2019-05-17 A Simple Sentence with Seven Meanings
In some languages, speakers say each word in a sentence with equal stress. That is true for Japanese, for example.…
2019-05-10 Science Fiction and the Passive Voice
The Terminator movies, featuring actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, have been some of the most popular films ever made. They tell the…
2019-05-03 Short Form Yes, No Questions
Hello! Do you have a minute? …because I want to tell you something about yes/no questions. As you may know,…
2019-04-26 Movies Can Teach You about Verbs and Objects
The 1972 film “The Godfather” is one of the most famous movies ever made. It tells the story of a…
2019-04-19 So and Neither: Short Responses of Agreement
In the American television show Saturday Night Live, actors make jokes of realistic situations and people, like politicians and sports…
2019-04-12 The Word ‘Which’ in the News
Imagine you open an American travel magazine. Perhaps you want to read about other countries and the must-see places to…
2019-04-05 The Many Ways We Use ‘Of Course’
In the film, “Love, Of Course,” single mother Amy Andolini finds herself alone after sending her daughter to college. But…
2019-03-29 Grammar and the News: Nouns Modifying Nouns
Imagine you are looking at an American newspaper or news website. You read a few stories, and see terms such…
2019-03-22 The Passive Voice with ‘Get’
Have you ever gotten invited to a wedding? If so, who got married — or will get married? Where was…
2019-03-15 Other, The Other and Another
It’s springtime in Washington, D.C. and I’m so excited! There are a lot of places to enjoy nature, like the…
2019-03-08 Diminutives Make Many Things Smaller
Hi everyone! Do you feel like playing a little word game today? I do. OK, here it is: I will…
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…
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…
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…
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…