Should have vs. Could have

should have

should have: a regret or disappointment. reget/rɪ’gret/遗憾n.v.
I should have brought my coat.
Natural pronunciation: shoulda or should’ve

could have

could have: It’s not a regret, it’s just a choice.
I could have gone to the Statue of Liberty. Statue of Liberty自由女神，statue雕像，塑像n.vt.，liberty/‘lɪbətɪ/自由，许可，冒失n.
Natural pronunciation: coulda or could’ve

Used to vs. Be used to

used to

used to: a continual action, but has changed now惯于，过去经常
I used to go to bed late, (but now I don’t).
used to + infinitive原形

be used to

be used to: a habit now习惯于
I’m used to drinking tea every morning.
be used to + do-ing

5 Acceptable mistakes in spoken English

1.Acceptable: Last week me and my husband played a three-hour board game.
Correct: Last week my husband and I played a three-hour boar game.
Acceptable: Him/Her and a friend played a game.
Correct: He/She and his/her friend played a game.
2.Acceptable: How’s it going? Pretty good.
Correct: How’s it going? Pretty well.
3.Acceptable: If I was a snake, do you think my baby would be scared?
Correct: If I were a snake, do you think my baby would be scared?
Because we’re not used to pairing I and were together, in spoken English, we don’t use the subjunctive tense very much. subjunctive虚拟语气
4.Acceptable: There’s a lot of books on my shelf.
Correct: There’re a lot of books on my shelf.

GET expressions

get asleep
I got 3 hours asleep last night.
get distracted分心，分散注意力
I don’t like to get distracted by Facebook or other social media. It has pros and cons. 正反两面，赞成者和反对者
get back from
I got back from vacation yesterday, but I still tired.
don’t get why
I don’t get why you didn’t like this.
get going
Oh, come on, we need to get going!
Let’s get together next month.

Preposition expressions

preposition介词
tricky/‘trɪkɪ/狡猾的，（形式、工作等）复杂的，机警的，微妙的；trick诡计，哄骗，恶作剧n.v.adj.
above all: more than anything
Basketball is enjoyable, but above all, I love baseball.
in the park, at the entrance of the park
towards: move in direction
Walk towards that building, and you’ll find downtown.