Showing posts with label confusing phrases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confusing phrases. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

"take it hard" vs. "learn the hard way"

You wrote:

I have taken it hard that a bigger city provides better chances and atmosphere for students to study and learn.

I didn’t understand this sentence, unfortunately. I didn’t understand the phrase I have taken it hard in the context of the sentence. Here is one possibility:

I have learned the hard way that a bigger city provides more opportunities for students…

Take something hard = have a difficult time emotionally because of an event or outcome. Example: John’s girlfriend just broke up with him. He’s taking it hard.

Learn the hard way = learn from experience, usually by experiencing failure. Example: Jen learned the hard way that the only way to get through the TOEFL is to study a lot. ( = Jen didn’t pass the TOEFL because she didn’t study. After she studied, however, she passed. It was a difficult lesson for her, but now she knows that passing the TOEFL involves a lot of studying.)

If you would like to receive comments like these on your TOEFL practice essays, you can sign up for a program here: http://www.cz-training.com/toefl/signup01.html

All essays are corrected by native speakers of English and are returned with personalized feedback on how you can improve your writing.