Latest Articles from ELB
10 Easily Confused Sets of Words and Phrases Explained
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the differences between the words plain and plane; it's one of many articles I have on this site exploring confusing, or easily misunderstood, words and phrases. With so much content on this site, I thought it was time I...
Forming Negative Simple Tenses – Exercises
Negative simple tenses are formed using either do, does, did, will or the verb to be and not, followed by the bare infinitive. Below is a group of exercises to test this understanding - using the information provides, form complete negative simple sentences. The...
What’s the difference between plain and plane?
Plain and plane are easily confused in English - they are homophones, so you may write one when meaning the other. They have a number of distinct definitions where their meanings are completely different - but one meaning where their meanings are very similar,...
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...