grammar

To Whom it Concerns…

Niall O'Donnell 13 Comments

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

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

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 →

Tense Times

Niall O'Donnell 16 Comments

EDIT: I’m reposting this from May last year. Despite the title and featured image, it has nothing at all to say about the current political climate, being instead entirely concerned with grammar!

Q. How many tenses are there in the English language?

a) 3

b) 12ish

c) 2

If you said a), you were probably thinking the three were the past, present and future, but that’s incorrect.

If you said b), you’re probably an English teacher or have been an English student, and started ticking them off on your fingers: present simple, present continuous, present perfect simple…, but that’s not it either.

The answer is 2: past and present. You may be thinking that’s wrong. You may also be thinking Oh no, I told my students yesterday that the future perfect simple is a tense!

Continue reading →

Worst. Sentence. Ever!

Niall O'Donnell 11 Comments

If they wouldn’t have been released, I don’t know when I would have ended up seeing Star Wars, and if I wouldn’t have seen Star Wars when I did, I don’t think my life and career would be what it is now.

Yeesh, just look at that. Ok, maybe it’s not necessarily the worst sentence ever, but it’s an unwieldy beast to say the least. A little context: I came across this in an online article about the theatrical release of the “Special Editions” of the Star Wars films in 1997, and this sentence was a quote from someone asked about the impact the films had on her.

And that person chose to use a hypothetical situation, therefore all-but ensuring the presence of an if and a would, and making the sentence a little complex. Fair enough, but still! It’s longer that it need be. And look at all those would‘s. Every time I read it, knowing the meaning, it still has no rhythm to it at all. Really, just look at all those would‘s in there! Apart from how it reads in your head, there’s also the issue of meaning. The sentence gets so weighed down by the different conditions and outcomes contained within it that it’s hard to parse the intended meaning.

How to improve it then? Continue reading →

Hey! You!

Niall O'Donnell 11 Comments

Yeah, you.

It’s a strange word, you, when you think about it for too long.

You.

It’s the only personal pronoun to be both a subject pronoun and an object pronoun. You can say You talked to him and He talked to you, but never Him talked to you and You talked to he.

It’s also used as both a singular and plural pronoun, in standard English at least. Because it’s sometimes confusing when someone says you and we don’t know if they’re talking to us alone or to as part of a group, colloquial plural forms of you do exist around the world.

Continue reading →

Loose/Lose

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

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

Niall O'Donnell 8 Comments

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 →