MicroEnglish.

Singing your praises
Idioms | B2

Listening exercises with “Singing your praises”

If you sing someone’s praises, then you praise or compliment them very enthusiastically.

This phrase is often used to tell somebody that someone has been talking about them in a very positive way. e.g. Sarah was very touched that you offered to help her move house. She’s been singing your praises all week.

Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?

Accent: North America

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– .
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You’ve good impression – she’s .
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Accent: Scotland

80%
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. .
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We’re daughter’s new . She’s been weeks.
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Accent: England (London)

80%
1x

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Esc — Play/Pause (rewinds 1.5s)
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, .
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She’s children’s praises, get a bit .
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10 responses

  1. Anna Avatar
    Anna

    I’ve never sung anyone’s praises if he or she doesn’t deserve any

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      Perfect example Anna!

      One small thing – if you want to avoid saying ‘he or she’, it is fine to use ‘they’ as a singular, gender neutral pronoun. This is useful if you don’t know or don’t need to specify someone’s gender. e.g. “How was your visit to the doctor? What did they say?”

      Reply
  2. Valentyna Avatar
    Valentyna

    I seldom sing somebody’s praises, because I think, that the person should really deserve it. But it doesn’t mean,of course, that you shouldn’t be thankful to people, who make you any favors or help you in need. But in the situations like these it’s enough easily to say THANK YOU instead of SINGING PRAISES!

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      Great example Valentyna!

      – Watch out for overusing commas. You don’t need the comma after ‘think’ in the first sentence, and the one after ‘people’ in the second sentence.
      – The expression is ‘to do sb a favour’, so your sentence should be: “…people who do you a favour or help you…”

      Well done!

      Reply
      1. Valentyna Avatar
        Valentyna

        Thank you very much for comments, Chris! They are very clear and helpful!☺

        Reply
        1. Chris Bargery Avatar
          Chris Bargery

          You’re welcome Valentyna 🙂

          Reply
  3. AlineS Avatar
    AlineS

    I am not used to sing someone’s praises; if I did it, I would sound fake or sarcastic. I think that even when the person deserves the praises, we don’t need to exalt them so enthusiastically, but just praise them using sincere words

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      You’re right Aline – there’s usually no need to go over the top (as we say).

      You’ve made one (very common) mistake with ‘used to’ at the beginning – can you see it?

      Reply
      1. AlineS Avatar
        AlineS

        Well, I remember that we use “used to” to talk about things that used to happen in the past, but don’t happen today (I used in the explanation hehe), and “to be used to” is used to talk about things that we usually do (e.g. I am used to wake up at 6am). Or am I wrong about it? 😮

        Reply

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