Difficult people UpperIntermediate Lesson 12 Today were going

Difficult people Upper-Intermediate Lesson 12

Today we’re going to learn: • vocabulary for describing difficult people; • phrases for describing characteristic behaviour.

Glossary The chatterbox keeps on talking and stopping you from concentrating on your work The know-it-all will go out of their way to criticise and correct you The complainer is always moaning

Glossary The yes man / woman will agree with everyone but then back out. The sniper makes rude or sarcastic comments to unsettle you. The backstabber is pleasant to your face but complains about you behind your back.

Glossary The grenade has a tendency to explode for no apparent reason. The staller puts off making any decision. The credit-grabber steals your ideas or claims responsibility for your success.

Think about your colleagues. Describe them. Are there a lot of difficult people at your workplace?

Talking about colleagues When I ask Dasha a question, she tends to grunt, or give a ‘no’ or ‘yes’ or more likely say nothing at all. When Nastia comes in, she’ll tell you everything that happened to her that day, in the most minute detail – she never shuts up.

Talking about colleagues The others are always telling me Tony’s not pulling his weight, but they won’t say anything into his face. Eugene feels that no one will suspect how ignorant or unprepared he is, if he keeps silent.

Talking about colleagues Kate might have an enormous need to be in control at all times. Matthew might just keep on ignoring me. Natalie is very needy. She has an intense fear of rejection.

Ways to talk about typical behaviour Will + V Present Continious + always tend to V keep (on) V-ing Noun + preposition + noun Noun + to V

What is typical of: chatterboxes? snipers? complainers? know-it-alls? clams? backstabbers? grenades?

Think about your colleagues. How do they usually behave?

Today we’ve learned: • vocabulary for describing difficult people; • phrases for describing characteristic behaviour.