In this mini episode, you will learn the phrase “for starters.”
Episode 354 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the phrase “for starters.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Farah Namira from Indonesia, and you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 354 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 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 and useful phrase. And that phrase is “for starters.” For starters. That’s f-o-r, s-t-a-r-t-e-r-s. For starters.
What does “for starters mean,” and how do we use it?
“For starters” is a way of introducing something that is the first of a list of things, or introducing something that is the first example of something.
That might sound a little bit hard to understand, but I think you will understand it if I give you this example:
Imagine that a new restaurant has opened up in your city. And everybody is very excited about this new restaurant. Your friend tried that new restaurant, and she did not like it. You are very surprised about this because everybody else seems very excited about this restaurant.
And you ask your friend, “Why didn’t you like it? What was wrong with this restaurant?” And she says, “Well, for starters, it was too expensive.” For starters, it was too expensive. That means “Well, here is an example. Here is something at the beginning of my list.” Or “Here is the first reason I will give you: It was too expensive.”
So, we often begin talking about a list or a bunch of options, by saying, “For starters.” It means “Here is an example of what I’m talking about.” Or “Here is the first item in a list.”
And I think that “for starters” is a common expression.
Here is one thing that I think is strange about this expression:
When it means “the first thing in a list or the first example,” starters really only exists in this phrase, “for starters.” When starters has that meaning, you really will never see it by itself. You will only see it in this phrase, “for starters.”
And that is “for starters,” an interesting and useful expression that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 354 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 Farah 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!