8     I can talk about relationships

Word    Example      Meaning

friendship  Our friendship has always been very important to us.     

the relationship between people who are friends.

make friends I find it difficult to make friends.      

form friendly relationships.

get on (well) with sb  Do you get on well with your classmates? 

have a good relationship with sb. OPP not get on with sb.

rely on sb  reliable ADJ  I can always rely on my sisters. My brother’s not very reliable.

feel sure that sb will do what they say they will do. SYN depend on sb.

trust sb  You have to trust your friends.

believe sb is good and won’t hurt you.

loyal  He was very loyal to my father. 

being a friend to sb, even in difficult times. OPP disloyal.

sociable  She’s very sociable and gets on well with people.   

A sociable person likes the company of other people. OPP antisocial.

keep in touch Simon is an old friend. We’ve always kept in touch.  

(of two or more people) stay in contact by speaking or writing to each other.

 

spotlight  friend

An old friend is someone you have known for a long time; a close friend is someone you know and like very much. If you are friendly with sb, you treat them as a friend.

1     Combine words below to make phrases

►   rely  friend  get on well  friends  on someone  a close  keep  make  in touch  on someone  depend  with someone

►   rely on someone 

________

________

________

________

________

a close friend

get on well with someone

make friends

keep in touch

depend on someone

3     Rewrite the sentences using the words in capitals in the correct form. The meaning must stay the same.

►   He’s a bit antisocial. SOCIABLE He isn’t very sociable.

1     He likes Ruben. FRIENDLY ________

2     She never phones us. TOUCH ________

3     I don’t have a good relationship with my father. GET ON ________

4     I became her friend at university. MAKE ________

5     My boss is very reliable. RELY ________

6     I’ve known Donna for a long time. OLD ________

1     He’s friendly with Ruben.

2     She never keeps in touch. / She doesn’t keep in touch.

3     I don’t get on with my father.

4     I made friends with her at university. / We made friends at university.

5     I can rely on my boss.

6     Donna’s an old friend. 

4     Test yourself. Cover the examples and meanings. What are the meanings? 

B    When things go wrong

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TV drama about a group of young people who got to know one another at university, and now, five years later, get together for a weekend.

But things soon go wrong. John doesn’t get on with Dan, and now realizes they have nothing in common, while Pete regrets the fact that he split up with Amy, the girl he used to go out with. Now Amy is in a serious relationship with Keith (who didn’t go to university), and Keith doesn’t like Amy’s old friends. This creates tension in the group, and soon there’s a big row. Amy falls out with Pete, and Dan and John stop speaking to each other. And that’s just the beginning...

 

Glossary

get to know sb  meet sb a number of times and become friends.

one another  each other.

get together  (of two or more people) meet for a social reason.

go wrong  used when a problem happens in a situation or relationship.

realize sth  begin to understand sth that you didn’t know before.

have nothing in common (of two people) have no interests that are the same. OPP have a lot in common.

regret sth / doing sth  feel sorry about sth you did or didn’t do.

split up with sb stop being in a romantic relationship with sb.

go out with sb  have sb as a boyfriend or girlfriend.

in a (serious) relationship  having a long-term boyfriend or girlfriend.

fall out with  sb argue with sb and stop being friendly with them.

 

spotlight  have a row / an argument  

Both phrases mean ‘have an angry discussion’,  

e.g. I had a row with Li.

The verb related to argument is argue, 

e.g.They argued with each other.