Unit 1: English Expressions
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Session 8
Listen to find out how to use an everyday English expression.
‘ከመይ ጌርኩም ንመዓልታዊ መግለጽ-ሓሳብ እንግሊዘኛ ከም እትጥቀምሉ ንምፍላጥ ተኸታተሉ።
Activity 1
Beat around the bush
Look at the Session Vocabulary – make sure you know what these words mean:
- outdoors
- camping
- bush
Listen to Rob and Li on a camping trip. As you listen, think about these questions:
1.Why is Li unhappy?
2. Does she want to tell Rob?
Listen to find out the answers. Then check them on the transcript below.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሰላም፣ እንቋዕ ብድሓን ናብ መደብ English Expressions መጻእኩም፣ እዚ ብእንግሊዘኛ ሓደስቲ መግለጽ-ሓሳባት ንኽትመሃሩሉ እነቕርቦ ሓጋዚ መደብ’’ዩ።
ሎሚ ‘beat around the bush’ ዚብል መግለጺ-ሓሳብ ክንፍትሾ ኢና ... ቃል-ብቓሉ ‘ኣብ ዙርያ’ቲ ቈጥቋጥ ምህራም’ ከም ማለት’ዩ። እቲ ልክዕ ትርጕሙ ግን እንታይ ኰን ይኸዉን? ... በሉ ጽን ኢልኩም ስምዑ
ሮብ ምስ ሊ ንሽርሽር ንበረኻ ወፈሩ። ኣብቲ ዘዕርፉሉ ቦታ ምስ በጽሑ ቴንዳኦም ክተኸሉ ጀመሩ። ጽቡቕ ጊዜ ዘሕልፉዶ ይመስለኩም? ሓቢርና ንከታተል።
Rob
Ah, I love the outdoors! And this is the perfect spot for us to start our camping adventure, Li.
Li
Oh… yes… nature, Rob. You said this camping trip was an invitation I couldn't refuse. Well, I really couldn't as you were so insistent...
Rob
Well, we can put the tent over there, next to that bush…
Li
It would be a good place if it wasn't so close to an ant nest…
Rob
…and we can light a fire near that rock…
Li
…the wind might put out the fire…
Rob
It's just a breeze.
Li
But it's bringing in the clouds. It's going to rain...
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ኣብቲ ንሽርሽር ከይዶሞ ዘሎዉ ቦታ ሊ ሓድሓደ ዘሰከፉዋ ጕዳያት ኣልዓለት። እቲ ቴንዳ ኣብ ጥቓ ሰፈር-ጻጸ ‘ants’ nest’ ከይከውን ስክፍታኣ ገለጸት፣ ከምኡ’ውን ብንፋስ ኰነ ዝናብ ‘rain’ ተሻቐለት። ሊ እንታይ ከም እትብል ተኸታተሉ።
Rob
Li, nothing seems to please you, does it? Are you trying to tell me something?
Li
Well, the thing is...
Rob
Yes? What's the problem Li?
Li
It's just that the tent is a bit small and… well… you know what I mean…
Rob
Li, I don't know what you mean! Now just come on, just tell me what's wrong - don't beat around the bush!
Li
Beat around the bush? I'm not even touching the bush.
Rob
I know. In English, when you tell someone not to 'beat around the bush' you're telling them to stop avoiding saying things directly.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሮብ ን ሊ ጸገማ እንታይ ምዃኑ ክትነግሮ ይውከሳ። ሊ ግን ክትነግሮ ዝደለየት ኣይትመስልን። ሮብ ከኣ ን ሊ ብልክዑ ንገርኒ ንምባል ‘[do not] beat around the bush’ ዝብል ሓረግ ይጥቀም። ‘Beat’ ምህራም ማለት’ዩ፣ ‘around’ ኣብ ዙርያ ማለት’ዩ፣ ‘bush’ ከኣ ቈጥቋጥ ማለት’ዩ። ስለዚ፡ ሓደ ሰብ ‘beats around the bush’ ክንብል ከሎና እቲ ሰብ ኣብ ክንዲ እቲ ክብሎ ዝደሊ ብግልጺ ዝዛረብ ነቶም ኣገደስት ረቛሕቲ ቃላት ገዲፉ ብተዘዋዋሪ መንገዲ ይዛረብ ማለት’ዩ። ሰባት ኣብ ዘረባኦም ኰለል ምስ ዝብሉ ‘[they] beat around the bush’ ክንብል ንኽእል፣ ማለት እቲ ክብሉዎ ዝደልዩ ተኣፋፊ ወይከኣ ዘይቅድዊ ክኸውን ይኽእል፣ ምናልባት ንሰማዒ ዘቐይም’ውን ክኸውን ስለ ዝኽእል።
እዚ መግለጽ-ሓሳብ’ዚ ብኣሉታዊ ኣገባብ’ውን ክንጥቀመሉ ንኽእል ኢና - እቲ መዛርብትኹም ብቀጥታ ክዛረብ ምስ እትደልዪዎ ‘don’t beat around the bush’ ክትብሉዎ ትኽእሉ።
እዚ መግለጽ-ሓሳብ’ዚ ብኸመይ ከም እንጥቀመሉ ሓድ-ሓደ ኣብነታት ሓቢርና ንስማዕ።
Examples
My boss didn't beat around the bush this morning – he just told me straight: I was fired!
Do you like my new haircut? Don’t beat around the bush! I want the truth.
Rob
OK, now you know. So Li, stop beating around the bush and tell me what the problem is.
Li
The problem is: I hate camping!
Rob
Why didn't you say that before?
Li
You were so enthusiastic, I couldn't say 'no' to your invitation.
Rob
I'm sorry, Li.
Li
And I'm sorry for beating around the bush. I should have just told you.
(Sound coming from the bush)
Li
And by the look of things we are both going to be sorry if we don't run to the car and get the hell out of here!
(A roar)
Rob
Oh there is a bear just behind the bush!
Li
A bear?! Let's run, Rob! Bye.
Rob
And it sounds like a really big bear! Let's go!
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ንገለ እዋን፡ ድሕሪ ‘beating around the bush’ ሊ ንሮብ ብዛዕባ ሽርሽር-በረኻ ብግልጺ ክትነግሮ ከኣለት።
ኣብ ዝስዕብ መደብ English Expressions የራኽበና።
Answers:
1. Because she doesn't like camping
2. No she doesn't, because Rob is very enthusiastic about camping.
How do I use it?
'Beat' in 'Beat around the bush' is an irregular verb, which changes according to tense and person. The past simple form is 'beat' and the past participle is 'beaten'. In this phrase, we can either use the preposition 'around' or 'about'. Also, remember that this expression always uses 'the' before the noun 'bush'. Look at these examples:
I've beaten around the bush too long about this, I need to tell you that I can't come to your wedding.
He beat about the bush for ages and then told me he forgot to book the restaurant.
Make sure you get an answer from Dave - he always beats around the bush when there's bad news.
Beat around the bush
3 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
እቲ ልክዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
ሓገዝ
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
እቲ ልክዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
ኣመት
እዛ ቃል ደሕሪ`ታ ኣብዚ ሓረግ ዘላ ቀዳመይቲ ቃል`ያ።Question 1 of 3
ሓገዝ
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
እቲ ልክዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
ኣመት
ኣስተውዕል፡ እዚ ሓረግ’ዚ ብዛዕባ ኣብ ኣዘራርብኦም ኾለል ዝብሉ ሰባት’ዩ።Question 2 of 3
ሓገዝ
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
እቲ ልክዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
ኣመት
እዚ ቃል’ዚ ቅድሚ ‘bush’ ዝብል ቃል ክንጥቀመሉ ይግባእ።Question 3 of 3
Excellent!Great job!ሕማቕ ዕድል!ዘመዝገብኩምዎ ነጥቢ ...:
Over to you!
Have you ever ‘beaten about the bush’ about something? Has anyone ever done it to you? What was the situation? What happened? Come and tell us on our Facebook group.
Join us for our next episode of English Expressions, when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ኣብቲ ጠቓሚ ቋንቋ እትመሃርሉን ናይ ምስማዕ ክለትኩም እትለማመድሉን ዝቕጽል መደብ English Expressions የራኽበና።
Session Vocabulary
outdoors
ግዳምcamping
ንበረኻ ምኻድ / ንምዝንጋዕ ንበረኻ ምውፋርan adventure
ዕንደራ / ገድሊ ዝመልኦ መገሻa tent
ቴንዳan ant nest
ሰፈር ጻጸa bush
ቈጥቋጥa bear
ድቢ