Have a go

Feifei Morning Neil. In a rush today, were you?

Neil Just a bit, Feifei. You know, kids, breakfast, commute. The usual. Why?

Feifei Well - I noticed your shirt isn’t ironed.

Neil Very attentive of you.

Feifei And your shirt has - ketchup on it?

Neil Oops, yes - beans for breakfast.

Feifei And you haven’t shaved, have you?

Neil Well, no. Erm…

Feifei You really do need to make more of an effort.

Neil Feifei, why are you having a go at me?

Feifei Relax, Neil. I’m just giving you the opportunity to use the phrase we are teaching, which is: ‘have a go’!

Neil Well that’s a relief.

Feifei ‘To have a go at someone’, as we’ve just seen, means to criticise someone.

Neil That’s right. Here are some examples.

Examples The boss really had a go at Michaela after she offended our clients.

Susie had a go at her husband last night. He’d forgotten all about her birthday.

Why do you always have a go at me? Why can’t you say something nice?

Feifei That’s our phrase. ‘To have a go at someone’ - which means to criticise someone.

Neil There. Can we be nice to each other now?

Feifei Well, we can have a go!

Neil Ah, very clever. ‘To have a go’ has another meaning - ‘to try’.

Feifei Yes - if you have a go at something, you try it.

Neil Why don’t you have a go at making an example sentence, Feifei?

Feifei Ok then. I’m going to have a go at cooking a Thai curry from scratch.

Neil Tasty. ‘To have a go’ meaning ‘to try’. And one last thing, Feifei. Do I really look scruffy?

Feifei Not at all. Though you could shave once in a while.

Neil I’ll have a go. Just for you Feifei.

Feifei + Neil Bye.