by Phil Williams | Jul 9, 2013 | Definitions, Exercises, Grammar, Words
Prefixes are groups of letters added before the root of a word to change its meaning. They are used before many words. For example, in the word prefix, pre – itself is a prefix (meaning before). Prefixes can be used for a number of purposes, for instance they...
by Phil Williams | May 28, 2013 | Definitions, Exercises, Grammar, Words
Foreign learners of English often confuse how and what when asking questions, especially when asking about sense verbs (for example look, taste, feel, smell). Questions that draw a comparison (for instance using the word like) are a common area of confusion: How does...
by Phil Williams | Apr 1, 2013 | Grammar, Words
Police is a rather unique uncountable plural noun in the English language. It should be treated like people for grammatical purposes, for instance The people were standing in a crowd. The police were standing around them. Essentially, police is an irregular plural of...
by Phil Williams | Mar 6, 2013 | Definitions, Words
Contractions are very common in colloquial English. They are formed by combining two words, using an apostrophe (‘) to join them. The apostrophe replaces any missing letters. For instance, I am becomes I’m. Contractions are essential if you want to sound...
by Phil Williams | Feb 26, 2013 | Definitions, Grammar, Words
To understand English rules, it is important to know the names of the English words that make up the language. Every word, phrase or component of a sentence can be defined by names and grammatical terms. The following is a list of the most common technical names for...