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Verb Tenses: Choose the right one With my birthday less than two weeks away, I am about to enter / would enter my 30s. Yes. I’m going to be 30.  Please give me a moment as I have mourned / mourn the loss of my youth.  (mourn=lament) Okay, I’m exaggerating / I exaggerate.  I really […]

Most of these prepositions are usually translated as “a” in Spanish. See if you can figure out what each one should be in English. Be careful: one of them needs to be left blank!
Last month, I wanted to go (1)___ Budapest, so my wife and I booked a trip. We arrived (2)___ the airport (3)___ noon and went straight (4)___ the hotel. I was hungry, so we went (5)___ the restaurant and sat down (6)___ the table. I ordered some dish I couldn’t pronounce, just to be exciting. When it arrived, I was taken aback. It smelled (7)___ fish and oregano, but it looked like vegetables, with some other thing (8)___ the side. My wife got a simple salad, and compared (9)___ mine, it looked delicious. I tried tasting my dish, but I couldn’t even swallow it. So I asked (10)___ the waitress to take it back and just bring me a hamburger.

Despite their surface similarity, these words are completely unrelated.

The English word is a noun and a verb, and describes how to get out of a place, to leave it.

There must be an Exit sign over every door that leads to the street, in case of emergencies.
After reciting her monologue, Marie bowed before the cheering audience and exited the stage.

Put the following sentences in the correct order:

been every for has last Madrid Michelle to the travelling two week years.
flying prefers She, are because but driving is on pilots she strike the this week.
also car her new She to try wanted, bought last she week which.
It powerful very is, being careful is not she so speed to very.
car her In old, a it problem wasn’t, a about but in is it little one she this worried.

Correct the mistake in each sentence:

After go to the store, I picked up my sister and we went to the cinema.
We saw a new Hollywood comedy that was released for a few weeks ago.
It took place on an airplane that flew from LA to New York.
There was many crazy characters on that plane!
We used to laugh a lot while we saw all their adventures in flight.

A common problem for English learners is spelling. Oh, let’s be honest, whoever designed English spelling needs to be _____ (I’ll let you fill in the blank with your idea for the best punishment). Despite all the horrible spellings, there are usually rules to most words—we just have a LOT of rules with their nuances (and exceptions).

These are probably among the most misused false friends, undoubtedly due to their incredible similarity with their Spanish counterparts. However, they have no relation at all!

Actual and Actually are used to present factual information, usually after another person has said something wrong. It’s a great way to politely correct someone. It’s similar in meaning to “real(ly).

Smoking is often considered a nasty habit, and those who want to quit have several ways to give up the habit. Some try to slowly reduce, perhaps with the help of patches or gum. Others turn to electronic cigarettes. A few even do acupuncture or hypnosis. But often the quickest, cheapest, and most dramatic way to give up smoking is to quit cold turkey.

Verb Tenses: Choose the right one

1.March is always / has always been my favorite month.
2.A lot of very interesting things happened / have happened in this 31-day period.
3.Back in 44BC, Julius Caesar has said / said his famous last words: “Et tu, Brute?”
4.In 440AD, St. Patrick died and gave / has given the Irish an excuse to drink.
5.And in 1983, I born / was born.

This expression is useful for those times when we feel that as soon as one bad thing happens to us, many others follow. It’s as if all the bad things happened at once.

First, I tripped over my shoelaces and fell. I was fine, but right then the big boss came in and tripped over me! He didn’t fall down, but he spilled his coffee all over my immediate boss, who was coming over to schedule my quarterly review! When it rains, it pours!

I hope you never need to use this expression!