Learn English Vocabulary Daily #15.3 — British English Podcast

Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native podcast.

My name is Anna, and you're listening to Week 15, Day 3 of Your English

Five a Day, a series that aims to increase your active vocabulary by

deep diving into five pieces every day of the week from Monday to Friday.

We start today's list with a verb and it is to categorise, to categorise.

We spell this C A T E G O R I S E, categorisese.

Categorise.

To categorise things or people, is to put them into groups

according to their characteristics.

So, I might categorise a group of children based on their age.

So, over here we have the preschoolers, the under-fives, and over here

we have the reception children.

So, they're the five to six-year-olds.

Then over here, we have the older children, and then the teens.

So, that's to categorise.

I might categorise them based on their talents, on their interests.

So, over here I have the artistic children, those who enjoy

painting and dancing and singing.

Over here I have the academic children, those who are really very good and

enjoy very much Mathematics and Science.

And over here I have the bookworms, those who just love to get

their nose into a good book.

Okay, so let me give you an example sentence,

"All books in the library are categorised by subject, you shouldn't have any

trouble finding what you're looking for."

Okay, let's move on to our next word.

This is a noun and it is organisation, organisation.

We spell this O R G A N I S A T I O N, organisation.

Now, be aware that in British English, we do spell this with

an S, but sound it like a Z.

So, the pronunciation is like a Z, but it's written as an S — organisation.

Organisation.

Organisation is the way in which something is done or arranged.

So, hopefully you have good organisation in your place of work.

My office, unfortunately, is not very organised.

I have piles and piles of paperwork, things that need organising, but

haven't been organised as of yet.

So, I need some organisation in my office so I can get rid of these piles.

How about you?

Do you have good organisation in your office or is it lacking?

Is it poor?

Here's another example,

"If you want this job, you need to show a strong sense of

organisation and leadership."

Next, we have the noun, manuscript, manuscript.

We spell this M A N U S C R I P T.

Manuscript.

Manuscript.

A manuscript is a copy or the original copy of a book or an

article before it's printed.

So, if I am the writer, and I finally finished writing my final version of

'Harry Potter', and the final draft, it's been completely checked, proofread,

and now I'm going to hand it to the publisher to send to the printer.

I'll give them my manuscript.

And that manuscript will probably be very valuable in the future, if

this 'Harry Potter' book takes off.

Who knows?

Here's an example,

"Have you got the manuscript for Paul's novel?

I need to proofread it again before it goes off to the illustrator."

Next on our list is a phrasal verb.

We all love phrasal verbs.

This is bring about, bring about.

I spell this B R I N G, bring.

About, A B O U T.

Bring about.

To bring about something is to cause something to happen.

Here's an example sentence,

"This report has brought about a new attitude towards

fire safety in the workplace.

Make sure every office has a copy."

And last on our list is an adjective and it is theoretical, theoretical.

We spell this T H E O R E T I C A L.

Theoretical.

Theoretical.

If something is described as being theoretical, then it has not been proven.

It's based on theory or on possibilities, not hard evidence and facts.

Okay, so it's theoretical.

Here's an example sentence,

"I am here to give you the facts that we have so far on this case, I

cannot answer theoretical questions."

Okay, so that's our five for today.

Let's recap.

We started with the verb categorise, to categorise, to divide people

or things into groups according to their characteristics.

Then we moved on to the noun organisation, which is the way in

which things are done or arranged.

Then we had the noun manuscript.

The original copy of a book or article before it's printed.

Then we had the phrasal verb bring about, which is to cause something to happen.

And we finished with the adjective theoretical, which is an explanation

that has not been proved, but is based on theory or possibilities.

So, if I am a writer and I give you my very final draft of

my novel and it's ready to be printed, what is this draft called?

The manuscript.

The manuscript.

And if I need to divide a group of things into smaller groups according to their

characteristics, what do I need to do?

What verb would I use?

Categorise.

I need to categorise them.

And what I'm aiming for is things to be arranged in a nice way.

I'm looking for some what?

Organisation.

I need some organisation.

If I want to say that this caused something to happen,

what phrasal verb could I use?

Bring about.

So, I could say that organisation in my office brought about more

productivity, increased productivity.

And if I were to say that my ideas are based purely on theory, what adjective

would you use to describe those ideas?

Theoretical.

Theoretical.

My theoretical ideas.

Okay, so let's now go over those for pronunciation.

Please repeat after me.

Categorise.

Categorise.

Organisation.

Organisation.

Manuscript.

Manuscript.

Bring about.

Bring about.

Theoretical.

Theoretical.

Fantastic.

Let's now bring them all together in a little story.

Linda was cleaning out her attic when she stumbled upon an old manuscript.

It was written in a strange language that she could not recognise.

She decided to take it to the library and see if they could tell her more about it.

Linda showed the manuscript to the librarian, who gasped

and called the manager.

The manager examined the manuscript and said it was a priceless discovery.

It was a theoretical essay on the organisation of the universe,

written by a famous philosopher who lived thousands of years ago.

Linda was shocked and excited.

She asked how much it was worth.

The manager said he would have to contact an expert to appraise it.

He asked Linda to wait in his office while he made a phone call.

Linda waited patiently, dreaming of what she would do with

such a large amount of money.

What new adventures would it bring about for her?

It would change her life completely.

Maybe she would buy a new house, or travel the world, or donate to charity.

She felt a surge of happiness.

The manager came back with a grim expression.

He said he had bad news.

The manuscript was a fake.

It was a clever forgery, made by a notorious prankster who

liked to fool historians.

Linda felt a wave of despair.

She had been so close to becoming rich and famous.

She asked the manager if he was joking.

He wasn't.

He showed her a newspaper article that exposed the prankster and his works.

Linda walked away from the library and returned home.

She closed the attic door and vowed never to go up there again!

The manuscript was donated to the library and categorised as a replica.

And that brings us to the end of today's episode.

I do hope you found today useful.

Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.