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VOA慢速英语2020--Ways to Say You Are Annoyed

时间:2020-07-19 17:57:17

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(单词翻译)

 

Do 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.

As 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 belongings1 or rarely do their share of cleaning.

Listen to a short exchange between friends:

How are things going at home?

Mostly fine. But my brother is getting on my nerves. He is constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he's always hogging3 the computer.

The speaker used present continuous verbs to show that these things happen often – and that she finds them annoying.

On today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore a few forms English speakers use to talk about the present and the past.

Let's first discuss the present and stay with the present continuous.

Present continuous

Sometimes, English speakers use the present continuous verb form to express annoyance4 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."

Let'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 reminder5, the present continuous verb tense is formed with is/are plus a verb ending in -ing:

He is constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he's always hogging the computer.

Did 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."

Wish + would

Another way we casually6 complain about present behavior is with the form wish + would. Listen to a speaker talk about a current problem:

I wish you would take your health seriously. You have not visited the doctor in over a year.

For 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]

Note 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:

I wish you wouldn't ignore your health. You have not visited the doctor in over a year.

Past continuous

Now let's talk about ways English speakers express annoyance about past behavior.

We can use a continuous tense — this time the past continuous — to say that something aggravating7 happened often in the past.

Suppose 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.

Listen 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:

He was constantly leaving dirty clothes in the bathroom. And he was always hogging the computer.

Did 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.

Kept + gerund

Finally we move to the past form kept + gerund. As a reminder, a gerund is a noun ending in -ing.

You 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.

Listen to an example and pay attention for the form kept + gerund:

Our dog kept chewing on everything. He was becoming a real nuisance until we brought in a behavioral specialist.

Did you find the form kept + gerund? The gerund here is "chewing."

Kept + gerund has a similar meaning to the past continuous when expressing annoyance or aggravation8 about a past problem. And, we sometimes explain how we solved whatever problem we were facing.

Well, that's our program for today. Join us again soon for another lesson on grammar for everyday speaking and writing.

I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

annoying - adj. causing someone to feel slightly angry

get on (one's) nerves - expression.

constantly - adv. happening all the time or very often over a period of time

hog2 - v. to take, keep or use something in a way that prevents other people from having or using it

negative - adj. expressing dislike or disapproval9

phrase - n. a small group words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence

clause - n. a part of a sentence that has its own subject and verb

aggravating - adj. causing annoyance or exasperation10

habit - n. something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way

focus - v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific

nuisance - n. a person, thing or situation that is annoying or that causes trouble or problems


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1 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
2 hog TrYzRg     
n.猪;馋嘴贪吃的人;vt.把…占为己有,独占
参考例句:
  • He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
  • Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。
3 hogging 9e6b67c9428819290450a22f4be0d080     
n.弯[翘]曲,挠度,扭曲;拱曲
参考例句:
  • At first glance, the spotlight-hogging boss seems the villain. 乍一看,好抢镜头的上司似乎是个反面人物。 来自辞典例句
  • This guy has been 5 hogging the bathroom for 25 minutes! 那家伙霸占着洗手间25分钟了! 来自互联网
4 annoyance Bw4zE     
n.恼怒,生气,烦恼
参考例句:
  • Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气?
  • I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。
5 reminder WkzzTb     
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示
参考例句:
  • I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
  • It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知,她才付应该交的房租。
6 casually UwBzvw     
adv.漠不关心地,无动于衷地,不负责任地
参考例句:
  • She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
  • I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。
7 aggravating a730a877bac97b818a472d65bb9eed6d     
adj.恼人的,讨厌的
参考例句:
  • How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰,多令人生气呀!
  • Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。
8 aggravation PKYyD     
n.烦恼,恼火
参考例句:
  • She stirred in aggravation as she said this. 她说这句话,激动得过分。
  • Can't stand the aggravation, all day I get aggravation. You know how it is." 我整天都碰到令人发火的事,你可想而知这是什么滋味。” 来自教父部分
9 disapproval VuTx4     
n.反对,不赞成
参考例句:
  • The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
  • They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。
10 exasperation HiyzX     
n.愤慨
参考例句:
  • He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
  • She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。

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