In this mini episode, you will learn the phrase “the better part of.”
Episode 315 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the phrase “the better part of.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello, everyone! This is Shuang, from Anhui, China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 315 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting phrase. And that phrase is “the better part of…” something. “The better part of.”
That’s the: t-h-e, better: b-e-t-t-e-r, part: p-a-r-t, of: o-f. The better part of… something.
How do we use this strange expression, “The better part of something”? “The better part of something” means “most of something” or “a lot of something” or “a big portion or percentage of something.”
We usually use this with units of time. That means you will usually hear it in a phrase like “the better part of an hour,” “the better part of a day,” “the better part of the weekend.” And this means “most of” that period of time. “Most of an hour,” “most of the day,” “most of the weekend.”
This is the kind of sentence where you will usually hear this phrase:
“Doing all of my errands this weekend took the better part of three hours.” Doing all of my errands this weekend took the better part of three hours.
That means that doing all of my errands this weekend took most of three hours, or it took almost three hours, or close to three hours.
Here’s another example:
“Building the fence around my garden took the better part of the summer.” Building the fence around my garden took the better part of the summer.
In other words, building the fence took me most of the summer. It took me a lot of the summer to complete that task.
Sometimes you will also hear “the better part of” used with distance instead of time.
So, somebody could say, “The distance from my house to the library is the better part of one mile.” The distance from my house to the library is the better part of one mile. (Or the better part of one kilometer, or something like that.) But usually you will hear the phrase “the better part of” used with a unit or measure of time.
And that is “the better part of,” a very useful phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 315 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Shuang recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!