Sunday, July 13, 2025

🏠 Rental Glossary for House Hunting in Dublin

🛏️ Types of Rooms

  • Single Room – A bedroom for one person, with a single bed.
  • Double Room – A bedroom for one or two people, with a double bed.
  • Twin Room – A room with two single beds, often shared.
  • Shared Room – A bedroom shared with other people.

🚿 Types of Bathrooms

  • Shared Bathroom – A bathroom shared with others in the house.
  • En-suite Bathroom – A private bathroom connected to your room.

👥 People in the House

  • Landlord – Owns the house and rents it out.
  • Tenant Candidates – People applying to live in the house.
  • Flatmates (UK) / Housemates – People who already live in the house with you.

📅 Viewings & Interviews

  • To arrange a viewing – To schedule a time to visit the house.
  • To show around tenant candidates – To give a house tour to potential tenants.

💸 Payments

  • To pay the rent – To pay for your room (usually monthly).
  • To pay the bills – To pay for electricity, gas, water, internet, etc.
  • Are bills included? – Asking if bills are part of the rent.

📝 Contracts & Agreements

  • To sign a contract – To make a legal rental agreement in writing.
  • To make a contract – To agree formally, usually in writing.
  • Verbal agreement / Unwritten agreement – A spoken (non-written) arrangement.
  • Fixed-term lease – A rental contract for a set time (e.g. 12 months).
  • Month-to-month lease – A flexible contract that renews monthly.
  • Deposit – Money paid in advance to secure the room and cover damages.
  • Notice period – Time required before leaving (e.g. "1 month notice").

💬 Useful Questions at the Viewing of the Room

  1. "How many people live in the house?"
  2. "Do you usually pay rent by bank transfer or cash?"
  3. "Is there a contract to sign or is it a verbal agreement?"
  4. "Is there a minimum stay?" (which is the same as: "Is there a lease term?")
  5. If there is no minimum stay, you can ask the following question to show that you are not going to go away soon: “Are you looking for someone long term?”
  6. "How does cleaning usually work in the house?"
  7. "Is it generally a quiet house during the week?"
  8. "Are there any house rules, for example about guests or smoking?"
  9. "How much is the deposit amount?"

Note: The questions above are meant to help you come across as a reliable person, but it’s best not to ask more than 4–5, so you don’t seem overly inquisitive.


🏠 House Atmosphere & Shared Living

  • “I just want to make sure the house suits my lifestyle.” Would you say it’s generally quiet or more social? Are parties, friends over, or loud music common?
  • “How do you usually manage noise in the evenings or at night?”
  • “Is the living room shared and used often, for example to watch TV?”
  • “Are overnight guests or smoking allowed in the house?”
  • Is the house more for students or working professionals?
  • Do people work from home?


⚠️ Questions You Should Avoid

  • ❌ Can I have friends over often?
  • ❌ Is it okay to work late at night?
  • ❌ Are parties allowed?
  • ❌ Too Many Questions About Money

⭐ Quick Tips

  • Sign up for alerts on Daft.ie to receive instant notifications so you can act sooner 📧
  • Use the "Single/Double" and max €1000 filters + select a 10km radius from the city center
  • Check transport: look for nearby bus stops (e.g., 27, 77A) to ensure good connections

✉️ Sample Message to Send on Daft.ie

Here’s an example you can copy, change, and send:

Hello, I’m interested in the room you listed on Daft.ie. Is it still available?

I’m [Your Name], originally from [Your Country], and I will be moving to Dublin for work/study. I’m quiet, respectful, and clean. I would love to arrange a viewing if possible.

Could you please let me know: – If the room is still available – If bills are included – What the house rules are – And when the room is available from

Thank you very much! Best regards,
[Your Name]

Thursday, February 15, 2024

How to express involvement, interest, attention to a particular subject, affair

TO INVOLVE /ɪnˈvɒlv/ [transitive]



TO CONCERN



TO ENGAGE /ɛnˈgeɪdʒ/ (formal)

1 [intransitive always + preposition] to be doing or to become involved in an activity [= to occupy oneself]

engaged with
  • What Can You Do to Protect yourself against dating application exploits? If people you’re engaging with online refuse to provide the same basic information they ask of you, move on.
  • The inner dialogue goes on, even when physically you are engaged with something else. It is not so easy to mentally separate oneself from the thoughts and words that flow through the mind. [Success Consciousness]
  • Add a question for your readers, a photo or a good link for further reading if your audience wants to learn more about what you are writing. These will help you engage with your reader and explore more English by reading. [English teacher John Whipple]
  • engaged in
  • In Japan, the NEET classification comprises people aged between 15 and 34 who are unemployed, not engaged in housework, not enrolled in school or work-related training and not seeking work.
  • The Western nations should not engage in a ground operation in Syria.
  • Do you engage in regular exercise or physical activity?
  • 2 [transitive] to attract someone's attention and keep them interested

  • A Marketers who works as brand manager knows that at the heart of every effective brand is an image that engages all the senses
  • engage somebody's interest/attention
  • The demonstration does not engage the interest of the audience
  • 3 [transitive] to secure for aid, employment, use, etc.; hire:

  • In circuit switching, a physical path stays alive and engages the switches and the links for the duration of the connection.
  • Friday, March 24, 2023

    Pronunciation

    Steward, an English teacher at EASL school once told me: “A good way to remember English pronunciation is to collect words that share the same sound”. And there we go !!!

    phoneme /ɜ/

    bird /bɜrd/
    burst /bɜrst/
    girl /gɜrl/
    purpose /ˈpɜr pəs/
    purchase /ˈpɜr tʃəs/
    flurry /ˈflɜr i/

    phoneme /iː/

    eat /iːt/
    see /siː/
    need /niːd/
    retrieve /rɪˈtriːv/

    phoneme /ɪ/

    it /ɪt/
    big /bɪg/
    finish /ˈfɪn ɪʃ/
    wind /wɪnd/

    phoneme /eə/

    pear UK:/peə/ US:/peər/

    phoneme /əʊ/ and /oʊ/

    go UK: /ɡəʊ/ US: /ɡoʊ/
    no UK: /nəʊ/ US: /noʊ/
    oat UK: /əʊt/ US: /oʊt/
    home UK: /həʊm/ US: /hoʊm/
    open UK: /ˈəʊpən/ US: /ˈoʊpən/
    nose UK:/nəʊz/ US:/noʊz/
    cold UK: /kəʊld/ US: /koʊld/
    boat UK: /bəʊt/ US: /boʊt/
    road UK: /rəʊd/ US: /roʊd/
    show UK: /ʃəʊ/ US: /ʃoʊ/
    phone UK: /ˈfəʊn/ US: /foʊn/
    dough UK: /ˈdəʊ/ US: /doʊ/

    phoneme /z/

    nose UK:/nəʊz/ US:/noʊz/
    busy /ˈbɪzi/
    easy /ˈiːzi/
    lazy /ˈleɪzi/
    crazy /ˈkreɪzi/
    music /ˈmjuːzɪk/
    zero /ˈzɪərəʊ/ (BrE)
    buzz /bʌz/

    to lose /luːz/

    phoneme /ts/

    pizza → /ˈpiːtsə/
    Mozart → /ˈməʊtsɑːt/
    pretzel → /ˈprɛtsəl/
    tsunami → /tsuːˈnɑːmi/ or /suːˈnɑːmi/
    Nazi → /ˈnɑːtsi/

    phoneme /tʃ/

    church /tʃɜːtʃ $ tʃɜːrtʃ/
    stat‧ue /ˈstætʃuː/
    ma‧ture /məˈtʃʊə $ -ˈtʃʊr/

    Wednesday, July 27, 2022

    The Bowling Game

    American Ten-Pin Bowling's Rules

    Each game, or line, of bowling, consists of ten turns or frames. In each frame, the player rolls two balls to try to knock down 10 pins.

    If the player cannot knock down all the ten pins in the two tries, this is calles an open frame. The score for the frame is the total number of pins knocked down in the two tries.

    If the player knocks all the pins down in two tries, this is called a spare frame and the score for the frame is ten plus the number of pins knocked down on the next throw in his next turn.

    If the player knocks down all the pins on his first try in the frame, this is called a strike frame. His turn is over, and the score for the frame is ten plus the total of the pins knocked down in his next two rolls.

    If the player gets a spare or strike in the last frame, he is allowed to throw one extra ball. No more than three balls can be rolled in tenth frame. The game score is the total of all frame scores.

    Note: the gutter is a trench on each side of the lane; if the ball falls into the gutter, it scores zero: this called a gutter ball.

    Saturday, January 1, 2022

    How to express negative effects

    TO HINDER = to make the progress or development of something slow down or stop. [= to hamper]

    • Slow broadband hinders ICT school work
    • Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress
    • What do you think hinders creativity?
    • Political instability hinders Italy's recovery from recession [Ignazio Visco]
    • Lack of confidence, not skills, hinders women [The Times]
    • Stress Hormone Hinders Memory Recall [Cognitive Neuroscience Society]
    • Speaking in simple sentences to your children hinders language development.

    TO GET IN THE WAY = to block, hinder or interfere with someone or something, making it harder for them to do what they want or need to do. [= to hinder]

    • 1) [phisical obstruction] Your bag is getting in the way, do you mind moving it?
    • 2) [interference with plans or goals] Fear got in the way of her making a decision.

    TO CRIPPLE = (verb) to severely weaken, damage, or make something ineffective. [= to disable]

    • An exponent of one party accuses the opposing party’s policies of crippling the country. -> An exponent of one party claims that the opposing party’s policies are damaging the country.
    • script from the series friends
      Chandler: So, you and Rachel tonight, it's your first official date? You're nervous?
      Joey: Naa, no. This is the part I'm actually good at.
      Chandler: What must it be like not to be crippled by fear and self-loathing. -> What must it be like not to be paralyzed/overwhelmed by fear and self-loathing.

    TO DISRUPT = to prevent something from continuing in its usual way by causing problems [= to break, to interrupt]

    • By disrupting melatonin, blue light ruins sleep schedules
    • Anti-War protester fined after disrupting Russian news program. A Russian TV editor protested Russia's invasion of Ukraine by interrupting a live news broadcast on Russian state television.
    • Traffic was disrupted by a road block.
    • Dear community member, some of you may have experienced disruptions with our services.

    TO SPOIL /spɔɪl/ verb = to have a bad effect on something so that it is no longer attractive, enjoyable, useful [= ruin]

    • Italian youngsters are spoilt [Bayveen, English teacher]
    • I don't want to spoil your party, so I go [The Beatles]
    • “If you Want to Spoil the Day of a Grouch, Give Him a Smile”

    AWRY /əˈraɪ/ (adverb, adjective) = away from the expected or proper direction; amiss; wrong:

    go awry = if something goes awry, it does not happen in the way that was planned [= to go wrong]
    • Invalid internal config; something has gone awry!
    • If anything goes awry in sending the response back to the client, the servlet throws an HTTPException

    TO ENDANGER /ɪnˈdeɪndʒə/ [transitive] = to put someone or something in danger of being hurt, damaged, or destroyed [= put in jeopardy]

    • Trump's briefings on coronavirus are actively endangering the public's health.

    TO UNDERMINE = /ˌʌndəˈmaɪn/ [transitive] = to gradually make someone or something less strong or effective [= to weaken]

    • Brexit is undermining 20 years of peace in Northern Ireland, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar claims
    • The recapture of Izyum will not undermine Putin’s strategy and ambitions for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, experts say

    HINDRANCE /ˈhɪndrəns/ (noun) = something or someone that makes it difficult for you to do something [= obstruction, difficulty]

    • There are many calculations where time zones are not required, and in some cases they can even be a hindrance.

    TO FALTER = to become weaker and unable to continue in an effective way [= to hesitate in action]

    • Sleep allows your active neurons to rest and glial cells to clean up the toxins that the neurons produce. The majority of people need from 7 to 9 hours of sleep, otherwise the toxins remain there. So, insufficient sleep makes your attention falter, your memory is impaired, your ability to think through problems is challenged, your insulin is turned upside down.

    Sunday, March 29, 2020

    to scrub vs to scrape vs to rub

    TO SCRUB /skrʌb/

    1 [intransitive, transitive] to rub something hard, especially with a stiff brush, in order to clean it [= clean with force]

  • She was scrubbing the kitchen floor.
  • I scrubbed the dirt off using a brush.
  • You don’t have to worry about remembering to delete your upload after you’re done. Mozilla scrubs your file(s) from its servers the second your chosen recipient finishes downloading it.
  • 2 [transitive] (informal) to decide not to do something that you had planned [= cancel]

  • The Italian Rugby Federation on Friday scrubbed the 2019-2020 season due to the coronavirus.



  • TO SCRAPE /skreɪp/ (verb)

    1 [transitive] to remove an outer layer, adhering matter, etc, or to smooth by drawing or rubbing something over a surface.

  • scrape a carrot
  • scrape a table to remove paint
  • A silicic cutter and a scraper, belonging to the Neolithic era, were found during an urban renovation project. The scraper was made of an elongated stone plate with a sharp blade at the end. Ancient people could use it to scrub animal skins from the inside so that they become thinner and softer.
  • 2 [transitive] to discard as useless, worthless, or ineffective: [= remove]

  • Brexit vote could be scrapped as Government plans to reopen talks with EU
  • Android source reveals scrapped Nexus 6 fingerprint sensor. Presumably fingerprint scanning hardware was originally included in a prototype version of the Nexus 6 and the hardware removed later in development

    3 [intransitive, transitive] to rub against a rough surface in a way that causes slight damage or injury [= graze]

  • he fell off the bike and he scraped his knees and elbows.
  • On 22 May 2020, a Pakistan International Airlines’ Airbus A320 crashed in Karachi. According to the report, the Airbus A320’s engines had scraped the runway thrice on the pilot’s first attempt to land.
  • 4 [transitive] to make into scraps or scrap; [= to break up]

  • to scrap old cars.
  • 5 to extract and copy data from a website using a computer program, as for data manipulation or analysis.

  • Facebook and Twitter revealed that some third-party apps quietly scraped personal information from people’s accounts without their consent.




    TO RUB /rʌb/ (verb)

    [intransitive, transitive] to move your hand, or something such as a cloth, backwards and forwards over a surface while pressing firmly [= stroke, massage]

    rub your nose/chin/eyes/forehead, etc
  • Bruschetta is toasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with marinated tomatoes
  • To prevent the spread of COVID-19 clean your hands often. Use soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Wednesday, July 17, 2019

    How to express the source or cause of something

    TO ARISE (FROM/OUT OF) = if something arises from or out of a situation, event etc, it is caused or started by that situation etc [= to result or proceed; spring or issue]

    • Mental health disorders typically arise from an interaction between biological/psychological and social/enviromental factors
    • Referential integrity constraints arise from relationships among the entities represented by the relation schema



    TO STEM FROM (phrasal verb) = to develop as a result of something else [= to come from]

    • A study provides the evidence that Syphilis stemmed from bacteria that originated in the New World.
    • To prevent errors stemming from common mistakes, first try to make your HTML code validate.
    • My problem about learning maven is that I have no experience with Ant, which seems to be from where many explanations stem.



    TO DERIVE /dɪˈraɪv/ =

    1 [intransitive, transitive] to develop or come from something else [= to come from]
    • CORBA, Microsoft DCOM and Java RMI are example of distributed object systems and derive from Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) system for Distributed Computing Environment.
    • These XML documents are derived from the W3C XML Schema Part 0: Primer, edited by David C. Fallside.

    2 [transitive] to get something, especially an advantage or a pleasant feeling, from something [= to get]
    • Of course, shoppers derive as much pleasure from the shopping activity as from the outcome of this activity.



    TO ORIGINATE =

    1 [intransitive + adverb/preposition] (formal) = to come from a particular place or start in a particular situation
    • Mark-up originates in the publishing industry. In traditional publishing, the manuscript is annotated with layout instructions for the typesetter.These handwritten annotations are called mark-up.

    2 [transitive] = to give origin or rise to [= to create; to introduce]
    • In the Chen ER data model mapping guidelines, common nouns tend to originate entity type names