YOU'RE FLUENT IN ENGLISH if You Use These Collocations! | Sound Like a Native

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.

I try to help you to understand  grammar, phrasal verbs, vocabulary,  

anything that you need to help you to  speak better, to communicate better. Well,  

then we're here to help. And as always, you  know the drill. If you need to contact me  

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Very happy to give you some additional examples or

additional explanation of the particular  lesson or any point in that particular lesson.

Okay. Let's get back to the lesson. Talking  about lessons. Today's lesson is an advanced  

English lesson, looking at collocations to  describe positive emotions and feelings.  

So positive emotions and feelings. We  got eight of these collocations,

so I'll go through them with you and I'll  give you a situation when you might use them.

Okay, let's get started. So,

number one to have a great  sense of achievement. Well,  

when we have a sense of achievement or a  great sense of achievement, it's usually  

when we've done something successful,  something that was probably difficult,  

something that we probably thought we would  struggle at or indeed that we might not even

complete at all. So a great sense of  achievement can be when you complete  

the marathon, if it's your first marathon.

And when you look back six or eight months ago  when you started training, it was a long, long  

time and you had to build up slowly and you went  through some pain. Perhaps you had a little bit of

an injury or something like that.  And then when the day finally comes,  

you start the race. You get  through the halfway mark.

You get past that famous wall  that people hate from time to  

time. And then you cross the line and  you've achieved a reasonable time that  

you're happy with. So you have a great  sense of achievement. Okay. So this is  

a prime example of when you might use  that, a great sense of achievement.

So if you're writing a note to your  friends and they're asking you, well,  

how did you feel when you completed the day off?

There's a great sense of achievement  finishing it. Okay. My time wasn't  

what I thought it might be, but, you  know, it was my first marathon and I  

think I'll do another one just to prove  a point. So a great sense of achievement.

Number two, a very strong sense of purpose.

What does this mean and how do we use it? Well,

usually when we're talking about a strong sense  of purpose, it means that somebody has thought  

about what they have to do a particular job  or project, and they really know how to do it

and how and when they're going to finish.  So perhaps if you're carrying out an  

annual review of one of your reporting  lines, you might describe the person,  

him or her as having a strong  sense of purpose about their work.

So when you give them a particular project  to do, they ask the right questions. They  

know how you want it done. They know  when to start, and more importantly,  

when it has to be finished. So when you're  writing the review, you say this person is really,  

really dedicated to their work. What I like about  them most is that any task that you give them,

they do it with a strong sense of purpose.

They know exactly what they want to do and  how to do it. A strong sense of purpose.

Number three.

to who heaved a sigh of relief when he  would take a very deep breath, her two  

heaved a sigh of relief and we heaved  a sigh of relief. In many situations,  

when we've done something that we didn't expect  to do, well, that's over and it's finished.

Or when we're a little bit nervous  and perhaps before a presentation,  

perhaps before some public speaking, you  know, if your daughter's getting married  

and you have to make a speech at the wedding  or one of the staff members is leaving and  

you have to make a presentation or indeed  you have to make a big presentation to the  

board or the management, and you're  a little bit nervous when it's over.

You have a

Sense of relief and you heave a sigh  of relief. You ha. Thank God for that.  

I don't have to do that again so many,  many times when we've cheated something,  

we were worrying about it for several days or even  weeks before the event. And then when it's over,  

we heaved a sigh of relief. I know  I used to do this all the time.

I've had a lot of practice at public speaking,  but you know, as it gets closer to the day and  

the date, you're always a little bit nervous.  Not quite sure that everything's going to work  

out as well as you might think. And when  it's over, ha! You heaved a sigh of relief

none before to feel a shiver down your spine  

when I'm sure you've all felt  that just the same as I do.

You're sitting there you go. A shiver down  

your spine. That's usually a nervous  expectation. Perhaps you're waiting to

Make a speech again, as we said before,  and yet you just feel that little bit of  

nervousness before or perhaps it's the  few minutes before you go in for a job  

interview and you have a little bit of  a shiver down your spine, that nervous  

expectation. It's really something to get you  in the mood and you say, Right, this is it.

I've got to go in there and I've got to really,  

really show them that I'm the one that can  do this particular job. So you get that.

shiver down your spine. So usually  the shiver is a nervous little

twitch that that you might have.

But it's it's a sense there that tells  you that, yes, you've got to get into the,

interview mode. If it's for  an interview or a speech mode,  

if it's a speech you have to to give  or indeed you could even be getting  

ready to propose marriage to your partner. So  you're really feeling a little bit on edge,  

a little bit nervous, and you get  that little shiver down your spine.

It's just something to let you know that yet  your nerves are taken over a little bit and you  

just have to have a deep breath and control it a  little bit. So that little shiver down your spine.

Number five to feel a surge of adrenaline.  Well, we've all had that sometimes referred  

to as the adrenaline rush fatigue. If  you're involved in those really high

sports, whether it's about a lot  of high risk involved with them,  

could be snowboarding or skiing or kayaking or

hang gliding, whatever it happens to  be, mountain climbing, you get that  

adrenaline rush before you you start or  midway through your particular journey.

So there's a surge, a surge, a  sudden rise in the adrenaline.  

So to feel a surge of adrenaline and  is perhaps what you need just to give  

you that final little push run in  the marathon, you need that little  

kick at the halfway stage so you kick on so  that you can achieve the time that you want to.

Or indeed, if you're skiing on your skin downhill  and you come across a little bit of an icy patch,  

you get a surge of adrenaline when  you feel the skis sliding over that  

that ice at the beginning. And then you  get more control as you head on down the  

the piece. Okay. So this is the surge,  the sudden increase in your heart rate.

The adrenaline starts to

pump around your body a little bit and  you're focused that little bit more. It  

might be a little bit tense, but you get it  gets you through it. So a surge of adrenaline

and the similarly number six is a burst of  energy. Well, a burst of energy is a sudden,  

sharp bit of energy. You might not  have the energy all of the time.

And it's not something that's constant.  But a burst of energy is something that  

gets you through. Okay. So perhaps  you're sitting around. It's a lazy  

sort of day during the holiday or the  weekend, and then suddenly you feel,  

okay, I know what to do. I'm going to  wash the car. Okay, So you jump up,  

you grab the bucket, you grab the hose pipe,  you're connected, you go out and you get

The

cleaned in an hour and it's shining bright. And  when your partner comes back to say, Wow, what  

happened to you said, Ah, I had a sudden burst  of energy. I was sitting here being a bit lazy,  

so I just decided to do something in the same  way. You might just grab the vacuum cleaner and  

hoover the house. You might grab the iron and the  ironing board and iron the clothes out of there  

so you can, you know, it's not massive, massive  energy needed, but it gets you out of that feeling  

of a little bit laziness, you say, Yeah, I had  a sudden burst of energy and off I went, indeed.

If you're watching a football match, you know,  

when maybe the kids are playing a match for  the school or in the local park. And then.

The match is just sort of going  around at a nice pace and then  

suddenly one of the players has a  burst of energy and takes the ball  

through two or three of the opposition  and scores a great goal, a cracking goal,  

and the team wins. So that sudden burst of energy  is just what they needed to get the upper hand.

Okay, so a burst or a sudden burst of energy,

Number seven to be in a state of euphoria.  Well, when somebody is in a state of euphoria,  

they're in a very high state of excitement.  And it's usually because something important  

has happened. So they're in a state of  euphoria because they got that promotion  

that perhaps they were expecting. But you  never know until the boss calls. You know,  

you get the letter to say, yeah, the  job is yours, the promotion is yours.

Congratulations. Well done. So for the rest  of that day, or indeed that week or month,  

you're in a state of euphoria. Or perhaps  your boyfriend or girlfriend proposed to  

you and you know, you're in a state of euphoria  because you're looking really looking forward  

to the wedding's going to change your life  forever. So you're in a state of euphoria.

you've bought your first house and you're getting  ready to move in with your life partner. It's not  

necessarily the house of your dreams because  perhaps you've moved two or three times,  

but that first house is really, really  important. It's the first step on that  

property ladder. So you've looked at the plans,  you've got the keys, you have an idea in your  

mind exactly how you want to decorate it or how  you're going to do the the interior decoration.

So you're in a state of euphoria for a long,  long period of time because you're really eager  

to get going. Soon as you get the keys, you  can't wait to get inside. You open the door,  

you close and say, Yeah, this is our castle, this  is our home. Nobody else can come in here. Okay,  

So a state of euphoria, high state of excitement,

And then finally.

something was sheer bliss. So we often use  this to describe a moment or situation that  

really it would be very hard to beat. So  perhaps you go away on a very luxurious  

holiday you've been at on many holidays for  many years, but nothing quite like this.  

So maybe you go on that first cruise. You  know, we weren't quite sure what to expect.

So you get on the plane and you fly to Barcelona,  you fly to Marseilles and you pick up the cruise,  

you cruise around the Mediterranean, and  then you fly home. And when you get home,  

your friends say, well, what was it like?  sheer bliss, everything about it. I mean,  

from the moment we got on there,  we were treated like royalty.

The cabin was really, really beautiful. I  mean, a lovely view from the window over the

And it's Iranian. You know,  there was a choice of six,  

seven restaurants. You could have different  food every night, three swimming pools, gala  

performances in the evening time. I mean,  there was absolutely everything you want  

was like being in a city. So you you describe  that particular holiday, that holiday cruise  

as sheer bliss. It could even be something as  simple as a long, long soak in the hot baths.

So perhaps you've been working in your  garden or you've been stressed. So all  

you want is just to go into the  bathroom, slip into that warm  

water and relax there for half an hour, 45  minutes. And when you come out of sheer bliss,  

real heaven, it's like having a  massage. So you're really feel good.

Okay, so these are all different ways.

Advanced collocations, how we  can describe positive feelings  

and positive emotions. So let me get  them to you one more time very quickly

To have a sense or a great sense  of achievement when you've done  

something you didn't expect to do.  A very strong sense of purpose and  

determination about you, too. heaveD a  sigh of relief when something is over,  

something that made you a little bit nervous.  You've done it. It's finished. You heaved a  

sigh of relief. Feel a shiver down your spine  in anticipation of what's going to happen.

That all important job interview. A  surge of adrenaline when you're just  

trying to get to the end of that marathon  race or the last 50 meters rock climb,  

which is really steep. You get that surge  of adrenaline, our burst of energy on that  

Saturday afternoon when you're sitting around  not doing anything and you suddenly realise  

there are a few jobs to be done in the house,  so a burst of energy will get you through it.

To be in a state of euphoria, very high  state of excitement because of some really,  

really good news engagement, the promotion, new  job, whatever it might be. And then finally,  

that feeling of sheer bliss at the end of the  week, a deep, long soak in a very hot bath. Okay,  

so all different ways advance  collocations for you to describe

positive emotions and positive feelings.

They're quite difficult.  So you won't remember them  

all. Try to pick one or two of them.  Practice them as always as I tell you,  

that's the drill. Practice. Put them  in some writing. Try to use different  

examples than I've given you. And if you have any  problems, then you come back to me as always at

www.englishlessonviaskype.com and I'll help you  out with some more examples. Okay. This is Harry.  

Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening.  And to remind you to join me for the next lesson.