SPEAK MORE NATURALLY: "Think" Phrases Every Learner Needs!

Hi there. This is Harry and welcome back  to advanced English Lessons with Harry,  

where I try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language. To  

improve your conversational skills, the chances  you have to improve your business English,  

get that job that you've always wanted.  Whatever it is, we're here to help you.

Okay. So getting back to the particular  lesson today, as I said, it's an advanced  

English lesson and today we're talking  about think, okay, T-H-I-N-K. think so.

It's an advanced English  lesson. Collocations with think.

I've got ten of them. Okay. I'm going to go  through them one by one. And as always, you know,  

by now what I do. I'm going to go back, give you  some examples, show you how you can use them, and  

then I repeat them at the end. And let's hopefully  you'll be able to put some of them into practice.

Okay. So here we go. As I said, ten in total.

The first. Think hard. If you've forgotten  something and it's deep in your mind,  

you know the situation. You're sitting there,  you're typing away, and then you suddenly you  

just get a blank. So you have to really think  hard. What did I want to say? What was I trying  

to say? What was said in the meeting? So you have  to really think hard and then a light goes off.

Yes, I remember now. So to think hard means  to think deep. Something you've forgotten.

if Johnny comes home and Johnny's  upset and he's crying because there  

was something happened in the school and his  mom sits him down and says, okay, come on,  

you can tell me what happened. I don't know.  I can't remember what happened so quick.

So he doesn't really know. And mum says, okay,  I understand, but just think hard. Where were  

you? What happened? Who we are talking to? And  then we'd be able to work it out and we'd be  

able to see what happened. Okay, So eventually  Johnny is able to tell his mum where he was,  

what he was doing doing. And yeah,  mum gets it all sorted out as mums do.

Yeah. So you have to think hard about something

To think badly of or think badly about  somebody. Don't think badly of him. He  

didn't really mean it. So we often use this  expression when somebody did something,  

perhaps a little bit insensitively. Okay,  But they're not really bad people. They  

just didn't really think so. Perhaps  the boyfriend forgot your daughter's  

birthday. I don't think badly of him.  You know, he's been studying hard lately.

He'll probably come around later and apologise or  

his send something. And then a  minute later, the doorbell rings

And there's a big bunch of flowers sitting  on the doorstep. So don't think badly off  

and don't think badly about him. Okay, So  we can often think badly of people because  

we just take a disliking to them, yet we see  something in the newspapers or on the internet,  

on social media, and immediately we jump to a  conclusion or we immediately form an opinion,  

or our impressions are that  really we don't like that person.

We think badly of them. Okay, So  when you think badly of somebody,  

you don't really like them. Others is something  about them or something they've done or said or  

forgotten to do is said that you don't like or  to think badly of or about somebody or something

to think out loud. You're sitting in a meeting  and you apparently start talking to yourself.

Well, actually, let me think that if I was doing  that, what would I do? What was that? Is that. Oh,  

don't mind me. I'm just thinking aloud. Yeah. So  when you're thinking aloud or thinking out loud,  

you mean to keep it to yourself, But the  words just come out so you think out loud  

and the people around you are looking at  you thinking, Oh, I think Harry's lost it.

And so to think out loud or to think aloud  means to have some thoughts in your mind.  

But then you externalise them. They come out  and people are looking at you and you say, Oh,  

forget it. I was just thinking out loud. It's  just an idea I had. But on second thoughts,  

it's not really going to  work. So to think out loud,

To think twice or think again.  You need to think twice before  

you buy that car. I think it to me,  it looks really, really expensive. Oh,  

you should think again before you actually  hand over the money, because why don't you  

get it checked by a mechanic? So this is some  advice that a friend or a father might give you.

You're really, really anxious to get your  hands on your first car. You you don't really  

take into account all the little issues. You're  perhaps not so familiar with cars. You're really  

only want to get behind that wheel and drive  it. We've all been there. I was there when I  

bought my first car. One of my sons, when he  bought his first car, nothing but trouble.

We spent a lot of money trying to get  it repaired. So in situations like that,

The advice that you should have listened  to is think twice, think twice before you  

do this. Think again before you make such a  serious decision. You might get a job offer  

and you go home and think, yeah, it's it's  really, really good. But when you're talking  

to your friends and they're saying, well,  actually, do you really, really want that?

You're going to have to move or  you're going to have to get up really,  

really early and you're going to be  traveling for long periods of time.

If I were you, I'd think twice  before accepting that job.

perhaps you need to think again about  it. Why don't you take the weekend,  

let them know, and you'll give them  the answer on Monday or Tuesday.

So to think twice or to think again,

Think positive or think positively. This  is always a great piece of advice to  

think positively about something  even in the worst of situations,  

in the worst of times. We try to make good  out of bad, so we tried to think positively.

Look, I know everything looks bad at the  moment. Everything is bleak. The cost of  

living is going up. The price of energy  and fuel is going up. But I'm trying to  

think positively. Well, what could be  positive about that? Well, you know,  

it's probably going to end sooner or  later or the government are going to  

step in. They're probably going to spend  more money on alternative sources of energy.

That has to be good. So let's think positively  about the bad things. Think positive. Yeah,  

there's good. There's bad. And that bad  situations good will always rise. Okay,  

so we're trying to think positive  or trying to think positively.

And you do need a really real  strong consternation to think  

positively about everything.  But you know what? It helps

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think straight. Now, often you hear this in the  negative. Oh, I don't know. I just can't think  

straight today. I think it's I just didn't  sleep well last night. I've been trying to  

come up with some ideas for that marketing  plan, and I just can't think of anything.

I think I'll go out for some fresh air  or a walk or might even close the door  

and just put my feet up and have a doze  for a few minutes. That might help. So  

to think straight means to think logically.  To think clearly. Yeah. Now think straight.  

Where were you when you put the car keys  down so you can't find the car keys?

You don't know where they are. You've  got the house keys on it. The car keys,  

the office keys. Everything is on that little  bunch of keys. So you need to think straight.  

Where were you? So you retrace your steps. Where  were you when you left the office last night?

Where did you go? Did you get on the bus?  Did you get on the tube? Did you go to  

the shops? Did you call in to the the bank?  Perhaps you went into one of these. That's  

it. I put my keys down on the bench beside  the ATM machine. That's where they'll be.

Okay, So to think straight, think logically or as  I said, some people often say, Oh, I can't think  

straight because there's too much noise around me.  I need to get away from here. I need to close the  

door. I need some silence to enable me to think  straight so that I don't have any disturbance.

Think for yourself? Well, when we use  this expression to think for yourself,  

it means to avoid doing things that other  people tell you to do. Why can't you think  

for yourself for once? Why do you have to do  everything that they do? I remember my mother  

and father telling me that many, many occasions I  want to join the Boy Scouts or I want to go here.

Oh, I want to go there. Do you really is  that or is that just your friends? Well,  

everybody's going. All the guys in the class  are going. Yeah, but why can't you just think  

for yourself? Is it really what you want  to do? So when you think for yourself,  

you make the decisions that suit you.  You make the decisions that are going  

to be in your best interests, and you make  decisions that would be to your advantage.

So learn to think for yourself. So it could be  a bit of advice you give the kids. You'll soon  

learn how to think for yourself. When you get to  12 or 13 or 14. You'll make up your own mind. You  

won't be guided or directed by or led or misled by  other people. You will think for yourself. Okay.

So it's good advice. Doesn't always  happen, but try and think for yourself.

Think carefully where we always get  this advice about everything. Now,  

think carefully before you answer.  If you're sitting in front of an  

examiner and they're telling you what they  want, what sort of questions, for example,  

for IELTS or something like that. So think  carefully before you answer. Don't make mistakes.

Or if you want time to answer,  you might say to the examiner,  

If I could just have 30 seconds or a minute.  Yes, of course. Just relax. Think carefully,  

and then give me your answer. Okay. Or if you  watch detective programs and they're looking  

for some evidence to support their investigation  about some crime, is that has been committed.

They might be talking to some witness. Now,  we'd like you to think very, very carefully what  

happened on the night in question. Where were you?  What did you see? Just tell us every little detail  

that you can think of. Think very carefully. So  you want a clear message and clear information

To think big. Well, there's no harm in thinking  big. I'm going to be an astronaut. That's it,  

son. You think big. And if you keep thinking big,  you'll achieve that someday. Don't think so. Big.  

It will not happen. You'll be disappointed  with everything in life, so you can be very  

positive about it. But also it can be a little  bit stupid in a little bit negative about it.

Not to think so big. Why do you think big  all the time? Why don't? Are you not just  

happy with what you have landed, just  happy with the house you have the car,  

you drive the job you have. Well,  of course, people like to think big  

because they want to improve and they like  to believe that to improve, you need certain

assets.

You need a bigger house, a better  job, a bigger car. And therefore,  

you can think big. Mr. Big to think big.  I said, there's no harm in thinking big.  

It's it gives you some ambition and ambition as  long as this controlled is not such a bad thing.

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And the last one, we have three options  I dread or I hate. Or words you might not  

have heard of. I shudder to think so. We  usually use this in the negative. I dread  

to think what the boss is going to say  when I tell him that account is closed.

I hate to to think what he's likely to say when  I give him the news that I crashed the car.

I shudder to think what people are  going to say when they get the next  

gas and electricity bill and they see that  it's gone up by 300%. So I dread I hate to  

I shudder all the negative ways to say I  dread to think what? I hate to think what  

I shudder to think what the reaction will  be that are all about negative situations.

Okay. So

I dread to think what the traffic is going to be  like tomorrow if it snows overnight. So you're  

really not sure what it's going to be like. You'll  have to get up early. I hate to think of him  

getting away with it. That's three or four times  he's done it. He always blames somebody else.

I shudder to think where we'll be  in two or three years time if the  

cost of living continues to rise  the way it's rising at the moment.

So all negative thoughts.

Okay, So we've got collocations, collocations  connected with think. We've got ten of them.  

Let me get them to you again. I'm giving  you the examples and you can practice

using them and see how you get on.

So think hard. Think badly  of or think badly about.

Think out loud. Think twice. Or think again.

Think positive or positively. Think straight  or can't think straight. Think for yourself.

Think carefully. Think big. And then  finally. I dread to think. I hate to drink.

To think. Sorry about that. I dread to think.  I hate to think. And I shudder to think.

Little fraudulent slip there. Okay,  so. Think. Drink. Drink. Think so?  

I dread to think. I hate to think. I  shudder to think what might happen.

So you need to practice those. Make  sure you can understand them. They're  

good collocations. They're good ways to to  practice your English. As always, if you don't  

understand it, you know the drill. Come back to  me www.englishlessonviaskype.com and I'll give you  

some more examples. Okay. As always, I appreciate  you watching, listening and viewing everything.

Join me again for the next lesson.  This is Harry saying goodbye.