Phrases and practice

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

• Institutional memory is lost not only when employees leave, but also when decisions are recorded without their rationale.C2 · #726
• An informal way of working may facilitate cooperation among insiders while making the rules opaque to newcomers.C2 · #727
• Completing a plan through exceptional effort does not prove that the original schedule was realistic.C2 · #728
• The apparent ease of completing a task may arise from unseen preparation that the observer had no opportunity to notice.C2 · #729
• Knowing the correct answer is not yet the ability to recognise the situation in which it should be applied.C2 · #730
• Attributing an undeclared motive to someone may close down the conversation before they can explain their own position.C2 · #731
• Withholding a reservation to preserve good relations may harm those relations if it is later perceived as concealment.C2 · #732
• Appealing to authority may be justified, provided that the authority’s expertise concerns the very issue under dispute.C2 · #733
• An equal division of expenses is arithmetically simple, but its fairness depends on which differences we regard as relevant.C2 · #734
• Keeping an earlier system version allows rollback only if subsequent data changes do not prevent that version from operating.C2 · #735
• The option to refuse is not a meaningful choice if the interface consistently hides it behind successive screens.C2 · #736
• A default setting can shape user behaviour even when everyone formally retains the option to change it.C2 · #737
• The contradiction between the narrative tone and the events described forces the reader to assess the narrator’s reliability.C2 · #738
• Restoring a work’s original appearance may erase traces of later changes that have themselves become part of its history.C2 · #739
• Understanding a joke depends not only on knowing the words, but also on recognising the expectation that the punchline abruptly overturns.C2 · #740
• Restoring a former environmental state may be impossible if the conditions that sustained it have changed permanently.C2 · #741
• The effectiveness of protecting one species should not be assessed in isolation from changes across the ecosystem.C2 · #742
• Even an accurate demand forecast does not justify an investment if the assumed sales volume requires costs omitted from the model.C2 · #743
• A price agreed on an incomplete description of the work may become the starting point of a dispute rather than its resolution.C2 · #744
• Standardising care helps ensure a minimum level of quality, but should not obscure needs that the standard did not anticipate.C2 · #745
• A loved one’s silence may reflect a need for time, so it should not be treated as rejection without a conversation.C2 · #746
• A claim about a product’s durability remains difficult to assess if the conditions of use to which it applies are unspecified.C2 · #747
• Retaining a procedure solely because changing it would be inconvenient does not address whether it still serves its purpose.C2 · #748
• A promise of trouble-free travel is of little use unless it is accompanied by a clear way to obtain help when disruptions occur.C2 · #749
• Explaining a phenomenon by giving it a name may create an illusion of understanding without revealing the mechanism that produces it.C2 · #750
• A categorical tone cannot replace justification, although it can easily create that impression.C2 · #876
• Let's leave ourselves room to revise our approach before we back ourselves into a corner.C2 · #877
• What a time-saver: now we all have to reconstruct what nobody wrote down.C2 · #878
• Granted, the solution is elegant — as long as we ignore the problem it was meant to solve.C2 · #879
• It would be unfair to make you a spokesperson for a view you mentioned only as an example.C2 · #880
• Please do not mistake my reserve for indifference; I do not want to pass judgement without hearing both sides.C2 · #881
• I do not deny that the gesture was kindly meant; I am asking whether it entitled you to decide on my behalf.C2 · #882
• You cannot invoke my promise while leaving out the condition on which I made it.C2 · #883
• The expression has a condescending undertone here that a neutral equivalent will not convey.C2 · #884
• Praise sounds ambiguous when you immediately list everything that supposedly should have been done better.C2 · #885
• A sentence taken out of a conversation can acquire a firmness the speaker never intended.C2 · #886
• That reply sounds more resigned than agreeable, although both readings are possible on paper.C2 · #887
• If we acknowledge that the data are incomplete, why do we treat the comparison based on them as conclusive?C2 · #888
• I do not expect flawless consistency, but I do expect the rules not to change only after the result is known.C2 · #889
• Before giving experts the floor, let's agree which parts of the dispute concern knowledge and which concern the choice of values.C2 · #890
• I am afraid an apology loses its meaning if you immediately explain why I should have acted differently.C2 · #891
• Conflicting memories do not by themselves justify accusing one person of deliberate deception.C2 · #892
• I accept your explanation, but leave open the question of whether that course of action was justified.C2 · #893
• It is easy to declare the discussion over; it is harder to show that the central question has actually been answered.C2 · #894
• I would not want my presence at the meeting to be used as evidence of support for a decision I was not consulted about.C2 · #895
• The choice of a label can narrow the debate before anyone notices that a particular interpretation has been adopted.C2 · #896
• That footnote is no minor qualification; it changes the scope of a claim that sounds unconditional in the main text.C2 · #897
• The author leaves the reader to judge whether the character's politeness conceals concern or cool detachment.C2 · #898
• I am not asking us to overlook our differences, but to use language that lets us name them without humiliating anyone.C2 · #899
• I have the impression that we are now defending the way we argue more than the positions that started the dispute.C2 · #900
• Let's give this proposal its due: even if we reject it, it has forced us to acknowledge costs we had previously overlooked.C2 · #1026
• With success defined so broadly, it would surely be hard to identify an outcome we would count as failure.C2 · #1027
• I would prefer us not to turn this into a joke before the person concerned sets that tone themselves.C2 · #1028
• To avoid talking past each other, let's establish whether 'necessary' means a condition for success here or merely a strong preference.C2 · #1029
• If the dispute concerns timing rather than the course of action, let's not present it as disagreement over the goal itself.C2 · #1030
• Trust in the team does not release me from the duty to flag a conflict of interest others may not see.C2 · #1031
• A case description illustrates that a phenomenon can occur, but does not by itself tell us how frequently it does.C2 · #1032
• When I ask for a source, I am not asking you to defend the entire theory; I want to know what supports this particular claim.C2 · #1033
• A model may predict an outcome accurately without yet explaining the mechanism that produces it.C2 · #1034
• The more a system adapts to my past choices, the less clear it becomes whether it also shows me relevant alternatives.C2 · #1035
• I would not want the convenience of an automated reply to blur the distinction between acknowledging receipt and actually considering the matter.C2 · #1036
• Continuing the project will not by itself recover money already lost; the next decision requires assessing what we can still gain or lose.C2 · #1037
• We are discussing the same amount, but apparently treating it sometimes as revenue and sometimes as funds available after all deductions.C2 · #1038
• The price comparison is misleading if the cheaper option requires extras without which it cannot serve the same purpose.C2 · #1039
• What tourists are shown as an unchanging tradition may also be a way for residents to respond to visitors' expectations.C2 · #1040
• I am reporting this fault now so that our later discussion concerns how to fix it, rather than why I did not mention it sooner.C2 · #1041
• I would gladly keep our tradition if we allowed ourselves to take part differently without having to justify every change.C2 · #1042
• A question about what I can manage means something different when it concerns a single effort than when it assumes daily repetition.C2 · #1043
• Whether a change counts as rapid depends on the timescale; a pace barely noticeable year to year may be exceptional over a longer period.C2 · #1044
• A public response to criticism may address two audiences at once: the questioner and those whose support the respondent hopes to retain.C2 · #1045
• It is worth distinguishing agreement with a goal from agreement that anyone may invoke it to justify any means whatsoever.C2 · #1046
• Repeating the same melody at the end of a piece need not mean returning to the starting point; the intervening changes may give it a wholly different meaning.C2 · #1047
• The joke works precisely because the character treats the metaphor as an instruction while the viewer recognises its figurative meaning.C2 · #1048
• Had you said 'not yet', I would have read it as leaving the possibility open; a simple 'no' makes me regard the matter as closed.C2 · #1049
• Before deciding that the conversation has stalled, let's check whether we expect a single meeting both to establish what the problem is and to resolve it definitively.C2 · #1050
• I would rather not burn my bridges merely to make my refusal sound more emphatic.C2 · #1176
• If everyone is to keep a finger on the pulse, let's at least establish who acts when things start going wrong.C2 · #1177
• I understand that you wanted to spare me worry; nevertheless, I would like to decide for myself what information I am ready to receive.C2 · #1178
• Calling a conversation 'honest' gives no one exclusive authority to decide whose account is true.C2 · #1179
• When you say that 'nothing happened, after all', you overlook precisely what I am trying to describe.C2 · #1180
• The character's impeccable politeness becomes a means of pressure: it makes refusal so awkward that the other person yields without an explicit threat.C2 · #1181
• The ending does not solve the mystery; it changes the question the viewer had regarded as central.C2 · #1182
• This translation preserves the joke's meaning at the expense of its rhythm; another might save the punchline by changing the image itself.C2 · #1183
• Responsibility assigned without the authority to change working conditions may amount to little more than shifting blame for a future failure.C2 · #1184
• Let's not mistake the absence of objections at the meeting for support, given that the proposal's consequences were explained only afterwards.C2 · #1185
• A student may repeat the terminology fluently yet fail to see that a new example challenges their existing understanding of the concept.C2 · #1186
• By demanding a single correct interpretation, we may inadvertently assess conformity to the answer key rather than the quality of the reasoning.C2 · #1187
• Revoking a permission should have a practical effect, rather than merely change the label on actions the system continues to perform.C2 · #1188
• The easier it is to generate a persuasive justification afterwards, the more carefully it must be distinguished from the grounds actually used in making the decision.C2 · #1189
• A valuation based on future revenue inherits the forecast's uncertainty, even though the final amount may appear unusually precise.C2 · #1190
• A fee described as 'token' can still be a barrier for someone who must pay it every time they use the service.C2 · #1191
• A group's representation remains incomplete if its needs are voiced only by people able to attend meetings without difficulty.C2 · #1192
• An appeal to personal resourcefulness sounds different when accompanied by support than when it replaces institutional responsibility.C2 · #1193
• Respecting a patient's decision requires checking that they understand the available options without equating a different choice with a failure to understand.C2 · #1194
• Care becomes difficult to accept when every refusal of help is interpreted as a rejection of the person offering it.C2 · #1195
• An attraction's accessibility is not merely a matter of getting inside if a person needing support cannot take part in what they came for.C2 · #1196
• The same action may reduce emissions locally while increasing them globally if its effects are assessed within boundaries that are too narrow.C2 · #1197
• Saying that a solution is insufficient does not establish that it is unnecessary; the two claims require different arguments.C2 · #1198
• That is a remarkably convenient definition of compromise: we concede on the details, while you retain the right to decide what counts as a detail.C2 · #1199
• Let's leave room for changing one's mind without losing face; otherwise, the conversation will reward stubbornness more than an honest revision of one's position.C2 · #1200