Saturday, April 29, 2017

The most commonly confused words in the English language, according to Microsoft

The most commonly confused words in the English language, according to Microsoft:

1. Lets and Let's
"Lets" is the third-person form of the verb "let." E.g., He lets me eat cake all the time.
"Let's" is the contracted form of "Let us." E.g., Let's go dancing tonight!

2. Awhile and a while
"Awhile" is an adverb meaning "for a short time" and is used to modify verbs. E.g., She played the piano awhile.
"A while" is a noun phrase consisting of the article "a" and the noun "while" and means "a period or interval of time." It is often used with a preposition. E.g., I'll be coming in a while.

3. Affect and effect
"Affect" is most commonly used as a verb meaning "to influence or impact something." E.g., Her depression started to affect the family life.
"Effect" is most commonly used as a noun meaning "the result of something." E.g., The beneficial effects of exercise are evident.
In rarer cases "effect" is also used as a verb meaning "to cause something to happen." E.g., The prime minister hopes to effect reconciliation between the opposing parties.

4. Each others and each other's
"Each others" is the plural form of each other, but it's not appropriate to use it. You most likely meant "each other," e.g., Pete and Mary love each other very much.
"Each other's" is the possessive form that indicates belonging to someone or something. E.g., We tried on each other's dresses.

5. Years experience and years' experience
"Years experience" is always incorrect.
"Years' experience" is the correct form. It's the possessive form meaning "years of experience" or "experience belonging to years." E.g., He has five years' experience as an airline pilot.

6. A and an
"A" is the article used in front of a noun that starts with a consonant or a consonant sound. E.g., We saw a fox on our way home last night.
"An" is the article used in front of a noun that starts with a vowel or a vowel sound (sometimes the "h" can be silent). E.g., We saw an owl in our back garden this morning. Or, It was an honor to be at your wedding.

7. Everyday and every day
"Everyday" is an adjective meaning "commonplace, ordinary, or daily." E.g., I don't like these everyday dresses they sell in that shop.
"Every day" is an adjective (every) modifying a noun meaning "each day." E.g., I cycle to school every day.

8. You and your
"You" is the second-person pronoun and can be used as the subject or the object of a sentence. E.g., I can't believe you always win the raffle. Or I saw you at the movies last night.
"Your" is the possessive form of "you" which indicates that something belongs to you. E.g., Can I borrow your car tomorrow to drive to Las Vegas?

9. Advice and advise
"Advice" is a noun meaning "recommendation, guidance." E.g., My father's advice was always very precious to me.
"Advise" is a verb meaning "to recommend, to inform, to warn." E.g., Your father will advise you if you ask him to.

10. Its and it's
"Its" is the possessive form of the pronoun "it" indicating that something belongs to "it." E.g., The dog always loses its toys.
"It's" is the contracted form of "it is" or "it has." E.g., It's raining again.


Article from: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-commonly-confused-words-english-153000638.html

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Emotion pictures with words




Picture Emotions in English
                      



Pleased
Surprised


Jealous


Worried

Sick



Excited
Surprised
Frustrated

Tired






Clipart from:/www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Rebekah-Brock



                          






















                                                                                       

                           

 
















                                                                                   




                                                                     























Monday, April 24, 2017

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

REGULAR NOUNS

Most singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.
EXAMPLES
SingularPlural
boatboats
househouses
catcats
riverrivers
A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding-es.
EXAMPLES
SingularPlural
busbuses
wishwishes
pitchpitches
boxboxes
A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping the y and adding-ies.
EXAMPLES
SingularPlural
pennypennies
spyspies
babybabies
citycities
daisydaisies

IRREGULAR NOUNS

There are some irregular noun plurals. The most common ones are listed below.
EXAMPLES
SingularPlural
womanwomen
manmen
childchildren
toothteeth
footfeet
personpeople
leafleaves
mousemice
goosegeese
halfhalves
knifeknives
wifewives
lifelives
elfelves
loafloaves
potatopotatoes
tomatotomatoes
cactuscacti
focusfoci
fungusfungi
nucleusnuclei
syllabussyllabi/syllabuses
analysisanalyses
diagnosisdiagnoses
oasisoases
thesistheses
crisiscrises
phenomenonphenomena
criterioncriteria
datumdata
Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.
EXAMPLES
SingularPlural
sheepsheep
fishfish
deerdeer
speciesspecies
aircraftaircraft

IRREGULAR VERB/NOUN AGREEMENT

Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.
Plural nouns used with a singular verbSentence
newsThe news is at 6.30 p.m.
athleticsAthletics is good for young people.
linguisticsLinguistics is the study of language.
dartsDarts is a popular game in England.
billiardsBilliards is played all over the world.
Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. They are not used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular. Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps, stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts, goods, wits
Plural noun with plural verbSentence
trousersMy trousers are too tight.
jeansHer jeans are black.
glasses


http://www.ef.edu/english-resources/english-grammar/singular-and-plural-nouns/
Those glasses are his.

NOUN GENDER

Nouns answer the questions "What is it?" and "Who is it?" They give names to things, people, and places.
EXAMPLES
  • dog
  • bicycle
  • Mary
  • girl
  • beauty
  • France
  • world
In general there is no distinction between masculine, feminine in English nouns. However, gender is sometimes shown by different forms or different words when referring to people or animals.
EXAMPLES
MasculineFeminineGender neutral
manwomanperson
fathermotherparent
boygirlchild
uncleaunt
husbandwifespouse
actoractress
princeprincess
waiterwaitressserver
roosterhenchicken
stallionmarehorse
Many nouns that refer to people's roles and jobs can be used for either a masculine or a feminine subject, like for example cousin, teenager, teacher, doctor, student, friend, colleague
EXAMPLES
  • Mary is my friend. She is a doctor.
  • Peter is my cousin. He is a doctor.
  • Arthur is my friend. He is a student.
  • Jane is my cousin. She is a student.
It is possible to make the distinction for these neutral words by adding the words male or female.
EXAMPLES
  • Sam is a female doctor.
  • No, he is not my boyfriend, he is just a male friend.
  • I have three female cousins and two male cousins.
Infrequently, nouns describing things without a gender are referred to with a gendered pronoun to show familiarity. It is also correct to use the gender-neutral pronoun (it).
EXAMPLES
  • I love my car. She (the car) is my greatest passion.
  • France is popular with her (France's) neighbours at the moment.
  • I travelled from England to New York on the Queen Elizabeth; she (the Queen Elizabeth) is a great ship.

http://www.ef.edu/english-resources/english-grammar/noun-gender/

Formal Conversation Verses Informal Conversation

Formal Conversation Verses Informal Conversation

Depending on the situation; you will encounter either having a formal conversation or a formal conversation.

A formal conversation: This is a type of conversation you will have with:
  1. your employer
  2. business situations
  3. someone you have never met
  4. someone in authority

An informal conversation: This is a type of conversation you will have:
  1. In everyday conversations with:
    1.  friends
    2.  family 
    3.  people you are familiar with.





Sunday, April 23, 2017

A Guide: Forming sentences in an English Conversation

There are several types of sentence structures in English.
1. Present (present continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous)
2. Past (past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous)

Sentences have a noun (person, place, or thing), verb (shows action), adjective (describes a noun).


Below are some examples on how to form a sentence in English in addition to speaking.











Saturday, April 22, 2017

English Idioms


50+ English Idioms
 from Ef.Edu

Learn to use common idioms and expressions and your English will sound more native!









Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Common questions

How to ask a question in English
Question wordFunctionExample sentence
whatasking for information about somethingWhat is your name?
asking for repetition or confirmationWhat? I can't hear you.
You did what?
what...forasking for a reason, asking whyWhat did you do that for?
whenasking about timeWhen did he leave?
whereasking in or at what place or positionWhere do they live?
whichasking about choiceWhich colour do you want?
whoasking what or which person or people (subject)Who opened the door?
whomasking what or which person or people (object)Whom did you see?
whoseasking about ownershipWhose are these keys?
Whose turn is it?
whyasking for reason, asking what...forWhy do you say that?
why don'tmaking a suggestionWhy don't I help you?
howasking about mannerHow does this work?
asking about condition or qualityHow was your exam?
How + adj/advAsking about extent or degreeSee examples below
how fardistanceHow far is Pattaya from Bangkok?
how longlength (time or space)How long will it take?
how manyquantity (countable)How many cars are there?
how muchquantity (uncountable)How much money do you have?
how oldageHow old are you?
how come (informal)asking for reason, asking whyHow come I can't see her?
Resource: https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/wh-question-words.ht