friends

extend helping hands

A good friend always extends helping hands when we are in need, and Steven does it always for me and for others.

extend the hand of friendship

Reach out to someone in a friendly manner(Colleagues should extend the hand of friendship to newcomers in the workplace.)

share a common background

The share a similar heritage or culture

hang out

phrasal verb 1 informal to spend a lot of time in a particular place or with particular people with I don't really know who she hangs out with. Where do the youngsters hang out? (. I mostly hang out with 2-3 close buddies and go out with them almost 3-4 times a month.)

Opt or

phrasal verb 1 to avoid doing a duty of You can't just opt out of all responsibility for the child! 2 to decide not to be part of a group or system of Britain wants to opt out of the new European regulations. 3 if a school or hospital in Britain opts out, it decides to control the money that it is given by the government, instead of being controlled by local government

step forward

phrasal verb to come and offer help, information etc Police are appealing for witnesses to step forward.( I respect their opinion, privacy and try to step forward whenever they need me. )

unwrap

to remove the paper, cloth, etc. that is covering something OPP wrap up Brigitte was unwrapping her birthday presents. ► see thesaurus at open

vibes

vaɪbz/ noun [plural] informal 1 the good or bad feelings that a particular person, place, or situation seems to produce and that you react to good/bad etc vibes I have good vibes about this contract. (The reason why I like spending time with him is the positive vibes that I feel out of him. He is one of the persons, rather the first person in my life, who has a very positive attitude towards life.)

plummet

ˈplʌmɪt/ (also plummet down) verb [intransitive] 1 to suddenly and quickly decrease in value or amount SYN plunge plummet from something to something Profits plummeted from £49 million to £11 million. House prices have plummeted down. ► see thesaurus at decrease 2 to fall suddenly and quickly from a very high place SYN plunge The plane plummeted towards the Earth ( I had more than 30 friends in my school days. With the passage of the time, the number plummeted)

intimate

ˈɪntəmət/ ●○○ adjective 1 RESTAURANT/MEAL/PLACE private and friendly so that you feel comfortable the intimate atmosphere of a country pub an intimate meal for two The collection has been moved from its intimate setting to the British Museum. 2 FRIENDS having an extremely close friendship an intimate friend of Picasso's an intimate relationship She's on intimate terms with people in government. PRIVATE relating to very private or personal matters the publication of intimate details of their affair ► see thesaurus at private 5 SEX formal a) relating to sex The virus can only be transmitted through intimate contact. b) be intimate with somebody to have sex with someone

count

/kaʊnt/ verb INCLUDE [transitive] to include someone or something in a total(There are more than two thousand of us, not counting the crew.) count somebody/something among something (I count Jules and Ady among my closest friends.) CONSIDER SOMETHING [transitive] to consider someone or something in a particular way count somebody/something as something ( I don't count him as a friend anymore. You should count yourself lucky that you weren't hurt.) (If I count my Facebook friends as real friends, the number would go high!)

considerable

/kənˈsɪdərəbəl/ adjective fairly large, especially large enough to have an effect or be important → inconsiderable considerable amount/number etc of something We've saved a considerable amount of money. Michael has already spent considerable time in Barcelona. issues of considerable importance The series has aroused considerable interest. ► see thesaurus at big (As far as I know, they had to choose from hundreds of names, spend considerable hours to finally become satisfied with the name)

buddy

/ˈbʌdi/ noun (plural buddies) [countable] 1 informal a friend We're good buddies. ► see thesaurus at friend (I mostly hang out with 2-3 close buddies and go out with them almost 3-4 times a month)

heritage

/ˈherətɪdʒ/ ●○○ noun [singular, uncountable] 1 the traditional beliefs, values, customs etc of a family, country, or society → inheritance the importance of preserving the national heritage beautiful old buildings which are part of our heritage cultural/architectural/literary etc heritage the cultural heritage of Italy

sympathy

/ˈsɪmpəθi/ ●●○ W3 noun (plural sympathies) 1 [plural, uncountable] the feeling of being sorry for someone who is in a bad situation sympathy for I have a lot of sympathy for her; she had to bring up the children on her own. I have absolutely no sympathy for students who get caught cheating in exams. Our sympathies are with the families of the victims. 2 [plural, uncountable] belief in or support for a plan, idea, or action, especially a political one in sympathy with something Willard is in sympathy with many Green Party issues. Her sympathies lie firmly with the Conservative Party. Communist/Republican/left-wing etc sympathies Matheson is known for his pro-socialist sympathies. sympathy with/for Sullivan expressed sympathy for the striking federal workers. 3 [uncountable] a feeling that you understand someone because you are similar to them There was no personal sympathy between them. COLLOCATIONS VERBS have/feel sympathy for somebody It's hard not to feel sympathy for the losing team. express/offer (your) sympathy Everyone there expressed their sympathy. get sympathy from somebody I thought at least I'd get some sympathy from you. deserve sympathy He doesn't deserve any sympathy - it's his own fault. play on somebody's sympathy (=make someone feel sorry for you in order to get an advantage for yourself) If that doesn't work, she knows how to play on his sympathy. expect sympathy I know I can't expect any sympathy from her! ADJECTIVES deep/deepest sympathy (=used when someone is upset after a death) We'd like to offer our deepest sympathy to Hilda and her family. great sympathy I have great sympathy for the people affected by the housing crisis. PHRASES a message/letter of sympathy We are grateful for all the messages of sympathy we have received. an expression of sympathy I murmured an expression of sympathy. have every sympathy for somebody (=feel very sorry for someone - often used when you have had a similar experience yourself) I have every sympathy for people who find it hard to give up smoking. you have my sympathy (=used when saying that you feel sorry for someone) It must be difficult - you have my sympathy. extend your sympathy to somebody formal (=express sympathy) I'd like to extend my deepest sympathy to the victim's family. my/our sympathy goes out to somebody formal (=used to formally express sympathy) Our sympathy goes out to Peggy in her great loss.

cherish

/ˈtʃerɪʃ/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 1 if you cherish something, it is very important to you He cherished his privacy. I cherish the memory of that day. cherish a hope/an idea/a dream etc willingness to re-examine cherished beliefs 2 to love someone or something very much and take care of them well In marriage, a man promises to cherish his wife. his most cherished possession

come over

1 a) if someone comes over, they visit you at your house Do you want to come over on Friday evening? b) if someone comes over, they come to the country where you are to/from When did your family first come over to America? 2 come over somebody if a strong feeling comes over you, you suddenly experience it A wave of sleepiness came over me. I'm sorry about that - I don't know what came over me (=I do not know why I behaved in that way). 3 if an idea comes over well, people can understand it easily I thought that the points he was making came over quite clearly. 4 if someone comes over in a particular way, they seem to have particular qualities SYN come across He didn't come over very well (=seem to have good qualities) in the interview. as She comes over as a very efficient businesswoman. 5 come over (all) shy/nervous etc informal to suddenly become very shy, nervous etc

let (somebody/something) down

1 to not do something that someone trusts or expects you to do (They are the ones who won't ever let me down. And then, in the moment I needed her most, she completely let me down.And, inevitably, because we are making ourselves vulnerable, there will be times where our friends disappoint us and let us down.And although we may be justified in our anger or our hurt, the truth is that there have probably been plenty of times when we've been the ones to let our friends down, the ones who said something careless, the ones who didn't come through, the ones in need of grace.) She had been let down badly in the past. The worst feeling is having let our fans down. let the side down British English (=disappoint a group of people that you belong to) 2 to make someone or something less successful or effective McKenzie's judgement rarely lets him down. 3 to move something or someone to a lower position Let down a rope so that I can climb up. Carefully, she let herself down into the water. GRAMMAR: Comparisonlet • You let someone do something: Her boss lets her work from home. ✗Don't say: let someone to do something Let is not used in the passive. allow • You allow someone to do something: Her boss allows her to work from home. • Something is allowed: Working from home is allowed. Allow is often used in the passive. permit • Something is permitted: Working from home is permitted. • Someone is permitted to do something: Employees are permitted to work from home. Permit is usually used in the passive. let the side down • Brown was constantly letting the side down. • Essentially, it's the ageing drivetrain that lets the side down. • It is an unmentionable subject, a terrible way of letting the side down. • I don't want to let the side down - don't send me to the Sick Room!

A lifelong friend

A friend that you have had for most of your life (we have to some degree lost touch, but anyone who has had a lifelong friend would understand that she will always be dear to my heart)

fair-weather friend

A person who doesn't help when a friend is in trouble A friend who only associates with you when they have nothing better to do. Someone who may only stick around in exciting situations but when times are somewhat boring, leave your side. A fair weather friend would act like they want to hang out but never invite you to do anything and if you invite them to do something they will only do it if they cant find something better. Keep away from a fair-weather friend. He is with you in good days and disappears in difficulties. When you in trouble, a fair-weather friend disappears/vanishes When you are in need, a fair-weather friend disappears/vanishes

Do you have many friends? [Why/Why not?]

Answer: I have more than 10 friends and I am not sure if I should say this is many! However, I had more than 30 friends in my school days. With the passage of the time, the number plummeted. If I count my Facebook friends as real friends, the number would go high!

How often do you go out with friends? [Why/Why not?]

Answer: I meet my friends almost twice a week. I love to spend my weekends with them and sometimes I visit different places, watch movies and discuss different topics with them. I do not go out with all of my friends. I mostly hang out with 2-3 close buddies and go out with them almost 3-4 times a month.

Tell me about your best friend at school.

Answer: My best friend at school was John and he was a great friend. He was tall and brave. He taught me how to show courage when we are in trouble. He has a great impact on my life. Though he lives in Australia now, we regularly communicate via Skype. I specifically liked him because he was more like a brother than a friend to me.

tie up

BUSY be tied up to be very busy, so that you cannot do anything else I can't see you tomorrow - I'll be tied up all day.

All you need to do is focus on the questions asked and then answer them in details. For this cue card topic, tell the name of a friend. Remember that you have picked a friend to talk about which means she/he is special to you. Talk about "for how long you two are friends?", "how you met him/her?" and "how did your friendship start". Then say "the stuff you two do together", "reasons you like him/her", "the type of person he/she is" and finally the reason you like to spend time with him so much".

Describe a friend you really like to spend time with.

intimate friends

Friends you have had for a long period of time, deep sharing of emotions/experiences.

To answer this question you need to focus on the previous question and its context. If you talk about a friend who lives in the same street you live in or if she/he studies/works with you, then you probably meet him daily. If you pick a friend from your hometown where you no longer live, then your meeting frequency would be 2-5 times a year or so. For online friends whom you have never met, simply say that you two have never met in person but you talk/chat over the internet almost every week.

How often do you meet?

Nurture our friendships

Looking after our relationships with friends (My family believes that we should nurture our friendships, so they encouraged me to bring my friend along when we took a seaside holiday last year.)

Arrange a dinner date

Plan to share an evening meal (When we do find ourselves in the same city, we arrange a dinner date, so that we can enjoy each other's company. We share the same ideas, and we share a common background.)

walk out on (someone or something)

To abandon or leave someone or something. I can't believe you would even consider walking out on your family when they need you the most! We never finished our conversation. He just walked out on me in the middle of dinner. to stop doing something you have agreed to do or that you are responsible for 'I never walk out on a deal, ' Dee said. He never forgave her for walking out on him.

For this question, say that he/she is very friendly, helpful and caring and values your friendship. For his/her personality, say that she/he is talented, creative and has an attractive personality. Also, mention that she/he is understanding and well-behaved. For an online friend, mentioning personality is not easy as you might have never met him/her. In this case, say that s/he is caring and have positive attitudes and his/her opinion on different issues seems very positive and constructive. Mention something she/he does for the benefits of others and you are passionate about some of his activities and interests.

What kind of personality your friend has

You met him/her at the school/college/university. » He/she is your neighbour and you two met on a family occasion. » You met him/her in a playground/stadium while you were playing/ enjoying a sports competition. » You met him/her at a relative's house. » You met him/her in a situation when she/he needed help and you were there to help him/her. » You met him/her in a situation when you desperately needed some help and he/she was there to help you. » You two met at a shopping mall/auditorium/park or even on a train/ aeroplane. » Sometimes friendship starts from minor disagreement and fight. You can mention that you had a disagreement about something but later, you two become close buddies. » A friend can be an online friend whom you have never met. In this scenario, your friendship can start from an online chat-room or from a social networking platform.

When and how you two met: Answer from your own experience. If you are out of ideas, you can say:

Naturally, people like to spend time with people who share common interests and have positive attitudes. So you should mention what common interests you two have and what you do together (for online friends, say the topics you discuss and share). Also, you can say that you have learned many positive things from him/her and you two have a great understanding. Finally, say that s/he is a good friend who is ready to support you no matter what and has already advised you or helped you on different issues.

Why do you like spending time with this particular person?

A relationship of trust

a connection with another in which you have faith and confidence(When we struck up a friendship, as children, we were inseparable. In those early days, we built up a relationship of trust that time and distance cannot break.)

Long lost friend

a friend you haven't seen or spoken to in a long time( It also helps us to make connections with long lost friends, who we may never have spoken to or seen again. On the other hand, we often spend far too much time on our digital devices instead of socializing face to face.)

well-behaved

adjective behaving in a calm polite way, and not being rude or violent a well-behaved child a very well-behaved dog The crowd was well-behaved. ► see thesaurus at polite Register In everyday English, people often say that a child is good rather than well-behaved: Have the children been good? (I must say I am quite lucky to have good neighbours who are always supportive and well-behaved)

dissociate

dɪˈsəʊʃieɪt, -sieɪt $ -ˈsoʊ-/ verb [transitive] 1 to do or say something to show that you do not agree with the views or actions of someone with whom you had a connection dissociate yourself from something I wish to dissociate myself from Mr Irvine's remarks. 2 technical to regard two things or people as separate and not connected to each other OPP associate —dissociation /dɪˌsəʊʃiˈeɪʃən -siˈeɪ- $ -ˌsoʊ-/ noun [uncountable] Sun: opt out of (I decided to dissociate myself from this group)

forgive

fəˈɡɪv $ fər-/ ●●○ verb (past tense forgave /-ˈɡeɪv/, past participle forgiven /-ˈɡɪvən/) [intransitive, transitive] 1 to stop being angry with someone and stop blaming them, although they have done something wrong forgive somebody for (doing) something I've tried to forgive him for what he said. He never forgave her for walking out on him. forgive myself/yourself etc If anything happened to the kids I'd never forgive myself. you're forgiven spoken (=used to tell someone that you are not angry with them) 'I'm really sorry.' 'It's okay, you're forgiven.' forgive somebody something God forgives us our sins. He didn't look the sort of man to forgive and forget (=forgive someone and no longer think about it). GRAMMAR: Patterns with forgive • You forgive someone: Alright, I forgive you. • You forgive something: Please forgive his rudeness. • You forgive someone for something or for doing something: She lied and I can't forgive her for that. Forgive me for not writing. • In literary or formal English, you can forgive someone something: Forgive us our trespasses. This pattern is not used in everyday English.

to get along well with

have a good relationship with

Get together

if people get together, they meet in order to spend time with each other We must get together for a drink. On Saturday I often get together with my classmates and we see all the latest releases together

contribute

kənˈtrɪbjuːt/ ●●○ S3 W2 AWL verb 1 [intransitive, transitive] to give money, help, ideas etc to something that a lot of other people are also involved in contribute to/towards City employees cannot contribute to political campaigns. contribute something to/towards something The volunteers contribute their own time to the project. 2 [intransitive] to help to make something happen → contributory Stress is a contributing factor in many illnesses. contribute to Alcohol contributes to 100,000 deaths a year in the US. contribute substantially/significantly/greatly etc to something His work contributed substantially to our knowledge of the disease and how to treat it. 3 [intransitive, transitive] to write articles, stories, poems etc for a newspaper or magazine → contributor contribute to one of several authors contributing to the book Grammar Someone or something contributes to something: Will you contribute to his leaving gift? Everyone contributed to the success of the project. ✗Don't say: contribute for something (I must say, he is one of the persons who has really made a positive impression on my mind and has contributed a lot in the way I have started looking at life.)

tie

noun [countable] CONNECTION/RELATIONSHIP [usually plural] a strong relationship between people, groups, or countries close/strong ties the importance of strong family ties tie between/with close ties between the two countries economic/diplomatic/personal etc ties Japan's strong economic ties with Taiwan the ties of marriage/friendship/love etc COLLOCATIONS - Meaning 2: a strong relationship between people, groups, or countries ADJECTIVES/NOUN + TIES close/strong ties He had developed close ties with many Republican governors. family/blood ties Family ties have been weakened by older people living apart from their children. personal ties Strong personal ties connect her to the area. emotional ties He was a loner who failed to develop emotional ties with other people. economic ties Japan and South Korea have close economic ties. diplomatic ties the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries social ties Besides marriage, other social ties drew people together. PHRASES ties of marriage/friendship/blood etc The ties of friendship that unite the two countries. VERBS maintain/develop ties The U.S. is committed to maintaining close ties with Europe. establish ties Israel established full diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1994. cut/sever ties He said that he planned to sever his ties with the club.

feel somebody out

phrasal verb American English informal to find out what someone's opinions or feelings are, without asking them directly I thought I'd feel out some of my colleagues before the meeting. (The reason why I like spending time with him is the positive vibes that I feel out of him)

subdued

quiet and rather reflective or depressed /səbˈdjuːd $ -ˈduːd/ adjective 1 subdued lighting, colours etc are less bright than usual SYN gentle 2 a person that is subdued is unusually quiet and possibly unhappy Richard seems very subdued tonight. a subdued manner 'Oh, ' she said in a subdued voice. 3 an activity that is subdued does not have as much excitement as you would expect OPP lively The housing market is fairly subdued. 4 a sound that is subdued is quieter than usual

mutual understanding

sympathy of each person for the other Synonyms: mutual affection Type of: sympathy a relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other ( We have a mutual understanding and an invisible bond that ties us together as good neighbours)

festivities

the celebration of something in a joyful and exuberant way. things such as drinking, eating, or dancing that are done to celebrate a special occasion The festivities started with a procession through the town.

the passage of time

the passing of time With the passage of time, things began to look more hopeful.( I had more than 30 friends in my school days. With the passage of the time, the number plummeted) They are lonely, sitting in quiet living rooms with clocks that loudly announce the passage of time with each tick.

share the same ideas

to have similar opinions and views

take after

to look or be like an older relative. 1 to take care of someone by helping them, giving them what they need, or keeping them safe SYN take care of Don't worry, I'll look after the kids tomorrow. Susan looked after us very well. She's an excellent cook. You could tell that the horse had been well looked after. 2 to be responsible for dealing with somethingSYN take care of I'm leaving you here to look after the business until I get back. 3 look after yourself spoken used when you are saying goodbye to someone in a friendly way 4 can look after yourself to not need anyone else to take care of you Don't worry about Maisie - she can look after herself.