My lesson "D"

I daren't ring Jeremy again.

If someone daren't do something, they are not brave enough to do it.

I dare not leave you here alone.

In American English, you use the full form dare not instead of the short form daren't.

She did not dare leave the path. I didn't dare speak or move.

If you are talking about the past, you say that someone did not dare do something or didn't dare do something.

They dared me to jump into water.

When dare is a transitive verb, it has a different meaning. If you dare someone to do something, you invite them to do something dangerous.

Sheilah left a message a few days ago.

A day is a period of twenty-four hours. There are seven days in a week.

The days were dry and the nights were cold. The meeting went on all day.

You also use day to talk about the time when it is light.

I hope you're feeling better today.

You talk about the actual day when you are speaking or writing as today.

We had lunch together the other day.

The other day means a few days ago.

We didn't catch any fish on the first day.

You usually use on to talk about a particular day.

I can afford to do what I want these days. Nowadays most children watch television.

You use these days or nowadays to talk about the present time, especially when things are different now.

I'll come back one day, I promise.

You use one day to say that something will happen sometime in the future.

One day, he came home and she wasn't there.

In stories, one day means an occasion in the past.

They covered the body of the dead woman. He was shot dead.

Someone who is dead is not alive.

He knew the spider was dead. Mary threw away the dead flowers.

You can also say that animals or plants are dead.

Sadly, she died of cancer.

Don't confuse dead with died. Died is the past form and past participle of the verb die. Don't use died as an adjective.

He spent a great deal of time thinking about it. She drank a good deal of coffee that night.

A great deal or a good deal of something is a lot of it.

These expressions can only be used with uncountable nouns.

You can talk, for example, about a great deal of money.

They learned to deal with any sort of emergency.

When you deal with a problem, you give your attention to it.

She dealt with the problem quickly.

The past tense form and participle of deal is dealt.

Rain delayed the start of the match.

If a situation delays an event, it causes that event to start at a later time.

The flight has been delayed one hour, due to weather conditions.

If a plane, train, ship, or bus is delayed, it is late leaving or arriving.

We cancelled our trip to Washington. The match was cancelled yesterday because of bad weather.

If you cancel an event, you decide that it will not take place.

The meeting has been postponed until Tuesday. We can't put off the decision much longer.

If you postpone or put off an event, you decide that it will take place at a later time.

There were demands for better services.

A demand for something is a firm request for it.

Demand for organic food rose by 10% last year.

Demand for a product or service is the amount of it that people want.

They are demanding higher wages. I demand to see a doctor.

If you demand something, you ask for it in a very firm way.

He denied that he was involved in the crime. Rob denied stealing the bike. Don't deny it!

If someone accuses you of something and you deny it, you say that it is not true. Deny must be followed by an object, a clause beginning with that, or an -ing form.

I asked her if she wanted to go to the cinema and she said no.

If someone answers no to an ordinary question, don't say that they deny what they are asked. Say I asked him if Sue was at home, and he said no.

He refused to talk to me. I asked him to apologise, but he refused.

If someone says that they will not do something, don't say that they deny it. Say that they refuse to do it or refuse.

Julie seemed to depend on Simon more and more. The health of the forest depends upon the health of each individual tree.

If you depend on or depend upon someone or something, you need them in order to do something.

The cooking time depends on the size of the potato.

If one thing depends on another thing, it is affected by that thing.

Depend is never an adjective.

Don't say, for example, that someone or something is depend on another person or thing. You say that they are dependent on that person or thing.

They cost £20 or £25 depending on the size.

You use depending on to say what else affects a situation.

What time will you arrive? - It depends. If I go by train, I'll arrive at 5 o'clock. If I go by bus, I'll be a bit later.

Sometimes, people answer a question by saying "it depends". They usually then explain what else affects a situation.

Can you describe your son?

When you describe someone or something, you say what they are like.

The man described what ha had seen. He described how he escaped from prison.

You can use describe in front of a clause beginning with what, where or how.

She described the feeling to me.

You can say that you describe something to someone.

The Sahara Desert.

When desert is a noun, it is pronounced desert. A desert is a large area of land where is almost no water, trees or plants.

Poor farmers are deserting their fields and coming here looking for jobs.

When desert is a verb, it is pronounced to desert. When people or animals desert a place, they all leave it.

All our friends have deserted us.

If you desert someone, you leave them and do not help or support them.

For dessert there was ice cream.

Dessert is sweet food served at the end of a meal.

London was different from most European capital cities.

If one thing is different from another, it is not like the other thing.

Morgan's law books were different to theirs.

Many British people say that one thing is different to another. Different to means the same as different from.

I am no different than I was 50 years ago.

In American English, you can say that one thing is different than another.

He disagreed with her. O'Brien disagreed with the suggestion that his team played badly.

If you disagree with someone, you have different opinion from them.

They always disagree about politics.

You say that two or more people disagree about something.

He refused to give them any money.

If someone says that they will not to do something, don't say that they disagree to do it. Say that they refuse to do it.

I saw him disappear round the corner.

If someone or something disappears, they go where they cannot be seen.

My keys have disappeared!

Don't use disappeared as an adjective. If you cannot find something because it is not in its usual place, don't say that it is disappeared. Say that it has disappeared.

She could not discuss his school work with him. We need to discuss what to do.

If you discuss something with someone, you talk to them seriously about it.

After the lecture there was a discussion.

If you have a discussion with someone, you have a serious conversation with them.

We had long discussion about our future plans. We're having a discussion on sporting activities.

You say that you have a discussion about something or a discussion on something.

I said no, and we had a big argument over it.

Don't use discussion to talk about a situation where people get angry with each other. This is usually called an argument.

If she's asleep, don't disturb her. Sorry to disturb you, but can I use your telephone?

If you disturb someone, you interrupt what they are doing by talking or making a noise.

He was disturbed by the news of the attack.

The adjective disturbed has a different meaning. If someone is disturbed, they are very upset.

do

Do can be an auxiliary or a main verb. Its other forms are does, doing, did, done.

Did you enjoy the film? Where do you come from? I didn't see you there.

When a question or a negative statement is in the present simple or the past simple, and the other verb in the sentence is not be, you often use do.

Don't leave! Don't forget to lock the door when you leave.

When you want to tell someone not to do something, you use the negative form don't followed by another verb.

Do be careful. Do sit down.

When you want to tell someone to do something, you normally use a verb without to, for example Come here or Sit down.

I did a lot of work this morning. After lunch we did the dishes. The children should do their homework before dinner.

Do is used as a main verb to say that someone performs an action, activity, or task.

What do you do? - I'm a teacher.

You use do when you are asking someone what their job is.

Marcella made a delicious cake.

You don't normally use do when you are talking about creating or constructing something. Instead you use make.

a dozen eggs. He found more than a dozen men having dinner.

You can call twelve things a dozen things.

They wanted three dozen cookies for a party.

You can put a number in front of dozen. For example, you can talk about 48 things as four dozen things.

She borrowed dozens of books.

In conversation, you can use dozens to talk about a very large number of things. Use dozens of in front of a noun.

dream

Dream can be a noun or a verb. The past tense form and past participle of the verb is either dreamed or dreamt.

In his dream he was sitting in a theatre watching a play.

A dream is a series of events that you see in your mind while you are asleep.

The other night I had a strange dream.

You say that someone has a dream.

My dream is to have a house in the country.

A dream is also something that you often think about because you would like it to happen.

I dreamed Marnie was in trouble. Daniel dreamed that he was back in Minneapolis.

When someone has a dream while they are asleep, you can say that they dream something happens or dream that something happens.

Last night I dreamed about you. One night I dreamt of him.

You can also say that someone dreams about someone or something or dreams of them.

He dreamed of having a car. Every small boy dreamed of becoming an engine driver.

When someone would like something to happen very much, you can say that they dream of having something or dream of doing something.

I got dressed and then had breakfast.

When someone gets dressed, they put on their clothes.

You don't need to dress up for dinner.

If you dress up, you put on different clothes so that you look smarter than usual. People dress up in order to go, for example, to a wedding or to an interview.

She dressed up as a princess for the party.

If someone dresses up as someone else, they wear the kind of clothes that person usually wears.

He dresses well and has an expensive car.

You only use dress up to say that someone puts on clothes that are not their usual clothes. If someone normally wears attractive clothes, don't say that they dress up well. Say that they dress well.

drink

Drink can be a verb or a noun.

I drank some of my tea.

When you drink a liquid, you take it into your mouth and swallow it. The past tense form of drink is drank.

He hadn't drunk enough water.

The past participle is drunk.

You shouldn't drink and drive.

If you use drink without an object, you are usually talking about drinking alcohol.

Her mother drank, you know.

If you say that someone drinks, you mean that they often drink too much alcohol.

She said she didn't smoke or drink.

If you say that someone does not drink, you mean that they do not drink alcohol at all.

I asked her for a drink of water.

A drink is an amount of liquid that you drink.

The drinks were served in the sitting room.

Drinks usually means alcoholic drinks.

There was plenty of food and drink at the party.

Drink is alcohol.

We often get storms during the winter. This music was popular in the 1960s.

You use during or in to talk about something that happens from the beginning to the end of a period of time.

I felt asleep during the performance.

You use during to say that something happens while an activity takes place.

What did you do during the war?

means "What did you do while the war was taking place?"

What did you do in the war?

means "What part did you play in the war?"

Mr Tyrie left Hong Kong in June.

You usually use in to say when a single event happened.

I went to Wales for two weeks.

Don't use during to say how long something lasts.