The next pair of words we’ll look at is ‘anymore’ and ‘any more.’ As one word, ‘anymore’ has a meaning related to time and is almost always used in negative sentences when referring to something that you no longer do or something that no longer happens. For example:
As two words, ‘any more’ is an adjective phrase that we use to talk about a quantity of something. For example:
Now we’ll discuss a few verbs that can be very tricky: to lay, to lie, and to lie. Why is the word ‘lie’ written twice? Because it has two different meanings. ‘To lay’ and ‘to lie’ are very commonly misused, and we have the conjugations to blame for this. First, let’s talk about what these words mean. ‘To lay’ means to put, and it’s a transitive verb. So automatically, we know that it requires an object. ‘To lie’ means to be in a horizontal position, and it is intransitive. Therefore, it does not take an object. Consider the following sentences:
In the second example sentence, far too many people use the word ‘lay’ instead of ‘lie,’ which is incorrect. And why do they do this? As was said before, blame the conjugations! The past of the verb ‘to lie’ is ‘lay.’ For example:
Now that that has been cleared up, we can talk about the other meaning of the verb ‘to lie,’ and that is to not tell the truth. The past of this verb is ‘lied.’ So, just to be safe, let’s clarify again, via example:
These are two past tense sentences, and hopefully after looking them over, it becomes clear when we use which verb, and in which form. Hopefully this has been a helpful and informative rundown of some English grammar that can cause trouble!
A. Edstrom
- Abierta Inscripción Cursos de inglés – Invierno 2017 - 20 diciembre, 2016
- Growing Up With Grammar. Prepare Your Exam Seminar - 1 diciembre, 2016
- Tips and Advice: Prepare your Exams (2) - 24 noviembre, 2016
Ven a conocer la escuela y haz una prueba de nivel gratuita
Recursos gratuitos de inglés