:46.13]So, it is not surprising that we hear this word used in the summer:
[02:50.97]It's a scorcher! Let's go to the beach.
[02:54.98]Usually, we talk about roasting meat, or cooking it with dry heat.
[03:00.35]In that case roast is a transitive verb that needs an object. 
[03:05.86]But when we use it to say how hot we feel, it is an intransitive verb that does not need an object.
[03:12.99]For example, you can simply say:
[03:16.34]I'm roasting! Give me a cold drink.
[03:21.44]The same is true of the verb "boil." Usually we boil foods, like eggs. But in hot weather, we might say:
[03:29.85]I'm boiling. How about having ice cream?
[03:33.94]One last hot weather expression: "it's so hot that..." A common statement with this is,
[03:42.43]It's so hot that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk.
[03:47.81]How do people talk about the heat where you live? 
[03:51.68]Do you use phrasal verbs, collocations, or metaphors?
[03:57.32]How about intransitive verbs? Write to us at learningenglish@voanews.com and we will share your messages in another story.
[04:07.45]And that's Everyday Grammar!
[04:10.30]I'm Jill Robbins.