Take 5 Solo

15 minut dziennie • Progres bez presji

Hello! Let’s get started 😊 Today we’re going to talk about pet peeves.

Pet Peeveis something small that annoys or irritates you, often more than it seems to bother other people. It could be a habit, a behaviour, or a situation that you find particularly frustrating. For example, some people hate loud chewing, while others get annoyed when someone interrupts them or leaves dirty dishes in the sink.

You’ll watch a short interview with Hugh Grant talking about some of his pet peeves.

🎥 Watch the video carefully (more than once if necessary) and complete the missing expressions below. Pay attention to the exact words he uses.

Click and check the phrases for today

🇬🇧🇺🇸 British or American?

🔊 Sound Focus

In the video, Hugh Grant says: “There is a tap.” A tap is the device in your kitchen or bathroom that water comes out of.

The word TAP /tæp/contains the vowel sound /æ/, which doesn’t exist in Polish. It’s one of the most common vowel sounds in English, so it’s worth practising it regularly.

This is the short, open front vowel sound used in many British and American words. How to pronounce it: open your mouth wider than for /e/, keep your tongue low and forward, it’s short and flat — not long, it should NOT sound like /ʌ/ (cup) or /e/ (bed).

Watch the video to understand it better.

Below are sentences about pet peeves which contain the /æ/ sound. Listen and repeat.

I can’t stand people who leave the tap running.
I don’t care for people with bad table habits.
Getting around the city is easy, but jam-packed trams drive me crazy.
Slamming car doors drives me absolutely mad.

Day 2 - Read and learn vocab

You are going to read a text about four people discussing their pet peeves and what annoys them the most. While reading, pay attention to the phrases they use to express their annoyance.

Hannah

Fast drivers honestly drive me up the wall. There’s a road near my house where people treat the speed limit like a suggestion, not a rule. The other evening, someone overtook me on a narrow street, and I could feel myself starting to get worked up. I know losing my cool won’t change anything, but reckless driving just makes me so anxious.

Daniel

People who don’t reply to messages for days really push my buttons. I’m not talking about being busy — that’s fine. But when someone is clearly online and just ignores your message for three days? That’s different. I try not to make a fuss about it, but it does make me question how much they actually value my time.

Sophie

Don’t get me started on people who play videos out loud on public transport. The other day, someone was watching TikToks without headphones, and the sound effects were echoing through the whole carriage. I almost said something, but I didn’t want to lose my temper over something so small. Still, basic manners wouldn’t hurt.

Marcus

Slow walkers in busy places really test my patience. When someone suddenly stops in the middle of the pavement to check their phone, I can feel myself starting to get worked up. I don’t want to be dramatic or anything, but it genuinely drives me up the wall when people have no awareness of others around them.

Click and practice new phrases in conversation
Day 3 - Listen

Pay attention to the fact that these people are talking about annoying habits. When we talk about habits, we usually use the Present Simple, but here we have two other options — Present Continuous and Future Simple. We’ll go over this in more detail in the grammar section the next day.
Day 4 - Grammar boost

How to Talk About Annoying Habits (Not Just Present Simple!)

At school, we often learn that we use the Present Simple to describe habits:

🟩 He talks too much.
🟩 She always leaves her stuff everywhere.

But…when something really annoys us, keeps happening again and again, and we want to express our frustration — we often use Present Continuous or even will!

✅ Present Continuous – for complaining about repeated behaviour

🔸 She’s always talking over people!
🔸 You’re constantly losing your keys!
🔸 They’re forever complaining about work.

➡️ Important:
This does NOT mean the action is happening right now.

It means the behaviour happens repeatedly — and it annoys us.

We often add words like:
always, constantly, forever

These signal frustration: I’ve had enough! 😤

✅ Will – for irritating habits (not real future)

🔸 He’ll leave the dishes in the sink and just walk away.
🔸 She’ll call me at 10 p.m. just to talk about nothing.
🔸 My boss will send emails at 6 a.m. on Sundays.

➡️ This is NOT about the future.

It’s about something someone typically does — and it irritates us.

It often sounds like: “Of course he does that. Typical.” There’s usually a tone of mild sarcasm or resignation behind it.

A short conversation about annoying people?

Aleksandra Deneka English State, NIP: 6292396171 | Polityka prywatności | Regulamin newslettera