Take 5 Solo
15 minut dziennie • Progres bez presji
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Today, you’ll watch a short video in which complete strangers have conversations about different topics in an unusual situation.
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1. deal with – radzić sobie z, zmagać się z
→ I’m dealing with a lot of stress at work right now.2. basically – zasadniczo, w sumie
→ Basically, I just want to feel more confident.3. skip (something) – opuścić, pominąć
→ I skipped the meeting because I felt sick.4. theme song – piosenka przewodnia (np. z serialu)
→ This is my favorite theme song from childhood.5. capacity (for something) – zdolność (do czegoś)
→ Humans have the capacity for both love and hate.6. whether it’s – czy to jest (używane przy rozważaniu opcji)
→ I don’t care whether it’s rain or snow, I’m going out.7. mess up – zawalić, zepsuć coś
→ I messed up my presentation, but I learned from it.
Now translate the sentences from Polish into English, trying to use the new vocabulary from the video.
- Zajmę się tym później — teraz po prostu potrzebuję przerwy.
- Pominęłam dziś lunch, bo miałam za dużo pracy.
- Wciąż pamiętam motyw przewodni z „Beverly Hills 90210”.
- Nie mam teraz przestrzeni, żeby radzić sobie z większym stresem.
- Nie wiem, czy powinnam coś powiedzieć, czy po prostu siedzieć cicho.
- Zawsze wszystko psuję, kiedy się stresuję.
- W zasadzie powiedział, że już nie jest zainteresowany.
📝 My Notes
Use this space to write down your own sentences and ideas. This box is for personal note-taking only – there are no right or wrong answers here.
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- I’ll deal with it later — I just need a break right now.
- I skipped lunch today because I had too much work.
- I still remember the theme song from Beverly Hills 90210.
- I don’t have the capacity to deal with more stress right now.
- I don’t know whether I should say something or just stay quiet.
- I always mess things up when I get stressed.
- He basically said he’s not interested anymore.
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Take a look at this sentence from the video.
It’s a big move, and like, I was scared, so, I guess, like, my problem that I’m dealing with is, like, feeling I’m strong enough that, like, I can do this, basically You may notice that people in the video use the word “like” a lot — especially younger speakers. In informal English, like often works as a filler or a softener, and while some people find it annoying or incorrect, it’s very common in natural speech, especially among Gen Z and Millennials. It doesn’t really add meaning — it just gives the speaker a second to think and makes what they’re saying sound more conversational.
If you’d like, you can also watch a short, interesting video on this topic.
🔊 Sound Focus
Another interesting thing from the video –> “I dunno what it is”
In natural, fast English, some expressions get shortened or blended together. Native speakers don’t pronounce every word clearly — sounds connect, disappear or change. For example, like in the video, I don’t know often sounds like I dunno in conversation. In the same way, let me becomes lemme, give me becomes gimme, what are you turns into whatcha, did you often sounds like didja, and kind of becomes kinda. These forms aren’t incorrect — they’re just how spoken English naturally flows, especially in informal situations.
Read the sentences aloud and try to connect the sounds smoothly.
- I dunno if I should talk to them or just stay quiet.
- Lemme ask you something before we start.
- Gimme a second, I need to think.
- Whatcha usually say when you meet someone new?
- Didja notice how he changed the topic?
- It was kinda awkward at first, but then it felt natural.
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Read the text carefully and complete the gaps with the correct form of the word given in brackets. You need to change the form of the word. Sometimes you will need to add a prefix (a beginning), and sometimes a suffix (an ending).
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1. openly → open
We need an adverb here because it describes how she spoke.
open (adjective) → openly (adverb)
Examples:
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She spoke openly about her problems.
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He openly admitted his mistake.
🔥 Hot Tip: We often add -ly to an adjective to make an adverb.
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quick → quickly
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careful → carefully
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quiet → quietly
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honest → honestly
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open → openly
2. natural → nature
We need an adjective here because it describes the conversation.
nature (noun) → natural (adjective)
Examples:
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The conversation felt natural.
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She has a natural talent for languages.
🔥 Hot Tip: The ending -al can turn some nouns into adjectives.
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nature → natural
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culture → cultural
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accident → accidental
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tradition → traditional
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profession → professional
3. uncomfortable → comfort
We need an adjective here after feel. The meaning is negative: the situation does not feel comfortable.
comfort (noun) → comfortable (adjective) → uncomfortable (negative adjective)
Examples:
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These shoes are very comfortable.
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I felt uncomfortable talking to a stranger.
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The silence made everyone uncomfortable.
🔥 Hot Tip: The ending -able / -ible often helps us make adjectives. We can then add un- to make the opposite.
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comfort → comfortable → uncomfortable
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accept → acceptable → unacceptable
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predict → predictable → unpredictable
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understand → understandable → understandable / not understandable
Remember: un- usually means not.
4. confident → confidence
We need an adjective after become less because we are describing how a person feels.
confidence (noun) → confident (adjective)
Examples:
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She is confident when she speaks English.
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I feel more confident after practising.
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He doesn’t sound very confident.
🔥 Hot Tip: Some nouns ending in -ence have related adjectives ending in -ent.
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confidence → confident
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difference → different
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patience → patient
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independence → independent
Watch the spelling because it often changes.
5. interested → interest
We need an adjective after seem because it describes the person.
interest (noun / verb) → interested (adjective)
Examples:
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She seems interested in the conversation.
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I’m interested in photography.
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Are you interested in joining us?
🔥 Hot Tip: We often use -ed adjectives to describe how a person feels.
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interest → interested
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bore → bored
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excite → excited
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surprise → surprised
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worry → worried
Compare:
I’m interested. = this is how I feel.
It’s interesting. = this is what causes the feeling.
6. unsuccessful → success
We need an adjective here because it describes the conversations. We also need a negative meaning.
success (noun) → successful (adjective) → unsuccessful (negative adjective)
Examples:
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The meeting was successful.
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His first attempt was unsuccessful.
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She is a very successful businesswoman.
🔥 Hot Tip: The ending -ful can turn some nouns into adjectives. Add un- when you need the opposite meaning.
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success → successful → unsuccessful
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help → helpful → unhelpful
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use → useful → useless
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care → careful → careless
So here you need two changes:
SUCCESS → SUCCESSFUL → UNSUCCESSFUL
7. misunderstanding → understand
We need a noun after a little. The meaning is that two people understand something differently or incorrectly.
understand (verb) → misunderstand (verb) → misunderstanding (noun)
Examples:
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I think there has been a misunderstanding.
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It was just a small misunderstanding.
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I’m sorry. I misunderstood what you said.
🔥 Hot Tip: The prefix mis- often means that something is done wrongly or incorrectly.
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understand → misunderstand
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hear → mishear
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spell → misspell
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pronounce → mispronounce
We can then add -ing to create the noun:
UNDERSTAND → MISUNDERSTAND → MISUNDERSTANDING
8. friendly → friend
We need an adjective because it describes what everyday life can be like.
friend (noun) → friendly (adjective)
Examples:
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Our new neighbours are very friendly.
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She gave me a friendly smile.
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Everyone was friendly and helpful.
🔥 Hot Tip: The ending -ly can also make adjectives from some nouns.
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friend → friendly
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love → lovely
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day → daily
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week → weekly
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month → monthly
Be careful: -ly does not always mean adverb!
quick → quickly = adverb
friend → friendly = adjective -
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The sentence from the text “Cold today, isn’t it?” is an example of a structure called a question tag.
Question tags are short questions added at the end of a sentence.
We use them to: check information, confirm something we believe is true, or simply open a conversation in a natural way.If you’d like to revise how question tags are formed, watch the short video on my Instagram
👉 Complete the sentences with question tags
Aleksandra Deneka English State, NIP: 6292396171 | Polityka prywatności | Regulamin newslettera