hello everyone my name is Michael from Able Idioms our
motto is master your idioms and master your English you can find us at
AbleIdioms.com, in social media instagram facebook twitter I imagine most of you
have seen us on instagram that seems to be our biggest following we love apples
today we're gonna do a full idiom lesson about just one idiom but first I think
we should review the definition what the heck is an idiom I hear this word all
the time but it sounds kind of strange what does it mean if we go to Wikipedia
wikipedia says an idiom is a common word or phrase which means something
different from its literal meaning but can be understood because of their
popular use Thank You Wikipedia at abel it eum's we have a slightly different
definition but it's very similar we tried to make it very simple and easy to
understand so here's our definition an idiom is a group of words with a hidden
meaning which is understood because native speakers use it all the time okay
so we've covered the definition of an idiom and I'm going to tell you what
idiom we're going to cover today it's going to be an arm and a leg this is one
of the most common idioms in the English language wherever you go in the
english-speaking world with whoever you speak that's a native speaker they're
going to understand this idiom you might be thinking well I already understand
this idiom I would urge you to stick around because we do our lessons a
little bit different so we'll be studying an arm and a leg and we'll be
doing it in six parts all parts will have to do with an arm and a leg
the first part will be conversation so you can see this idiom in action next
part will be pronunciation practice together and make sure you're
saying it correctly then we'll do the definition where you can find out you
know what the heck does it mean we'll do usage I'll give you some tips and
strategies on how to use this idiom then we'll do practice great we need to use
we need to get some practice using this idiom then we'll review make sure we
know what we're talking about so what do you think six parts this is going to be
all about the idiom an arm and a leg I think we should get started
all right so an arm and a leg let's do conversation follow along with me Fred
that meal was incredible thanks for paying Tom it was delicious but it cost
an arm and a leg Fred don't worry it's only money Tom if you had to pay you
would think it'd cost an arm and a leg too so here's a conversation are you
getting a good idea for what it means if the idiom an arm and a leg
well I think we can look at another conversation great
Sara your birthday gift cost an arm and a leg
Henry I hope it's better than what you got me last year
Sara what I spent an arm and a leg on that gift to Henry oh uh I mean it was
the best gift ever
oh right so we did conversation ding ding
let's do pronunciation of the idiom and arm and a leg
we're going to do 3 speeds turtle speed rabbit speed and bird speed each time I
would ask you to repeat after me wherever you are in the world repeat
after me and improve your pronunciation so here we go with turtle speed an arm
and a leg
okay one more time make sure to repeat out loud after me an arm and a leg
you might notice that the a I'm not saying a I'm saying up and I like I
would like to have a great definition as to why it's that way but native speakers
we kind of do it we do it we want and how we've been raised to speak and
sometimes we'll say a but here I would say ah it just flows nice and you'll see
once we get to bird speed that it just sounds better
in my opinion to just say up and it's very common for Americans to do this
okay let's get to rabbit speed ready repeat after me an arm and a leg
and arm and a leg
all right and now regular speed bird speed repeat after me
an arm and a leg
and last time an arm and a leg
alright so we just did pronunciation whoo let's move to the next part which
is definition maybe one of the most important sections so an arm and a leg
has a literal meaning in other words a basic meaning if you took each word and
you separate it apart and you looked it up in the dictionary this would be the
basic meaning and it's an arm and a leg so this is the basic meaning it's two
body parts right my arm and my leg but an arm and a leg also has what's called
a figurative meaning why don't we say that word repeat after me figurative and
it's just a fancy way to say a hidden meaning it's like an extra meaning that
is not obvious when you read the words so you may already know what it means
but here we go an arm and a leg means a lot of money and the idea is that if
something costs so much and you have to pay so much money you feel like wow I'm
giving so much of myself to pay for it so somewhere along the line someone said
wow it's like giving my arm and giving my leg to pay for that so here we have
the idiom an arm and a leg so an arm and a leg means a lot of money
when we learn idioms I think it's wonderful to learn similar and opposite
expressions this helps us just well build more vocabulary and also
understand other ways to say the same thing
so first let's do the similar ones I'm gonna show them to you in a moment I
will say each one and then pause and I urge you repeat after me and improve
your pronunciation here we go
super-expensive an insane amount way too much and you might notice I'm putting a
little bit extra emotion in my voice and I think it makes sense if you get a bill
at a restaurant and suddenly the price is holy cow is something you weren't
expecting you probably wouldn't say this bill is super expensive you would say
wow this is super expensive you probably have some emotion it's an are a constant
arm and a leg so those were similar expressions let's do opposite
expressions as well repeat after me almost nothing a great
bargain dirt-cheap okay I tried to put some emotion in my voice as well but
this time it would be kind of surprised emotion because wow we thought maybe it
was gonna cost more but it's almost nothing it hardly cost anything at all
it was a great deal so these have been expressions similar in opposite to an
arm and a leg let's go back to our original conversations so I'm gonna
repeat again follow along Fred that meal was incredible thanks for paying Tom it
was delicious but it cost an arm and a leg Fred don't worry it's it's only
money Tom if you had to pay you would think it
costs an arm and a leg too so let's use what we just learned and we're gonna
swap out the expressions so instead of saying an arm and a leg
Tom could say it was delicious but it was super expensive and instead of
saying if you had to pay you would think it costs an arm and a leg - Tom could
say if you had to pay you would think it costs way too much - so these are other
ways that we just learned to say an arm and a leg a very similar meaning you
might notice as well here when we're having an arm and a leg it's very common
to use the verb cost to cost something because we're talking about money right
so an arm and a leg is a big huge amount of money more than we were expecting and
an amount of money that we don't like so we can use the verb cost with it it just
makes sense let's do our second conversation so Sarah says your birthday
gift cost an arm and a leg Henry I hope it's better than what you got me last
year Sarah what I spent an arm and a leg on that gift - Henry oh I mean it was
the best gift ever so instead of saying your birthday gift cost an arm and a leg
Sarah could say your birthday gift cost an insane amount and whether she says an
arm and a leg or any insane amount Henry's gonna understand that
- Sarah she spent a lot of money Sarah instead of saying what I spent an arm
and a leg on that gift - Sarah could say what I spent a lot of money on that gift
- so all of these different ways to say an arm and a leg have a very similar
meaning so let's move forward
okay so we just covered the definition and hopefully it's crystal clear what
the idiom and arm and a leg means let's move forward here we go let's do usage
all right let's get some ideas and different ways to use this idiom first
I'm gonna give you some tips these are some important things about this idiom
this specific idiom first off it's a fixed phrase okay so what does that mean
it means we're not gonna grab other words and stick them in between we're
only gonna use this phrase as it is it's stuck together an arm and a leg which is
great because when we move it around or we use it in different parts of the
sentence we know we have to take the whole chunk and move it from one section
to another in this idiom there's no verb to update we have some art an article an
article a conjunction and two nouns right but there's no verb so we don't
have to worry about conjugating a verb also this idiom will be part of a larger
sentence that means by itself this idiom is not a sentence if I walk up to you
and say an arm and a leg you would be like okay what are we talking about this
idiom does not work all by itself it needs a full sentence so it's going to
be part of a larger sentence in our examples you can see an arm and a leg is
inside a larger sentence and it's really common I know I said this before but
it's really common to use this idiom with the verb cost to cost so same with
this one we have the whole sentence and with in the sentence we have the idiom
the idiom does not function by itself as an independent sentence it will be
within a larger sentence all right so let's do this idiom I'll give you some
examples you using it in the past the present and the
future wonderful here we go so in the past you could say last month the jacket
cost an arm and a leg in the present right now the jacket costs an arm and
leg and in the future next year the jacket will cost an arm and a leg so
doesn't matter if we're in the past present or future
this jacket is freaking expensive if you notice here an arm and a leg stays the
same in all of the sentences you don't put any words in between it's a chunk it
moves around it's a phrase it's a group of words that sticks together
however the verb will change right we went from the past cost we went to the
present costs and we went to the future will cost so it's important to update
the verb when you use this arm or leg depending what tense you're in if you're
in the past present or the future all right we just did some usage and now
we're going to do some practice all right
and before we get into the practice we're gonna review something that I
don't think a lot of people teach when they're studying idioms so lucky for you
we're going to talk about the four different types of sentences in English
hmm what does this have to do with idioms you might ask I would say it has
everything to do with idioms we don't learn idioms just to memorize them we
learn idioms to use them so okay we'll get back to an arm and a leg in just a
moment but I'm going to give you an example of all of these different
sentences so first we have the declarative sentence so repeat after me
declarative and in this sentence it's just where we share information so for
example let's say we're talking about dogs and I said the dog is hungry
you would say okay you shared information with me
that's a declarative sentence I declared something I shared information the next
part or the next scent of sentence is then the imperative sentence let's say
the word repeat after me imperative all right and in this kind of sentence we
give a command or make a request so if we're talking about dogs I might say
well I told you the dog is hungry so feed the dog that might be if I'm a
little bit upset or I'm just want to be very direct if I want to be kind and
make it more of a request instead of a command I might say please feed the dog
all right the next kind of sentence is the
interrogative sentence big fancy word which just means question so repeat
after me interrogative I can't guarantee you use
this word very often unless maybe you're a teacher but it's good to know it's
great to have a wonderful huge vocabulary so an interrogative sentence
means to ask a question so we're talking about the hungry dog and we might say
why is the dog so hungry why is the dog so hungry didn't you feed him okay so
that's interrogative sentence it's a question the last kind of sentence is
the exclamatory sentence repeat after me exclamatory another fancy word to mean
strong emotion so in these kinds of sentences exclamatory sentence will be
expressing strong emotion so we're talking about this dog right maybe we
come back and we see that you know this dog is super hungry so we gave him some
food and we asked why is the dog so hungry then all of a sudden ah the dog
is eating my foot so you probably if the dog if the dog starts eating your foot
you probably wouldn't use a declarative sentence the dog is eating my foot
it probably hurts like crazy so you'd use an exclamatory sentence you'd say
the dog is eating my foot and exclamatory sentences and with an
exclamation point because we want to show emotion so these are the four types
of sentences let's remember a declarative sentence share information
imperative sentence give a command or make a request interrogative sentence
ask a question exclamatory sentence express strong emotion here we go so
here's a picture now on the right side you can see we have the idiom and arm
and a leg and we're going to make a declarative sentence where we share
information and we're going to use this picture so first off when I look at this
picture I see a beautiful city at night close to the river the lights are on and
it's just a wonderful panoramic view of the city so let's use this idiom that an
arm and a leg and this picture and make a sentence if
we were in a one-on-one lesson if we were doing this privately I would be
pushing you to make a sentence then we would improve it and share how we could
use it but since you guys are listening on YouTube and watching this from who
knows where in the world which is wonderful thankful thank you for
watching I'm going to make the sentences for you so follow along here we go so
we're gonna share information and we're gonna use the idiom an arm and a leg so
we might say I moved to the city and I found out that everything costs an arm
and a leg so this could maybe sound like an exclamatory sentence but it could
just be a phone call that we're having with our parents or our friend who lives
somewhere else you know I moved to the city and I found out that everything
costs an arm and a leg so we shared information all right
do one more and this is a declarative sentence once again where I'm going to
share information with you but I'm gonna use an arm and a leg how
about last night I went to a restaurant and they charged me what yes they
charged me an arm and a leg all right so we have two sentences and inside we used
the idiom an arm and a leg so let's have you guys repeat after me we're gonna do
the first sentence here I go repeat out loud after me I moved to the city and I
found out that everything costs an arm and a leg
all right I hope you repeated after me out loud this is the second sentence so
I will say it and you repeat after me out loud last night I went to a
restaurant and they charged me an arm and a leg
all right so here we did two examples with the kind of sentence that is
declarative where we shared information let's move on to the next type of
sentence and we use the same picture in the same idiom but this time it's going
to be an imperative sentence where we're gonna give a command or make a request
so with an arm and a leg we could say mmm maybe I'm a greedy greedy business
owner and the waiter comes over to me and says hey you know what price should
we give and I say charge them an arm and a leg so I'm giving a command or making
a strong request I'm telling my waiter what to do so I'm gonna use this verb
and I'm gonna say charge them an arm and a leg let's do another one let's see if
we're gonna give someone a command charge is a pretty good word to use
pretty good verb to use let's see it charge them an arm and a leg we could do
the opposite maybe the customer just talked to the waiter and he says don't
charge me an arm and a leg so they're both giving commands to the other one
the boss said to the waiter charge them an arm and a leg and maybe the group
maybe it's a group so they said don't charge us an arm and a leg so they're
trying to tell the other side what to do so it's a command it's making a request
so let's do the first sentence repeat after me
charge them an arm and a leg
and the second sentence repeat after me don't charge us an arm and a leg
all right wonderful let's move on to an interrogative sentence which is a fancy
way to say ask a question and we're gonna do it using an arm and a leg so
maybe we say why does everything in this place cost an arm and a leg so it's an
interrogative sentence we're gonna stick in a question mark at the end and ask a
question another one maybe from the last thing we were talking about we go up to
the owner and we say why did you charge me an arm and a leg so we're asking
questions I asking the question we're trying to get information so repeat
after me and let's make the idiom bold so we can see where it is in the
sentence so repeat out loud after me why does everything in this place cost an
arm and a leg
and the second one repeat out loud improve your pronunciation
why did you charge me an arm and a leg
ok let's do the last type of sentence which is an exclamatory sentence we're
going to express strong emotion and we'll try to use more with the picture
this time than I did last time so let's see this city is not everything costs an
arm and a leg
another one maybe will do I can't believe they charged me an arm and a leg
and we're not going to be saying with low emotion I can't believe they charged
me an arm and a leg it's going to be much more emotion because it's an
exclamatory sentence so repeat after me this city is not everything costs an arm
and a leg
I guess if you want to get picky you can say there are two sentences here but
just one of them uses an arm and a leg all right repeat after me I can't
believe they charged me an arm and a leg
and after it might fit to say my food to say I'm so pissed off because they took
all my money alright alright let's go to another picture we're gonna go a little
bit quicker this time an arm and a leg and what is this picture I would say
we're in a mall somewhere this could be pretty much any mall in America and
there's an escalator two escalators is two floors at least lots of stores
people walking around shopping in the camera perhaps it's on a tripod sitting
right next to the railing and taking a picture of whoever's going by so we
could say a declarative sentence share information in this mall all of the
stores charge an arm and a leg we could also say she went let's use a person huh
Mary went to the mall and realized that everything doesn't cost an arm and a leg
so maybe everybody told her that everything was so expensive but she went
there and she realized hey it doesn't cost an arm and a leg let's make these
bold so I'm sharing information declarative sentence repeat after me in
this mall all of the stores charge an arm and a leg
second sentence repeat out loud after me Mary went to the mall and realized that
everything doesn't cost an arm and a leg
all right let's go to the next type of sentence imperative sentence we're gonna
give a command stop charging everyone an arm and a leg
maybe we're upset and every time we go to this store it's maybe it's the only
store maybe they have a monopoly and whatever product they're selling and the
charge really high prices when maybe it's not necessary to do so so we say
stop charging everyone an arm and a leg all right another imperative sentence
don't charge that lady an arm and a leg
she can't afford it afford it means she's not in this she can't afford it
means she's not able to pay for it all right so let's make the idioms bold and
all right so repeat after me
stop charging everyone an arm and a leg
I'm a second sentence don't charge that lady an arm and a leg she can't afford
it
and once again I guess it's two sentences but sometimes it's better to
have more than one so we can understand the situation let's move on to an
interrogative sentence so let's ask a question which would be related to the
mall how is it possible that everything in this place costs what an arm and a
leg right do you realize that most things here do not cost an arm and a leg
so we have two sentences interrogative sentences or asking questions and we're
gonna make them bold all right so repeat after me how is it possible that
everything in this place costs an arm and a leg
in the second sentence what I'm gonna fix it
do you realize that most things here do not cost an arm and a leg
so in the second sentence later army might be saying WOW such a great deal I
really got a discount it was dirt cheap okay the last type of sentence
exclamatory sentence and we're going to do with this picture holy cow
everything costs an arm and a leg
goodness gracious I can't believe it all costs an arm and a leg
it's alright so the first part two little sentences and let's make the
idiom bold you can see where it fits in the sentence and remember it's a phrase
and it doesn't get broken apart it just gets moved around
repeat after me holy cow everything costs an arm and a leg
if you haven't heard holy cow it's kind of like my goodness you're so surprised
huh the second one goodness gracious I can't
believe it all costs an arm and a leg
so goodness gracious and holy cow are very similar it's a Wow
all right great work let's move forward so we did an arm and a leg we did
practice now let's move on to review let's see if we know what we've learned
hmm so I'll be asking you some questions and I'll pause and give you time to
answer or if I don't give you enough time just pause the video here we go
let's get into it question number one hmm
once again I will read the question and I will pause and give you time to answer
okay which of the following is a true statement about the idiom and arm on a
leg here we go here are your choices the first choice is this idiom must be used
as part of a larger sentence the second choice is this idiom can be used as a
sentence all by itself so we have two choices the one on the left the one on
the right what do you think which one is a true statement I'm going to wait for
just a moment pause the video if you want me to wait longer and then I'm
gonna give you the answer and we'll talk about it
okay I'm giving you the answer last chance to pause the video if you need
more time here is the answer in three two one yes this idiom must be used as
part of a larger sentence I know we talked about this earlier in the lesson
today an arm and a leg is a group of words but it's a phrase it's not a
complete sentence remember how I said if I walk up to you and I say an arm and a
leg you would be like what I have to fit it into a larger sentence if I walked up
to you and said this shirt costs an arm and a leg suddenly things become clearer
alright so this idiom must be used as part of a larger sentence this idiom
cannot be used as a sentence all by itself hopefully remember that about
this idiom an arm and a leg one easy tip is that there's no verb so
if there's no verb we really can't make it a sentence all by itself question
number two well are we ready here we go question number two ah it's a
conversation bill I wasn't surprised that the lobster dinner at the fancy
restaurant cost an arm and a leg marry yeah I had to save my money for two
months to be able to eat there so that's the conversation here is the question
which expression below is similar to the green words above I'm gonna give you
some choices and I'll give you some time and I'll read each one and pause if you
need more time to make your choice here we go a a hairy pickle be an insane
amount si an absolute mess D an ocean of sadness so we have four choices and the
question is which expression below a a B C or D is similar to the green words
above so here we go I'm gonna pause for a
moment pause the video if you need more time
okay last chance to pause the video the answer is coming in three two one
POW the answer is B an insane amount so of the four answers B is the most
similar to an arm and a leg bill could have said I wasn't surprised that the
lobster dinner at the fancy restaurant cost an insane amount if we choose the
other ones cost a hairy pickle cost an absolute mess cost an ocean of sadness
they just don't work so the best answer is B how did you do
question number three moi okay it's another conversation
Angela we just got back from France we thought everything would cost an arm and
a leg but prices were reasonable Heather interesting I just got back from
France too I have no money left at all for me everything cost an arm and a leg
so there's the conversation the question is which answer below is the opposite of
the green words above so we're looking for opposite this time the choices are a
a pretty penny be a decent amount see almost nothing D way too much so which
of the four choices is the opposite of an arm and a leg take a moment and I
will do my countdown to the answer pause the video if you need more time
and the answer is coming in five four three two one
POW the answer is C almost nothing so we're looking for the opposite right we
don't want the same we want something that is the opposite and Angela and
Heather when they're talking about an arm and a leg they're referring to
something that was kind of expensive even though Heather even though Angela
was saying that they weren't an arm and a leg she's still talking about an arm
and a leg as if it means a lot of money so the answer here is see almost nothing
question number four ah an arm and a leg and a picture of a ring create a
declarative sentence using the idiom and the picture if you remember a
declarative sentence shares information so I'm gonna pause for a moment it would
be a great time for you to pause the video and write down or create a
sentence and then I'm gonna give you what I would create okay so I'm going to
pause and I'm gonna start typing in three two one last chance to pause the
video here I go okay hopefully you have your own answer
if I see this ring and I see the idiom an arm and a leg I would look at it and
say holy cow that's a big diamond I need to make a declarative sentence I need to
share some information about this ring so I might say this beautiful diamond
ring costs what that's right an arm and a leg and probably a foot and an ear and
a tie this diamond ring is probably very expensive okay mm-hmm so my sentence is
this beautiful diamond ring costs an arm and a leg so repeat after me this
beautiful diamond ring cost and arm and a leg
all right if you want in the comments below you can share with me what your
sentence was and with an arm and a leg
alright question number five wonderful here we go
another picture woo and an arm and a leg this time create two different kinds of
sentences using the idiom and the picture woo let's do a quick review
declarative sentence share information imperative sentence give a command or
make a request interrogative sentence ask a question exclamatory sentence
express strong emotion okay so right now would be a great time for
you to pause the video and think of a sentence I guess before you do that
let's talk about the picture I see pyramids right
probably in Egypt right and there's a sunset or a sunrise in the background I
haven't been to Egypt so I'm not sure which direction is east or west if
you're looking at the pyramids from this side but something about the pyramids we
need to make two different kinds of sentences using the idiom an arm and a
leg okay so go ahead pause the video right now
and I'm going to start making my sentences in just a moment okay so I
hope you have two sentences of your own and here I go I think for the first one
I'm going to do a declarative sentence I'm just going to share information
these are very common types of sentences right so we're gonna use the pyramids
and the idiom and arm and a leg hmm what should we do okay let's see um I went to
the pyramids and the food cost an arm and a leg
we probably wouldn't be thinking about food when we go to the pyramids but
there's probably snacks and vendors and people selling food on the street and
stuff so maybe it was really expensive I don't know I've never been to Egypt but
making a sentence so repeat after me I went to the pyramids in the food cost an
arm and a leg
for the second sentence I'm going to make an interrogative sentence do you
remember what interrogative means just a fancy word for questions so I'm going to
make a question all right so the pyramids and the idiom an arm and a leg
let's see here I think oh wait why did the ticket why did the bus ticket why
did the bus ticket to the pyramids cost an arm and a leg to repeat after me why
did the bus ticket to the pyramids cost an arm and a leg
I think I know the answer because they know you really want to see the pyramids
and you'll be willing to pay a high price for the bus ticket okay so if you
want in the comments below leave your sentences that you made using the idiom
an arm and a leg in this picture okay so we just did review we did questions and
we created sentences and it was wonderful - Jayden so today in this
lesson we covered the idiom an arm and a leg and we learned that an arm and a leg
is a lot of money more money that we want to spend it's so expensive it's too
much it's an insane amount and we did this idiom in this lesson we did six
parts we did a conversation we did pronunciation we did the definition
usage practice and review so we did a lot with just one idiom hopefully you
can see how important it is to learn idioms this is just one idiom but it can
be used in a lot of situations so hopefully this hopefully this lesson was
useful to you if you have any questions if you have any questions feel free to
leave a comment below and I will answer as best I can
alright so that's it for today remember to mashed your idioms Master your
English you want to check us our a table idioms com if you enjoy this material
feel free to like this video and subscribe alright have a wonderful day
we'll see you next time
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét