Phrases and practice

Learn a useful phrase in context, listen to its pronunciation and practise saying it.

• The narrator's account seems coherent until we compare it with what the other characters say.C1 · #2851
• The author's memories illustrate the problem here rather than proving how widespread the phenomenon is.C1 · #2852
• Shifting the focus from events to their interpretation gives this chapter an entirely different character.C1 · #2853
• Taken out of context, the quotation suggests a certainty that the author clearly avoids later in the text.C1 · #2854
• The footnotes reveal which claims come from sources and which are the researcher's own interpretations.C1 · #2855
• I am willing to take over coordination, provided it comes with real authority to make decisions.C1 · #2856
• I would prefer us to name the areas requiring consultation explicitly rather than leave them to tacit arrangements.C1 · #2857
• Joint authorship does not necessarily imply equal contributions, but it requires agreement on how to present them.C1 · #2858
• I am not questioning the partner's competence; I want the scope of their responsibility to be verifiable.C1 · #2859
• With resources so limited, it would be wiser to narrow the scope than to promise a deadline we will not meet.C1 · #2860
• The new arrangement simplifies the procedure but shifts part of the organisational effort onto the participants themselves.C1 · #2861
• The success of this change will depend not only on its design but also on how it is explained to those affected.C1 · #2862
• Keeping the existing practice may be convenient, but convenience alone does not justify foregoing its evaluation.C1 · #2863
• People accustomed to the old system need time to change their habits, even if they understand the benefits of the new one.C1 · #2864
• Not every disagreement is resistance to change; sometimes it reveals a problem the designers overlooked.C1 · #2865
• Rather than sweep the matter under the carpet, let us openly admit that we failed to establish responsibility.C1 · #2866
• That decision added fuel to the fire because it was made without speaking to those involved in the dispute.C1 · #2867
• I do not want to back you into a corner; we can agree on a deadline that leaves you a genuine choice.C1 · #2868
• We are nitpicking if we reject a workable idea solely because of a minor imperfection.C1 · #2869
• That conversation was a weight off my shoulders because it turned out that our expectations were similar.C1 · #2870
• Comparing the results will be misleading if the same concept was defined differently in the two groups.C1 · #2871
• Excluding atypical cases makes the analysis easier but limits the scope in which its conclusions can be applied.C1 · #2872
• The aim is not to count every comment but to identify recurring patterns of argumentation in them.C1 · #2873
• The chosen category combines phenomena that share similar names but differ substantially in how they arise.C1 · #2874
• It is worth specifying what observations would lead us to reject the proposed interpretation.C1 · #2875
• The translation preserves the request's content but removes the distance created in the original by the formal form of address.C1 · #2951
• Repeating a metaphor literally can be faithful to the words while completely changing its effect in another language.C1 · #2952
• I would not automatically remove the repetitions because they create rhythm and emphasise the growing irritation in this statement.C1 · #2953
• A stylistically more elegant version does not always better convey the hesitation and uncertainty present in the original.C1 · #2954
• A footnote can explain the allusion, but it cannot recreate the spontaneous response of a reader familiar with its source.C1 · #2955
• A work's visibility in the media is not the same as its importance to people who use it every day.C1 · #2956
• When giving an award, it is worth explaining whether we are recognising the idea's originality or the care taken in executing it.C1 · #2957
• The idea gained publicity through one person, although developing it required many less visible contributions.C1 · #2958
• Criticism of how awards are given does not necessarily diminish the achievements of those who received them.C1 · #2959
• Assessing only the finished result overlooks decisions that reduced costs and enabled the team to maintain quality.C1 · #2960
• One can support a course of action without taking responsibility for every way of implementing it.C1 · #2961
• The initiative came from the participants, but implementing it depended on the consent of those managing the space.C1 · #2962
• Let us not attribute the decision to the whole team when some members learned of it only after it was announced.C1 · #2963
• A good intention may explain the choice of an action, but it does not replace an assessment of its foreseeable consequences.C1 · #2964
• If we expect autonomy, we should specify which decisions we genuinely leave to participants.C1 · #2965
• Let us not all pull in different directions when the project's success depends on agreeing on priorities together.C1 · #2966
• Putting all our eggs in one basket would be risky when we have not yet examined the alternatives.C1 · #2967
• Your proposal hit the nail on the head because it addresses the source of our misunderstanding rather than its symptoms.C1 · #2968
• After several failed attempts, we stopped banging our heads against a brick wall and asked for an outside perspective.C1 · #2969
• Once emotions had settled, we could finally separate the wheat from the chaff and choose ideas worth developing.C1 · #2970
• The same average rating can occur in a group whose opinions converge and in one that is deeply divided.C1 · #2971
• The absence of critical comments may result from how responses were collected rather than from universal approval.C1 · #2972
• An increase in reports does not necessarily mean the situation has worsened; it may indicate that the form has become easier to access.C1 · #2973
• If the question permits several readings, it is worth checking which ones respondents adopted before comparing their answers.C1 · #2974
• The same criterion may operate differently in the two contexts even when its wording remains identical.C1 · #2975
• We agree on the goal but differ on which compromises are worth making to achieve it.C1 · #3051
• The phrase 'high quality' will remain an empty declaration until we specify how it is to be recognised.C1 · #3052
• Meeting the target value of an indicator is not enough if the way it is achieved undermines the goal it was meant to serve.C1 · #3053
• I am not proposing that we abandon our ambitions, only that we separate expectations for the initial and final stages.C1 · #3054
• If success in one part of the project creates difficulties in another, we need an assessment of the whole rather than separate praise.C1 · #3055
• The question suggests that the decision had already been made, although the interviewee had described it only as a possibility under consideration.C1 · #3056
• Cutting off the answer at this point deprives listeners of a qualification that substantially limits the earlier claim.C1 · #3057
• The speaker responds to the example rather than to the principle it was meant to illustrate.C1 · #3058
• Rephrasing the question helps only if it removes the earlier ambiguity rather than adding a new one.C1 · #3059
• A polite acknowledgement that the question was understood should not be presented as agreement with its premise.C1 · #3060
• A solution that seems obvious to its designer may remain unclear to someone seeing it for the first time.C1 · #3061
• An additional option increases freedom of choice but may make the basic task harder if it is not clearly described.C1 · #3062
• Let us test the instructions without extra explanations to see what information the text itself actually conveys.C1 · #3063
• Shortening the path to the goal does not necessarily improve the user experience if it removes the opportunity to review one's decision.C1 · #3064
• When assessing clarity, we should not rely solely on people who previously helped create the design.C1 · #3065
• I do not want to stick my neck out for a promise whose fulfilment I cannot even verify.C1 · #3066
• The game is not worth the candle if a minor improvement requires abandoning every previous arrangement.C1 · #3067
• Rome was not built in a day; it is wiser to improve things step by step than to expect a flawless beginning.C1 · #3068
• Let us not make empty promises: if we announce consultations, we must genuinely leave room for the decision to change.C1 · #3069
• We still have an ace up our sleeve: an alternative date that does not require changing the meeting venue.C1 · #3070
• The memory takes on a different meaning when we know what the narrator could not yet have known at the time described.C1 · #3071
• The detail in an account makes it more vivid but does not by itself confirm the accuracy of every fact recalled.C1 · #3072
• By omitting everyday difficulties, the story may suggest that the breakthrough happened without gradual preparation.C1 · #3073
• It is worth preserving different accounts of the same event even if they cannot be combined into a single coherent version.C1 · #3074
• Nostalgia may explain the choice of memories without making every omitted experience less important.C1 · #3075
• The absence of a date on the back of a photograph does not justify assigning it to the same period as the neighbouring photographs.C1 · #3151
• Let us preserve the album's original arrangement and present the proposed chronological order in a separate list.C1 · #3152
• An account of an item's provenance should distinguish documented information from the conjectures of the person who handed it over.C1 · #3153
• A shared label does not necessarily indicate common authorship; it may have been assigned only when the collection was organised.C1 · #3154
• If the identification remains uncertain, it is better to name two possible people than to give one hypothesis an appearance of certainty.C1 · #3155
• This wording is grammatically correct, but it may sound like an accusation to someone unfamiliar with the earlier correspondence.C1 · #3156
• Shortening the sentence removed the information about who raised the concern, making the statement now sound like the position of the whole team.C1 · #3157
• We do not need to abandon the specialist term, provided that we explain its meaning the first time we use it.C1 · #3158
• A request to clarify an example should not be interpreted as questioning its author's competence.C1 · #3159
• By replacing a clear commitment with a polite suggestion, we change the scope of expectations, not just the tone of the message.C1 · #3160
• Handing over the files is not the same as passing on knowledge of the exceptions that are not described in the documentation.C1 · #3161
• The person taking over the task should know which decisions they can make independently and which require consultation.C1 · #3162
• Let us agree when the handover will be complete so that temporary help from the previous coordinator does not become an indefinite obligation.C1 · #3163
• It is worth recording the rejected solutions too, especially if the new person may reconsider them for the same reasons.C1 · #3164
• Naming the main contact is not enough; we also need agreement on who covers for them when they are absent.C1 · #3165
• By trying to ride two horses at once, we postpone both decisions instead of deliberately choosing one priority.C1 · #3166
• It is not worth crossing swords over the folder's name until we agree on what material should go into it.C1 · #3167
• Let us spell it out: we agreed to test the idea, but we have not yet promised to implement it.C1 · #3168
• By sending the questioner from one person to another, we pass the buck instead of establishing who is actually responsible for the matter.C1 · #3169
• Such an oversimplification gives our critics ammunition, because it lets them challenge the entire proposal on the basis of one imprecise formulation.C1 · #3170
• Highlighting the largest value in colour draws attention, but without an explanation of the scale, readers may overestimate the difference between the results.C1 · #3171
• The table should give the number of respondents alongside the percentages so that readers know how large each group was.C1 · #3172
• Omitting empty cells makes the table easier to read, but it may conceal the fact that no data were collected for some cases.C1 · #3173
• We are describing a change between two measurements, not a continuous trend whose course we did not observe in between.C1 · #3174
• The conclusion should not be more categorical than its premises, even if a shorter formulation fits the heading better.C1 · #3175