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
Was and were are used for the past. (To be precise: in the past simple, and also in the past progressive tense.) Now we’ll talk about was and were only in the past simple, so that means was and were are the only verbs in your sentence. This is really easy. When to Use You… Continue reading Easy Grammar: Was and Were
How to say I have and I haven’t. Let’s say someone asks you this question: Have you been in Paris? Maybe you’ve been there. So you say: Yes, I have. I was there two years ago. Or you haven’t been there. So you say: No, I haven’t. If you say: I do, or I don’t,… Continue reading What to Say when Someone Asks You a Question with Have You?
by Jacqueline Schaalje Empty verbs or delexical verbs are verbs that are used in expressions and that don’t have meaning on their own. What do I mean? For instance imagine someone who tells you about their Saturday morning: I started my morning doing the dishes. I had a look outside the window and it seemed… Continue reading Empty Verbs
As I’ve told you in my last newsletter, English speakers find tenses very important. If you know you make lots of mistakes with tenses, or you don’t know when to use them at all, you definitely need to fix this. It would be one of the first things you’d need to fix about your English.… Continue reading In Which Order Should You Learn the Tenses?
In this article you’re going to learn some expressions to use with future tense and will (or won’t). Will for Predictions You can use I will (or you will, he will, she will, etc.) for predictions. If you think you will stay home tonight, you can say: I will stay home tonight. Or: I think… Continue reading Future Tense: Will for Predictions
Here is a video about how to say I will and I won’t. In this video you’ll practise saying answers to questions, with I will and I won’t. It’s pretty easy. Won’t means will not. The idea with this video is that you press pause and say the answer, before or after I say the… Continue reading Future with Will and Won’t – Video
Easy Grammar! I’m writing this newsletter now. This is what I’m doing now. What are you doing? You’re reading this. You probably know the grammar of these sentences: I’m writing You’re writing She’s writing He’s writing It’s writing Etc. If this looks mysterious to you, have a look here. This is present progressive tense. Some… Continue reading Present Progressive (Continuous) for the Future
You might know some examples where you asked yourself: “Do I need to use make or do?” At the end of this article I’m adding links to some quizzes about make or do. But now we’ll talk about make or take. This week I heard someone make a mistake with make and take. Instead of take… Continue reading Expressions with Make or Take
Contraction means shortening. It also means the muscle contractions that a pregnant woman feels before she gives birth. Or it can mean muscle contractions (shortening), like when you’re exercising. I think you can already know that we’re not going to talk about pregnancy or bodybuilding. I’m not sorry about that. This is about the shortening… Continue reading Contractions (I’ve, he’s, I’m, don’t etc.)
English with a Smile 