free english lessons

Remember, these phrasal verbs are not “take + particle” but rather units, so learn them as such!

Put these verbs in the correct sentence, conjugated as necessary. You may want to look these words up in a dictionary, as they may have secondary meanings! (Just like in that sentence: “look up” isn’t just “turn your eyes to the sky”, it’s also “find information in a reference book”!)

Choose the correct alternative.

Beverly, would you like any/some coffee or tea?
Nate always has anything/something to say, whether it’s useful or not.
Yolanda didn’t want any/some dessert, but I did!
Call me sometime/anytime you need help.
Will there by anything/something else for you today?

Choose the modal verbs that are correct. There may be more than one!

There was a knock at the door. Theresa looked at me and announced, “That (1) may / might / must be George. He called earlier and said he (2) ‘d / ‘ll / ‘s drop by about this time”. I looked at how I was dressed: singlet, boxers with little hearts on them, and an open robe, and told her, “You (3) could / might / would have warned me! I look horrible!”

Some basic questions Spanish speakers may ask can cause occasional problems in English because English only has one word, to be, where Spanish has two, ser and estar.

First, we know that “¿Cómo está él?” is “How is he?”, as we learned it in the first weeks of class.

But then we have the question “¿Cómo es él?” Our first reaction is to translate literally, but there we have a problem…

Choose the correct tense from the choices.

Ursula: 1) Have you heard/Did you hear the latest news about our boss?

Frank: No! Tell me everything!

Ursula: Well, it seems that the police 2) have pulled him over/pulled him over last night because he 3) used to drive/was driving erratically.

Read the following monologues. Then, report what was said below, using the verbs given. Keep in mind, these words were said one week ago!

Adele: “I had gone to the shop to buy just one dress, but this jacket was irresistible!”
Brian: “I’ve never enjoyed reading, but that book was excellent!”
Connie: “If I ever see Henry again, I don’t know what I’d do.”
David: “Marina told me she saw Tyler yesterday at the mall with Vinnie.”

Fill in the spaces with the appropriate preposition: in, at, on, to.

I went 1)___ the movie theatre last night because I wanted to see the new Star Trek movie. When I arrived 2)___ the box office*, the line was out the door: apparently, I wasn’t the only one. So I waited 3)___ the line for ten minutes. When I finally got to the window, the sales clerk told me that there was only one seat left: 4)___ the first row, 5)___ the far right of the room. I was desperate, so I took it, even though I knew it wouldn’t be a fun experience.

These wonderful little “question-ettes” are a great way to make your English sound more native-like, as well as being a very useful tool.
So, if you need a quick way to ask a question, or you’re just tired of always adding “really?” or “no?” or “right?” at the end of sentences, start using question tags!

Amid all the confusion surrounding how to use the word “news”, “notice”, etc., there’s something else Spanish speakers need to be aware of regarding the tenses we use when talking about news.
– When we first introduce news, we tend to use the present perfect tense.
– However, after that, we switch immediately to the past tense.
– Keep in mind, this type of tense usage is limited to news giving, and is not really used in other contexts.

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).