2015-07-11 Mastering Reported Speech
We often need to tell others what someone else said. There are two ways to do this. One is to say the same words and use quotation marks. That is…
2015-07-04 Beating Problems with Adverbs
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. This week, we’re going to talk about some common problems with adverbs. Basically, adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, and other…
2015-06-27 Words Come and Go in English
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. This week’s Everyday Grammar is by a guest author, David Sullivan. He is Assistant Managing Editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Vice…
2015-06-20 When Passive Is Better than Active
This Everyday Grammar is all about the passive voice. The passive is a verb form in which the subject receives the action of the verb. For example, “I was born…
2015-06-13 Using the Right Article
What word appears most often in English? It’s “the,” also known as the definite article. Its partner, the indefinite article “a”,is also among the top 10 most frequent words in…
2015-06-06 Advanced Conditionals
This week, we are going to talk about the past unreal conditional. Past unreal conditionals are often used to express wishes about the past. They often show regret, or sad…
2015-05-30 Relative Pronouns
In this week’s episode of Everyday Grammar, we are going to discuss the relative pronouns who, that and which. A relative pronoun relates to the noun it is describing. Relative…
2015-05-23 Introducing Conditionals
In this week’s episode of Everyday Grammar, we are going to talk about conditionals. We use conditionals to show that something is true only when something else is true. Conditionals…
2015-05-16 Problems with Pronouns and Gender
When I was on the train yesterday, I heard someone say this: “Someone left their bag on the train.” Can you find anything wrong with the sentence? If you looked…
2015-05-09 Simple Past and Present Perfect
In this week’s episode of Everyday Grammar we’re going to help you understand the difference between the simple past and the present perfect. English learners often confuse these two verb…
2015-05-02 Double Negatives – Can’t Get None?
In this week’s episode of Everyday Grammar, we’re going to talk about two common types of double negatives. A double negative is when you use two negative words in the…
2015-04-24 In, On, and At
When English speakers talk about time and place, there are three little words that often come up: in, on, and at. These common words are prepositions that show a relationship…
2015-04-18 Gerunds and Infinitives
Welcome to another episode of Everyday Grammar on VOA Learning English. English learners have difficulty with gerunds and infinitives. A gerund is the –ing form of a verb that functions…
2015-04-13 Put Prepositions in Their Place
English learners know that prepositions can be difficult to master. There are 94 one-word prepositions in English, and about 56 prepositions with two or more words, called “complex prepositions.” This…
2015-03-14 Can You Correct ‘Her and I?’
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…