How to Use Grammar?

Grammar is simply the way we combine words together so that other people can understand us.

For example: 

• The sentence "The pretty is dress" is difficult to understand. 
• The sentence "The dress is pretty" is clear.

• The sentence "She is ate lunch" is difficult to understand. 
• The sentence "She is eating lunch" is clear.

• The sentence "John is the more old Lisa" is difficult to understand. 
• The sentence "John is older than Lisa" is clear.

So clear communication (expressing ideas and giving information) is the real purpose of grammar, and we shouldn't forget that.

There are many rules, but what's the ultimate goal? 

The ultimate goal is understanding other people and being understood by them.

By knowing grammar very well you can get across exactly what you want to say.

Fish --> Fishes?

English plural forms tend to be pretty simple, in most cases. 

 

You usually add s/es/ies in the end of the word and your job is done.

 

Examples:

 

kid -> kids

 

box -> boxes

 

baby -> babies

 

 

However, some words change differently.

"Must Not" or "Don't Have To"?

What's the difference between "must not" and "don't have to"?

Must Not

Must not = mustn't = this is not allowed / this is against the rules.

"You mustn't drive further."

Examples:

• "You mustn't smoke in here."
• "Kids must not drive."
• "You must not cross the road when there is a red light."

Don't Have To

Don't have to = this is not necessary / it's okay not to do it. 

"You don't have to buy from him."

Examples:

At, In or On?

The prepositions "at," "in" and "on" can be confusing for English learners. Their meaning is so close that it is sometimes hard to tell when to use each word!

Here are some guidelines to help you decide on the correct preposition to use:

1) When you want to speak about a precise time, use "at."

Examples:

• The movie starts at nine o'clock.
• They arrived at 6 PM.
• The meeting is at 4:30 this afternoon.

2) When you want to speak about long periods of time (such as months, seasons, years, etc.), use "in."

Examples:

• I returned to Canada in 1998.

Borrow or Lend?

So what's the difference between "borrowing" a book and "lending" a book?

Borrow

"To borrow" means "to take something that belongs to someone else, and return it to them later." 

Examples:

• "Can I borrow your car?"
• "I need to return the book I borrowed from the library."

Present Progressive Tense for Future Activities

The following is an important thing to keep in mind when learning English verb tenses.

It is known that the present progressive tense is used for actions that are taking place now, or for actions that are temporary.

For example:

- We are having dinner at the moment.

(This happens right now.)

- He is renovating the house these days.

(This is a temporary action.)

However, the present progressive can also be used for planned future actions.

For example:

- We are celebrating tonight.

- She is starting a new job tomorrow.

So how can we distinguish between the present and the future?

Time expressions are used exactly for this purpose.

Future words, like "tomorrow," "next week," etc, indicate future actions.

Words like "now," "at this moment," "these days," etc, indicate actions in the present.

Which Word to Choose? Synonyms and Antonyms in English

English has an ability to express an idea or concept with the finest details possible.

 

This can be done using synonyms. 

 

A synonym is a word with the same, or almost the same, meaning as another word.

 

For example, you could say, "Janet wears a blue hat and a red dress."

 

You could also say, "Janet sports a navy cloche and a burgundy gown."

 

Let's explain the second sentence:

 

"Sport" means "to wear in a proud way."

It is a synonym of "wear."

 

"Navy" means "very dark blue."

It is a synonym of "blue."

What Are Interjections and How to Use Them?

Interjections are sounds, words or phrases that express the speaker's emotion.

 

Here are some examples:

Ouch! It hurts!

Hmm... That's an interesting question.

Hey! What are you doing?

Wow, that's wonderful!

My goodness, what happened?

 

 

What is special about interjections is that they remain unaffected by the rest of the sentence. They do not change their form. They do not have singular/plural form, different tenses etc. Also, a single interjection can be considered as an entire sentence!

 

For example:

 

Goodbye!

(That's the whole sentence...)

 

Here are some more examples:

Yes!

Sorry!

Ok.

How to use interjections

E.g. or I.e.?

So what's the difference between "e.g." and "i.e."?

These two come from Latin and they are quite common in English writing.

Here is a short explanation on what they mean and how to use them properly.

E.g.

E.g. stands for the Latin phrase "exempli gratia," which means "for example." 

Examples:

Good English Dictionaries

are you using good English dictionaries?

 

 

Dictionaries are very important tools for both English teachers and students. They make things clearer, give valuable information about vocabulary, and in many cases help teach grammar.

 

With that said, you should know how to choose your dictionaries.

 

There are some excellent English-English dictionaries, such as the Unabridged Merriam-Webster, that can make the learner run away in horror... It is simply way too big and complicated for the average learner. 

 

Actually, it can even be way too big and complicated for the average English speaker!

 

Other dictionaries can be too small. They may have too little words, and too little information for each word. So they can have little or no use.

 

The trick is to select the perfect one for you. 

You should ask yourself the following questions:

 

- Are the definitions clear to me? Can I easily understand them?

- Does it give enough example sentences? (These are highly helpful.)

- Does this dictionary have most of the words I am looking for?

- Can I get it together with a handy CD? How about an online version or a smartphone application? (This can actually be very useful and time saving!)

 

There are other features that make a dictionary more worthwhile, such as many illustrations, usage notes, grammar notes, and other cool extras - so you might want to look for those too.

 

Did you know many good and popular dictionaries have a free online version?

 

You can read about them, and about other recommended dictionaries in the English Dictionarysection.

Good or Well?

So what's the difference between "good" and "well"?

Good

"Good" is an adjective. This means it describes people, things and places, not verbs.

"She is a good student."

These sentences are correct: 

• Sam is a good boy.
• They live in a good house.
• This is not a good place stay in.

These sentences are incorrect: 

• Sam behaves good.
• They eat good.
• She sings really good.

Well

"Well" is usually an adverb, and it generally describes actions. 

"She dances well."

These sentences are correct: 

• Sam behaves well.
• They eat well.
• She sings really well.

These sentences are incorrect: 

• Sam is a well boy.
• They live in a well house.
• This is not a well place live in.

Note: "Well" can be used as an adjective. In such cases, it is usually not used before the noun, and it means "healthy" or "in a good state."

"Saat muda tidak rajin, setelah tua baru menyesal"

"Saat muda tidak rajin, setelah tua baru menyesal"
Peribahasa ini ditujukan kepada anak muda yang suka bermalas-malasan tidak mau belajar, dan malas bekerja. Orangtua selalu mengatakan bahwa bila tidak rajin semasa muda, ia akan menyesal setelah tua.

Selain dalam hal belajar dan bekerja, selagi muda, kita juga harus rajin membantu orang lain dalam hal kebaikan. Agar kelak kita juga mendapatkan hal-hal yang baik pula.

Selagi muda, kita juga harus berbakti kepada orang tua kita, karena kita tidak tahu kapan ajal akan tiba. Bisa orangtua kita atau diri kita sendiri yang lebih awal meninggalkan dunia ini.

Selagi muda, kita juga harus memikirkan dan merencanakan masa depan kita. Persiapkan dari sekarang baik ilmu pengetahuannya maupun segi keuangannya.
Menabung yuk, tempat kita menabung juga bisa menentukan masa depan kita lho..

Hayo, lebih baik menabung di bank atau di _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ya?
siapa yang tahu?

ok... — feeling good.

How to Use Stative Verbs

Here is a quick reminder:

Dynamic = moving or changing.

Dynamic verbs are verbs that describe an action, not a state.

For example:

Take, break, eat, jump, work, find, buy, dance, fish.

Stative = having a state, or existing.

Stative verbs are verbs that describe a state, not an action.

For example:

Have, love, agree, be, want, hate, know, own, cost, sound, prefer, seem, hear.

Note that stative verbs usually describe:

- Relationships between things or people (for example, "have")

- Emotions or states of mind (for example, "love" and "agree") 

- Appearance and senses (for example, "seem" and "hear")

- Measurements (for example, "weigh")

Using stative verbs

Stative verbs are not usually used in

Dynamic Verbs vs. Stative Verbs

Firstly, what do "stative" and "dynamic" mean?

Dynamic = moving or changing.

 

Stative = having a state, or existing.

            

Dynamic verbs are verbs that describe an action, not a state.

For example, "They are crossing the street."

Stative verbs are verbs that describe a state, not an action.

For example, "I love the winter."

English words - where do they come from?

This time I would like to talk with you about a topic relevant to vocabulary.

That topic is English word formation processes.

As any student soon discovers, English has a very rich vocabulary. But obviously, it didn't get all of its words at once. Most of the English words were gradually developed, some adopted, some simply invented.

By understanding these processes, you can get greater understanding of the background of English.

More importantly,

Reported Speech Basic Principle

Reported speech, also called indirect speech, is a BIG subject.

There are many different points to cover.

Here's just one example:

I am sorry.

He said he was sorry.

Gerunds or Infinitives?

Gerunds and infinitives can be a bit confusing.

 

In other words, what is a gerund? What is an infinitive? And what's the difference?

 

Here is the short version:

Gerund = a noun made from a verb. 

 

To make a gerund, you add "-ing" to the verb.

For example:

In the sent

English Parts of Speech + Quick Reference Table

There are eight different English parts of speech, but before we continue any further . . .

What is a Part of Speech?

A part of speech is a group of words that are used in a certain way.

For example, "run," "jump," and "be" are all used to describe actions/states. 

Therefore they belong to the VERBS group. 

"Table," "cow" and "London" are all used to name a person, place or thing. 

Therefore they belong to the NOUNS group.

And so forth.
In other words, all words in the English language are divided into eight different categories. 

Each category has a different role/function in the sentence.

The English parts of speech are:
Nouns,  pronouns,  adjectives,  verbs,  adverbs,  prepositions, conjunctions and  interjections .

It is important to know them well and recognize each one easily.

That will help you (or your students) better understand the building blocks of the English language and find the correct definition of a word in the dictionary.

You see, since many words are used as several different parts of speech, recognizing the correct part of speech will allow you to locate the right definition more quickly.

Now, as a quick reference, you can use this table:

English Parts of Speech Quick Table

Part of Speech	Explanation	Examples
Nouns	A word that names a person, a place or a thing	Boy, Sam, cat, Paris
Pronouns	A word that is used instead of a noun	He, my, yourself
Adjectives	A word that describes a person or thing	pretty, easy, fat
Verbs	A word or group of words that express an action or a state	go, jump, be, think
Adverbs	A word that describes or gives more information about a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or even the entire sentence	quickly, tomorrow, outside
Prepositions	A word that is used before a noun or a pronoun to connect it to another word in the sentence. It is usually used to show location, direction, time, and so forth.	on, in, to, from, of
Conjunctions	A word that joins parts of a sentence together	and, or, but
Interjections	A short sound, word or phrase used to express the speaker's emotion.	Wow, hmm, well, oh dear

The Future Tense in English

The question was the following:

What's the difference between the simple future tense and the future progressive tense?

For example:

Simple future tense: "I will leave tomorrow."

Future progressive tense: "I will be leaving tomorrow."

Do they have the same meaning?

ANSWER:

Basically, bo

Final Tip - How to Make Your Grammar Lessons More Interesting

In the last several e-mails we went over some useful tips on how to take your grammar lessons to the next level.

 

This time I will share with you not just tips, but a person! :-)

 

Her name is Elizabeth O'Brien, and you may have heard of her before.

 

She teaches homeschoolers and classroom teachers to be confident grammar instructors, and she has a wonderful website, full of materials to help you teach grammar.

 

I had the opportunity to interview her, and I would like to share this valuable interview with you:

 

Learn English Grammar Visually - an interview with Elizabeth O'Brien

 

I hope you will benefit from it.