Have you heard the term ‘register‘ in relation to language? It’s an important aspect of how we use language but, if we are not careful, we may not pay…
Read More
When I was little, my mother used to recite these lines: Where the bee sucks, there suck I; In a cowslip’s bell I lie; There I couch when owls…
Last week, we explored modal verbs of certainty and uncertainty. Today we move on to obligation and permission. Obligation means that we have to do something. We don’t have…
This week I’ve been looking at false friends. These are words that look familiar, but are being used in a different way and so have a different meaning. Or, in…
Last week we looked at modal verbs, what they are and how they work. This week we go a little deeper and explore modal verbs dealing with degrees of certainty….
Have you heard of collocations? They sound complicated, don’t they? Well, collocations are important in English, and we do have to learn them just like any other vocabulary, but they…
Have you ever heard or read a line from a Shakespeare play and thought, ‘sounds good, but just what does it mean?’? Although only 5 to 10% of Shakespeare’s language…
The term ‘modal verb’ often causes confusion. Students wonder what modal verbs are and why they don’t know about them. In fact, if you speak any English, the chances are…
Have you ever brought home a piece of flat pack furniture and then wondered how on earth all those pieces will make a wardrobe or bookshelf? Long pieces of wood,…
Keeping up with schoolwork at home, during lockdown, communicating with teachers only online, I’ve had a glimpse of what students might be experiencing as, at 17, I completed my A…
A while ago I wrote this post, about exams. I explained that they are not always as important as we think. Sometimes, however, we can’t do without them. Earlier this…
Six months ago I switched to tutoring English online overnight. For years, I have travelled to my students’ homes and sat in their kitchens and dining rooms as we worked…