Learning English

Session 1: Hyphens

Compound adjectives with hyphens in them include:

adjective/adverb + present participle
a hard-working student, a good-looking man

ages and numbers before a noun
eighteen-year-old students, a two-door car

compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine
fifty-two, seventy-eight

Compound adjectives can be formed in other ways, for example:

adjective/adverb + noun
a last-minute decision, a one-way street, full-time staff

noun + adjective
a world-famous athlete

adverb/noun + past participle before a noun
well-respected politicians, a battery-operated toy

three-word compound adjectives before a noun
an out-of-date hairstyle, an out-of-work father

Compound adjectives without hyphens include:

adverb/noun + the past participle after a noun
the politicians were well respected, this toy is battery operated

three-word compound adjectives after a noun
that hairstyle is out of date, his father is out of work

compound adjectives made with an adverb ending in –ly, both before and after a noun
a carefully written letter, the letter was carefully written

Compound nouns do not usually have a hyphen, for example:
secondary school, swimming pool, ice cream

But a few compound nouns are hyphenated, for example:
t-shirt, mother-in-law

Session 3

outlets
shops that are one of many owned by the same company

phenomenon
a remarkable or amazing thing

aftermath
the period of time after an event, particularly an event that has a big impact

shut down
stop business

warehouses
large buildings where materials or goods can be stored before they are sold

vacant
empty

trading
buying and selling goods or services

craze
an activity or idea that is very popular, usually for a short period of time

popped up
(here) appeared

booming
growing rapidly, especially used when talking about successful economies

bustling
full of activity and people moving around

niche
belonging to a specific part of the business market

retail space
space used for the selling of goods to customers

landlords
owners of property who rent it out to other people

would-be
wanting to be a specific type of person

overheads
costs that are involved in running a business that are regular and needed, like paying rent or for heating and lighting

premises
buildings that a business uses

customer base
the group of customers who regularly buy the goods or services from a business

expand
get bigger

downturn
a decline in economic and business activity

went out of business (idiom)
stopped doing business

stopgap
a temporary solution to a problem

reluctant (to do something)
not prepared to do something

units
(here) shop buildings and warehouses

vibrancy
a lot of energy or activity

Session 4

to haggle
to argue about a price

a bargain
a very cheap price

to knock off
to lower a price

I haven't got that kind of money
I haven't got enough money for that

you can't say fairer than that
(idiom) that's very fair

go on then
I agree to buy/sell at the price you just said