All Things Relevant to Learning English

Word Shortening–Clipping

2010-12-23T15:42:00.003+03:00

Clipping a word means to take away one or more syllables from a word. These types of words are most commonly used in informal English. The part of the word that is subtracted can be at the beginning or at the end of a word. Usually this occurs with longer words so that speaking can be done at a more efficient pace. Here is a list of examples of the more common clipped words used in English.

Blended Words in English

2010-12-14T14:50:00.005+03:00

Blended words can be confusing to people learning the English language, because unlike adding an affix, i.e., prefix, suffix or infix, they are made up of two words, usually the beginning of one and the end of another, to form a new word.Sometimes you may find these blended words in the dictionary, but sometimes you won't. You can look them up on the Internet, though. Listed here are some of the

The Auxiliary Verb ‘Have’ in English

2010-12-01T19:06:00.008+03:00

The auxiliary verb (or helping verb) ‘have’ is used to form compound tenses (using more than one verb in the tense) in active and passive voice using the past participle (V3).Have is also an irregular verb: Simple Present: I – we – you – they = have he – she - it = has Simple Past: I – he – she – it – we – you - they = had Past Participle: had Active Voice Sentence Structure subject +

The Auxiliary Verb ‘Do’

2010-11-30T21:14:00.005+03:00

The auxiliary verb ‘do’ in English (also called a helping verb), has the job of giving further information about the main verb in a sentence. It is used most commonly in interrogative (question) and negative constructions. Such as these examples: Do you want to go to the party on Thursday? / Does he like the new sweater you bought him? (interrogative, yes/no answer) What do you want to do this

Study Tips for Language Learning

2010-11-24T20:26:00.000+03:00

Learning a language can be a long, hard road. Anything that we can do that would be helpful in achieving our goal is always appreciated. I know I do when someone gives me an idea on how to do something better or in a different way. Everyone has a their own system for studying, and sharing study tips can be helpful. Perhaps they can give you an idea on how to get over that particular stumbling

Pronunciation of 's' or 'es' endings in English

2010-11-21T13:17:00.004+03:00

Similar to the 'ed' endings on English verbs, the 's' or 'es' we add to nouns and verbs do not sound the same. It also depends on the end sound of the word that it is attached to. Watch the slide show below. Pronunciation of 'S' endings View more presentations from ydietzel. Here are some good listening exercises I found on You Tube: Feel free to leave a comment (Click the word '

Pronunciation of 'ed' Endings on Regular Past Tense Verbs

2010-11-18T17:46:00.012+03:00

Students are often confused by the pronunciation of 'ed' endings of the regular past tense verbs in English. There are three rules on the pronunciation of 'ed' endings, they are: 1. If the end sound in the word is k, s,ch, sh, f, p, th, the 'ed' is pronounced 't'. Example: baked - puffed - stopped - missed - wished - watched 2. If the end sound in the word is 't' or 'd', the 'ed' is

'S' Endings in English

2010-11-16T21:46:00.002+03:00

There are three instances when we add an 's' (or 'es') to the end of a word in English. They are: 1. Plural 's' is used when we change a noun from singular to plural. hat / hats car / cars You must add 'es' for nouns that end in 'ch', 'sh', 's', 'x', and 'z'. watch / watches box / boxes For nouns that end in a consonant + 'y', you must take off the 'y' and add 'ies'. lady / ladies city

The Simple Present Tense to express the Future

2010-11-15T03:17:00.006+03:00

I know, it sounds strange. Present tense to talk about future? This is a very simple rule in grammar and it's used to talk about something that has been scheduled, like a trip or an appointment with the doctor that will happen soon, in the near future. Another thing to remember is that almost always a time is indicated, or voiced. Here are some examples:I take the bus tomorrow at 8:00. I go to

Have Faith in Yourself!

2010-11-14T00:27:00.025+03:00

Today I'm going to share something that no teacher should tell her students. When I was in school I absolutely hated English class! There! The cat's out of the bag… Uh oh! Now, though, I really find English interesting, the structure and most of all the history. And I absolutely love teaching it. The rewards are endless, especially when you get that student who asks questions, participates, and

Simple Past Tense

2010-11-12T21:35:00.005+03:00

This was the president's car. Simply put, the simple past tense is an action that takes place in the past, a series of completed actions or an action that went on for a duration of time but ended in the past. The time is before now, which could be a thousand years, a hundred years, or even one second ago. It began in the past and it ended in the past. And like the simple present it expresses

Present Simple Tense

2010-11-09T23:06:00.004+03:00

Grammar can be very confusing when learning a new language. Tenses, verb conjugation, sentence structure. It really is a lot of information to be remembered along with memorizing words and their spelling. It can be a long, slow process, but there is nothing wrong with that. There are people who catch onto languages very quickly and others who need to go at a slower pace. No matter which one you

'To Be' or not 'To Be'

2010-11-08T14:56:00.006+03:00

In all the years that I have been teaching English, I have found that one of the most or perhaps even the most troublesome verb in the English language for learners of English is the verb 'be' (am, is, are). The verb 'be' is the most used verb in the English language. Well, this verb, along with many others, is an irregular verb. Unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs conjugate differently and