The last day of October, Halloween, or ‘All Hallow’s Eve’ as it used to be called! I personally don’t like dark and spooky stories, so to end the month of October, I’m going to share with you something bright and cheerful: a picture of the sun shining on the birch trees at the bottom of […]
Lesson #131: All Hallow’s Eve Reflections On Autumn, With Scottish Poet James Thomson Read More »
I thought that today it would be nice to share from my current reading, Frances Burney’s Evelina, and use some texts from it to elaborate on what we looked at yesterday, namely, the value of COMMAS in your writing. We talked about the ‘Oxford comma’ (also known as the ‘serial comma) and how it can be
Lesson #130: Introducing ‘Evelina’ (And Appositive Phrases) Read More »
Do you ever wonder, when you are writing a series of items, whether or not you are using commas in the correct manner? In the past, I also used to be unsure about this serial comma, also known as the ‘Oxford comma’ because of its widespread use by the Oxford University Press. Today I will
Lesson #129: The Oxford Or Serial Comma (And When It Should Be Used) Read More »
Here we will look at a paragraph from Dombey and Son that illustrates how many ‘NON-ESSENTIAL CLAUSES’ (defined in the last post) Dickens tended to use. ✍️ By including such essential or non-essential clauses in your writing, you are discreetly REINFORCING or even INTRODUCING information that would otherwise ‘clutter’ your writing, and you are doing it in
Have you ever tried to write a sentence only to realise that you cannot seem to fit all the important points you wish to mention? We all understand that very long sentences are counterproductive; I am not recommending that you write those! But I have learnt that it is very effective sometimes to include some
In the previous post, we defined gerunds and participles in English grammar and discussed the differences between them. We also read two passages from Hard Times (1854) by Charles Dickens in order to find out which ones contain gerunds or participles. Do you have confidence in your ability to identify gerunds from present participles when
For many students, one tricky point in English grammar is understanding the distinction between gerunds and participles. How do you find them? Are they understandable? If not, that’s fine! I will offer a brief explanation and a couple of illustrations from Charles Dickens’ classic, Hard Times. Firstly, a participle is a word that derives from a verb and can end with
Having read through George Eliot’s Middlemarch passage in the last post, I will share some insights into how she (George Eliot was Mary Ann Evans’ pseudonym) used ADJECTIVES to achieve her purpose. A little bit of background: This passage describes Dorothea Brooke, a young woman who is newly married to a middle-aged scholar. In this passage, she has
Lesson #126: Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 2): Using Influential Adjectives in Written Texts Read More »
Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 1): While admiring these white cyclamens in the pale autumn sunshine, I was reminded of the power of ADJECTIVES in description. Especially when they are suitably chosen! Adjectives are so important for several reasons. # 1 They are valuable in DISTINCTLY DESCRIBING a person, object or event’s ASPECTS. # 2 They can
Lesson #126: Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 1): Using Influential Adjectives in Written Texts Read More »
As I sit at my desk, I can see how windy, even stormy, the weather is outside. Sometimes, the sun breaks through the clouds for a while, but it doesn’t last long! This changeable windy weather is very common here in Ireland during the autumn months, but it is one of the reasons that I
Lesson #125: How Reading Rhythmically Can Improve Your English Intonation Read More »
Over the last few days I have been listening to several podcasts and YouTube videos while doing housework. Almost all of these are hosted by English speakers from the U.S.A., and I noticed how many expressions are used in conversational American English that aren’t typically employed in the U.K. or Ireland. Many English language learners
Lesson #124: Some Ways British English Expressions Can Differ From American Expressions Read More »
In the previous post, we began looking at a passage by Jane Austen (continued below) to consider how she created distinctive voices for different characters: 📙 ‘Marianne was astonished to find how much the imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth. “And you really are not engaged to him!” said she. “Yet
Lesson #123: Discovering a Writing Style or Voice That Reflects Personality (Part 2) Read More »