Grammar and Talking about Hot Weather
2024-06-07
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1In many places where our readers and listeners live, the weather is getting hotter because of the changing seasons and weather-related events.
2This week on Everyday Grammar, we will discuss ways to talk about hot weather in English.
3One common way to talk about hot weather is with phrasal verbs.
4A 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.
5Let us begin with an American pop song from 1979.
6In the song, Too Hot, the group Kool and the Gang sang about finding shelter in the shade:
7Oh, it's too hot (Too hot)
8Too hot, lady (Too hot)
9We gotta run for shelter
10Gotta run for shade
11Note that the singer uses the expression "run for" before the words shelter and shade.
12The phrasal verb "run for" something means to work towards a goal.
13You may have heard of people who run for a public office.
14To "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.
15Another phrasal verb we use is "heat up."
16Like other phrasal verbs with the preposition "up," it means there is an increase in something.
17Here, the increase is in the temperature. For example,
18The day started cool in the morning but heated up in the afternoon.
19Another way of speaking about hot weather involves collocations.
20A collocation is a particular combination of words that we hear at the same time.
21For example, one collocation is "sweltering" with "heat" or "summer."
22The southern half of Japan gets sweltering summers.
23We go to the pool to escape the sweltering heat.
24A third way is to describe the weather with words we use for cooking.
25We are making a metaphor when we compare the effects of heat on us to cooking methods.
26To sear meat, for example, is to heat the surface quickly. We might say,
27He never turns on the air conditioner, even in the searing heat of summer.
28To scorch is to slightly burn something.
29So, it is not surprising that we hear this word used in the summer:
30It's a scorcher! Let's go to the beach.
31Usually, we talk about roasting meat, or cooking it with dry heat.
32In that case roast is a transitive verb that needs an object.
33But when we use it to say how hot we feel, it is an intransitive verb that does not need an object.
34For example, you can simply say:
35I'm roasting! Give me a cold drink.
36The same is true of the verb "boil." Usually we boil foods, like eggs. But in hot weather, we might say:
37I'm boiling. How about having ice cream?
38One last hot weather expression: "it's so hot that..." A common statement with this is,
39It's so hot that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk.
40How do people talk about the heat where you live?
41Do you use phrasal verbs, collocations, or metaphors?
42How about intransitive verbs? Write to us at learningenglish@voanews.com and we will share your messages in another story.
43And that's Everyday Grammar!
44I'm Jill Robbins.