White elephant
“White elephant” is a common idiom or metaphor. You might hear someone describe something as a “bit of a white elephant” or say something like: “I have a white elephant on my hands”. If...
Category: Usage
Which is correct: “learned” or “learnt”?
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...
Gerunds
Gerunds are very useful but can be a bit confusing at first. Two things you need to know about gerunds right from the start: Here are some examples: We can also use the infinitive...
More about holidays
More about holidays In an earlier post we looked at the meaning of “holiday” and some of the ways we use the word. This time we look at other uses of the word and...
Holidays
Holidays In British English “holiday” is the word we use to mean a period of time when someone doesn’t have to go to work or school. The equivalent word in American English is “vacation”....
What’s the difference between “hope” and “wish”?
What’s the difference between “hope” and “wish”? “Hope” and “wish” might appear to mean the same thing. We use both words as verbs to talk about things we would like to happen or would...
To cut one’s teeth
To cut one’s teeth When we say that someone has cut their teeth on something we are using a metaphor to mean that they experienced or practised something at an early stage before becoming...
Plant crossing
If you are visiting the UK you might see a road sign saying something like “Caution: Heavy plant crossing”. I saw this one in Wales – the warning is in both Welsh and English....
Price or cost?
Price or cost? Starting with their use as nouns, here is a short definition of each word: Price – the amount of money we pay for something. Cost – the amount of money we...
Verb tenses in reported speech
Verb tenses in reported speech. When we talk about what someone says, we can use either “direct speech” or “indirect speech”. Nowadays most people talk about “reported speech” instead of “indirect speech”. In direct...