Phasal verbs

Pin down / nail down – determinar - ascertain

It is important to pin down / nail down the reasons why people are not committed to the
environment.

Bring along / bring about – acarrear, generar, taner como consecuencia – lead to

If we continue throwing plastic in our oceans, it will bring along/about the rise of the sea level.

Women go through so much when they get pregnant and they are made redundant, which
brings along/about depression and anxiety issues.

Go through – sufrir, soportar, pasar por – endure

I would not like to go through what the fish are going to though with so much plastic in the
ocean. That is why I am committed to the environment.

Along with / Alongside with – junto con – not only, but also

Making children concious about the situation we are going through when it comes to pollution,
along with/alongside with giving them some perks to stop going so, can be the key to success.

Come down to / come to – se trata de, en cuanto a – on the issue of

We must come up with new ways to make people concious, when it comes down to/comes to
global warming.

Top (something) off – para colmo – to maka matters worse

Pollution has always been a growing problem and to top it off, now, are throwing plastic in the
ocean as well.

Come up with something – elaborar, inventarse – put together

We need to come up with a plan to address the global warming issue.

Come across – nos encontramos con – strike, face, encounter

Regarding global warming, we come across many issues that are supposed to be the roof of
the problem.

Point out – señalar – I would like to bring focus to the fact, It is fair to highlight

I must point out that our government is doing nothing to tackle the global warming issue.

Turn out – resultar – it appears to be

It turns out that older generations are the ones who are more committed to the environment.

Sort out – resolver una situación – address

It is necessary that the government sort out all of the things going on with pollution.

Figure out – averiguar, descifrar, resolver – put together a plan on how

We need to figure out how to make people aware of the daunting situation we are going
through, when it comes to global warming.

Carry out – llevar a cabo – conduct, perform

The government is supposed to be carrying out a plan to bring the cutting down of trees to an
end.

Start with – empezar – to get started

To start with, I will mention the disheartening situation we are going through, when it comes
to global warming.

Sum up – resumir – by any large

To sum up, global warming is a growing problem that needs to be tackled before it is too late.

Connectors
Let us get straight to the point and tackle the heart of the matter – Vamos a ir directos al
grano y abordar el quid de la cuestión – Let us get right to the core and tackle this matter

Let us dive deeper into it and pin down – vamos a meternos de lleno en el tema y determinar
– Let us undertake this issue and ascertain

I must make clear that – debo aclarar que

Without a doubt whatsoever – sin lugar a dudas

It is fair to point out – vale la pena señalar – it is fair to draw attention to the fact that/It is fair
to highlight

I can’t help but say / I can’t help +ing– no puedo evitar decir – I cannot help but say / I cannot
help saying

It is crystal clear – está más claro que el agua que – It is perspicuous

I consider it to be – considero que esto es

It appears to be – parece ser

It turns out to be – resulta ser – it happens to be

The way forward is – el camino a seguir es

We tend to – tendemos a

It entails – esto conlleva/implica

As for – en cuanto a

At first glance – a primera vista

On the plus side / the plusses are / the windfalls are (inf)/ the pros are / the perks are – por
el lado bueno

The drawbacks are / the downsides are / the negatives are / the cons are / some arguments
against are / some of the pitfalls are (inf)/ some of the flaws are – para hablar de desventajas
Yet – sin embargo

Hence/That is why – por eso

Thus – por consiguiente

Something along the lines of – algo como

What is more – además

Furthermore/Furthermore to this/Still further/In similar fashion (inf) / By the same token

(inf) /Likewise/In parallel with (inf) /In tandem with (inf) / Along with (inf) – además

Taking into account that – teniendo en cuenta que

I am wondering/I wonder – me pregunto

I truly believe/think/ In my humble opinion – En lugar de I think

Though (al final de la frase) – yet

As aforementioned – como ya he mencionado antes – As I said before (para contextos

informales)

Last but not least – por ultimo pero no menos importante

To sum up/in a nutshell/to make a long story short – para resumir (todos ellos informales)

Due to the fact/given that (inf) – debido a

One another note/at the other end of the spectrum/on different note – por otro lado – As it
happens… Be that as it may/At first glance… Be that as it may

We cannot get away from the fact that – no Podemos obviar el hecho de que – we cannot
overlook the fact that

It is importat to bring up the subject about – es importante sacar el tema sobre – It is

paramount to raise the subject of

Simply put/It is to say/In other words/Putting in another way/To put in differently/As

previous stated– dicho de otra manera

Idioms
To turn a blind eye to something – hacer la vista gorda – Overlook something

To drag their feet on something – ser reticente/retrasar/dormirse en los laurels/tener

pachorra – procrastinate

Facts speaks for themselves – los hechos hablan por sí mismos – statistics show that it is quite
the opposite

The tip of the iceberg – la punta del iceberg – a small part of the matter

There is a fine line – hay una fina línea – It is one thing to… but quite another…

Draw the line – marcar el límite/poner un límite – Set the limit

Off the scale/Off the chart – algo que exceed los estándares normales, ya sean buenos o
malos

Hit rock bottom – tocar fondo – Hit a new low

Not all that glitters is gold – no todo lo que reluce es oro – Not all is as it seems

To be in someone’s shoes – ponerse en el lugar de alguien – Were I you / Had I been you

Take it up a notch / Take it down a notch – llevar las cosas a un nivel superior/bajar la
intensidad, tomarse un respiro – Take it a step further

It is getting out of hand – se nos está yendo de las manos – It is becoming unmanageable

To go hand in hand together – ir mano a mano – Be closely related

A win-win situation – situación en la que todos ganan – Mutually profitable

To grab the bull by horns – coger el toro por los cuernos – fase/address/endure the matter

Speak volumes – algo habla por sí mismo – Self-evident facts

It is not rocket science – algo que no es difícil – It is not hard to apprehend

It is on the tip of my tongue – lo tengo en la punta de la lengua, se usa de forma oral e

informal

I’ve gone blank – Me quedé en blanco

Take something with a pinch of salt – no creer algo del todo – Be suspicious of

Not everything is black or white – no todas las cosas son blanco o negro

To give the green light – dar luz verde a algo

Brush things off – minimizar las cosas – Downplay things

Otras expresiones de utilidad

Be the order of the day/ the norm -estar a la orden del día

It is worth + ing – vale la pena

Approach/tackle/address – abordar

Entail/involve/come with – conllevar

Something along the lines of – algo como, como “something like”

Far-reaching effects – grandes repercusiones

To claim/to state/to say – decir

It is reported that…

To be likely to – probabilidad

Overlook the fact – pasar por alto

It is a good job that/Good job that – menos mal que, informal

We strive to – nos empeñamos en

As the saying goes – como dice el refrán, para usar justo antes de un idiom

To be prone to something – ser propenso a algo

A turning point – un punto de inflexión

As a last resort – como ultimo recurso

I am leaning more towards – me decanto más por

What do you make of it? - ¿Qué piensas sobre esto?

Steer clear of – mantenerse alejado de

As such/Per se – como tal

Make your voice heard - hacerse oir

Roughly speaking/Pretty much/Give or take – más o menos

By way of illustration / To name but a few / Namely / For instance

Over en lugar de about

For the sake of / With an eye to /With a focus on / In order to / So that / So as to – para usar
en vez de to

A tipping point – un punto crítico

Bring something to an end – acabar con algo

In the short term / In the long term – a corto plazo/a largo plazo

It is of the utmost importance – es de máxima importancia

To be nothing but – no es nada más que…, no es otra cosa, pero…, es solo

And what not – y cosas por el estilo – And so on / and so forth / And the like / And what have
you (inf) / and all that jazz (inf) / And all that malarkey (inf) / And stuff (inf)/ And stuff like
that (inf)

Truly / Without a doubt whatsoever/ do-does – para enfatizar

It is high time + pasado – ya era hora de que

The more… the more … / The more… The less…/The more…The better

Enfatizar con very por ejemplo “the very problem”

Estructuras
- La pasiva
Be supposed to
To be meant to
As long as we do not take action right away, global warming is supposed to put in
danger many animal species.
 Women are meant to be the ones who have to juggle with work and children.
- Condicionales
Tercer condicional, o segundo en su defecto. Es decir, hablar sobre como habría sido
algo en otras circunstancias.
If I had known that I was going to fail, I would have given it a miss.
If I had been in your shoes, I would have…
- Estructuras invertidas. Inversions
Not only… but also
Inversiones con condicionales
If I had been there, this problem would not happened -->Had I been there, this
problem would not have happened.
If we had arrived sooner, we could have prevented this tragedy → Had we arrived
sooner, we could have prevented this tragedy
If I were in your shoes, I would take up an English course → Were I in your shoes, I
would take up an English course.
If you go to Rome, you should visit the Vatican → Should you visit the Vatican if you go
to Rome.
- Inversiones con such y so
Her beauty was such that nobody could talk of anything else. → Such was her beauty
that nobody could talk of anything else.
The girl was so beautiful that nobody could talk anything else → So beautiful was the
girl that nobody could talk anything else.
- Cleft sentences
It + “la forma del verbo to be que corresponda”+ pronombre relativo
Norman helped me write my books → It was Norman who helped me write my books
I wish/If only + were (subjuntivo)
If only same-sex marriage were made legal all over the world
I wish the minimum wage were up to a certain standard in the entire world.
It is important/vital/paramount (subjuntivo)
No se conjuga el verbo: no se añade la s de tercera persona, en la negativa no usamos
el auxiliar do sino que usamos not, no se añade la marca de pasado -ed.
It is vital that we be committed to the environment.
It is paramount that global warming be tackled.
It is paramount that religion not be discussed at work.