Adjective order is tough to get right, not only for beginners but also advanced speakers. Even teachers get confused about the rules (and there are rules). The less opinion-based or more essential an adjective is, the closer it comes to the noun. For example, my wife is Japanese. She is beautiful. She is tall, too. … [Read more…]
There are a few verbs in English that tend not to be used in their continuous (~ing) form. Belong is one of them. Simply, something belongs or it does not. Examples: He belongs to the rugby team. CORRECT He is belonging to the rugby team. INCORRECT There are two times when you can use ‘belonging’, … [Read more…]
This was originally a reply to a post on Google Plus but I thought it would also be useful for everyone. Using ‘other’ is difficult for some people because of the level of specificity (knowing if something is special to the topic of conversation) much like ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’. Here are the basic uses. … [Read more…]
How to use ‘stop’ with another verb is difficult to remember for some students but there is an easy way to remember how to use it correctly. Stop + infinitive Using ‘stop’ with the infinitive (i.e. ‘stop to…’) means pausing because there is another different action that the person or thing does. I had to … [Read more…]
‘Used to’ is quite easy to make mistakes with. There are two completely different meanings for this phrase. used to: This is used when an action occurred often in the past but does not occur now. I used to drink and smoke but I have a healthy lifestyle now. In questions, it changes to ‘use … [Read more…]
In English, when you are not 100% sure of something, use ‘I don’t think’ rather than ‘I think ~ isn’t’. Wrong I think it won’t rain. I think he is not my type. I think that when I get home my mother won’t be at home. I think they can’t handle it. Correct I don’t … [Read more…]
When you compare things there are three ways to do it: Use an Adjectival Comparative to Compare the Things ‘-er’ Comparatives Adjectival comparatives come in the ‘-er/est’ form for short adjectives, ‘more/most ____’ form for long adjectives and for negative comparisons ‘not as ___’ and for equal comparisons ‘as ____’. The one that causes the … [Read more…]
A lot of students have difficulties using -ed and -ing adjectives. These can help you. -ed The Pointer Sisters – I’m So Excited The Kinks – So Tired -ing Amii Stewart – Knock On Wood (“The way you love me it’s frightening”) Pet Shop Boys – Being Boring
The prepositions of location ‘in’, ‘at’ and ‘to’ are quite difficult for beginners to use and even some advanced learners make mistakes with the words. Here are some examples to show how they are used when talking about locations. To Use with destinations. Let’s go to London. Come to my house. Don’t use with the … [Read more…]
This is a suburban town on the outskirts of Tokyo. It is a residential area; there are a lot of houses and apartments. There aren’t many businesses here, but there are some. This is the urban centre of Tokyo. There are a lot of skyscrapers and other large buildings, and the buildings are densely packed … [Read more…]