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[3:08] Essential English Speaking: 8000 Selected Sentences for Dates and Time

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This article features selected high-frequency and practical expressions from 'Essential English Speaking: 8000 Selected Sentences for Dates and Time.' Covering dates, days, and time in real-life conversations, it helps learners move beyond textbook English and master natural spoken expressions.

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Learning English is not just about mastering grammar and vocabulary; more importantly, it’s about using it naturally in real-life situations. However, sentences in textbooks are often too formal and differ from everyday expressions. To speak authentic and natural English, learners need exposure to real conversational contexts. Here, we have selected high-frequency daily English expressions covering social, work, and travel scenarios to help you break away from 'textbook English' and learn the way native speakers really talk. Below is this issue’s content of '8000 Spoken Sentences: Dates and Time.' Keep practicing, and your English will become closer to real life!

Asking about dates and days is one of the most common needs in daily English conversation. For example, when you want to know the date, you can say, "What's today's date?" The answer might be, "It's August 13th." Similarly, if you want to know the day of the week, you can ask, "What day is it?" and the response could be, "It's Thursday." These simple expressions are practical and immediately useful for everyday interactions.

When it comes to telling the time, there are many ways to express the exact hour or approximate time. For instance, "Do you have the time?" is a polite way of asking the time. Responses could include, "It's almost noon," or "It's 1 o'clock." More detailed expressions include "It's a quarter to two" or "It's five after one." You can also say, "The clock says three fifteen," or simply, "It's a quarter after three." These patterns are flexible and help learners communicate different times precisely.

Other ways of describing time include expressions like, "It's 10 to two" or "It's 9.30." If a clock is not accurate, you might say, "The clock is five minutes slow." Phrases such as "Well time to go" are used when it’s necessary to leave. To ask about approximate timing, you can say, "About when?" or "About what time?" These expressions highlight both precision and approximation when talking about time.

Sometimes conversations involve frustration or waiting. For example, "You must wait for five more days" or "What is taking so long?" To show disappointment, one might say, "I wasted a whole day." Time expressions can also show importance and urgency, such as "Time has come" or "Time is money." These idiomatic phrases emphasize how people value time in different contexts.

Finally, people often talk about how they spend or save time. For instance, "I killed two hours watching TV" shows how someone used time to pass boredom. "Time is up" signals that the allotted time has ended. Asking, "Do you have some free time?" is a common way to invite someone. Expressions like "It's about time" convey readiness or impatience. In modern contexts, we also say, "Computers save us time," showing how technology affects our daily lives and efficiency.

The above is the content about '8000 Spoken Sentences: Dates and Time,' organized by Qicaiwang, and we hope it is helpful for you!

Listening Comprehension

noon
noun
1. the middle of the day
Synonym: twelve noonhigh noonmiddaynoondaynoontide
money
noun
1. wealth reckoned in terms of money
e.g. all his money is in real estate
2. the most common medium of exchange
functions as legal tender
e.g. we tried to collect the money he owed us
3. the official currency issued by a government or national bank
e.g. he changed his money into francs
quarter
noun
1. clemency or mercy shown to a defeated opponent
e.g. he surrendered but asked for quarter
2. piece of leather that comprises the part of a shoe or boot covering the heel and joining the vamp
3. the rear part of a ship
Synonym: sternafter partpooptail
4. a district of a city having some distinguishing character
e.g. the Latin Quarter
5. an unspecified person
e.g. he dropped a word in the right quarter
6. a United States or Canadian coin worth one fourth of a dollar
e.g. he fed four quarters into the slot machine
7. a quarter of a hundredweight (28 pounds)
8. a quarter of a hundredweight (25 pounds)
9. one of four equal parts
e.g. a quarter of a pound
Synonym: one-fourthfourthone-quarterfourth parttwenty-five percentquartern
10. one of the four major division of the compass
e.g. the wind is coming from that quarter
11. a fourth part of a year
three months
e.g. unemployment fell during the last quarter
12. one of four periods into which the school year is divided
e.g. the fall quarter ends at Christmas
13. a unit of time equal to 15 minutes or a quarter of an hour
e.g. it's a quarter til 4
a quarter after 4 o'clock
14. (football, professional basketball) one of four divisions into which some games are divided
e.g. both teams scored in the first quarter
slow
wasted
adj
1. (of an organ or body part) diminished in size or strength as a result of disease or injury or lack of use
e.g. partial paralysis resulted in an atrophied left arm
Synonym: atrophieddiminished
2. very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold
e.g. emaciated bony hands
a nightmare population of gaunt men and skeletal boys
eyes were haggard and cavernous
small pinched faces
kept life in his wasted frame only by grim concentration
Synonym: bonycadaverousemaciatedgaunthaggardpinchedskeletal
3. not used to good advantage
e.g. squandered money cannot be replaced
a wasted effort
Synonym: squandered
4. serving no useful purpose
having no excuse for being
e.g. otiose lines in a play
advice is wasted words
a pointless remark
a life essentially purposeless
senseless violence
Synonym: otiosepointlesspurposelesssenselesssuperfluous
computers