Everyday Grammar

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…

5 years ago

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…

5 years ago

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:…

5 years ago

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,…

5 years ago

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…

5 years ago

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…

5 years ago

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.…

5 years ago

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…

5 years ago

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.…

5 years ago

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,…

5 years ago

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…

5 years ago

2017-05-19 Would You Like to Learn About Modal Auxiliaries?

Imagine you are watching an action movie, such as Mission: Impossible. You hear the following exchange: "Would you like to…

5 years ago

2017-05-12 Different Meanings of ‘Have’ in Everyday Speech

"There Will Be Blood" is a film about Daniel Plainview, an American oil man in the early part of the…

5 years ago

2017-05-05 Common Ways to Express Purpose

From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. You may remember our earlier reports on infinitives and gerunds. The infinitive form of…

5 years ago

2017-04-28 Sentence Relatives: Showing Feeling, Interpreting Information

"The Big Lebowski" is an American movie that has developed a large following. Since its release in the late 1990s,…

5 years ago