Grammar

‘said’ is one of the most inexpressive words in the English language. “That is right,” he said. The problem with ‘said’ is that all it does is report the words that someone speaks. It doesn’t say anything about the way that the words were actually spoken, not to mention any meaning, emotion or feeling that […]

Some verbs just get too much airtime. You know the ones: verbs such as ‘get’ and ‘have’ that, in the English language at least, seem to represent anything and everything.  If you are looking for ways to polish your writing – simultaneously being able to make your words more interesting but being clearer and more […]

No one is immune from making a mistake. And when it comes to your writing, the same rule applies. In fact, the greatest writers are susceptible to the occasional error. Shakespeare, J.K. Rowling, Henry Miller, the Bible! But thinking that you are immune from making mistakes is the first mistake you make, and it is […]

There is an unusual situation in English where the terms ‘have’ and ‘have got’ seem to have the same meaning in two contexts, as follows: Context 1) I have a sister / I have got a sister = possession Context 2) I have to do an exam tomorrow / I have got to do an […]

The verbs ‘make’ and ‘do’, for learners of English, cause many problems. The reason for that fact is simple: in many other languages, the two verbs often have the same meaning. Another reason for the problems caused by these two verbs in particular comes down to one simple concept: collocation. Collocation is defined by the […]

At first sight, ‘been’ and ‘gone’ appear to be simple to distinguish. ‘Been’ is the past participle of the verb ‘to be’, and so, as such, is used in perfect tenses. Here are some examples: ‘I have been very tired recently.’ ‘My car has been stolen.’ ‘Gone’ is the past participle of the verb ‘to […]

Articles can make a big difference in English, and in no other situation is this more evident with the quantifiers a few, a little, few and little. Here is all you need to know about when the words should be used, and the difference in meaning. ‘A few’ and ‘a little’ The fundamental difference between […]

Articles are always troublesome for those learning English. In fact, articles are an aspect of language that causes problems in general, because many languages don’t have them at all, and those that do never use them in exactly the same way. The zero article in English is a rather misleading name in some respects, because […]

‘Can’ and ‘may’ are what are known as modal auxiliary verbs in English, a category of grammar that causes problems for learners. There are two reasons for these problems: 1) Modal verbs can operate differently in the learner’s mother tongue 2) Modal verbs in English have different meanings at different times, so it is a […]

It’s one of the most common mistakes made by English learners: not using the intensifiers ‘so’ and ‘such’ in the correct context. Here are some examples of typical mistakes: ‘He has so money.’ ‘He is such funny.’ ‘So’ and ‘such’ can often mean the same thing, but have their own distinct structures to remember. Here […]