Have you ever wondered what is the difference between words like ‘beside’ and ‘besides’? 💡 Believe me, one little letter makes all the difference in what the word means and how it can be used! Today’s Lesson in two parts looks at 3 ‘mistakable’ pairs of words: Besides vs beside Always vs alway Forwards vs […]
📘 ‘Lady Carbury, having finished her third letter, threw herself back in her chair, and for a moment or two closed her eyes, as though about to rest. But she soon remembered that the activity of her life did not admit of such rest. She therefore seized her pen and began scribbling further notes.’ –
Lesson #213: On Anthony Trollope (and 3 Easily Mistaken Verb Forms) Read More »
This is Part 2 of our complete Lesson in which we look at past perfect verb form + adverbs past participles + infinitives present participles + infinitives simple past tense + 2 infinitives 2 simple past tense constructions in a row 2 different verb forms (simple past + present participle) in a row … 📝
Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #212 (Part 2): Multiple Verbs and Correct Word Order Read More »
📙 Many American ladies on leaving their native land adopt an appearance of chronic ill-health, under the impression that it is a form of European refinement, but Mrs. Otis had never fallen into this error. She had a magnificent constitution, and a really wonderful amount of animal spirits. Indeed, in many respects, she was quite
Mini-Lesson Monday, Lesson #212 (Part 1): Multiple Verbs and Correct Word Order Read More »
Every time Easter approaches, I am reminded of a short story, The Selfish Giant (1888), written by the Irish poet and playright Oscar Wilde. As I was rereading it today, I was impressed again by how splendid and eloquent his writing is, while being easy to read. In fact I think its language is even
As an intermediate or advanced level student of English, it can be hard to learn new vocabulary without understanding how to use them correctly in a sentence. For that reason, students are often encouraged to read more and more, but that in itself can become an overwhelming experience without the right kind of support from
Here we continue the story of Margaret Hale on her return to her parents’ country home in Helstone (a fictional village, probably based in Hampshire, England). … 📗 # FROM GASKELL’S NORTH AND SOUTH And walk Margaret did, in spite of the weather. She was so happy out of doors, at her father’s side, that
In last Monday’s Lesson we looked at adjective groups based on their endings; we saw how they were different from verb forms that look similar. In today’s Lesson we are going to also look at verbs ending with -en, many of which are created from adjectives. ✏️ 👉 For this reason, some of them will
Lesson #208: “Don’t go frightening the princess”: Ten English Verbs ending with -en Read More »
In this second part of our Lesson on adjectives, we are going to focus on adjectives ending with -ing in English (for adjectives ending with -ed, check Part 1 of our Lesson). … 📝 #4 ADJECTIVES ENDING WITH -ing 📘 ‘It seems as if I had been pioneered invisibly, as if some dissolving force had
If you have ever tried to describe someone you know, or an experience you have had, or something that you like, you will have almost certainly used some adjectives. Adjectives in English often end with similar endings – ‘-al’, ‘-ous’, ‘-ful’, ‘-ed’, and ‘-ing’ being some of the most common. In today’s Lesson we are
📗 “I have broken where I should have bent; and have mused and brooded, when my spirit should have mixed with all God’s great creation. The men who learn endurance, are they who call the whole world, brother. I have turned from the world, and I pay the penalty.” – Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841)
Lesson #206: Understanding, Identifying, and Using Relative Adverb Clauses in Writing Read More »
Welcome to Part 2 of our Lesson, where we will focus on understanding ‘be used to’ and what makes it uniquely different from ‘used to’ constructions (covered in Part 1 of this Lesson). … 📝 ‘BE USED TO’ Be (conjugate the verb) + Used To + Gerund OR Noun ✍️ This construction expresses a state