Elena at Learn English Through Literature

Lesson #134: Improve Your Writing In English With Three Daily Exercises

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Do you find it challenging to write in English, despite having invested many hours, days or even years in studying the language? This is a common challenge not only for English language learners, but also among native English speakers. Writing encompasses the combination of processes: thinking, organising, recalling the appropriate vocabulary and spelling, and considering […]

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Lesson #133: Common Mistakes Made With Comparative Adjectives (Part 2)

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Comparative adjectives can also work for describing lesser amounts of something. Again, from Gaskell’s Mary Barton: 📗 ‘The friend whom they met was more handsome and less sensible-looking than the man I have just described; he seemed hearty and hopeful, and although his age was greater, yet there was far more of youth’s buoyancy in his appearance.’

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Lesson #133: Common Mistakes Made With Comparative Adjectives (Part 1)

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A common error made by English Learners is the INCORRECT DUPLICATION of comparative adjectives. This is partly due to a lack of complete comprehension of the distinctions between the primary types of comparative adjectives.  To recap, comparative adjectives are variations of adjectives that describe a larger quantity of that particular thing. For example, the comparative of ‘good’

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Lesson #132: Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 2): A Look At The Imperative Tense Through Emily Bronte’s Description Of A November Day

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One thing we might overlook when reading the first stanza of Emily Bronte’s poem, ‘Faith and Despondency,’ is how the poet used the imperative tense consistently. When we are first taught the imperative tense, we are usually given examples that emphasise a command or order: ‘Stop that!’ or ‘Listen to her!’ or ‘Buy now!’ As

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Lesson #132: Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 1): A Look At The Imperative Tense Through Emily Bronte’s Description Of A November Day

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Mini-Lesson Monday: (Part 1) 🍁Welcome November!🍂 As I sit at my desk, gazing out of the window at the wind and rain (yes, it is stormy here in Ireland as I write), I appreciate the warmth and cosiness indoors.  Often, during weather like this, the adjective ‘wuthering’ comes to mind – the same adjective that

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Lesson #131: All Hallow’s Eve Reflections On Autumn, With Scottish Poet James Thomson

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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

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Lesson #130: Introducing ‘Evelina’ (And Appositive Phrases)

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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

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Lesson #129: The Oxford Or Serial Comma (And When It Should Be Used)

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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

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Lesson #128: Understanding Essential And Non-Essential Clauses Through Dickens’ ‘Dombey And Son’ (Part 2)

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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

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Lesson #128: Understanding Essential And Non-Essential Clauses Through Dickens’ ‘Dombey And Son’ (Part 1)

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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

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Lesson #127: ‘Grinding Through’ The Differences: Gerunds And Present Participles (Part 2)

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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

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Lesson #127: ‘Grinding Through’ The Differences: Gerunds And Present Participles (Part 1)

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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

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