2019-03-01 Nine Surprising Facts About the English Language
If you read and listen to ourEveryday Grammar program each week, you know it has detailed explanations of grammar, sentence structure and language usage. The show provides a lot of…
2019-02-21 What Is the ‘Zero Article’?
Wow, I sure do love cats! I suppose I didn’t know how much until my social media service informed me I had “liked” eight pictures of cats this week. Maybe…
2019-02-15 Under, Below, Beneath and Underneath
The middle of February is winter here in Washington, DC. I walked outside this morning and the temperature was below freezing! And I made the mistake of wearing light clothing.…
2019-02-08 What Is the Word Order of Adjectives?
Hi, everyone. How’s your day going? This morning, the Metro was loud, hot and crowded…again. And the train driver kept stopping and starting so I lost my footing and bumped…
2019-02-01 Giving and Receiving Compliments
In the country of Japan, being told that your face is small is very high praise for a woman. In Russia, if someone tells you that you look like a…
2019-01-25 How to Express Your Opinion in English
Suppose you are with a group of friends discussing the greatest inventions of the 20th century. One friend says, “I think the computer was the best invention. There’s no question…
2019-01-18 How to Order at an American Restaurant
When I lived in Portugal, one of the simplest things to do was really hard for me: ordering food at restaurants. I worried about being laughed at or not being…
2019-01-11 How to Interrupt Someone in a Nice Way
Imagine that you are talking with a friend who lives overseas. You haven’t seen or spoken to the person in a year and he or she has much news to…
2019-01-04 How to Ask for Clarification
In the humorous American television program Seinfeld, the characters often find themselves in strange situations because of small communication failures. These little misunderstandings grow to the point of total confusion.…
2018-12-21 Compound Nouns: Putting Words Together
What do these five words have in common: hotdog, fireworks, well-being, waistline, sunset and ice cream? They could all describe a fun holiday celebration. For example: My holiday was wonderful!…
2018-12-14 Words to Travel With, Part 2: Airports
Ask one hundred people whether they love to travel and most of them will probably say yes. Discovering a new place can be fun and exciting. But getting to that…
2018-12-07 Words to Travel With, Part 1
Have you ever been to an airport or train station where the official language was English? What was your experience – easy, difficult or in between? Today, we will explore…
2018-11-30 Do You See What I See?
It was beautiful in Washington, DC, this morning! I could see the sun shining and hear birds singing. So, I decided to walk to work. As I walked down 6th…
2018-11-23 The Verbs Let, Allow and Permit
The verbs “let,” “allow” and “permit” are part of a group of verbs called “causatives.” These verbs express how one person or thing causes something else to happen. For instance,…
2018-11-16 How to Make a Complaint in English
Imagine that you are visiting friends or family in an English-speaking country. You need to have a few pieces of clothing professionally cleaned for a party. So you take them…