The is such a simple word that you probably never think about it. You use it many times everyday, but what exactly is it? Continue reading
The
English grammar
To Whom it Concerns…
When do I use who, and when can I use whom?
It’s a common question, especially for people who find themselves in a situation where they have to use formal written English, such as a job application, letter of complaint or academic essay. When people find themselves in such situations, especially if they’re unaccustomed to them, replacing who and while with whom and whilst respectively are often seen as convenient shortcuts to formality. And while it is possible to always replace while with whilst, the same is not true of who and whom, and there are specific situations in which we can use whom.
Before figuring it out, I want to look at two incorrect uses of whom, as that’s usually more instructive: Continue reading
Look, but Don’t Watch
I’d like to continue on the theme of difficulties students can have in learning English. Only the difficulty I want to look at today is one that’s shared by teachers, in a way, though in a different way. Something we’re not usually conscious of is how many verbs in our native language are very similar. We don’t have to think about the subtleties of difference between them, because we grow up absorbing how to use them correctly. But for learners, it can be extremely difficult to figure out exactly how and when to use them.
For example, think about the verbs, to talk, to speak, to say, and to tell. Take a moment to think about how you’d explain them to someone who’s unfamiliar with how to use them. Not easy, I’ll bet. Now I’ll try to make the differences clear. Continue reading
Loose/Lose
Just a quick lesson today.
The two words in the title, loose and lose, are probably two of the most easily- and often-confused by native English speakers.
In the simplest terms, which one is which?… Continue reading
Discover Challenge: Tough Questions
via Discover Challenge: Tough Questions
Do you think you have to deal with tough questions sometimes? Well count yourself lucky, if you’re a native English speaker, as if you’re an English learner, almost all questions are tough questions. Most of us don’t realise how easy we have it, never having to learn how to form questions, instead picking it up naturally. Even the most commonplace questions are surprisingly complex in their structure. For example: Continue reading
I’m Going to the Bank
Which one?
Huh?
Which bank?
I don’t know, does it matter?
Not really, but why did you say the bank if it doesn’t matter?
I don’t know, that’s just what we say.
Have you ever found yourself saying that you’re going to go to a bank? Of course not, that’d be weird, wouldn’t it? But if you think about it, it doesn’t make sense if you’re from a large town or city. When we say the bank, it sounds like we’re referring to a single, specific bank that the listener knows. Now this is fine if you’re in a smallish town with only one bank. But if you live somewhere with more than one bank it sounds strange to say the bank, as though there were only one bank. We do the same with other phrases like… Continue reading
Yeah, I Seen Her (That is to say I Saw Her…)
I seen that guy yesterday.
I done a lot of work yesterday.
Reading those sentences in your head might drive you crazy. Such terrible grammar!, you might say to yourself. And yes, they are grammatically incorrect. They should be, of course:
I saw that guy yesterday.
I did a lot of work yesterday.
What interests me about such utterances is: how wrong are they really, and why do people get so annoyed by them? First, let’s look at how exactly they’re wrong.
The two sentences are examples of the past simple tense, referring to a discrete action in the past. To construct this tense, we need a subject (I in both these cases) and a past simple form of a verb (to see becomes saw, to do becomes did). We might also have an object of that verb, and quite possibly a time indicator like yesterday. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 