mental gymnastics
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.”
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.
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!
While success and suceso both do ultimately derive from the Latin word successus, their meanings have changed over the millennia.
In English, success is the noun used to describe situations in which some goal has been achieved, or a person has obtained great wealth, respect, awards, etc. Its verb is to succeed, and its adjective is successful.
Success can come with a heavy price.
Despite having an amazing voice, Eva Cassidy was not successful until after she died.
Can you order the words to make sentences? Go! beach drive house hours It our six takes to to. at did last movie night on see showed the they you 5:00 Channel Six? adores and dolls his Jenny loves Michael toy cars, her. a and are cats few hospital horse recovering veterinary there a at […]
Choose the best option.
Kerry is my next-door neighbor. She live / lives by herself but has many cat / cats. Sometimes, she and I go out with several of our mutual friend / friends, who run / runs a pizza parlor downtown. I’ve heard some people think / thinks she’s lonely, living with all that cat / those cats, but I know she has / have such a busy social life / lives that she doesn’t have time for a boyfriend / some boyfriends. She works with a couple of good friend / friends of hers in a shop in the mall, and makes a lot of money / a lots of money.
Articles are always an issue for English learners, so try practicing by putting in the right one (a/an, the, or nothing) in the following text:
Have you ever gone to (1)___ drive-in cinema? I love them. I went to my first one when I was (2)___ 12. My father took me to (3)___ one at the edge of town. We parked our car in (4)___ front row, and tuned our radio to the local station. We saw (5)___ comedy film and (6)___ action film, and while I didn’t really enjoy (7)___ movies,