«Adjectives Made From Nouns By Adding A Suffix»


Stage 11 Stage 12 This week we are going to look at making adjectives from nouns. There are many ways that we can form adjectives and one of these ways is by adding a suffix to a word. Or in other words, putting some extra letters on the end of an existing word. So let’s …

«Auxiliary Verbs»


Stage 6 Stage 7 There are two basic classifications of auxiliary verb, Primary and Modal. There are three Primary auxiliaries and ten Modals. But before we get started, what’s an auxiliary verb? In a sentence, we always have a main verb. For example, if we can only find one verb in a sentence, then we …

«Rhetorical Question»


Stage 11 Stage 12 Stage 13 What is a rhetorical question? It is a figure of speech that native speakers often use in conversations or presentations. The purpose of a rhetorical question is not to obtain a response, but to implicitly assert or deny a particular point that one is making. In other words, a …

«Similes and Metaphors»


Stage 11 Stage 12 Stage 13 This month’s blog is about similes and metaphors. A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things using words such as «like» or «as». Metaphors resemble similes, but they suggest a comparison between two things without using connecting words such as «like» or «as». …

«Animal Idioms: Pets»


Stage 7 Stage 8 Stage 9 This week we are going to look at family pets and how they have infiltrated our daily lives. The first thing we should look at is that every animal, whether it be a pet or a wild animal, has a different name for their young. For example, a baby …

“There, They’re and Their”


Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 As we saw in this week’s Tip of the Week, we’re discussing the word “there” and how it sounds like other words with different meanings. What part of speech is “there”? How do we pronounce it and use it in a sentence? Well, the difficulty comes from the fact …

«Present Perfect vs. Past Simple»


Stage 4 Stage 5 This week we’ll be looking at a part of English grammar that many students find confusing. At a certain stage of our English studies, we start learning a variety of verb tenses to talk about actions related to time. We use them for the past, present and future. Today we’ll go …

«Tail Questions»


Stage 5 Stage 6 This month’s blog is about tail questions. I always pick a topic to write about based on student reactions in the classroom. If I find that some students find certain things difficult to understand, then I write about them in the blog. Tail questions are sometimes difficult for some students. A …

«The Different Types of Nouns»


Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 In the beginning, it is said, was the word (to paraphrase a biblical line). If so, that word – whatever it may have been – soon multiplied exponentially. Presently, words begat phrases; phrases begat clauses; clauses, eventually, begat sentences. Before long, homo sapiens was able to engage in phatic …

«Cockney Rhyming Slang»


Stage 11 Stage 12 Stage 13 You may encounter Cockney Rhyming Slang and its many variations mainly in England and Australia. It is not very common in the US. The origins of this form of the language dates back to the early 19th century. It was originally used by traders so they could talk to …