i before e except after c
When I was at school – many years ago – I was taught the spelling rule “i before e except after c”. It was very useful to help me remember to put the i...
Graham's Grammar Posts
Active and passive voice
Active and passive voice In English, verbs can be used in two “voices”: active and passive. Some people might tell you that you should always use the active voice. But really the active voice...
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...
What are present participles?
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...
What are past 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...
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...