Latest Articles from ELB
Exercise – Forming Simple Tense Questions
Questions are formed in the simple tenses by using either do, does, did or will before a bare infinitive, or with the verb to be. The following exercise will help you practice converting simple statements into question form in the past, present and future. Use the...
What does “would that it were” mean?
The new Coen Brother's film Hail, Caesar! was recently advertised with a trailer focused on the strange English expression "Would that it were so simple." (if you haven't seen it, check it out here!). This is an interesting construction, which at first appears to...
Why and How English speakers celebrate St Patrick’s Day
On March 17th, St Patrick's Day is celebrated internationally across the English speaking world. Originally an Irish feast day, it has spread to major cities across the world as people of all cultures take part in a celebration of all things Irish. Here's a brief...
Exercise: Bare Infinitives in Mixed Tenses
Continuing from a series of exercises that identify and aid understanding for the bare infinitive in different tenses (see the exercise for bare infinitive in the past for more), here’s a quick exercise spanning both the past and present. The answers are given below....
Out now – Word Order in English Sentences 2nd Edition!
The updated version of Word Order in English Sentences is now available in eBook and, for the first time, print form. Through extensive editing, and feedback from my readers, this new edition is over twice the size of the original - and looks a lot nicer! The 1st...
Why we say Bachelors and Masters for degrees
When we refer to the degrees BA or MA in English, we use an s at the end - calling them a Bachelors or Masters. This may sound strange as it is one degree, not a plural, so why do we say it? Actually it's not a plural at all, it is a possessive - and more accurately...
Where are prepositions placed in English sentences?
How can we define the rules for placing a preposition in a sentence? Before a noun? After a verb? One of the additions to the second edition of Word Order in English Sentences is a guide to prepositions. Though they are often connected to other parts of a sentence,...
Coming this February – the expanded Word Order guide
Members of my mailing list will already be aware that I have been working on a long-overdue update to Word Order in English Sentences - and with the help of my readers it is now almost ready for publication. This February I will be releasing the 2nd Edition of Word...
2 Quick Exercises to Practice Rewriting Sentences
Here are 2 new exercises to help practice some of the lessons given in my article on the various methods that can be used to rewrite English sentences. These exercises involve rewriting given sentences based on a specific component or rule - and it combines a large...