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  Graham is our education consultant and materials developer of "English in the Air". He is working for the English Schools Foundation. You are welcome to send us your questions related to English-learning by watching television programmes. Graham will select 5 of your questions to post on this website every week. Join us!


Question:322---How to say 'add oil' ["¥[ªo"] in English

Dear Graham

If I want to cheer my friends for the HKCEE exams, can I use ¡¥add oil¡¦ or is there any other phrases I could use?

Thanks
Sharon Ko


Dear Sharon

The staff at English Campus often tell me to 'add oil' when they want me to send the latest answer to your questions!!!

Add oil ["¥[ªo"] is a common phrase in Cantonese. People use it when friends need to work late to finish work and when they are in competitions.

Finishing work
In English, we say "Keep working!", "Keep going!" or "Don¡¦t give up!" to encourage someone to work.
e.g. Keep working! I hope you can finish before midnight.
Keep going! I know we have a lot of homework but you can finish it.
The exams will be over soon. Don't give up!

An 'all-nighter' means that someone studies all night without sleep to finish work.
e.g. I need to do an all-nighter to hand in my essay on time.

'Burn the midnight oil' is a common English idiom. It means that you stay up late working.

In competition
In a competition, we often say, "Come on!" or "Go (person or team) go".
e.g. Supporters shouted, "Go Hong Kong go!" when the team were attacking.
I heard my father screaming, "Come on!" while I was running.

Be careful! One English idiom,'add oil to a fire', means that you make a problem bigger.

Best wishes
Graham





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