«Transitive and Intransitive Verbs»


Stage 7 Stage 8 In English a verb is either transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb has an object, whereas an intransitive verb does not have an object. Most verbs fall into one category or the other, but there are certain verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive depending on the context of the …

«Transition/Linking Words and Phrases»


Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 Transition (or linking) words and phrases are useful tools that allow us to better express ourselves in formal conversation, and especially in our writing. There are many examples of transition words and phrases, but here we’ll only be looking at a few of them. To get our brains working, …

«Sport and Games Idioms»


Stage 7 Stage 8 Stage 9 Football is full of idioms that have entered common usage. For example, if the first part of an activity has not been particularly successful, we can reassure ourselves that it’s ‘a game of two halves’ — in the same way that a football team losing heavily at half-time can …

«Food and Cooking Idioms»


Stage 7 Stage 8 Stage 9 If you want to say that you are finding your English studies difficult, you can say that learning English ‘drives you bananas’. To ‘go bananas’ means to go crazy; it’s similar to the expression ’round the bend’, which some of our students will already have learned. Of course, learning …

«Time Expressions»


Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 Punctuality — being ‘on time’ — is, of course, very important in all areas of life. We should be on time for work, appointments, meetings with friends, and so on. The expression ‘on time’ means to not be late: to reach a place (or do something) at the right …

‘So’ and its many uses


Stage 8 Stage 9 Look at this sentence: «It was raining, so I took my umbrella and wore a raincoat». In this sentence the word so means «therefore» or «consequently». Rather than using the words therefore or consequently, we can use the word so. Another example of this is in the sentence «I failed my …

«Words And Phrases For Money»


Stage 8 Stage 9 Stage 10 Let’s start with some vocabulary. In the UK, a pound is called a ‘quid’. ‘Have you got a quid?’ means ‘Have you got a pound?’ Note that we don’t pluralise this noun when talking about an amount of money, i.e. we say ’50 quid’ and not ’50 quids’. However …

«The Correct Usage Of Punctuation»


For example, let’s take these two sentences: Let’s eat, Grandma! And Let’s eat Grandma! A simple, little comma can change this sentence from telling your Grandma to put food on the table to becoming a cannibal. The first sentence (with the comma) is simply an imperative telling Grandma that it is time to eat. The …

«Uses of the definite article»


The definite article ‘the’ is the most frequently occuring word in English. For this reason, it’s important to know when we should be using it, and when we shouldn’t. There are many uses of the definite article ‘the’ — and I’m sure you’d get bored reading if we listed them all on the same page …