Say It Out Loud!

Classification of Posts

2020-11-12T22:44:00.004-08:00

Classification of Posts About Human Language Two Languages, Two Minds? Effect of multilingualism on personality What Happens When You Drop a Cup? Different perspectives of different languages Where on Earth Would You Rather Be? Languages & spatial reference The Moon and Her Gentle Light Languages & gender differences Taking English Further Moving Beyond the

Want to Speak English Fluently?

2015-09-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

In Sri Lanka there are lots people who want to speak English. After learning English as a second language in school for more than a decade, most of them still find it impossible to speak the language even at a basic level. So, after

Moving Beyond the Intermediate Plateau

2015-09-13T07:45:00.003-07:00

Some confusion exists over whether to use the nominative or accusative case of pronouns (e.g. I or me, he or him...) after ‘than’ in English. Although the nominative case is the strictly grammatical option when the comparison is with the subject of the sentence, modern everyday usage often goes against it. He's

What's the Alternative?

2010-11-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

The two English words 'alternate' and 'alternative' seem to be a bit confusing to many people. The noun 'alternative' simply means 'something that can be done/used instead of something else' and nobody replaces it with 'alternate'. When it comes to the adjective in the same sense, though, some people - especially those who use American English - consider both as equivalents. Do we have

If I Were You...

2010-11-11T20:50:00.003-08:00

Although the second and the third conditionals in English are both used to talk about things that we think are unreal, they deal with two very different scenarios. The former appears in situations where we think the condition (which is expressed by the part of the sentence

The Moon and Her Gentle Light

2010-11-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

In many languages in the world, inanimate things are sometimes assigned feminine gender in a figurative way to highlight their gentle or generous qualities. The moon cast her gentle light on the fields. We sometimes marvel at nature and her abundance. However, there are some languages that always view such things as either masculine or feminine. For example, the French language

I Think I Must Mention This

2010-11-05T07:10:00.001-07:00

The word 'must' is a very common one in the English language. One of its uses is to say that it's necessary for someone to do something. I must leave now, otherwise I'll be late for work. You must work harder. The expressions 'have to' and 'have got to' are also taken to convey a similar meaning. We have to be there by 8 o'clock. They've got to reduce their

I Can Hear You Singing

2010-11-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

English verbs of perception like 'see', 'hear', 'feel', 'watch' and 'listen to' can be followed by an object with a verb attached to it. This happens when you talk about some perceived action of that object. I saw my brother enter the room. The child heard her sister singing. The verb following the object is sometimes in the form of its 'bare infinitive' (i.e. enter, sing, eat

In Case You Didn't Notice

2010-10-28T22:01:00.001-07:00

There are expressions in English that contain the phrases 'in case' and 'in case of'. Though related, these two are used in somewhat different ways. Let's consider 'in case of' first. In case of fire, everyone should use the staircase. Call me in case of any emergency. They're going to complain to the boss in case of the slightest disturbance. This type of sentence

What's Different?

2010-10-24T03:12:00.000-07:00

The adjective 'different' is found in general usage followed by three prepositions: 'from', 'to' and 'than'. But can you use any one of them freely; are they just interchangeable? Not quite. There are several things you have to take into consideration in this regard: 1. 'Different from' is the most accepted and most widespread form in both British and American English, especially in