2022-10-06 Reviewing Your Favorite Character Description
Last week, we asked our readers and listeners to write about their favorite character from a book they had read. One reader, Arunabh wrote to us about their favorite character,…
2022-09-29 Describing Your Favorite Character, Part 2
In a past report of Everyday Grammar, we talked about how to describe your favorite character from a book you had read. We looked at the children’s book, Mrs. Frisby…
2022-09-22 How to Wish Other People Well
Imagine you are talking with a friend. Your friend tells you that they have a big test or job interview coming up soon. This is a good time to wish…
2022-09-15 Describing Your Favorite Character
Think about a time you talked about a favorite character in a book you had read. Maybe you spoke about the character in a literature class at school. Or, perhaps,…
2022-09-08 Grammar and Attention
News reports and everyday discussions increasingly involve the term “attention,” as in the “attention economy” – the idea that human attention is a limited resource. If you wanted to talk…
2022-09-01 Reviewing Your Birthday Message
Recently, our readers and listeners wrote many lovely messages about their birthdays. We have been reading all of them. Most messages are happy. You wrote about gifts you received, the…
2022-08-25 Business and Word Choices: Nouns and Verbs
Imagine you are a business owner. You hire employees and ask them to do the jobs they are best fitted for. One employee is skilled at dealing with people, so…
2022-08-18 Describing Your Birthday
Last week, my niece and I celebrated our birthdays together. We both turned 35 years old in the beginning of August. Her birthday is just a few days before mine.…
2022-08-11 Grammar and Clarity: Abstract Subjects
Imagine you are giving a presentation or writing a letter. You have done your research and organized your main points. You have checked your grammar and vocabulary to make sure…
2022-08-04 Making Polite Requests in Email, Part 2
In this week’s Everyday Grammar report, we will continue telling about how to communicate politely in emails. Murat, a reader of our website, asked if we could talk about how…
2022-07-28 What Are Elliptical Structures?
There is an important part of grammar that is common in writing and everyday speech. But unlike many other subjects in grammar, this subject is defined by what is not…
2022-07-21 Making Polite Requests in Email
Hello. In this week’s Everyday Grammar report, we will talk about how to communicate politely in emails, especially when making requests. Samuel from China recently wrote to us asking about…
2022-07-14 How to Talk about a Movie
Think about a time that you wanted to talk about a movie. How did you describe it? In today’s Everyday Grammar, we will use a reader’s message to explore how…
2022-07-07 Most Useful Eating and Drinking Expressions
Hello! This week on Everyday Grammar, we will share some common expressions for eating. This is the second part to a question we received from a Learning English fan in…
2022-06-30 Sentence Length: Are Short Sentences Childish?
Do English speakers consider short sentences to be childish? A reader sent us a message asking about that very question. In today’s Everyday Grammar, we will explore an area of…