Let's Learn English! Topic: Complaining! 👎😞☔
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Well, hello and welcome to this English lesson about complaining. Complaining is something we do when we don't like something. You might complain to your teacher. You might complain to your neighbor. You might complain to the mayor in your town because you don't like something. Sometimes human beings are happy. Sometimes human beings are annoyed.

when we're annoyed we like to complain. Now there's a lot of different types of complaining. So in this English lesson I will try to describe as many as I can. I think you'll enjoy this lesson even though it's a lesson about kind of a negative thing we do as humans. I still think it can be a fun lesson as we learn about complaining. So welcome to this English lesson about complaining.

complain. So this is the main verb. This is the verb we use when we do not like something. If you are at a restaurant and your food isn't cooked well or your food isn't what you ordered. You will probably complain to the server. You will tell that person what you are unhappy about. You might say hey I

I this is chicken and I ordered fish or you might say my food is cold and then hopefully the server can do something about it. I don't often complain at restaurants unless they get my order totally wrong. Um usually if food comes and it's relatively close to what I ordered I will eat it but the

This is probably one of the most common ways that we complain is when we're at a restaurant and we don't like our food for some reason. We will complain. So, we will say out loud to someone what we don't like.

Children tend to complain a lot too. I don't know if you are familiar with that but when kids are little sometimes they complain. They complain because they don't like what you made for supper. They complain because you don't have time to bring them to a friend's house. Children are wonderful but sometimes they complain. So the noun then is a complaint. So if to complain

is the verb like I'm going to complain to my boss. The the thing that you put in writing or the thing you say is called a complaint. If it's really formal and you write it down, you'll have your complaint on paper. So, the verb is to complain. I'm going to complain.

I have a complaint. Okay? Um and complaint sounds a little more official. Little tricky to say isn't it? Complaint. You do have to hit the T at the end when you say that.

Let's see here. To whine. So, there are many different verbs depending on the kind of complaining that is happening. Often, we will say that children will whine and complain. We'll use both verbs together or I have a coworker who just whines and complains all the time or my brother. He's never happy. He always seems to be complaining and whining. So, to whine means to

annoyed about something but to kind of mention it over and over again. Um I worked with someone once who they whined all the time. They would whine about everything at work. It was not fun to work with that person because they would whine so much. So again to whine is simply another way to say complain.

To protest is a more formal kind of complaint. A more formal way of complaining. If you are upset with the government, if you are upset with your employer, if

might protest. When you protest it means you get together with other people who are also upset and you you stand around with signs and you protest what is happening. Um by the way this can also be called a protest. So you can protest but it can also be called a protest. So there's a a verb and a noun version. So

Again, I know this is a pretty complex lesson but you can do it. I just want to encourage you. So, to protest,

sorry, let me pronounce it the right way. To protest means to be with other people. If you go to my local town on Saturday mornings, there's always a group of people there who are protesting. They are protesting the taxes that we have in Canada because our taxes are really high. They are not happy about the taxes. To gripe. So, this is another uh

Kind of a lighter way of saying complain. Like, oh, he just likes to gripe all the time.

might be familiar with someone who is in your office who complains all the time or there might be a student that you go to school with that just likes to gripe. No matter what the teacher does they complain. They gripe. Maybe at work the person doesn't like the coffee in the workroom. They don't like it that the boss ask them to work an extra half hour. They gripe. They gripe and complain. Again we often put the words together. And

Um I don't gripe a lot. I don't think at least I don't think I do. Um I generally try to be positive but sometimes at work something just isn't right and then I will gripe a little bit. I will complain to my coworkers. And I should mention that. You might complain to your boss but you might gripe to your coworkers. So you might yeah if you you might um

around in the in at break time and you might complain about your boss. You might gripe about your boss. To lodge a complaint to file a complaint. These are very formal ways of complaining. So let's say your phone is

Let's say your phone wasn't working properly. You would call the phone company and you would lodge a complaint. You would file a complaint. So this is a very official way of complaining.

might write a letter to lodge a complaint. You might write an email to lodge a complaint. Usually when you lodge a complaint or file a complaint. It's with a business. Okay so you might say okay I'm going to phone my phone company because my phone isn't working properly and then you'd say okay this is Bob the Canadian I'd like to file a complaint.

like to lodge a complaint and the person at the other end at the business would actually put it into a memo or an email to someone else at the company. So this is an official way of complaining about something. You lodge a complaint or you file a complaint. I don't do this very often either but occasionally sorry occasionally you do have to file a complaint or lodge a complaint. And

there was a time when my internet wasn't working properly. So I filed a complaint with the company. I said, look, this needs to be fixed because I need to do a live English lesson.

we would then call that a formal complaint. So just like we had complaint as the noun when you file a complaint or lodge a complaint we call that a formal complaint. What makes it formal is that someone is writing down the complaint. Either you're typing it and sending it or you're on the phone and the person at the other end is recording the complaint.

It's always good to keep a copy for yourself. If you file a formal complaint or if you lodge a formal complaint. To accuse. So this is a little more serious. It's like a complaint but it's when someone has done something they're not supposed to. So if let's say you are in a class where

and the person beside you looks at your test and copies your answer. You would go to the teacher and you would accuse them of copying your work. Let's say that you are walking along the road and someone drives by doing a

200 kilometers an hour. You would call the police and accuse that person of speeding. So, it's like a complaint but it's a complaint that's very very formal and it's usually related to bad behavior or illegal behavior. So,

You might accuse someone of cheating in your class. You might accuse someone of stealing something from your yard. Maybe your car was stolen and you think your neighbor stole your car. You would then call the police and say, my neighbor stole my car. You would accuse them of stealing your car.

make a fuss. So this is a phrase we use to talk about the behavior of complaining. You might know someone who likes to make a fuss all the time. They're always complaining about everything. They go to a restaurant and if something's even just a little bit wrong they make a fuss. They complain to the waiter. They complain and say they want a free meal. They just make a fuss. Um I

I did see someone making a fuss at the grocery store the other day. I was in line and the person at the front of the line was annoyed because they didn't have a bag and they had to pay for a grocery bag and they were starting to complain loudly. They were starting to make a fuss. So, anytime you see someone complaining, they they are making a fuss. They are um

yeah it's kind of funny. Uh fuss is a funny word isn't it? To make a fuss. To grumble. So when I think of someone grumbling it means they're complaining maybe to themselves and maybe quietly. Like if I was like oh I

It's going to be really cold out today. I don't know what to wear. Like when you're just quietly complaining to yourself, we we kind of describe that as grumbling. Um he likes to grumble. Um you might know someone like this who if you sit by them on the bus, they kind of just it's too cold out today and I don't know why I have to work today. This is ridiculous. So, it doesn't have to be someone complaining quietly to themselves but that's

what I always think of like oh um I have a coworker who's always grumbling like in the staff room. Okay, I'm making that up. My coworkers are amazing but you might know someone who complains a lot who likes to grumble.

object to. So when you object to something it's very similar to to protest okay but it's not as like you're not going out with signs necessarily. When you object to something it means you don't like it. So you might work somewhere and the boss might say everyone needs to work on Saturday and you might say everyone

I object to that because I can't work Saturday. Uh I have to go to a wedding. So it's a very like formal sounding way of complaining but it basically means someone has told you something and you don't agree with it. That's a tricky one isn't it to object to. Let me try to think of a better example. Um yeah I

prices keep going up and people are starting to object to the price increases. People often object to the price of gas. They don't like it. That gas is so expensive. It's a dollar fifty a liter in Canada right now. That's a little bit too expensive. I object to that. Um it's basically means you are opposed to something. To find fault. So again uh some people will

look at something you've done and they will look for your mistakes.

They'll look for the errors. We often find fault in other people. If I say too many people speed driving down my road, I am finding fault in them. I am identifying a behavior that I don't like. Teachers will find fault in students work. It's part of our job. We look for mistakes and errors but we also do this in life where you will find fault in another person. He's always late for work.

borrows my car and doesn't put gas in it afterwards. He's always asking to borrow money. So I am finding fault in people. I am complaining about those people by saying something about them that bothers me or that I find annoying. To criticize. So this girl's saying you don't work hard enough. Excuse me. When you criticize it means you again are

There's something someone's doing. There's a behavior that you don't like, okay? So, you might have a coworker and you might just say, you don't work hard enough. That's that's really rude by the way to say that but you might say to them, you don't work hard enough. You need to work harder. You can also criticize someone's appearance. So, it's kind of like a complaint but I could say, oh, I don't like your haircut.

that would be quite rude to say that. But when you criticize you point out something you don't like. Some maybe the behaviour of someone or what they look like and you are very negative about it. Two belly ache. So a real belly ache is when your stomach hurts.

we also use this as a verb to talk about complaining. Um people sometimes bellyache about taxes or they bellyache about the speed limit in their town that it's too slow. They might bellyache about the price of groceries. So when you bellyache it simply means that you are complaining. Um you might know someone who likes to bellyache all the time. Like there are people in the world who are very very happy and positive. And

And then there are people who are just quite negative and like to bellyache all the time. To make a stink. This is very similar to um to make a fuss. When you make a stink, you know, a stink is something that doesn't smell good. So, when you make a stink, it can mean to complain as well. Um you could say something like um

we're out of milk. So my kids are going to make a stink about it this morning because they won't be able to eat cereal. So they're going to complain because we don't have any milk in the house. That actually happens sometimes. Uh my kids will make a stink because we're going somewhere as a family but they wanted to visit their friends. So they might start to complain about that. They might start to to make a stink.

to have a beef. When you have a beef with someone, it means you are annoyed with them. When you have a beef with someone, it's an ongoing conflict like a minor conflict. You might have a beef with someone at school. You might have a beef with someone at work. It means that you don't enjoy talking to that person and you like to complain about them, okay? So, he has a beef with

with his boss because his boss doesn't pay him enough. Uh he has a beef with his teacher because she keeps giving him really low grades. So, you might have a beef with someone. It's not good to have a beef with someone. You should always resolve all of your issues. Uh and then we have to go on and on. When you go on and on, it means you're complaining and you don't stop complaining. I'm sure we all know someone like this. Uh

once they start complaining, they go on and on. They complain about how their day isn't going well. Their coffee was wasn't hot enough this morning. They were late for work. Their boss was mean to them. They go on and on. They don't stop complaining. Um I know when I worked, I worked in a restaurant once and we had one customer who whenever he came in, he would

matter what we did, his food wasn't the way he wanted it and he would go on and on about it. Like he would not stop complaining. Um so again, to go on and on means to complain and to keep complaining. Like complain and complain and complain and to go on and on.

to chirp. This is something that happens in sports and this might just be a hockey term but or a Canadian term but when you complain to the referee or when you complain to the umpire, we sometimes say you are chirping. He likes to chirp at the ref. Like, that would be like,

of complaining that the ref made a bad call. Um so you might chirp at the ref. Players sometimes chirp at each other as well. It means to kind of say complain a little bit while you're playing a game. Or it can even mean to insult someone.

grievance. So this is a very official complaint. So you can file a complaint. You can file a formal complaint. You can also file a grievance or make a grievance. This usually happens at work or maybe with the government where you have a complaint and you decide that you want to make a grievance. So a grievance is usually in writing.

So let's say I was very upset with snow removal. I might have to file a grievance in the township office saying the snow removal was not done correctly this year. So a grievance is a very very formal type of complaint. To rant. This is Rick Mercer. Um he is someone who had a TV show and every week he would do a rant. He would talk for a minute or more.

he would complain the whole time about the government. And it was usually very very funny. So a rant isn't normally funny but when he did it it was. So a rant or when you rant means to complain for a long time about one thing. Um usually when someone is ranting they don't let the other person talk. Like oh I went to my boss and I just ranted about the hours I have to work for like 10 minutes straight. It

means you complained without stopping for a very long period of time. To be mad, to be angry. Now there is apparently a slight difference between these two verbs but these verbs describe someone who is upset about something. The other day I was mad because my car wouldn't start. The other day I was angry because my car wouldn't start. I use them interchangeably. Some people will say that if you're upset about

you're angry, if you're really upset, you're mad. Some people will say the opposite but I will just tell you this in English conversation. If you say, oh, I was mad because I forgot to bring my jacket to work. I was angry because I forgot to bring my jacket to work. They mean the same thing. I think we use this one a little bit more. Um I was mad because I

internet stopped working last week during my lesson or I was angry because the internet stopped working during my lesson. So I use them interchangeably but they mean to be to have a strong negative emotion about something. To be upset, to be annoyed, to be aggravated. You are mad or you are angry. To have an outburst. So,

feel bad that I use this picture of this little kid. This isn't one of my kids but when you have an outburst it means you start crying and yelling. Usually children will have an outburst. But you might see an adult have an outburst. It means that you complain about

then you start to raise your voice. Maybe you start to shout. When you have an outburst it it's not enjoyable for the people who are seeing it. I did see a person have an outburst at a store once and started yelling at the the cashier. It was not a pleasant experience but but

I'm sure it's more common to see a child have an outburst. So they obviously want to complain about something. They are upset but they do it by speaking very very loudly.

then we have the phrase to lose it. To have an outburst and to lose it mean something similar. If you are complaining to someone at a store and you start to raise your voice and you start to yell we would say that you are starting to lose it. You're starting to get angry. You're starting to get mad. When you lose it you are very angry and you are very mad at someone.

Hi, Bob the Canadian here. Thank you for listening to this English podcast lesson. If you would like to support me in the work that I do as an online English teacher, please visit patreon.com slash bobthecanadian.