First let’s explain what direct and indirect speech is. Direct speech. This is a direct quote of what someone says. For example: “I am hungry.” Indirect speech (also called reported speech). This is telling what someone else said. Example: You said you weren’t hungry. What do you need to know about indirect speech? That in… Continue reading She Told Me She Would Come to the Party – Indirect Speech or Reported Speech
Reading is good for you, there’s no doubt about that. People who read English a lot will also learn to speak it better than people who don’t read. The important thing is to find something you like to read. It shouldn’t be too hard for you either. You’ll learn more if the text is easy… Continue reading Where to Find the Perfect Reading Material
Present Simple is when you want to tell about things that you always do, or sometimes, or twice a week, etc. An earlier explanation about present simple is here. Now we’re going to ask questions in Present Simple. You ask questions with do and does. Use does for he, she, and it. Use do for… Continue reading Easy Grammar – Asking Questions in Present Simple
You use past simple when you talk about the past. It can be yesterday, last week, the day before yesterday, last year, last night, or this morning. The Two Ways of Making Past Simple Regular Verbs There are two ways in which you can make past simple. The first one is with regular verbs. Regular… Continue reading The Past is Simple – Regular and Irregular Verbs in Past Simple
Rule 1: If the vowel in the word is short, in most cases you write the word with ck. (Vowels are a, o, i, e, and u.) Examples: duck fu.. (sorry) sick pick brick (stone) pack black back snack chicken Rule 2: If the vowel in the word is long [a], [o], [i], such as… Continue reading Ck or ke? – Spelling Rules
http://www.pseudodictionary.com/ This website has a dictionary of English words that aren’t in the dictionary (yet) and some that probably never will be. There is an explanation of each word, and the name of the person who contributed the word. You can add your own words, and see whether they stick. Some words that I liked:… Continue reading Words That Don’t Really Exist – The Pseudodictionary
Let’s read a poem, or two. I hope you like it. It’s by Emily Dickinson, one of the greatest American poets. I’m Nobody! Who are you? I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – Too? Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell! They’d advertise – you know! How dreary – to be… Continue reading I’m Nobody – The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
A car with three doors is a 3-door car. A dresser (a linen cupboard) with six drawers is a 6-drawer dresser. A house with four rooms is a 4-room house. This apartment has two bedrooms, so it’s a 2-bedroom apartment. A hotel that has 5 stars is a 5-star hotel. I think you probably get… Continue reading A 3-Door Car, a 4-Room Apartment, and a 5-Star Hotel
In this article I’m going to explain the basics of Present Perfect. This article is suitable for you if you know how to make present simple, progressive/continuous, and past simple. When to Use Present Perfect Present perfect is a tense that you use to tell about something that started in the past, and that has… Continue reading Have You Seen the New Superman Yet? – Present Perfect
Did you know: that the best spellers (in English) are Indian Americans? Yup, not Americans, not English, not Canadians, not Australians, not even South-Africans. Indians. The American Scripps National Spelling Bee has more often been won by an Indian than by any other nationality. What’s more, the second and third place have also… Continue reading Tips for Spelling – Words Can Be Rather Fun
English with a Smile 