5 Common Expressions with CATCH | English Collocations

That caught me by surprise!

I'm Emma from mmmEnglish and in today's lesson,

we're going to go over five expressions using 'catch'.

It's going to be short and sweet, this lesson.

We'll just focus on words that are often used with 'catch'

in English.

We call these common collocations,

words that are often used together in English sentences

and learning which English words are often

used together will help you to sound more natural

when you speak English yourself.

Oh and later in the lesson, I've got a quick homework

task for you

and a book that I want to recommend for you.

It's one that I'm sure you'll adore so stay tuned.

Before we get started, a quick reminder to

turn on the subtitles if you need to.

This lesson is quick and really helpful for others

learning English in your country too so if you have time

to translate this lesson

so that other people can learn from it too

then that would be amazing.

Not to mention,

it would be excellent English practice for you as well.

The link to translate this video is

in the description below and your name will appear

below this lesson as a contributor to the video.

Okay

so you've probably heard of this verb 'catch' right?

But did you know that you can catch a cold?

That you can catch on fire?

Or catch a whiff of something?

If you catch a cold, it means you're sick.

You can catch the flu, you can catch a virus or any

type of airborne sickness.

It's something that you can catch.

My throat is kind of starting to hurt,

I think I've caught a cold.

You can also catch what someone said.

Or not catch it if you didn't quite hear them.

Did you catch what he just said?

I just caught a whiff of something delicious!

Can you smell it?

If you catch a whiff of something, it means that you

can smell something.

Now it could be something good like a freshly baked

cake or loaf of bread

but it could also be something bad.

When we walked past his room, I caught a whiff

of his dirty gym clothes.

Now if something catches your eye,

then it attracts your attention.

You're curious and you're interested.

It's something that you desire or you want.

A cute little cafe on the corner caught my eye

when I was walking by.

I'd like to go there for lunch one day.

I think the guy who made your coffee this morning

caught your eye.

Now notice that this expression is used, often used,

with past or perfect tenses because usually

it's unexpected, it's a surprise.

So often you're reporting about something

after it happens.

Now there's a really subtle difference between

catching someone's eye

and catching someone's attention.

Hey, hey!

Are you still listening?

I'm trying to catch your attention,

I'm doing something to try and make you look

and watch me. I'm trying to catch your attention.

I'm trying to keep you interested in this lesson

and it's a deliberate action.

I'm trying to catch your attention.

We created the advertisement to be really catchy.

We wanted to catch the attention of shoppers

as they walk past.

We use 'catch' to say goodbye informally.

Catch you later!

Catch you soon! Or catch you in a few minutes!

And these are all ways of saying see you soon.

See you soon, see you again soon.

I'm running late for my appointment,

but I'll catch you soon!

Catch you later!

But don't go anywhere just yet,

I've still got your homework to go through plus

I'm introducing a new segment to my lesson

where I make a recommendation about a book

that I've been reading or a podcast

that I've been listening to

which I really want to recommend to you

because I think you'll enjoy it.

The one that I want to start with is this book,

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Now I read this book years ago

but I was recently reminded of it again when I

found it on Audible and I listened to it.

It's told from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy

who has autism and he's investigating the murder of his

neighbour's dog. Now it doesn't dwell on the fact that

this boy, his name's Christopher, that he has autism

but it allows us to view the world from a completely

different perspective, his perspective,

which is fascinating.

Christopher takes us on an investigation with him

and it leads to more incidents that need to be

investigated so it's quite gripping.

Now the book's not too long and the vocabulary is not

overly complex which means it's a really great book

for you to read. It uses everyday common English.

Now I've added a link to the book in the description

below but I've also added a link to Audible

where you can download the audio book

and listen while you read.

You guys know that I always recommend that you read

books to expand your vocabulary

but listening while you read

allows you to work on some of the other skills,

English skills, at the same time.

So you're listening obviously but it also helps

to improve your pronunciation as well.

Reading and listening to books are an awesome way

to practise English collocations because

you experience English as it's used in context

and this is going to help you to use English more

naturally yourself, just as native English speakers do.

So if you do read it,

or you have read it before then let me know

what you think about The Curious Incident

of the Dog in the Night-Time in the comments below.

Now your homework for today's lesson is to

write a sentence using each of the five expressions

that you learned today, those expressions with 'catch'.

Write them in the comments so that I can check them

and make sure that you're using them correctly.

Hit that subscribe button just down there

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share it with a friend who could use it as well.

Thanks for watching and I'll catch you later!