Saxon Genitive: Steve Jobs's or Steve Jobs'?
I was surprised, to say the least, to see this on Twitter yesterday. I immediately responded with this tweet. The apostrophe 's to denote possession is also known as 'Saxon genitive', which originated...
View ArticleHow to insert an image from Flickr to your blog/website
First and foremost, if an image is protected by copyright, you won't be able to download nor use it. In my Useful Resources page, you can find several links to sites where you can obtain...
View ArticleWhen to use Who or Whom?
I was rather surprised to see this tweet, and was even more surprised to see it being retweeted. So, when do we use 'whom'? To be honest, it is rarely used in informal spoken conversations, and...
View ArticleTricky Words: Affect or Effect? What are the Differences?
If one of our peers can make the mistake, then they must indeed be rather difficult to distinguish, so let's analyse them. In the first instance, both affect and effect have their verb and their noun...
View ArticleBest Grammar Blog 2011
We're getting into the final countdown, and there seems to be a strong surge in voting. A CLIL To Climb is currently lying in second place, with fans of the third-spot blog frantically voting to move...
View ArticleCompound Adjectives: To Hyphenate or not?
What are compound adjectives? These are adjectives which are made up of more than one word, and there are many possible combinations. Examples:adjective + noun: last-minute, shoulder-length noun +...
View ArticleGrammar Blog of the Year Deadline Extended
It has been such a frantic weekend that Grammar.net decided to extend the deadline by 3 days, after disqualifying the 'top' two blogs. The official deadline now is Thursday, 20th October, 23:59 PST...
View ArticleUsed to + infinitive or -ing?
There are two forms of 'used to'. When we talk about past habits and states, especially when they are no longer true, used to is followed by a verb in the infinitive form and always refers to the...
View ArticleEither...or... + singular or plural verb?
First of all, I'd like to point out that in British pronunciation, both/ˈaɪðə(r)/ and /ˈiːðə(r)/ are acceptable. The US tend to use the latter version. Either usually means 'one or the other': Either...
View ArticlePractice or Practise?
Practice or Practise? Both sound the same: /ˈpræktɪs/, but one is a noun and the other is a verb. The Americans don't make it better by spelling both the same way: practice. The way I remember it is...
View ArticleThere is or there are?
The rule is quite clear...or is it? We generally use 'there is' or 'there are' to talk about the existence (or not) of something, and the general rule is that we use 'are' with plural subjects. There...
View ArticleSpiderScribe mindmapper now allows embedding and exporting
Followers of this blog would have seen me using a few websites to produce mind maps for various purposes. For a list of free mind mappers I've used, see the useful resources page. To see examples of...
View ArticleModal verbs: must, have to, or have got to?
Many students have trouble understanding the difference between must and have to, and it's really hardly surprising. Before we get into that, I'd like to say, first, that we can use have to and have...
View ArticleTop Tools for Learning 2011
C4LPT (Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies), run by Jane Hart, is taking votes for their annual Top 100 Tools for Learning. This is the fifth time they'll be compiling the list, and...
View ArticleHow to navigate around this blog?
As part of the prize package for winning Grammar.net's Grammar Blog of the Year 2011, they have designed an infographic for me - thank you, team! Since I no longer have the dynamic tree menu, I...
View ArticleHow much is... or how much are...?
Words shaped by David Warr's PlantMaker How much is a cheese sandwich and a coffee? How much are a cheese sandwich and a coffee? Which is correct? This is a bit like my post on There is... or there...
View ArticleStand By Me, Japan
This is a good an excuse as any to listen to a good song, and, at the same time, be reminded of the suffering the great nation had to endure earlier this year. Why not use this video as a springboard...
View Article#ELTBITES Challenge: We like to move it, move it
Once in a while I read something and I find myself thinking, "Now, why didn't I think of that?". Well, Richard Gresswell had such an idea. He started a blog, called it ELTBITES, and challenged us:...
View ArticleUG2BK - Hinglish, Chinglish & Singlish?
This is so hilarious I've just got to share it here, too. Shame it's so fast that learners may have a hard time following it. Anyway, just sit back and try to enjoy it: The History of English in 10...
View ArticleHow to overcome the Lonely Teacher Blues
Image by @ij64 on ELTPics; Teaching is, often, a lonely job. If you're lucky, you get to talk about your problems, exchange ideas, or periodically receive some level of motivation in the staff room....
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