Break a habit/Get rid of a habit/ Remove a habit.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ashraful Haque

Senior Member
Joined
May 14, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Bengali; Bangla
Home Country
Bangladesh
Current Location
Bangladesh
When talking about habits which ones are more natural/colloquial?

- Break a habit/Get rid of a habit/ Remove a habit.
- Form a habit/ Develop a habit/ Start a habit.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
When talking about habits, which ones are more natural/colloquial?

- Break a habit/Get rid of a habit/Remove a habit.
- Form a habit/Develop a habit/Start a habit.

See above. Green = use. Red = don't use.

I almost marked "Start a habit" as possible but I changed my mind. You can start doing something, hoping that it might become a habit but that's not the same thing. For example, you can say "I'm trying to get into the habit of getting up at 6am to do some yoga before breakfast".

Remember that we don't put a space before or after a forward slash.
 

Ashraful Haque

Senior Member
Joined
May 14, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Bengali; Bangla
Home Country
Bangladesh
Current Location
Bangladesh
See above. Green = use. Red = don't use.

I almost marked "Start a habit" as possible but I changed my mind. You can start doing something, hoping that it might become a habit but that's not the same thing. For example, you can say "I'm trying to get into the habit of getting up at 6am to do some yoga before breakfast".

Remember that we don't put a space before or after a forward slash.
An IELTS question says "Why do you think it's so hard for people to change bad habits?"
I know this kind of book/lesson isn't always meant for teaching natural English. Is 'change a habit' natural?
 

Ashraful Haque

Senior Member
Joined
May 14, 2019
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Bengali; Bangla
Home Country
Bangladesh
Current Location
Bangladesh
I have another question. While answering the question about bad habits I said:
"Bad habits develop over time."
I wonder if I should've "We develop bad habits over time."
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
An IELTS question says "Why do you think it's so hard for people to change bad habits?"
I know this kind of book/lesson isn't always meant for teaching natural English. Is 'change a habit' natural?
Yes.
 

Phaedrus

Banned
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
When talking about habits which ones are more natural/colloquial?

- Break a habit/Get rid of a habit/ Remove a habit.

You can also speak, idiomatically, of kicking a habit.

He started smoking a year ago and can't kick the habit.
 

Barman

Member
Joined
May 2, 2020
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Bengali; Bangla
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
*Not a teacher*

We can also say, "Give up" this bad habit.
 

Charlie Bernstein

VIP Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I have another question. While answering the question about bad habits I said:
"Bad habits develop over time."
I wonder if I should've "We develop bad habits over time."
Either way is fine. They're both natural, and they mean the same thing.
 

Tarheel

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
If you stop doing something you break that. Saying you want to change that habit seems to mean you want to substitute a different habit for it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top