Trouble

have trouble

I’m sorry I’m late. I had a lot of trouble finding somewhere to park.

save trouble

Parking in London is a nightmare! You’d save yourself a lot of trouble by taking the train.

give trouble

My car is giving me a lot of trouble at the moment. I think it’s the cold weather.

ask for trouble

Anybody who drives a car at 159 kilometres an hour is simply asking trouble.

store up trouble

If you don’t deal with this problem, you’re only storing trouble for yourself in the future.

get into trouble

He got into a lot of trouble for writing on the walls of the school toilets.

share of trouble

I’ve had more than my fair share of trouble this week – certainly more than I deserved!

amount of trouble

You wouldn’t believe the amount of trouble I’ve had with this video recorder. It’s never worked!

least of trouble

Buying you a birthday present is the least of my trouble. I can’t even pay my rent!

end of trouble

I’ve had no end of trouble finding a hotel room. There’s a big conference on in town.

engine trouble

I’ve got engine trouble. My car won’t start.

financial trouble

I’m in financial trouble. I have debts of over 20,000$!

serious trouble

I’m in serious trouble with the police. I was caught drinking and driving.

back trouble

I’ve got back trouble. I hurt it on a skiing holiday.

big trouble

I’m in big trouble at school. I didn’t turn up for a recent exam.

enormous trouble

I went to enormous trouble to help her. I did everything I could.

stir up trouble

My sister is always trying to stir up trouble between me and my friend. I think she’s jealous.

stay out of trouble

My parents warned me to steer clear of trouble.

>Yeah. Mine told me if I didn’t stay out of trouble they wouldn’t let me go out at night.

want trouble

I don’t want any trouble in this café, so if you don’t mind, just finish your drinks and leave.

break out trouble

There have been riots in the capital, and trouble has also broken out in other cities.

look for trouble

He says he doesn’t look for trouble, but he always seems to be getting into flights.

brew trouble

I think trouble is brewing. I overhead a couple of people talking about a strike.

 

Notes

• Note in ‘I’ve got back trouble. I hurt it on a skiing holiday.’, trouble is also used to talk about health problems:

He has heart trouble.

She’s having trouble with her legs.

• Note how we describe being in a lot of trouble:

He’s in real trouble. He was caught stealing money.

She’ll be in big trouble if she crashes that car.

Tony landed in terrible trouble for breaking the church window.

You’ll get into deep trouble if you keep arriving late.

The company ran into serious trouble when it lost its biggest contract.

• Note these expressions:

I managed to change my flight without any trouble.

Making your own bread is more trouble than it’s worth.

• We use the expression ‘it’s no trouble’ to mean that something is not a problem:

I can wait. It’s no trouble.

• We also use trouble when we have made a special effort:

They went to a lot of trouble to set up this meeting.

I always take the trouble to learn names quickly.