En tu clase de inglés en Online with Cambridge House, vas a practicar todas las habilidades para llegar a comunicarte en inglés a la vez que consolidas tu gramática y vocabulario. Sin embargo, si estás aprendiendo inglés con el fin de irte a vivir a un país de habla inglesa, las frases típicas de este blog te pueden ser de gran ayuda porque seguro que las escucharás en tu día a día y te pueden resultar ¡difíciles o sorprendentes! Y otra razón para aprenderlas es impresionar a tu examinador en la parte oral de los exámenes de Cambridge (First B2, Advanced C1 o Proficiency C2).
En esta lista tienes la traducción de cada frase y un ejemplo de cómo utilizarlas. ¡Espero que te sea de ayuda para no quedarte “a cuadros”!
- Hand-to-mouth – precario, con lo justo.
- ‘Since being fired from his job he has had to live a wretched hand-to-mouth existence.’
- underhand – deshonesto.
- ‘I wouldn’t have minded so much if they had told me to my face that they wanted to dismiss me. It was the underhand way I which they did it that really upset me.’
- offhand – informal, improvisado.
- ‘Offhand remarks should not be taken seriously.’
- Empty-handed – con las manos vacías, sin nada.
- ‘While I was bringing in all the shopping my brother just stood there, empty-handed, without even offering to help!’
- To wash your hands of – lavarse las manos (figuradamente), no implicarse más.
- ‘Peter wants nothing more to do with that ridiculous business proposal. He just wants to wash his hands of the whole thing.’’
- Out of hand – irse de las manos, incontrolable.
- ‘The situation is now out of hand. The authorities admit that they can no longer control the rioting and crime in the city.’
- Cap in hand – humildemente, avergonzado.
- ‘I’d rather borrow money from the bank at a high rate of interest than go cap in hand to my dad.’
- High-handed – arbitrario, injusto.
- ‘I think you were rather high-handed in dismissing him without consulting me or giving him a chance to explain’
- In good hands – en buenas manos.
- ‘Lola is looking after our dog for the weekend. She is very caring and adores animals so we know he is in good hands!’
- Single-handed – hecho por una persona sola sin ayuda de nadie.
- ‘Ellen was the first woman to sail the Atlantic single-handed. Her only problem was loneliness. ’
- To have the upper hand – sacar ventaja.
- ‘An early goal gave Liverpool the upper hand in the match’
- To win hands down – ganar sin despeinarse.
- ‘My older sister always beat me easily at tennis. She always used to win hands down.’
- To hand – a mano, disponible.
- ‘She always has a pencil and paper to hand in case she suddenly sees an interesting person or place she wants to sketch.’’
- To give someone a free hand – dar a alguien carta blanca.
- ‘Tom is so experienced in this field that I think we ought to give him a free hand and let him carry out the scheme as he thinks best.’
- To keep your hand in – seguir practicando.
- ‘Valerie gave up playing the piano professionally years ago but she still likes to keep her hand in by playing from time to time’’
¡Presta atención a ver si reconoces las frases en series o películas! En tu clase online puedes practicarlas con tus compañeros a ver si las conocen. Otra buena razón para asistir a clases de inglés online con Cambridge House, ¡hay tanto que aprender!
Keep this list to hand!!
Learning all the time with Cambridge House ☺