Australia’s inflation rate rises to 4.3%, fuelling fears of fifth interest rate hike this year
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EN: The non-defining relative clause introduced by 'which' refers back to the entire preceding clause ('Australia's inflation rate has risen to 4.3 percent'), explaining the consequence or effect of that entire fact.
He passed the entrance examination, which delighted his parents.
EN: The present perfect tense ('has risen', 'has increased') is used to describe actions that occurred in the recent past and have direct relevance or consequences in the present.
The company has cut production costs, which has improved profit margins.
EN: In central banking communications, a 'rate hike' refers to raising the official benchmark cash rate to curb inflation. In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets on the first Tuesday of each month (except January) to announce interest rate decisions, making 'next week' a critical moment for financial markets and mortgage holders.
EN: A non-defining relative clause is introduced by 'which' (set off by commas) to provide extra, non-essential information about the noun phrase before it ('Underlying inflation').
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, remained steady last month.
EN: The time expression 'in the year to [Month]' is commonly used in economic reports to describe an annual period ending at a specific month.
Export revenue grew by 5 percent in the year to December.
EN: In Australia, the central bank is officially named the 'Reserve Bank of Australia' (often abbreviated to the 'Reserve Bank' or 'RBA'). The RBA targets an underlying inflation rate between 2 and 3 percent to maintain economic stability.
EN: The verb 'want' is followed by a to-infinitive ('to bring') as its direct object, expressing a desire or objective ('want to do something').
The government wants to reduce public spending next year.
EN: The phrasal construction 'bring [noun] back toward [target]' uses the directional adverbs and prepositions 'back toward' to describe movement or adjustment returning in the direction of a baseline or goal.
They are trying to bring inflation back toward normal levels.
EN: In central banking, 'target' refers to the official inflation target band. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) officially aims to keep annual consumer price inflation between 2 and 3 percent, making 2.5 percent the midpoint midpoint target.
EN: Passive Voice in Past Simple ('was/were + past participle') is used here because the action (releasing the data) is emphasized rather than who performed the action.
The quarterly report was published yesterday afternoon.
EN: The adverb phrase 'shortly before' means 'a short time before' and functions as a temporal prepositional phrase modifier.
He arrived shortly before the meeting started.
EN: In Australia and the UK, dates are typically written with the day before the month (e.g., '3 November' or '3rd November'), and spoken aloud as 'the third of November'.
EN: The pattern 'describe + Object + as + Adjective/Noun' is used to state someone's opinion or characterization of something.
The manager described the new project as challenging but exciting.
EN: The subordinating conjunction 'when' introduces an adverbial clause of time ('when he spoke to senators on Wednesday') indicating the moment or context in which the main action took place.
She realized the mistake when she reviewed the financial report.
EN: In Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor and deputy governor regularly appear before parliamentary committees (Senate Economics Legislation Committee) to answer questions about monetary policy, interest rates, and inflation. This appearance before 'senators' is part of formal government oversight.
EN: The verb phrase 'stands at' is commonly used in economic and financial contexts to describe a current figure, rate, or amount reaching a specific measurement.
Unemployment in the region now stands at 5.2 percent.
EN: The noun phrase 'its highest level in fifteen years' functions as an appositive modifier (noun phrase in apposition), renaming and adding descriptive context to '4.6 percent' without requiring a relative pronoun like 'which is'.
The company reported record profits, its best performance since 2010.
EN: In Australia, the 'cash rate' is the official interest rate set by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). It is the benchmark rate for the Australian financial system and influences mortgage and savings interest rates across the country.
EN: Present Perfect Passive ('has been' + past participle) is used to show that an action was performed on the subject in the past and has a direct impact or relevance to the present moment.
The traffic problem has been worsened by the recent road construction.
EN: Reported speech with a zero-that clause: Verbs like 'say', 'think', or 'believe' can be immediately followed by a noun clause without the conjunction 'that' in informal and journalistic styles.
Experts say food prices will stabilize next month.
EN: The term 'cost-of-living crisis' has become a defining buzzword in recent Australian and global media discourse to describe the squeeze on household budgets caused by inflation outstripping wage growth.
EN: The coordinating conjunction 'so' is used to connect two independent clauses, showing a cause-and-effect relationship. A comma usually precedes 'so' when linking complete clauses.
He forgot his umbrella, so he got completely soaked in the rain.
EN: The present perfect tense ('has become') uses 'have/has + past participle' to indicate an action or change that started in the past and has relevance or continuing results in the present.
Remote work has become a normal practice for many global companies.
EN: In macroeconomic debates in Western democracies such as Australia, inflation causes often divide political viewpoints: left-leaning commentators often point to external supply shocks (like war and oil prices), whereas conservative critics frequently emphasize excessive fiscal spending and regulatory burdens affecting productivity.
Key vocabulary words with IPA pronunciation, definitions, example sentences, and interactive quizzes.
Phrases with type tags, bilingual definitions, usage notes, and example sentences.
An increase in the benchmark interest rate set by a central bank.
A measure of inflation that removes volatile items such as food and energy prices to show the long-term trend.
A scenario in which the cost of basic necessities increases much faster than household incomes.
To cause something to return to a previous state, condition, or level.