English lessons and practice games are intended for people aged 13 and over.
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Lesson 39 / Telling stories
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Think of the character, tell it and write it into a complete story.
Match words to pictures →Play What is She/He doing? →
A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.
Let us make up a story about a friendly dragon.
Let us make up a story about a friendly dragon.
I made the story up while walking home.
I made the story up while walking home.
In the lesson, it's about creating a fantasy, not about making up or making peace.
Cambridge Dictionary · make up
Can you think up a name for our little robot?
Can you think up a name for our little robot?
We thought up a funny ending together.
We thought up a funny ending together.
Emphasize generating ideas through thinking. The past tense of “think” is “thought”.
Cambridge Dictionary · think up
Please go on. We want to hear what happened next.
Please go on. We want to hear what happened next.
He went on telling the story after a short pause.
He went on telling the story after a short pause.
Used when continuing an unfinished task or story; With actions, the -ing form is often used.
Our story ends with a happy surprise.
Our story ends with a happy surprise.
We ended the show with a song.
We ended the show with a song.
After “with” is what appears at the end.
After planning, we will write up our story.
After planning, we will write up our story.
I wrote my notes up into a short report.
I wrote my notes up into a short report.
You develop notes or information into a complete piece of writing; different from quick writing in "write down".
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 86, 131, 56, 40, 140. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
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Sentences using suggestions are counted as needing more practice. Review schedule based on each phrase's meaning.
OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH
Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.
Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.
Phúc came up with a story with dragons and castles.
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Phúc came up with an idea for a new character for the story.
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Phúc continued telling the story while his friends were listening.
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Phúc ends the story with pictures of happy characters.
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Phúc writes a complete story from picture notes.
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Choose a phrase to begin.
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Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
Let us make up a story about a lost kite.
Let us make up a story about a lost kite.
I can think up a surprising ending.
I can think up a surprising ending.
Great. Write it up when we have agreed on the main events.
Great. Write it up when we have agreed on the main events.
“Make up” and “think up” can both concern invention. Here “make up” concerns a story, while “think up” stresses devising an idea. Their uses can overlap.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
A writing group invents a mystery and then looks for a surprising explanation of the missing key.
Describe inventing the story.
They are making up a mystery story.
The group invents the mystery, so “making up” describes fiction rather than reporting a real event.
Replace “a new ending” with “it”: Think up a new ending.
Think it up.
“It” replaces the new ending being invented, so use “think it up” with the pronoun in the middle.
Write a request for a complete written version.
Please write up the story once we agree on the ending.
“Write up” requests a complete written version after agreeing on the ending, beyond simply inventing ideas.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
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