Three useful words for the ESL student (4)

 

next to nothing – hardly anything. If something is ‘next to nothing’ it is not very much. This phrase is often used in regard to prices or earnings. i.e. I went to the discount warehouse in New Jersey and I got a designer bag for next to nothing. (the person did not pay very much for the bag) or: Oh my God money goes so fast! I just got paid last week and I looked at my bank account – I had next to nothing in there.

to be competent – to be able to do something effectively. If a person cannot handle a job effectively, he/she is called incompetent. i.e. The new accountant for our company is highly competent. He is quite skilled and doing a great job helping us to save money. The last accountant was totally incompetent – he didn’t seem to even know the basics of accounting. Or: Just because a person speaks English, it doesn’t mean that he/she is competent to be an English teacher. A competent English teacher has to know a great deal about grammar and teaching methods.

an entrée – in the USA an entrée is the main course of a meal. So you might have an appetizer and then the entrée and then dessert. In Europe, the entrée is the appetizer because entrée comes from the French word for ‘enter’ or ‘begin’. i.e. For the entrée I’d like a ribeye steak, cooked well-done.