Bank of England expected to leave interest rates on hold on Thursday despite inflation hitting...
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EN: The Present Perfect tense ('has risen') is formed with 'have/has' + past participle. It is used here to report recent news or events that have a direct relevance or connection to the present moment.
House prices have risen significantly over the past year.
EN: A non-defining relative clause introduced by ', which' adds non-essential, supplementary information about the preceding clause or fact. It is always separated by a comma.
He passed his driving test on the first attempt, which surprised everyone.
EN: In the UK, inflation is closely monitored by the government and the Bank of England, with an official target of 2.0%. A figure of 3.1% represents an overshoot, triggering widespread media coverage and potential interest rate responses.
EN: The pattern 'the reason for [noun/gerund] is [noun phrase / that-clause]' is commonly used to state causes. Notice that 'reason' takes the preposition 'for', not 'of'.
The main reason for the delay was bad weather.
EN: In the phrase 'rising cost', 'rising' is a present participle functioning as an adjective to describe an ongoing or developing change (increasing costs).
Rising temperatures are affecting agricultural production worldwide.
EN: In British English, 'motor fuel' typically refers to petrol and diesel for vehicles. Fuel prices are heavily taxed in the UK (Fuel Duty and VAT), making transportation costs a particularly sensitive and prominent driver of overall inflation figures.
EN: "Despite" is a preposition meaning "without being affected by" and must be followed by a noun, noun phrase, or gerund (-ing form), NOT a full clause with a subject and verb.
Despite the heavy rain, the football match continued as planned.
EN: The idiom "keep [something] on hold" means to delay, postpone, or maintain something in an unchanged state for a period of time. Here, it refers to keeping interest rates unchanged.
The company decided to keep all new hiring on hold until next quarter.
EN: The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) typically meets eight times a year to decide on the UK's official bank rate. These meetings usually conclude on a Thursday, when their rate decision is publicly announced at noon.
EN: An appositive phrase ('chief economist at Forvis Mazars') sits between commas right after a noun ('George Lagarias') to rename or provide essential background information about that person or thing without starting a whole new sentence.
Sarah Lin, a senior analyst at TechCorp, delivered the opening speech.
EN: The reporting structure 'warned that + noun clause' uses a that-clause as the direct object of the reporting verb. Inside this clause, the modal verb 'could' conveys possibility rather than certainty.
The meteorologist warned that heavy rain could lead to flash floods.
EN: In financial journalism, experts often use modal auxiliaries like 'could' or 'may' alongside terms such as 'economic shock' to offer prudent forward-looking analyses without making definitive market predictions.
EN: The verb 'explained' introduces a noun clause functioning as the direct object, starting with the subordinating conjunction 'that'. Inside the clause, two predicate verb phrases ('often look at the past' and 'may not show current risks') are connected by the coordinating conjunction 'and'.
The analyst warned that market reports reflect historical trends and cannot predict sudden shocks.
EN: The modal verb 'may' expresses possibility or likelihood. Followed by 'not' and the base form verb 'show', 'may not show' indicates that there is a realistic possibility that the figures fail to reveal something.
These preliminary results may not reflect the final outcome.
EN: In economic discourse, inflation figures are considered 'lagging indicators' because they measure price changes that have already occurred in the preceding month. Economists frequently emphasize this distinction to caution central banks against tightening or loosening monetary policy based purely on backward-looking data.
EN: The correlative conjunction 'not... but...' is used to connect two contrasting elements of equal grammatical rank, indicating that the first element is rejected and the second is affirmed.
Success is not a matter of luck but the result of hard work.
EN: The past participle phrase 'caused by energy supply problems' acts as a reduced relative clause modifying the preceding noun 'a sudden shock'. It is equivalent to 'which is caused by...'.
The delay was due to damages caused by the heavy storm.
EN: In economic news and analysis, phrases like 'supply shock' (often related to energy and oil) distinguish sudden cost spikes from 'demand-pull inflation', which arises from high consumer spending. Central banks find supply shocks harder to manage via interest rates.
EN: The verb 'suggest' is followed by a that-clause expressing a recommendation. In British English and standard formal English, 'should + base verb' is commonly used inside the that-clause (e.g., 'suggested that the Bank of England should not make...'), alongside the subjunctive mood ('suggested that the Bank of England not make...').
The doctor suggested that she should take a few days off work.
EN: The participial phrase 'based on old data' functions as an adverbial or adjectival modifier modifying the noun phrase 'quick decisions' (or the action 'make quick decisions'), meaning 'founded on' or 'relying on'.
We cannot draw conclusions based on limited information.
EN: The 'Bank of England' is the central bank of the United Kingdom, responsible for setting official interest rates to manage inflation. In financial and economic journalism, economists frequently caution central banks against being 'backward-looking' (relying solely on lagging indicators like past inflation figures) when determining monetary policy.
EN: The conjunction 'that' introduces a noun clause serving as the direct object of the reporting verb 'said'. Inside this clause, two independent clauses are connected by the coordinating conjunction 'but' to show contrast.
She warned that higher taxes could raise revenue, but they might also reduce consumer spending.
EN: The modal verb 'can' is used here to express theoretical possibility (what is capable of happening under certain circumstances), followed by the base form of the verb ('push', 'hurt').
Sudden weather changes can disrupt flight schedules.
EN: In macroeconomic discussions, this dilemma describes 'stagflation' risks: when supply shocks (like rising oil or food costs) raise prices while simultaneously dampening production and economic output, putting central banks in a difficult policy bind.
EN: The phrase 'rather than' is a coordinating conjunction used to indicate preference or contrast, meaning 'instead of'. Here, it contrasts 'supply-side disruptions' with 'consumer demand'.
We should focus on long-term growth rather than short-term profits.
EN: The relative clause 'that are caused by...' uses a passive voice structure ('are caused by') to modify the noun 'problems', specifying the origin or cause of the issues.
The delays that were caused by bad weather have now been resolved.
EN: Central banks primarily manage the economy using monetary policy tools like interest rates, which work by influencing demand (borrowing and consumer spending). When inflation is driven by 'supply-side disruptions' (such as oil shortages or shipping blockages), raising interest rates does not fix the underlying supply problem and can risk triggering a recession.
EN: A non-defining relative clause begins with a comma and a relative pronoun (here, 'who'). It provides extra, non-essential information about the preceding noun ('the chancellor'). If removed, the core sentence remains complete and clear.
The manager, who joined the company last month, introduced a new policy.
EN: Present participles (verb-ing) can act as adjectives preceding a noun to describe an ongoing action or state. Here, 'rising' functions as an adjective modifying 'inflation'.
The rising temperatures have caused severe droughts in the region.
EN: In British politics, 'the chancellor' is short for the 'Chancellor of the Exchequer', who is the senior cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters, equivalent to a finance minister or the Treasury Secretary in the US. The Chancellor's 'Budget' is a major annual event that outlines government taxation and spending plans.
EN: The 'There + be' structure is used to indicate the existence of something. Here, 'news' is an uncountable noun, so the singular past verb 'was' is used, preceded by the quantifier 'some'.
There was some useful information in yesterday's report.
EN: 'However' is a conjunctive adverb used to introduce a contrast or concession. When placed at the beginning of a clause or sentence, it is followed by a comma.
However, the company decided to expand into international markets.
EN: In financial news, 'bond markets' refer to the global market where government and corporate debt securities are issued and traded. When government bond yields fall, it generally signals that borrowing costs for the state are decreasing, which financial analysts and media typically interpret as 'positive news'.
EN: The past continuous tense ('were falling') is used to describe an ongoing action or trend in the past, often contrasted with another event.
Company profits were falling before the new management took over.
EN: The past perfect tense ('had reached') combined with the conjunction 'after' indicates that the action of reaching the highest point occurred before the dropping of yields in the past.
The stock bounced back after it had fallen to a record low.
EN: In the UK, government bonds are colloquially referred to as 'gilts'. The 'ten-year bond yield' is closely watched by investors and policymakers as a benchmark indicator of government borrowing health and broader economic stability.
Key vocabulary words with IPA pronunciation, definitions, example sentences, and interactive quizzes.
Phrases with type tags, bilingual definitions, usage notes, and example sentences.
delayed, paused, or kept unchanged temporarily
the percentage of an amount of money that is charged by a bank or other financial institution for lending money
an unexpected event that suddenly changes the supply of a product or commodity, resulting in an unforeseen change in price
the rate of return an investor expects to earn each year over the life of a bond
to take action in order to solve a problem or handle a situation