Bad Allergies

Bad Allergies

bad allergies


New Idioms are “Mess up” and “Give the axe.” The Grammar focus is on Adverbials.

Jordan: “Wow, these allergies are killing me.”
Spencer: “Why, what’s wrong?”
Jordan: “I’m just sneezing all the time, and my eyes are so itchy.”
Spencer: “I guess it could be worse.”
Jordan: “Don’t say that! I use allergy eyedrops but they don’t help much. Sometimes not at all.”
Spencer: “Did you look up the pollen count?”
Jordan: “No, that doesn’t help. But it’s definitely this town.”
Spencer: “Why, are you better somewhere else?”
Jordan: “Definitely. Other places are fine, but this town really messes me up.”
Spencer: “Sucks to be you, I guess. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Jordan: “Lucky you. I guess everybody’s different.”

VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS

Not at all means not in any way or capacity. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Pollen count means a measure of the amount of pollen in the air over a 24-hour period. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Mess up means to damage or harm someone or something. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Sucks to be you is a sarcastic or mocking expression when someone is in an undesirable situation. See online Idioms Dictionary.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Adverbials

“Sometimes” is an adverb of frequency which means “occasionally” or “now and then. “Eyedrops don’t help at all sometimes.” “Sometime” is an adverb which refers to a specific point in time. Ex: “You should try it sometime,” i.e. at some point in time in the future.

INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED DIALOGUE

New Idioms are “Give you the axe” and “Lactose intolerant.” The Grammar focus is on Phrasal Modals.

Kaiko: “What are you crying for? Your boyfriend give you the axe?”
Levina: “Hilarious, thanks. No, it’s these damned allergies.”
Kaiko: “You have those too? Ya, it hits my whole ear-nose-throat system. Runny nose, my hearing is bad, and I’m crying all the time.”
Levina: “Sounds like you have it worse than I do.”
Kaiko: “Ya I think technically I have asthma, although I’m not sure.”
Levina: “Do you take anything for it?”
Kaiko: “Tons of antihistamines. I don’t want to take the asthma inhaler, it’s a steroid.”
Levina: “Is it just these tree blossoms, or what?”
Kaiko: “It can be all kinds of things. Even just cat hair.”
Levina: “I don’t have a cat, but I could be allergic to milk.”
Kaiko: “Ya, I am too. It’s called lactose intolerant.”
Levina: “I think bedbugs and a dusty apartment can cause problems too.”
Kaiko: “I don’t even want to think about it. I’m going to take a pill.”
Levina: “It’s climate change, too.”
Kaiko: “I know. Welcome to 2023.”

VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS

Give the axe to someone here means to divorce or break up with them. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Asthma inhaler is a device that delivers a specific amount of medication to the lungs in short bursts of aerosolized medicine, self-administered by the patient. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Lactose intolerance is a congenital disorder consisting of an inability to digest milk and milk products. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Climate change is change in the world’s climate. See online Idioms Dictionary.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Phrasal Modals

“I’m going to take a pill.” Every Modal has at least one Phrasal Modal counterpart, and the modals “will” and “shall” have their counterparts in “be going to, be about to, be to.”

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