Helping English language learners
Which is correct: “learned” or “learnt”? Both! In British English, the verb “to learn” is irregular. The past participle is “learnt”. So, we might say: Similar irregular verbs include: In American English, many irregular...
We make present participles from verbs and use them as adjectives or to form the continuous tenses of the verb. We always use the ending “-ing”. Some examples of present participles Using present participles...
We form past participles from verbs and then use them in a number of different ways including: We form the past participles of regular verbs in the same way as we form the past...
Inherent or inherited? Inherent and inherited are similar words with different meanings. You could easily confuse them, so this might help you to learn the difference. We use “inherent” when we talk about a...
Less or fewer? “Less” and “fewer” are used in different ways from each other but many people – especially native speakers of English – get them mixed up. Both words are comparative adjectives and...
In English there is quite a big difference between “comfortable” and “convenient”, but in some other languages, the difference might not be quite so clear. In Russian, for example, the word “Удобный” (udobnyy) can...
To understand the difference between unperturbed and imperturbable, let’s start with the meaning of “perturbed”, which is something like upset or troubled. We say that someone is “unperturbed” when they are not perturbed –...
When there are two or more adjectives in front of a noun they are placed in a particular order. Most native English speakers wouldn’t be able to tell you this order but they would...
In English, words are classified according to nine types. These types are called “parts of speech”. The nine parts of speech are: Nouns naming words Examples: Ivan; bird; London; president, car, computer, wind Verbs...
Comparative and superlative adjectives. The comparative form of an adjective is used to compare two items, The superlative form is used to compare three or more items. There are three degrees of comparatives and...