If you have been reading these Lesson posts for some time, you may remember how much I like Emily Bronte’s poetry. She was a poet I discovered only in the last few years, and I wonder how I could have been reading literature for so long and yet not have read her poetry before! I […]
We are outlining the usages and differences between the conjunctions ‘if’ and ‘when’ in today’s Lesson, with the help of Anna Sewell’s influential Black Beauty. Not only did Sewell espouse (promoted) animal welfare through it, but the public’s response to it helped to introduce new anti-cruelty legislation in Britain and the U.S.A. – as such,
📗 ‘When it was hot we used to stand by the pond in the shade of the trees, and when it was cold we had a nice warm shed near the grove.’ – Anna Sewell, Black Beauty (1877) … ‘If’ and ‘when’ are two small conjunctions describing time that are often confusing for English language
When I choose a novel to read, I tend to like books that have social morality or human motivation as some of their themes or topics. Anthony Trollope’s book, The Warden (1855), is one such book. It is the first of his collection of a series of novels he wrote called the ‘Chronicles of Barsetshire’. Anthony Trollope
Nearly everyone knows about – even if they have not read – Jane Austen’s famous novels: Pride and Prejudice (1813), Sense and Sensibility (1811), Persuasion (1818), and Emma (1815), not to mention Mansfield Park (1814)and Northanger Abbey (1817). 📚 But most people, including native English speakers, are less familiar with Austen’s earlier (or unpublished) writings. Works like The
Lesson #162: All About Hyphens and Dashes (in UK and US English) Read More »
📙 Here was one of the advantages of having lived alone so long! The little bustling, active, cheerful creature existed entirely within herself, talked to herself, made a confidante of herself, was as sarcastic as she could be, on people who offended her, by herself; pleased herself, and did no harm. If she indulged in
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.’
Lesson #133: Common Mistakes Made With Comparative Adjectives (Part 2) Read More »
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’
Lesson #133: Common Mistakes Made With Comparative Adjectives (Part 1) Read More »
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