đ He knew his power over her. He knew that she would not insist upon his leaving her. He knew that, her fears for him being aroused, she would be uneasy if he were out of her sight. For all his seeming levity and carelessness, he knew whatever he chose to know of the thoughts […]
In the last part of this lesson (see here), we covered the distinctive traits of the formal and informal registers in the English language. I recommend that you check this Part 1 first before reading this, since what we are going to addressed here builds on what was covered before! Through the help of Kenneth
Another childhood favourite (I seem to be sharing a lot of these lately!) is today’s classic, The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame, a Scottish writer at the turn of the twentieth century. His children’s classic is a story about four animals with human characteristics and personalities (a kind of writing called anthropomorphism, when an animal or
The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood As if they were changed into blocks of wood, Unable to move a step, or cry To the children merrily skipping by â Could only follow with the eye That joyous crowd at the Piper’s back.  – Robert Browning, ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ (1842) … Once
Lesson #175: Browning’s ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ and the Magic of Prefixes Read More »
đ ‘Ah, you’re fine and strong, arn’t you?’ said Silas, while Eppie shool her aching arms and laughed. ‘Come, come, let us go and sit down on the bank against the stile there, and have no more lifting. You might hurt yourself, child. You’d need have somebody to work for you – and my arm
In this second part of our lesson on modal verb forms ‘should/should have’, ‘could/could have’, and ‘would/would have’ to express past regrets or desires for the future, we will be focusing mainly on the differences between ‘could/could have’ and ‘would/would have’. đ If you would like to review our analysis of ‘should/should have’, you can find
đ Here I come to one of the memoir writerâs difficultiesâ one of the reasons why, though I read so many, so many are failures. They leave out the person to whom things happened. The reason is that it is so difficult to describe any human being. So they say: âThis is what happenedâ; but
Another poet for another Saturday post! As we are drawing close to Robert Burns’ Day, a celebration of Scotland’s poet around January 25th, the time is right to take a look at some of his most famous lines. đŽó §ó ąó łó Łó Žó ż And our family thimbles (small caps to protect the thumb from being pricked by a needle while
Lesson #169: ‘For Auld Lang Syne’: An Appreciation of Robert Burns’ Famous Song Read More »
Many English language students struggle with memorising the many different verb forms we have in our language. It can be difficult, especially when they are studied out of context. So in today’s lesson, I hope to share 3 essential verb forms that are not only commonly used on a daily basis by native English speakers, but
Lesson #168: 3 Important Irregular Verb Forms in Dickens’ ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ Read More »
If you have been watching the ceremonies to commemorate the inauguration of the U.S. president today, you will have overheard several references in their speeches and poems to one very influential book in the English language: the Bible. This is because for centuries, the English Bible – specifically the King James Version, first published in
đ The fire being lit, the hearth swept, and a small kettle of a very antique pattern, such as I thought I remembered to have seen in old farmhouses in England, placed over the now ruddy flame, Francesâ hands were washed, and her apron removed in an instant; then she opened a cupboard, and took
Lesson #165: Affirming Something Emphatically With ‘The’, ‘Do’, or ‘Did’ Read More »
đïž How much have I looked forward to sharing today’s poem with you – Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallott’ (1842 version). As a teenager, I used to listen to a recording of it (if I remember well, narrated by Anton Lesser) and I loved its dramatic expression. I memorised it and recite it
Lesson #163: Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallott’ Read More »