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Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression better late than never.
Let’s read the dialogue.
A： What took you so long？ I’ve been waiting here for ages！
B： Sorry！ I missed the bus and had to walk the whole way.
A： Oh well， never mind. Better late than never！
This popular idiom is used to say that it is better to do something late than not do it at all. People often use it when someone arrives late for a meeting， but it can also be used， for example， when an email or a letter arrives late， when someone finishes some work after the deadline[截止日期] has passed， or when a person finally gets around to doing something that they’ve been putting off for a long time.
There is another expression that has a similar structure， ‘better safe than sorry’. We say this when we are being careful because something bad might happen later. For example， if it’s cloudy and I take an umbrella because it might rain later， I can say ‘better safe than sorry’.
And that’s it for now—join us again for some more Language Snacks.
Exercise
1. The expression better late than never means：
a） It isn’t worth doing something if it is late.
b） Doing something late is better than not doing it at all.
2. In which of these situations could you say better late than never？
a） The post brings a birthday card the day before your birthday.
b） The post brings a birthday card on your birthday.
c） The post brings a birthday card the day after your birthday.
Answers
1. b
2. c
Let’s read the dialogue.
A： What took you so long？ I’ve been waiting here for ages！
B： Sorry！ I missed the bus and had to walk the whole way.
A： Oh well， never mind. Better late than never！
This popular idiom is used to say that it is better to do something late than not do it at all. People often use it when someone arrives late for a meeting， but it can also be used， for example， when an email or a letter arrives late， when someone finishes some work after the deadline[截止日期] has passed， or when a person finally gets around to doing something that they’ve been putting off for a long time.
There is another expression that has a similar structure， ‘better safe than sorry’. We say this when we are being careful because something bad might happen later. For example， if it’s cloudy and I take an umbrella because it might rain later， I can say ‘better safe than sorry’.
And that’s it for now—join us again for some more Language Snacks.
Exercise
1. The expression better late than never means：
a） It isn’t worth doing something if it is late.
b） Doing something late is better than not doing it at all.
2. In which of these situations could you say better late than never？
a） The post brings a birthday card the day before your birthday.
b） The post brings a birthday card on your birthday.
c） The post brings a birthday card the day after your birthday.
Answers
1. b
2. c