Idioms about Love

Spring is in full blossom, and love is in the air. English is riddled with sayings that relate to relationships and romance. The infographic lists examples of idioms that are heard frequently during these magical months that are associated with love.

1: The love of my life
The person one wants to spend the rest of their life with and cannot imagine being without.
“George and Gracie Burns were completely devoted to each other. Gracie was the love of George’s life, and he eternally missed her.”

2: Love is blind
Love can give a person the ability to overlook another’s faults.
“Frankie’s eyes were crossed and she had bowed legs, but Bubba never saw it; love is blind.”

3: All’s fair in love and war
Supposedly, in war and matters of the heart, the ends justify the means. There are few rules.
“Bob sent Betty flowers even though she is dating Bill. All’s fair in love and war.”

4: A face only a mother could love
A mother’s love does not care if the face of the child is beautiful or hideous.
“My favorite boxer has a face only a mother could love.”

5: Love-hate relationship
This can refer to a relationship where emotion is gone, yet the pair remains together. It can also speak of a non-romantic relationship where two people butt heads, but it generally shows a relationship with a pair who can fight like cats and dogs but genuinely care for each other.
“Wow, that Laurrie and Joe, they can sure go at it. I sometimes wonder if that’s a love-hate relationship.”

6: Love makes the world go round
Life is so much better when we are all nice to each other.
“I wish the nations would stop fighting; it’s love that makes the world go round.”

7: Make love not war
This means precisely what it says.
“Stop fighting, you three! Make love not war!”

8: Love will find a way
This refers to the indomitable spirit of love and is similar to the idiom “love conquers all.”
“Bob is moving to Florida but Betty isn’t. If they were meant to be together, love will find a way.”

9: Puppy love
Love between young people, usually teenagers, and not usually taken seriously.
“Oh, how cute, look at those two; could this be puppy love?”

10: Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Our last example may sound sweet, but it has a streak of irony to it. It states that when two are parted from each other, their feelings toward each other may grow. This might also hint that negative aspects may fade from the lovers’ minds, a line of thought that has fathered other idioms that are increasingly less endearing, such as “familiarity breeds contempt” and “if you promise to go away, I promise to miss you.”

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Anyone vs any one, none vs no one

The confusion with “anyone and any one” and “none and no one” could be blamed on the way they sound. Folks speak more than they write, so these words are often incorrectly swapped when put onto paper. A look at the rules and an infographic should sort everything out.

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Anyone vs Any One (“any at all”)

“Anyone” is a pronoun that means “any person.” It is always used for people and never for inanimate objects.
“Anyone can do this.”
“I’m throwing a party and anyone can come.”

“Any one” is a pairing of two adjectives and can refer to things as well as people. “One” is a determiner that points to a singular item or unit and is often followed by “of.”
“Bubba loves all ice cream, not any one flavor.”
“Mole rats are ugly, hairless, and they bite; any one of these aspects would keep me from picking one up.”

When a dramatic emphasis is needed in relation to people or things, “any one” is especially handy. “I couldn’t bear to lose any one of you” means the same as “I couldn’t bear to lose any of you,” but the first sentence adds drama and further emphasizes each person. The word “single” could be added for even more emphasis: “I couldn’t bear to lose any single one of you.” For things, it is used in the same way: “If any one of those tiles is removed, the entire pile will fall.”

Another use is in the phrase “at any one time,” which adds clarity and emphasis.
“The library only allows three reference books off the shelf at any one time.” (clarity)
“At any one time, there were a minimum of sixteen birds at our feeder.” (emphasis; lots of birds)
“We have not gone out for lunch at any one time and not had pizza.” (emphasis; sick of pizza)

None vs No One (“not any”)

“None” must point to a noun or nouns in the sentence and can refer to inanimate objects. Since it is a descendant of “no one,” some argue that “none” can only be singular, but it is accepted either way and more often heard in the plural. In fact, the singular can seem awkward in certain cases.

Incorrect: “None were there when she returned to the classroom.”
Correct: “None of the students were there when she returned to the classroom.”
Incorrect: “I have eaten none.”
Correct: “I have eaten none of the pickles.”
Singular/Plural: “None of us is staying,” “None of us are staying.”

“No one” is the same as “nobody.” When used in this way, it can never refer to inanimate objects. It is used just as it is and requires no helping words, and it does not need to point to a noun.

“No one was there when she returned to the classroom.”
“Quit complaining; no one touched your pickles!”
“No one is staying.”

“No one” can also indicate a lack of emphasis on any specific item or person in a group.

“Fifteen people were on the deck when it collapsed; no one person caused it.”
“He searched, but no one rope was longer than the others.”
“My cake will be shared equally by all. No one of you will have more than another.”

Sound-alike words are notorious for giving people headaches. Can you list any others?

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Conditional clauses: tips and tricks. How to master conditions??

“Conditional clause” is a big, scary term for a simple idea and should not strike fear into the hearts of those learning English. Some examples and an infographic will make mastering the conditions of conditional clauses even easier.

Clause

Looking at the words themselves will help to keep this subject painless. A clause is simply a chunk of a sentence that has its own subject and verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence. The following sentence will become a clause when combined with another clause; this will be the “main clause.”

“We are going to the zoo.”

Conditional Clause
“Conditional” indicates an “if” or a circumstance that needs to be met. Conditional clauses are often called “if clauses.” With the “if,” the following examples are not proper sentences and are waiting to be added to a main clause.

“If it is not raining”
“If we leave soon”
“If I had looked behind me”

Conditional Sentence

Before we go to the zoo, we need to make sure the weather is cooperating, otherwise we will not go. The main clause relies on the conditional clause that was just tucked onto the front of the sentence.

“If it is not raining, we are going to the zoo.”

We will continue with the “if clause” at the front of each sentence, just for simplicity, but they can change places: “We are going to the zoo if it is not raining.”

First, Second, Third Conditional

There are three types of conditional clauses. First conditional is likely to happen and is in future tense. Second conditional is unlikely or nearly impossible and in future tense. Third conditional is impossible because it is in past tense.

“If it stops raining, we can go to the zoo.”
“If I had some money, we would go to the zoo.”
“If it had not rained all day, we would have gone to the zoo.”

The first has a pretty good chance; that rain is likely to stop at some point.

The second is unlikely because the conditions are remote, but there is still a slim chance; the speaker is broke, but perhaps he will find some money hidden away in his sock drawer or in his winter coat. Second conditional is also useful when writing about dreams or a situation nearly impossible to fulfill, such as winning the lottery or becoming a famous musician.

The third is in the past and now impossible; you cannot change yesterday.

Modal Verbs in Conditional Sentences

Those strange little modal verbs are useful in conditional sentences. Should you need a refresher, examples of modals are may, will, can, might, could, must, would, should and shall. They can be found on both sides of the comma, in both the result and the condition, and they are used in both real and unreal scenarios.

First conditional (possible): “If he can help you, he will do a great job.”
Second conditional (not likely): “If I should have to swim the Atlantic, I will probably drown.”
Third conditional (impossible): “If the chickens would have stayed awake, they would have heard the fox.”

Some modals can be ornery. Are there any modal verbs that seem like they may not work in all three types of conditional clauses?

Collected from Grammar.net

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