Jul 5, How and When to Use SHALL?

How and when should I use the word "shall"?

answer:

In the past "shall" had many more uses, but in modern day non-formal English this is the most typical use:

You can use it in questions and offers, such as:

"Shall we start eating?"

"What shall we do tonight?"

"Let's start, shall we?"

Jul 2, Learn Spoken English

When you learn spoken English there is one very important thing you should keep in mind. Spoken English can actually be
quite different than written English!

Let's take a look at a few of these differences:
For example, when mentioning an unreal condition, you must use "were" instead of "was."

The following sentence is grammatically correct:
"If I were rich I would buy this ship."

In spoken English you could also hear the grammatically incorrect version:
"If I was rich I could buy this ship."

Here is a good example.

This is a sentence you could hear in an informal conversation:

"I was so beat I had hit the sack early."

First, let's clarify what this means:

Beat = an informal way to say "very tired."
Sack = an informal way to say "a bed."
Hit the sack = an informal way to say "went to bed."

Now, if we were to write this sentence,
we would probably phrase it quite differently:

"I was so exhausted I had to go to bed early."

And if you want to make this really pompous and literary:

"I was overpowered with fatigue and was obliged to retire early."

Overpowered = defeated by someone or something stronger.
Fatigue = extreme tiredness.
Obliged = forced to do something.
Retire = go to bed.

Some common examples:
"You" --> "ya"
(For example, "I'll see ya tomorrow." "Going to" --> "gonna"
(For example, "I'm gonna talk with him tomorrow.") "Want to" --> "wanna"
(For example, "Where do you wanna eat?") "Have to"/"Have got to" --> "gotta"
(For example, "We gotta go.") "Going" --> "goin' "
(For example, "I'm goin' home.) "Doing" --> "doin' "
("They are doin' it all wrong.") "What are you" --> "watcha"
(For example, "Whatcha doin'?")These contractions are unacceptable in written English.

In summary, spoken English is indeed quite different than written or formal English. And these are just some of the things you should keep in mind when you learn spoken English.

Jul 3, Free Vocabulary Worksheets

Use these free vocabulary worksheets by yourself (if you are a learner) or with your students (if you are a teacher).

These worksheets practice sentence composition, and they are suitable for beginners. You can use them online.

Vocabulary Worksheet A

Vocabulary Worksheet B
Look at each picture and the bold words above it.Make a sentence to describe the picture using these words.Note that there is more than one correct answer for each picture!There is a list of suggested answers at the end of this page.Dog, happy

Answer:

"The dog is happy."

OR

"The dog seems happy."

(Or any other similar answer.)

Man, books, many

Answer:

"The man has many books."

OR

"This man holds many books."

(Or any other similar answer.)

1) Man, surprised

2) Cake, candle

3) Woman, ball

4) Lady, crying

5) People, clapping

6) Apples, green

7) Apple, red, books

8) Girl, balloons, flowers

9) Family, dinner

10) Bread, baking

1) "The man is very surprised."

2) "There is one candle on the cake."

3) "The ball hit this woman."

4) "This lady is crying."

5) "The people are clapping."

6) "These apples are green."

7) "There is a red apple on the books."

8) "The girl has balloons and some flowers, too."

9) "My family is having dinner now."

10) "She is baking some bread."

1) Bank, money

2) Bed, tidy

3) Heart, broken

4) Trouble, big

5) Cat, butterfly

6) Closet, organized

7) Corner, sitting

8) Box, thinking

9) Armchair, fireplace

10) Refrigerator , empty

1) "He got the money from the bank."

2) "The bed is clean and tidy."

3) "His heart is broken."

4) "He's in big trouble."

5) "The cat is looking at the butterfly."

6) "Her closet is well organized."

7) "The man is sitting at the corner."

8) "This man is thinking about the box."

9) "She is sitting in her armchair by the fireplace."

10) "The refrigerator is empty."

These were some of the free vocabulary worksheets.

Visit the Vocabulary Activities section for many additional activities and exercises.

Jul 3, A Box of Milk or a Carton of Milk?

 

Should we say a "packet of milk" or "box of milk" or "carton"?

 answer:

I'm not familiar with a "packet" of milk, but there are both a "box of milk," and "carton of milk."

These two can have somewhat different meanings:

A carton of milk usually refers to the picture above.

Cartons of milk need to be refrigerated.

A box of milk actually looks more rectangular and can be kept in room temperature.

Jul 9, Fun ESL Games – Make Lessons Fun with ESL Games!

One way to make your lessons more enjoyable is to have a bunch of ESL games you can use. To save you searching the web, here are some of my favorites.Many of the popular TV game shows are syndicated worldwide so students will know them. They can easily be adapted to use with any grammar point or vocabulary theme. Jeopardy is easy to use in class and is great for practicing question forms. You can write the answers, or for more class involvement, you can get your students to write answers for the other team to make questions. Great idea, group work, good fun, and less work for you! Even adults like to move around during long lessons, and with younger students it is even more important to get them active. Games involving mime can be used with vocabulary and are also great if you are teaching progressive tenses. Put the students into teams, get one person to mime something and have the others guess what it is. Another version of this is to have students draw pictures on the board for their team to guess. Instead of a boring quiz, why not make it into a sports game. Draw a plan of a football field on the board and ask teams questions. When a team gets a question right, move the ball one step nearer touchdown! This may take a while as it goes backwards and forwards, just like in a real game. This can be adapted to any sport, simply use the scoring method from the sport instead of giving straight points. My students love this one! Get each team to draw a cartoon character to represent them. Draw a grid of lines across the board and stick each character at the start of the grid. Ask ‘category’ kinds of questions, for example, Name 5 things that are always white. Name 8 things with wheels. Name 5 positive and 5 negative personal characteristics. This is great way to revise vocabulary from a previous class. The first team to write all correct answers moves 2 points along the grid, the second team moves one. The first team to reach the end of the grid are champions! This has different names, but my students called it Two Chairs and it was a great favorite at the end of the lesson. I wouldn’t do this as a warm-up as it can get a little crazy! Two teams, two students sit in chairs with their backs toward the board. The rest of the teams describe or act words you write on the board for their team-mates to guess. First one to guess it gets a point.

When you are playing ESL games you do need to be sure that your students understand the rules and that they know your decision is final! If you use some of these ideas, your students will have fun and learn at the same time.

Jul 2, Free English Grammar Test for Download

In this section you will find a free English grammar test for download.

If you are a student you can use it to test yourself.

If you are a teacher you can use it to test and grade your students.

Tests serve as important tools to monitor progress and see which subjects need review.

The Really Learn English Grammar Test will help you do just that.

The test is divided into five parts.
Each part tests a different skill and equals to 20 points. All four parts add up to 100 points.
(There are 100 questions in total, each question is worth 1 point.) This test is appropriate for students in the intermediate level. The answers to the question are included in the end of the test.Part A—Parts of Speech 1
(I) Pronouns / Verbs(II) Plural Nouns(III) A / An / The(IV) Comparative Adjectives
Part B—Parts of Speech 2
(I) Prepositions—Place(II) Prepositions—Time(III) Prepositions—Other(IV) Conjunctions
Part C—Verb Tenses 1
(I) Simple Present / Present Progressive(II) Simple Past / Past Progressive(III) Simple Past / Present Perfect(IV) Mixed Tenses
Part D—Verb Tenses 2
(I) Yes / No Questions(II) WH Questions(III) Tag Questions(IV) Negative Sentences
Part E—Sentence Structure
(I) Simple Sentences(II) Compound Sentences(III) Complex Sentences(IV) Mixed Sentences
You can download the test by right-clicking the link below and choosing "Save As":
Free English Grammar Test for Download

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Jul 21, The Verb Is as an Action Verb

If the verb "is" is an action verb, but it is also a linking verb, then how does it express an action?

For example: "Mary is my classmate."

("Is" is a verb. What action does it expresses?)

 answer:

This is an excellent question!

The verb "is" actually expresses a state of being.

The action is "to be."

For example, "Jane is in the room."

She isn't necessarily doing something. She is simply being there. She is located there.

For a full, illustrated explanation, visit this page:

Jul 8, English Adjectives – Types of Adjectives, determiners and the order of adjectives in a sentence

An adjective is a word that describes a person or thing.

Examples:
Big, pretty, expensive, green, round, French, loud, quick, fat.

Example sentences:
He has big blue eyes.The new car broke down.The old lady was talking in a quiet voice.
The word "adjective" comes from the Latin word jacere, which means "to throw."
Adjectives can be divided into several types:

Opinion
Nice, pretty, stupid, original, expensive, etc.

A sweet girl

Size
Big, small, large, tiny, enormous, little, etc. An enormous cupcake

Age
Young, old, new, ancient, antique, etc.

An antique car

Shape
Round, square, flat, straight, etc. A round coin

Color
Blue, red, white, black, dark, bright, yellowish, etc.

A red apple


Origin
Italian, British, Mexican, western, southern, etc. An Italian Pizza

Material
Metal, wooden, plastic, golden, etc. A wooden house

A determiner is a word that comes before a noun to show which person or thing you are talking about. 

Examples:
A, an, the, my, your, some, any, several, enough, any.

Example sentences:
I have a red hat.Please give me my bag.Some people decided to leave.She doesn't want any money.They watched several movies.Some people consider determiners to be a type of adjectives. What's special about determiners is that you usually can use only one determiner at a time.

Incorrect: He has the my ticket.
Correct: He has my ticket / He has the ticket.

Sometimes nouns function as adjectives. In other words, they come before another noun and describe it.

Examples:
Sports carOrange juiceTelevision stationCoffee shopBook coverA noun can have several adjectives describing it.

Examples:
"She bought a new red Italian table."
"He is a great, successful father."

There are certain rules on the correct order of these adjectives.

This is the order you should generally follow:

Determiner -> opinion -> size -> age -> shape -> color
-> origin -> material -> a word describing purpose/function

Examples:
A nice little coffee shop
(Determiner -> opinion -> size -> purpose/function word)
My huge new swimming pool
(Determiner -> size -> age -> purpose/function word)
Several Chinese plastic cups
(Determiner -> origin -> material)
The round yellow ball
(Determiner -> shape -> color)
Adjectives from the same type:
When you have several adjectives from the same type, you should separate them with commas or a conjunction (and, but).

Examples:
A cheap, good meal
A happy, smart man
The beautiful, original painting
My nice and sweet cat
An expensive but important trip

"Comparative" means "comparing something to something else."

Comparative adjective show which thing is better, worse, stronger, weaker, and so forth.

Examples:
Better, worse, bigger, smaller, nicer, fatter, thiner, more dangerous.

Example sentences:
She is a better student than her brothers.The test was worse than I've expected.You are stronger than me.He seems healthier.You are more beautiful than her."Superlative" means "of the highest degree."

Superlative adjectives show us which thing is the best, the strongest, and so forth.

Examples:
Best, worst, strongest, smallest, cheapest, most expensive.

Example sentences:
You are my best friend.This is the worst day of my life.Even the smallest donation helps.This is the most expensive restaurant I've ever heard of.

 

Jul 18, Building Your Business English Vocabulary

You've learned the basics, and what you really want to concentrate on now is your business English vocabulary.
If you are lucky enough to have a paid job where you are using your English, then you will start to learn some business vocabulary as you work. If you aren't this lucky, and can't get any unpaid work experience or an internship either, then you have to look at other ways to increase your business English vocabulary.

Of course, there are a number of courses, books, computer programs or even apps you can buy. There are websites you can visit. All of these will help you.

If you are looking for something to buy, try to find something that has exercises you can do, not simply a list of words. You will learn much more by reading or listening, then doing something, than you will by just reading or listening.

You need to activate any new vocabulary before you remember it fully. If you do learn new words, try and use them as soon as you can. Even if you only write them in a sentence in your notebook, that will help you. Simply a list of words with a translation in a vocabulary notebook is not the best way to learn any new words or phrases.

Something else you can to do improve your business vocabulary, is to read business websites, newspapers and magazines. The Wall Street Journal is good for articles about finance and the economy, and The Financial Times in the UK is similar.

Magazines such as Business Week or the Economist have useful articles for higher level speakers. Both of these magazines also have very useful websites.

Try and watch business news on TV or on the web. News broadcasts are not often easy to understand, but the more you watch or listen to them, the easier it will become. You will start to hear and recognize new words, and will be able to look them up in a dictionary to find out what they mean.

If you are in an English speaking country and your English is a good enough level, you may want to enroll in a basic business studies course. This will give you a lot of vocabulary, targeted reading, and the opportunity to practice some practical business tasks in English. You will also be able to meet other English speakers, which is always helpful.

If you are not in an English speaking country, then you could try and find a correspondence course in business studies. You won't get the interactive parts of classes you can attend, but it will still be helpful. If that isn't possible either, then a business studies textbook may be useful.

Of course it can be possible to enroll on a specialized business English course, and if you really want to improve your business English vocabulary then this is certainly something worth considering.

Jul 22, English Grammar Tips

I chose these English grammar tips based on the written questions I get from teachers and students around the world.

The following points are a summary of the most common mistakes I see, and the way to correct them.

They are, however, by no means, a summary of ALL the English grammar mistakes.

That list, I believe, is endless :)

So let's start with the English grammar tips:

Capitalization is the act of making specific letters capital.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
Here are three common cases where you should capitalize:

A) Capitalize the first word of a complete sentence.
Correct: He plays football. Incorrect: he plays football.B) Capitalize a proper noun.
Correct: Let's call Jane. Incorrect: Let's call jane.C) Capitalize titles.

There are several rules on how to do it correctly.

Briefly speaking, you should always capitalize the first and last word of the title.

Capitalize also the verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs.

All the other words (such as a, an, the, and, or, but, in, on, of, to) should not be capitalized.

Here are some examples:
Correct: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Incorrect: Little women by Louisa May Alcott
Correct: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Incorrect: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll  Correct: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Incorrect: the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasIn English, there are several ways to end a sentence.

These are:

A) Period ( . )

It indicates the end of the statement.
Correct: They went home. Incorrect: They went home Incorrect: They went home . Incorrect: They went home..There should be only ONE period, there should be no spaces BEFORE it, and a single space after it.

B) Question mark ( ? )

It indicates a question.
Correct: Are you hungry? Incorrect: Are you hungry ? Incorrect: Are you hungry.? Incorrect: Are you hungry????????????????
C) An exclamation point ( ! )

It indicates strong feelings or high volume (shouting).
Correct: Wow! We won! Incorrect: Wow ! We won ! Incorrect: Wow!. We won!. Incorrect: Wow!!!!!! We won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
D) Ellipsis ( ... )

It indicates an intentional omission of words, a pause in speech, an unfinished thought, or that the end of the sentence leads to silence.

Examples:
I's says "... and you must return the documents signed by the end of the month"
(Words were omitted before the beginning of the quote) Hmm... That's a good question.
(A pause in speech) I can't believe he could have...
(An unfinished thought) I guess it's too late now...
(End of the sentence leads into silence.)The ellipsis is probably one of the most overused punctuation marks. Take a look at the following sentence. It is definitively an incorrect example:

She entered the room... The room was big... Everybody was working........

The verb BE is one of the most important and common verbs in the English language. However, it does not need to be in every single sentence.

You can visit the link just above for the full, illustrated explanation, but here is the quick summary:

A) The verb BE is used to show different states of being.

Existence:
There is a cow in the room.

Occurrence:
The party is on Friday night.

Location:
He is home.

Identity:
I am Bob.

Quality:
They are clever.

B) The verb BE is used as an auxiliary verb (helping verb) in the progressive tenses:
We are having lunch.

C) It is used to express the passive voice:
They were hit by a car.

Where shouldn't you use the verb BE?

A) Don't use the verb BE if you already have a main verb in the sentence, unless it's a progressive/passive sentence (where BE is an auxiliary verb).
Correct: I am a girl. Correct: I met a girl. Incorrect: I am met a girl.
Correct: I am reading a book. Incorrect: I am read books.
Correct: I was given an apple. Correct: I gave her an apple. Incorrect: I was gave an apple.
These were some of the main things I personally encounter. I hope you find these English grammar tips useful.

Jul 8, English Adverbs

An adverb is a word that describes or gives more information about a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or even an entire sentence.
Where? Home. ("I went home.")

When? Yesterday. ("We met yesterday.")

How? Slowly. ("The turtle moves slowly.")

How often? Sometimes. ("Sometimes it stops responding.")

How long? Temporally. (She stays with us temporally.")

How likely? Surely. (Our team will surely win!")

To what degree? Very. ("She was very pleased.")

An adverb can describe a verb:
She runs quickly.

An adverb can describe an adjective:
She is so beautiful.

An adverb can describe another adverb:
She smokes very rarely.

An adverb can describe an entire sentence:
Naturally, you don't have to come.

The word "adverb" comes for the Latin ad- (in addition) and verbum (word).

Examples:
Quick + ly = quickly
Strange + ly = strangely
Dead + ly = deadly
Sudden + ly = suddenly
Clever + ly = cleverly
Brave + ly = bravely
Real + ly = really

When an adjective ends with "y" replace the "y" with an "i":
Heavy + ly = heavi + ly = heavily
Happy + ly = happi + ly = happily

When the adjective ends with an "e" drop the "e":
True + ly = tru + ly = truly
However, there are many adverbs that do not end in "-ly":
Fast, very, hard, home, just, too, well, never, sometimes, and so forth.

Adverbs of degree, adverbs of manner, adverbs of place,
adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of duration,
adverbs of probability, comparative adverbs and superlative adverbs.
Adverbs of degree show us the strength or degree of the action or state.

They answer the following questions:
How much? To what degree?

Examples:
Very, highly, totally, perfectly, partially, almost.

He answered perfectly.

Example sentences:
He is very concerned with you.You are totally right.We almost made it to the train.Adverbs of manner show us the way the action is done. They answer the following question:
How?

Examples:
Well, badly, nicely, slowly, loudly, quietly, happily, sadly, secretly, weakly.

They run happily.

Example sentences:
He handled the situation well.She listened secretly to their conversation.The children ran happily to their father.Adverbs of place show us the location of the action or state. They answer the following question:
Where?

Examples:
Home, here, there, outside, inside, away, around, anywhere, abroad, up, down, out.

He is home.

Example sentences:
We are here.He went home.We found him outside.She looked up. Adverbs of time show us the time of the action or state. They answer the following question:
When?

Examples:
Now, soon, later, yesterday, tomorrow, early, before, lately, recently.

They are having dinner now.

Example sentence:
Let's talk now.I will do it later.He promised to write back soon.What are you doing tomorrow?We haven't met before. Adverbs of frequency show us the frequency of the action or state. They answer the following question:
How often?

Examples:
Always, never, sometimes, often, rarely, usually, occasionally.

I will never do that!

Example sentences:
I always brush my teeth after a meal.We often meet and chat.He is usually here on time. Adverbs of duration show us the length of the action or state.
They answer the following question:
For how long?

Examples:
Forever, constantly, temporarily, briefly.

He will forever be her little boy.

Example sentence:
He works there temporarily.We spoke briefly.I will be forever grateful.Adverbs of probability show us the chances for the action or state to happen. They answer the following question:
How likely?

Examples:
Certainly, maybe, probably, possibly, surely.

He is probably in trouble.

Example sentences:
She will certainly forget about it.Maybe we'll come after all.It will probably not work.Surely you are not serious! "Comparative" means "comparing something to something else."

Comparative adverbs show us which action or state is better, worse, stronger, weaker, and so forth.

Examples:
more, less, better, worse, faster, slower, farther, closer.

She writes faster than most people.

Example sentences:
Maggie works out more seriously than Donna.She eats less than her friends.You are better than this.We couldn't go slower even if we wanted to.Let's get closer."Superlative" means "of the highest degree."

Superlative adverbs show us which action or state is the best, the strongest, and so forth.

Examples:
Best, most, least, worst, strongest, fastest, slowest.

They like each other best.

Example sentences:
He knows best.It was the most boring experience.He shouted the strongest so he won.He ran the slowest so he lost

Some Pointers for Building Academic Vocabulary

Students all have different goals they want to achieve in their English language learning, and if building academic vocabulary is your goal then you’ll want to do it as easily as possible.

There are some specific problems you will meet when you want to develop your academic language and here is some advice to help you.

DO read academic books and journals. Even though reading fashion or celebrity magazines may help your everyday English vocabulary, they won’t do much to help with the specific language you will need for academic purposes.

This can be a problem. Academic articles on the web, textbooks or research papers will be much more useful to you. Have a dictionary with you when you read, and look up words you don’t know.

DO pay attention to phrases. Academic language isn’t just about individual words. It is about how those words are joined together. Some people concentrate too much on single words and neglect phrasal verbs, idioms and collocations.

DO practice. This can be problematic because you can’t easily practice academic language in daily life. If you did, people would think you're a little strange! You can practice writing though, and you should try writing longer, well constructed essays when you can.

If you don’t have a teacher to check your work, ask a friend. If you don’t have any friends to ask, then compare your work with articles you find on the web. But remember that some of the articles on the web aren’t too good so try and find some from sites with a good reputation.

DO look at vocabulary to help you organize your writing. Discourse markers are words which help give signposts to our writing. Examples are, firstly, in contrast to, and in conclusion. If you learn and use these, your writing will be much easier to follow.

DON’T neglect the little words. Prepositions, such as to, in, on, of, about, etc are often forgotten and these are important in academic language (as well as in general English usage).

Conjunctions are also important. You will be familiar with conjunctions such as and, but, because, so, etc but you will need to start using more advanced words such as whereas, moreover, despite, in spite of, and so on. Pay attention to these when you are reading. Underline them in texts to concentrate your attention on them, instead of skimming over them.

DON’T forget the tone. Formal vs informal English can be tough to get right, but academic vocabulary is often much more formal than everyday vocabulary.

For example, you would be more likely to read the word children than kids in an academic text. When you discover a formal equivalent of a more informal word you know, then add it to your vocabulary notebook.

DON’T forget the language specific to your subject. Each subject has specific language and you should have a section in your vocabulary notebook for words particular to your subject.

If you read as much as you can, and practice as much as you can, as well as following the above tips for building academic vocabulary, then your Academic English should grow and improv