2016-09-23 Adventures with Adverbials: Part 2
Many American western movies use a common plot element: A mysterious man appears in a small, dusty town. He speaks to people in a short, purposeful way. He shows confidence…
2016-09-16 Adventures with Adverbials: Part 1
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. The 1954 American film On the Waterfront helped make actor Marlon Brando a star. Brando played the main character, a dockworker named…
2016-09-09 Common Sentence Patterns: Part 4
English has many patterns. Learning and mastering these patterns can help you improve your writing and speaking skills. They can also help you do better on your next grammar test!…
2016-09-02 Common Sentence Patterns: Part 3
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. English has many patterns. Basic grammatical patterns can explain the structure of around 95% of sentences in English, says Martha Kolln, a…
2016-08-26 Which Pronoun is Correct: I or Me?
On March 5, Jazmine Hughes wrote in a New York Times blog, “Recently, at an IRL party — that is, a party that takes place ‘in real life,’ as opposed…
2016-08-19 It Sounds Like…Onomatopoeia!
The world is full of different sounds. Some sounds are pleasing to hear, like a bird’s voice. Other sounds hurt your ears, like a loud machine. But how do we…
2016-08-12 Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing: Part 2
In a previous Everyday Grammar story, we discussed two common sentence patterns using the word “be.” This week, we are going to give you more information about another common pattern…
2016-07-08 The Power of Parallelism
Parallelism is the repetition of similar grammatical forms. It is a powerful tool in public speaking and writing. You may have heard this quote attributed to Julius Caesar: I came,…
2016-08-05 Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing: Part One
Many English learners have spent a lot of time studying the parts of speech: adjectives, nouns and verbs, for example. But sometimes studying the English sentence from a larger perspective…
2016-07-29 Grab Onto Phrasal Verbs
Welcome back to Everyday Grammar from VOA Learning English. Today we look at a very common verb form in English – phrasal verbs. There are over 5,000 verbs that fall…
2016-07-22 You Want to Learn About Tag Questions, Don’t You?
Have you ever been in a conversation and wanted to check your understanding? That is the time to use a tag question in English. A tag question is a short…
2016-07-15 The Sounds of Grammar with Betty Azar
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Today we have a special guest host. Betty Azar is the most successful writer of grammar textbooks in the world. Generations of…
2016-07-01 Could Have, Would Have, and Should Have
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Today we will take a look at the modal verbs could have, would have and should have. These past tense modals are…
2016-06-17 May, Might, Must – Modals of Certainty
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. This week’s Everyday Grammar looks at how to use the modals may, must and might. Modal verbs (called modals for short) are…
2016-06-10 Modals for Asking Permission
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. This week we will give you some tips on how to use modals to make requests and give permission. Some common modals…