Words with two plural forms are rare in English but it is so difficult to understand when to use the correct form. Fish ‘Fish’ is for general use. The kinds of fish are unimportant. “There are plenty more fish in the sea” “How many fish did you catch?” Fishes ‘Fishes’ is used when talking about … [Read more…]
Pronoun determiners using interrogative roots (‘whatever’, ‘however’, ‘whoever’, ‘whenever’, ‘wherever’) can be used to dismiss alternative options or state that different options have the same outcome. “I will always love you whatever you do.” “Whatever you decide to do tomorrow, you know you have to study English, too.” “However you study is unimportant as long … [Read more…]
Sometimes nouns (words for things) are used as verbs (words for actions). They are rather easy to understand although some of them really get on my nerves due to the fact that there are existing verbs that can be used for the same job. I also prefer the sound of the longer expression of the … [Read more…]
‘Remember’ is a confusing verb because learners get confused with infinitives and gerunds (~ing verbs behaving as nouns). Remember + noun phrase The easiest way of using ‘remember’ is with nouns or noun phrases. I remember you. I remember the time we went to the zoo. Remember + infinitive When an infinitive follows remember it … [Read more…]
Here are some examples of grammar from movies. Part 1 is here. Simple Present Tense Questions – Uncle Buck Relative Clause with ‘that’ – Blade Runner Verb + Infinitive – The Maltese Falcon Second Conditional/Present Perfect Tense – Good Will Hunting
Using the adverbs ‘just’, ‘only’ and ‘only just’ is just one of the troubles you face when using English. Just ‘Just’ indicates a limit or exclusion. In this case it can be replaced by ‘only’. “I just invited you, not the others.” It can indicate an action has taken place in the moment being talked … [Read more…]
Today I’m going to give a a quick guide to the modal verbs ‘ought’, ‘must’ and ‘need’. For other modals, see last week’s post. Have to ‘Have to’ is used to indicate an obligation. It is weaker than ‘must’. “I have to go to the dentist at one o’ clock today.” “Don’t you have to … [Read more…]
This post is based on a comment I made on a post on Google+. ‘Each’ and ‘every’ can be difficult to use as determiners. Here is a quick guide to help you. Each has to be used with the singular form of a verb or ‘(one) of’ with plurals. It can be used with two … [Read more…]
Modal verbs cause students a lot of problems. In this post, I hope to make them a lot clearer for you. There are other modal verbs not included in today’s post. I’ll write about them next week. Shall and Should ‘Shall’ is used to talk about the future. It is used to talk about yourself … [Read more…]
There are so many verbs of speech and so many ways to make mistakes with them. Here, I’ll look at some different examples. Say This should be easy. Say is often used as said. In direct speech it is PERSON/PEOPLE + said(and comma) + “whatever they said.” Example: He said, “It will rain tomorrow.” It … [Read more…]