LESSON 9

to wake up: to arise from sleep, to awaken (S)

Compare wake up and get up (Lesson 1) as used in the first example.

• Marge woke up this morning very early, but she did not get up until about ten o'clock.

• My alarm clock wakes me up at the same time every day.

to be in charge of: to manage, to have responsibility for

• Jane is in charge of the office while Mrs. Haig is a business trip.
• Who is in charge of arrangements for the dance next week?

as soon as: just after, when

o       As soon as it started to snow, the children ran outside with big smiles on their faces.

o       I'm busy now, but I'll meet you as soon as I've finished this work.

to get in touch with: to communicate with, to contact

o       You can get in touch with him by calling the Burma Hotel.

o       I've been trying all morning to get in touch with Miss Peters, but her phone is always busy.

to have a good time: to enjoy oneself

o       We all had a good time at the class reunion last night.

o       Did you have a good time at the park? I really enjoyed it.

in no time: very quickly, rapidly

This idiom can be used with the idiom at all to add emphasis to the certainty of the statement.

o       Mac said that he'd be ready to leave in no time.

o       We thought that the meeting would take two hours, but it was over in no time at all.

to cut down on: to reduce, to lessen (also: to cut back on)

o       In order to lose weight, you have to cut down on your intake of sugar.

o       The doctor told me to cut back on exercise until my back injury heals.

quite a few: many

o       Quite a few students were absent yesterday; in fact, more than half of them were not there.

o       We did not expect many people to attend to affair, but quite a few of our friends actually came.

used to: formerly did, had the habit of

This idiom is used to indicate a past situation, action, or habit that does not exist in the present. The idiom is always followed by a simple verb form.

o       I used to live in New York, but I moved to California two years ago.

o       Kim used to smoke cigarettes, but she stopped the habit last month.

to be used to: be accustomed to

This idiom refers to a situation, action, or habit that continues in the present. The idiom is always followed by a noun or gerund phrase.

o       He is used to this climate now, so the changes in temperature do not affect him much.

o       I am used to studying in the library, so it's difficult for me to study at home now.

to get used to: to become used to, to become adjusted to

This idiom describes the process of change that allows someone to be used to a situation, action, or habit.

o       It took Yoshiko a long time to get used to the food that her American host family served her.

o       Mark can't seem to get used to wearing contact lenses; recently he's been wearing his glasses a lot.

back and forth: in a backward and forward motion

o       The restless lion kept pacing back and forth along the front of its cage.

o       Grandmother finds it relaxing to sit in her rocking chair and move back and forth.