Latest Articles from ELB
Using -ing forms for perfect meanings
A recent question I’ve been asked is whether or not the following sentence is correct, as it sounded strange to the learner: “With the restaurant having closed, there was nowhere to eat.” What do you think? Better as “As the restaurant had closed…” or “With the...
Comparing Examples of all the English Tenses
I have had a few requests recently to provide more examples of sentences as they are used across all the English tenses. This is useful to show how and why we might use the different tenses to describe the same situation. One example was given in my timeline (I go...
4 Tips for Writing Cover Letters in English
Whether applying for schools or jobs or simply asking for information, at some point everyone communicating in English must write cover letters. There are templates you can use to get started, as long as you make them personal, but the basic principles for effective...
What do you want to learn?
To make my site and the articles I post as helpful as possible, I am running a survey to find out what you, the student, are most interested in learning. And, just as important, how do you like to learn? Please take my quick survey by clicking HERE - it's just 9 short...
New author website – with free English fiction
If you follow my writing you may be aware that as well as educational material I also write adult fiction, in the contemporary fantasy and dystopian genres (more broadly, science-fiction fantasy!). I have just launched a new author website I would like to share -...
Bird of prey and other “noun of noun” constructions
Subjects formed with multiple nouns connected by of can mean consisting of, or taken from, for example ‘piece of cake’, but can also mean belonging to, or with the purpose of, such as ‘father of the bride’. ‘Bird of prey’ can be confusing, though, because it seems to...
What’s the correct date format for business letters?
In my article on the different formats for dates in UK and US English, there are plenty of rules and variations – some covered very briefly. Across business letters and other correspondence you may find uses that you do not recognise (or did not notice) in that list....
2 Examples of Troublesome Dictionary Definitions
The rules given in reference books, and indeed dictionaries, can sometimes be rather misleading, or represent incomplete ideas. As I teach (and study!) advanced language use, I often have to question reference guides, and have recently encountered two examples of...
Learn English with Christmas Language from ELB!
Here on ELB, I'm always fond of highlighting seasonal language, with articles and exercises that help practice English at particular times of year. In much of the English-speaking world, Christmas is one of the biggest and most universally celebrated festivals, so...