Unit 1: English Expressions
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Session 19
Listen to find out how to use an everyday English expression.
መዓልታዊ ኣጠቓቕማ ኢንግሊሽ ንምፍላጥ ነዚ ዝስዕብ ንስማዕ።
Activity 1
In black and white
Look at the Session Vocabulary – make sure you know what these words mean:
- pay rise
- leaflet
- ink
- paper
Listen to Rob and Feifei explaining the expression 'in black and white'. As you listen, answer these questions:
1. What does Rob think will happen?
2. Why does he think so?
Listen to find out the answers. Then check them on the transcript below.

ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሰላም! እንቋዕ ናብዚ ብቋንቋ እንግሊዝኛ ሓሳባትኩም ንምግላጽ ዝሕግዘኩም መደብ English Expressions ብድሓን መጻእኩም። ሎሚ 'In black and white' ዝብል መግለጺ-ሓሳብ ክንርኢይ ኢና። ቃል ብቓሉ 'ብጸሊምን ጻዕዳን' ማለት'ዩ። እቲ ልክዕ ትርጉሙ ግን እንታይ ክኸውን ይኽእል ትብሉ? ትርጉሙ ንምፍላጥ እምበኣር ሓቢርና ንከታተል። ንዕላል ሮብን ፌይፌይን ንከታተል። ሮብ ንፌይፌይ እንታይ ዝብል ወረ ሂቡዋ? ፌይፌይ'ከ ኣሚናቶ'ዶ ትኸውን? ንምዃኑ ሮብ ብምንታይ'ዩ ተኣማሚኑ ዘሎ?
Rob
So Feifei have you heard the news?
Feifei
The news? What news?
Rob
We're all going to get a big pay rise!
Feifei
A pay rise? But Rob are you sure? I haven't heard anyone else talk about it.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ስለምንታይ'ዩ ሮብ ተሃንጥዩ ዘሎ? ልክዕ! ንሱን ፌይፌይን ወሰኽ ደሞዝ ክረኽቡ'ዮም ኢሉ ይሓስብ ስለዘሎ'ዩ። ሓቁ እንተኾይኑ ንምፍላጥ ጽን ኢልና ንስማዕ።
Rob
Yes, yes, I'm sure. Look at this leaflet here… it says it there in black and white.
Feifei
In black and white? But it's in colour – look, it says 'ten per cent' in red letters.
Rob
I don't mean it's printed in black and white – if someone says it's 'in black and white', they mean it's official – it's been printed or written down – so there is no dispute!
Feifei
So you're saying it's not gossip – it's true?
Rob
Yes, yes – I have proof of the pay rise on this piece of paper here.
Feifei
OK, well let me read it.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ሮብ እቲ ወሰኽ ደሞዝ 'in black and white' እዩ ዘሎ ኢሉ። 'Black' ጸሊም 'white' ድም ጸዕዳ ማለት'ዩ። እቲ ሓበሬታ ኣብኡ እንከሎ 'in black and white' እዩ ዘሎ ንብል ምኽእያቱ ብጸሊም 'black' ቀለም ኣብ ጻዕዳ 'white' ወረቐተ ስለዝተጻሕፈ፡ ሓደ ነገር ወግዓዊ ወይ ዝተረጋገጸ ኮይኑ ኣብ ወረቐት ምስ ዝሰፍር፡ ነዚ መግለጺ ሓሳብ ንጥቀም። መብዛሕትኡ ንስምምዓትን ዉዕላትን ንምግላጽ እንጥቀመሉ ኮይኑ፡ ሓደ ነገር 'in black and white' ኣሎ እንተተባሂሉ ዘየማትእን ንጹርን'ዩ ማለት ይኸውን። ቀጺልና፡ ተወሳኺ ኣብነታት ክንሰምዕ ኢና፡
Examples
We didn't believe the bank's offer of a loan until we saw it in black and white. Now we can buy the car we wanted.
I'm not going to start celebrating until I've seen the business deal in black and white and everyone has signed it.
I have it here in black and white – I've got the job! They've confirmed the offer with an email.
I'm so happy that we finally sold our house, but I'm not going to believe it until I see it in black and white.
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ኣብታ ቀዳመይቲ ኣብነት እቲ ክዛረብ ዝጸነሐ፡ 'in black and white' ክሳብ ዝወሃቦም እቲ ናይ ለቓሕ ዉዕል ከምዘይኣመኖ'ዩ ገሊጹ። ካልኣይ ዝሰማዕናያ ኣብነት ድማ እቲ ዉዕል 'in black and white' ክሳብ ዝኸውን በዓል ከይገብር ወሲኑ ምኽንያቱ ዉዕል ከይተፈጸመ ክተርፍ ስለዝኽእል። እቲ ናይ መወዳእታ ዝተዛረበ ድማ እቲ ናይ ስራሕ ዕድል 'in black and white' ኔይሩ ብምባል - ዝተረጋገጸ ከምዝኾነ'ዩ ዝገልጽ።
Feifei
So, when something is in black and white, it is clearly written down so it is believed to be true. But why in 'black and white' and not in 'red and blue' for example?
Rob
Well, it comes from the early days of printing when news and information was printed in black ink on white paper. Once something was printed, it was official.
Feifei
OK – but hold on Rob – I've read this leaflet and it doesn't say we're getting a 10% pay rise – it just says we deserve a 10% pay rise – so no pay rise for us Rob.
Rob
What? Are you sure?
Feifei
Yes – look, it says it there – at the top – in black and white!
Rob
Oh I didn't see that.
Feifei
It just shows you – even if something is in black and white – you need to be able to read it first!
ኣቕራቢቋንቋትግርኛ
ስለዚ፡ ብልክዕ እቲ ጽሑፍ ኣገዳሲ ሓበሬታ 'in black and white' ኔይሩዎ'ዩ፡ እንተኾነ ግን ሮብ ጽቡቕ ጌይሩ ኣይንበቦን። ንስኻትኩም'ከ? ሓደ ሓበሬታ 'in black and white' ንኽኸውን ኣገዳሲ ዝኾነሉ እዋን መዓስ'ዩ ትብሉ? ሓደ ነገር ወግዓዊ ንኽኸውን 'in black and white' ንኽወሃበኩም'ከ ሓቲትኩም'ዶ ትፈልጡ? ኣብ ዝመጽእ መደብ 'English Expressions' ክሳብ ንራኸብ፡ ብሰላም ጽንሑ።
Answers
1) Rob thinks that everyone will get a pay rise.
2) He has found a leaflet where it say this.
How do I use it?
'In black and white' is used to refer to something that is in writing. We often use it when it is important to have something confirmed. We usually use it with the verb 'be'.
I couldn't believe that I had won the prize, but it was there in black and white.
Don't believe anything they tell you unless you see it in black and white.
It's in black and white - I'm the new manager!
In black and white
3 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Hint
እቲ ዝተጻሕፈ ነገር ወትሩ ኣገዳሲ መልእኽቲ ኣለዎQuestion 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Hint
እዚ ኣገላልጻ ብዛዕባ ሕብሪ ኣይኮነንQuestion 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ቅኑዕ መልሲ ምረጹ።
Hint
ከምቲ ኣብ ጽሑፍ ዘሎ ብተመሳሳሊ ቃል እዩ ዝጅምርQuestion 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Over to you!
Have you ever needed something in 'black and white'? What did you need? Why was it important to have it in 'black and white'? Come and tell us on our Facebook group.
Join us for our next episode of English Expressions, when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ኣብ ዝቕጽል መደብ ኣጠቓቕማ እንግሊሽ የራኽበና፤ ሽዑ ንቋንቛ ሓገዝቲ ዝኾኑን ናይ ምስማዕ ክእለትኩም ዘማዕብሉን ነገራት ክንመሃር ኢና።
Session Vocabulary
news
ዜናpay rise
ወሰኽ ደሞዝleaflet
በራሪ ጽሑፍprinted
ዝተሓትመink
ቀለምpaper
ወረቐት