Though is normally used as a less formal form of although. And you can use although to express a contrast between two facts. Often, the contrast will be surprising. Here is an example: Although it had been raining for weeks, nobody got depressed. You’d expect people to get depressed when they see nothing but rain,… Continue reading Sentence Transformation with Though
baffle (verb) – confuse, be or make unable to understand baffled/baffling (adjective) – confused/confusing, unable to understand Examples of how you can use baffle: His behaviour lately baffled his professors. Why had his grades gone down so much? Your question baffles me. I’m not sure I’ll be able to find out an answer. With a… Continue reading Word to the Wise: baffle
Click on the video if you prefer reading and listening, or just listening: My students usually find this hard to learn. Well, maybe a miracle will happen and you will find it easy. Don’t get discouraged. All you need to do is think of lots of examples of your own, and keep practising until you… Continue reading Comparisons with As … As
by Jacqueline Schaalje “When angry, count four; when very angry, swear” – Mark Twain You probably know how to say you’re hungry, thirsty, tired, etc. But did you know that English speakers often use more colourful expressions to say the same thing? Here are some examples: What do you say when you’re …? Of course there are many more! Here is a list of… Continue reading Colourful Ways to Say How You Feel
About being late and early… No, this article won’t teach you any excuses when you’re late (again). That sure would be an entertaining subject. For now we’ll just discuss some expressions about time. First of all: There are people who are always late. They are tardy. Their weakness is tardiness. And there are people who are mostly… Continue reading Expressions with Time: Are You Tardy or Punctual?
by Jacqueline Schaalje More TOEFL and IELTS Exam vocab! Check out this infographic, and then do the quiz. Quiz Use the correct words, derived from these root words: favour, evict, allege, dispute. Click here to do the online quiz. 1 After the tenants hadn’t paid rent for several months, their landlord was ready to ___________… Continue reading TOEFL and IELTS Exam Vocab
An adjective describes a noun. Nouns are words that denote things, people, concepts etc. Examples of nouns are: tree, pianist, teapot, man, woman, telephone, luck, happiness, etc. So an adjective is the word that describes this thing, person or concept. The Place of the Adjective Often, the adjective will come before the noun, but it… Continue reading Adjective or Adverb? – The difference between beautiful teapot and drawing a teapot beautifully
Do you know how to use verbs such as absorb and insert? Or adjectives such as flexible, fragile and high end? Take a look at my two new vocabulary quizzes on Englishwithasmile.net. The first quiz practices technical verbs and the second quiz is about technical adjectives. Both quizzes are for advanced learners of English (but… Continue reading For Techies: Two New Quizzes on Technical Vocabulary
Simile is when you compare one thing to another. Simile is pronounced [si-mi-lee]. Examples: She’s as busy as a bee. He’s as noisy as a chainsaw. That room is as small as a matchbox. She’s as pretty as a picture of the Mona Lisa. You get the idea. As … as When you’re using an… Continue reading As Busy as a Bee – Similes
Hello Beginners of English, this article is especially for you! What Are Adjectives? Adjectives are words that describe another word. If you say: “The beautiful tree,” then “beautiful” is the adjective. Because beautiful says something about the tree. In English, the adjective comes before the noun (the thing, person, or animal, etc.). However, you can… Continue reading Going Easy – Adjectives
English with a Smile 