How to Describe Events and Situations in English

So as you go through life

you experience different situations

and you go to different events,

and sometimes you need to be able to describe

what that situation was like

or what that event was like.

Sometimes it's a good situation,

sometimes it's a bad situation,

sometimes it's just a surprise.

(party streamer toots) So in this English lesson

I'll teach you seven ways to describe situations

and events that you experience in your life.

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So the other day I put my winter coat on for the first time

and I found a $5 bill in the pocket.

It was a pleasant surprise.

In English, when something positive happens in your life

that you weren't expecting,

we would describe it by using the phrase,

"a pleasant surprise."

It was certainly a pleasant surprise

to find money in my coat pocket.

I thought maybe I would find my gloves in there

but it was definitely a pleasant surprise to find money.

So in your life when something happens that's very positive,

that you are surprised about,

you would use the phrase, "a pleasant surprise."

Maybe you went to a party

and you weren't sure it was going to be fun

but when you went there, you had a lot of fun.

You could describe it to someone later

by saying, "It was a pleasant surprise.

I had a really good time at the party."

So Jen and I went to an outdoor wedding a few years ago

and it rained all day.

"It was a complete disaster."

That's the English phrase you would use to

describe an event where things just didn't go well.

That wedding was a complete disaster.

People got wet, people were grouchy.

The wedding cake got wet, the tent had water on top

and then the water spilled onto a whole bunch of the guests.

It was a complete disaster.

So if you're ever talking about an event,

if you're ever talking about a situation

where things just didn't go the way they were supposed to,

you could use the English phrase, "a complete disaster."

So a few weeks ago, I went to see a movie

and I thought the movie was going to be good

but it ended up being really bad.

"It was a total letdown."

This is an English phrase we use

to describe situations like that.

When you think something's going to be good,

when you think it's going to be amazing,

and then when you actually experience it, it's actually bad.

You may have had this yourself.

Maybe there's an author whose books you love to read,

and that author releases a new book,

and you were really excited to read it,

and then, when you read it,

you find out this book isn't very good.

You would then describe it

by saying, "it was a total let down."

So, of course,

we also have situations where the opposite happens,

where you think it's going to be bad,

and it ends up being good.

In those situations, you can use the English phrase,

"better than expected."

This actually happened to me a few years ago.

I registered to take a French language test

and I thought it was going to be really hard.

I thought that I hadn't studied enough.

I thought I wasn't prepared,

but the test went better than expected.

For some reason, when I sat down,

I was very calm and a lot of the answers came to me,

and I ended up getting a very, very good grade on that test.

It went better than expected.

I'm sure you've had this before in your life as well.

Maybe when you went to take a driving test,

you thought that you were going to do badly,

and then when you got in the car

and you did the driving test, it went better than expected,

and you ended up getting your driver's license.

That would be really awesome.

And it's always awesome when things go better than expected.

So I'm not sure how often you organize events

like a party for someone or something like that

but sometimes when you are in charge,

sometimes when you organize something, things don't go well,

and you could later describe it by saying,

"It was a real headache."

"Hey, how did the party go that you were planning for Jim?"

"Oh, it was a real headache.

I tried to get all of the balloons,

and I tried to order a cake,

and nothing went according to plan.

It was a real headache."

I hope you don't have to use this phrase very often,

but if you have a situation

in your life where you're doing something

and it's just very annoying to do,

later you could describe it by using the English phrase,

"It was a real headache."

Sometimes in life you do something,

and it just doesn't go smoothly.

It just doesn't go well.

In that situation, you could say,

"It was a pain in the butt."

By the way, sometimes instead of "butt" we use this word,

but I don't want to say it out loud,

but that means the same thing.

"Pain in the butt," and "pain in the," mean the same thing.

We use this to describe something

that just doesn't go smoothly.

Sometimes at work, someone will have a new idea

about how to do something

and they'll want everyone else to do a certain job

or task that way, and it just doesn't work well.

Everyone gets frustrated and angry

because the new system isn't as good as the old one.

You would then describe it by saying,

"It was a real pain in the butt at work yesterday.

We had to do something a new way and I didn't like it."

Sometimes an experience is just awesome.

Sometimes you spend time with other people

and you really enjoy it.

Maybe you are doing business

with someone and they're just a very friendly, happy person.

You could then describe it by saying,

"It was a real pleasure working with you.

It was a real pleasure doing business with you."

Sometimes in life things don't go well

and it's not very fun, but sometimes it's just awesome,

and this is how you would describe it.

"Hey, it was a real pleasure making this video for you."

"It was a real pleasure doing business with you."

"It was a real pleasure going

on that trip with you the other day.

I had a lot of fun."

Anyways, it was a real pleasure making this video for you.

Thank you so much for watching this little English lesson

about how you can describe different situations

and events in English.

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and, of course, if you have some more time,

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