2017-10-20 The Word “That” in Everyday American English
The 1994 crime film “Pulp Fiction” tells the story of a gunman, played by Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, the gunman is growing tired of his life of crime.…
2017-10-13 The Many Reasons for the Word ‘The’
The 1995 film Dead Man has a strange opening scene. Actor Johnny Depp is sitting on a train. A man sits down across from Depp’s character, and speaks to him:…
2017-10-06 Good and Nice: Common Adjectives with Many Uses
The 2014 film Whiplash tells the story of a young man who wants to be a great jazz musician. He has a music director who often says cruel things to…
2017-09-29 Popular Culture and Academic Writing
Popular culture can teach you about English grammar. You might be surprised to know that music and films can show you how to use difficult grammatical structures. How so? Consider…
2017-09-22 Are You Afraid of Adjectives and Prepositions?
The 2007 film No Country for Old Men tells the story of a lawman in West Texas. Actor Tommy Lee Jones played the part of the lawman. If you saw…
2017-09-15 How to Show That You Are Not Sure
In the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan,” actor Tom Hanks plays the part of Captain Miller. The fictional Captain Miller was an English teacher before becoming a soldier and fighting…
2017-09-08 Common Transition Words
In 1963, President John Kennedy gave a famous speech at American University. In the speech, Kennedy said the following lines: “Our problems are manmade; therefore, they can be solved by…
2017-09-01 Reported Speech and the ‘Historic Present’ Tense
The 2008 film, The Dark Knight, tells the story of Batman, a fictional superhero. At one point in the movie, Batman’s enemy, the Joker, says the following lines: My father…
2017-08-25 Academic Writing: Common Patterns, Part Two
The Everyday Grammar team often receives questions about academic writing. Students around the world want to improve their academic writing so that they can gain admission – and succeed –…
2017-08-18 Academic Writing: Common Patterns, Part 1
The new school year is beginning in communities across the United States. Many students are busy at work in their new classes. Some are already thinking about all the homework…
2017-07-28 Starting Sentences With Conjunctions
The film Finding Forrester tells a story of a high school student who becomes friends with a famous writer named William Forrester. Forrester published a single book, then withdrew from…
2017-07-21 Why Americans Use Euphemisms
Comedian George Carlin is famous for talking about language. He is famous for criticizing indirect or overly pleasant speech. Consider these lines from one of his performances: “I don’t like…
2017-07-14 Expletives Are Not Always Bad Words
Many Americans consider Red House, a song by Jimi Hendrix, to be a great piece of Rock and Roll music. “There’s a red house over yonder (baby)…” Today we will…
2017-06-02 The Different Meanings of ‘Take’
Imagine yourself sitting in a movie theater. You are watching a romantic comedy, a love story with a happy ending, such as the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally. In…
2017-05-26 Different Meanings of ‘Make’ in Everyday Speech
Imagine you are watching the 1991 American film City Slickers. It tells the story of an unhappy man and two of his friends. The men agree they need a short…