5/3/13
The USA 'is' or 'are'?
In English, there is a group of nouns which can be either singular or plural depending on what you want to say about them. So for example, if we’re looking at the United States the country we would normally use the singular verb so for example – “The United States is a very big country.”
However, if we’re thinking about the government in the United States we might want to use a plural noun - “The United States are a major power in the World.” This singular plural difference is one that we see reflected in a number of other nouns in English. For example, when we’re talking about the government we can say – “The government has won the election.” Or we can say “The government have won the election.” This depends if we see the government as a collection of individuals - “The government have won the election.” – or if we see the government as one thing - “The government has won the election.”
Another noun that works like this is team. “The team has won the trophy.” It means we’re looking at the team as one unified thing – as one thing. However, if the team have many difficulties, we could be talking about the individuals within the team. So this is a group of nouns that can be singular or plural depending on what you want to say about them.
It’s quite a small group of nouns, and usually the nouns in this group refer to politics or the state – so for example when we are talking about the police, the army, the navy, we can use plural or singular.
The thing to remember, is when we look at them as a collection of individuals, we would normally use a plural noun, and if we want to look at them as a unified institution we use the singular.
In conclusion, the United States can be singular or can be plural, depending on what you want to say about them. However, normally if you’re talking about the country, use the singular verb.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
25/2/13
'Raise' and 'rise'
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
18/2/13
Person and People
Question:
I wrote to you because I am in doubt with the correct use of 'person' and 'people'. That was my question - because I know that 'person' and 'people' both are nouns and I would like to know when I'm going to use 'person' or 'people'.
Answer:
There are several points to make here. The first one is to do with singular and plural nouns, I'm sure you know that most nouns in English are made plural by putting an s on the end, so for example, girl – girls, boy – boys. But some nouns have irregular plurals, for example child – children. And 'person' is one of those nouns that has an irregular plural. 'People' is in fact the plural form of person. So for example we talk about one person and two people. So in normal everyday speech you will hear people talking about 'many people', 'there were a lot of people at the concert', for example.
However it becomes slightly more complicated because sometimes you do see the word 'persons'. For example if you're in a lift or elevator you might see the sign 'Four persons only'. And sometimes if you're listening to the news, to news reports you may hear news reports talking about persons. So for example 4 persons were injured in the accident, or police are looking for 5 persons. Persons is normally a more formal use, a more formal plural form.
It gets slightly more complicated when you find the word peoples. People can be used to mean a nationality – all of the people of one country – so for example 'the people of Cuba'. And when you're talking about a group of nationalities you may find the word 'peoples', for example, 'the peoples of South America'. So that's another slightly more complicated and not so common use of the word 'peoples'.
Finally you may find the word 'person' attached to a number. For example 'a two-person car', 'a three-person room'. This is where 'person' is being used to describe the noun. '2 – person' is the adjective describing 'car' and as you know we don't put an 's' on an adjective. So far example we talk about a 'two-week holiday' not a 'two-weeks holiday' or a 'three-year course' not 'a three-years course'. So hear we use 'two-person car'.
So in summary, normally you find 'people' as the plural form of 'person' – one person, three people. Sometimes you'll find people used to describe the nationality so you'll find 'peoples' to describe different nationalities and sometimes you'll find the word 'persons' in more formal styles of writing or in signs for example.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
6/2/13
When to use 'in' or 'at'
Question:
"Which preposition is the correct one in stating one's place of residence? Is it 'in' or 'at'? For example, do I say I live 'in' Victoria, Gozo or I live 'at' Victoria, Gozo?"
Answer:
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
24/01/13
Adjectives ending -ed and -ing
22/01/13
'Must', 'have to', and 'have got to'
Do you get confused about when to use 'must' and when to use 'have to' or 'have got to'?
Hopefully these tips will make it a little clearer:
Expressing the present
Must, have to and have got to are all used to express the obligation or need to do something.
They can be used interchangeably in the present tense, except that must suggests that it is the speaker who has decided that something is necessary, whereas have to and have got to suggest that somebody else has decided it is necessary.
Have got to is generally used in informal speech.
For more information on how to use must, have to, and have got to, click here!
12/11/12
What is the difference in meaning between 'come' and 'go'
So we use 'come' when we are talking about movement towards the speaker. So I might say to someone who's walking away from me "come back". That is what a linguist would call the 'prototypical' usage of 'come' - that is to say, the usage around which the other usages are based. But you can also use it when you're talking about a speaker's past or future position - so "They came back to our house" or "Can you come to the party?" In those two cases we're talking about the location of the speaker.
We can also, if we're telling a story, locate the centre of the action in one of the people in the story, so that 'come' is about movement towards the person we are focusing on and 'go' is about movement away from the person we're focusing on. So you might say: "He begged her to come back to him" or "He begged her to go back to her family". So 'come' is towards the speaker or towards the person you are talking about and 'go' is away from the speaker or away from the person you are speaking about.
It's a neat and pretty clear rule. Lots of rules in English aren't neat and clear but this one is and I hope that helps you.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
2/11/12
Effect and Affect:
Part of the problem is that these two words, although spelt differently, are pronounced the same by many people in many contexts. So many people say affect and effect - for the word that begins with 'a' they say
and for the word that begins with 'e' they say . I tend to say and /Ifekt/ - so I tend to pronounce the one that begins with 'e', / Ifekt/ but not everybody does.
What's the difference? The main use of 'affect' - with an 'a' - is as a verb meaning to have an influence. So you could say: 'Your emotional state affects how you remember things'. The word with an 'e' - effect - is usually used as a noun and it means the result of an influence. So: 'What effect will the new law have on road use?' Part of the problem, you see, is not only that these two words are spelt very similarly, often pronounced the same, but their meanings are also very similar - one's a noun, one's a verb. There is a rarer and more formal use of 'effect' as a verb - that's the one with the 'e' - meaning 'to make something happen'. So you could say: 'It is pointless to try and effect a chance in policy now'.
There are also a number of fixed phrases so something that you might hear quite often is 'take effect'. So that's effect - with an 'e' - used as a noun. Here's an example: 'New privacy regulations will take effect on July 1st.'
Since we're being complete here, I'll give you one last little meaning. You may sometimes run across the word with an 'a' but it's pronounced differently, meaning a good or bad feeling towards something, or an attitude towards something. And that's usually pronounced /æfekt/. So it's a psychology term. You might hear, or read more likely: 'The influence of positive effect on social behaviour'. But, that's quite rare and I hope that differentiating 'affect' - with an 'a' - as a verb, and 'effect' - with an 'e' - as a noun, will at least set you on the right track. Hope that's helpful.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
30/10/12
The difference between 'inquire' and 'enquire'
The spelling with 'e' is British, the spelling with 'i' is North American. The same goes for the nouns, 'inquiry' and 'enquiry'.
There are of course other differences in spelling between American and British English. The most common ones are words that end with 'our' in British English and are spelled 'or' in American English - labour (labor), honour (honor), and so on.
Another common difference is words that end in 're' in British English and are spelled with 'er' in American English- theatre, centre.
And finally, words that end with - 'ize' in American English and are often spelled with - 'ise' in British English - sympathise, criticise, and so on.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
23/10/12
The difference between 'wait' and 'await'
The first difference is in the grammatical structures that are associated with these two verbs.
The verb 'await' must have an object - for example, 'I am awaiting your answer'. And the object of 'await' is normally inanimate, not a person, and often abstract. So you can't say, 'John was awaiting me'.
The verb 'wait' can come in different structures. Firstly, you can just use 'wait' on its own: 'We have been waiting and waiting and waiting and nobody has come to talk to us.'
Another structure that is very common is to use 'wait' with another verb - for example, 'I waited in line to go into the theatre.'
Very often, with 'wait', you mention the length of time that you have been waiting - for example, 'I have been waiting here for at least half an hour.'
Finally, speakers often mention what or who they have been waiting for - so, if a friend was really late you could say, 'I have been waiting for you for two hours!'
The other difference between the two verbs, 'wait' and 'await', is the level of formality. 'Await' is more formal than 'wait' - it would be used in formal letters, for example.
If you want a tip about using these two verbs, I would suggest that you should use 'wait for'; use 'await' only in cases where you are absolutely sure that you have heard good users of the language using it, and in cases where things are quite formal.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
22/10/12
The difference between 'say' and 'tell'
19/10/12
The difference between 'hear' and 'listen'
We use hear for sounds that come to our ears, without us necessarily trying to hear them! For example, 'They heard a strange noise in the middle of the night.'
Listen is used to describe paying attention to sounds that are going on. For example, 'Last night, I listened to my new Mariah Carey CD.'
So, you can hear something without wanting to, but you can only listen to something intentionally. An imaginary conversation between a couple might go:
'Did you hear what I just said?'
'No, sorry, darling, I wasn't listening.'
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
16/10/12
Invaluable vs Inexpensive - why the English language can appear confusing!
Source: @languagelab, http://ow.ly/i/10CP4
Onto or on to
The USA 'is' or 'are'?
In English, there is a group of nouns which can be either singular or plural depending on what you want to say about them. So for example, if we’re looking at the United States the country we would normally use the singular verb so for example – “The United States is a very big country.”
However, if we’re thinking about the government in the United States we might want to use a plural noun - “The United States are a major power in the World.” This singular plural difference is one that we see reflected in a number of other nouns in English. For example, when we’re talking about the government we can say – “The government has won the election.” Or we can say “The government have won the election.” This depends if we see the government as a collection of individuals - “The government have won the election.” – or if we see the government as one thing - “The government has won the election.”
Another noun that works like this is team. “The team has won the trophy.” It means we’re looking at the team as one unified thing – as one thing. However, if the team have many difficulties, we could be talking about the individuals within the team. So this is a group of nouns that can be singular or plural depending on what you want to say about them.
It’s quite a small group of nouns, and usually the nouns in this group refer to politics or the state – so for example when we are talking about the police, the army, the navy, we can use plural or singular.
The thing to remember, is when we look at them as a collection of individuals, we would normally use a plural noun, and if we want to look at them as a unified institution we use the singular.
In conclusion, the United States can be singular or can be plural, depending on what you want to say about them. However, normally if you’re talking about the country, use the singular verb.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
25/2/13
'Raise' and 'rise'
Well, the basic meaning of the two verbs, 'raise' and 'rise', is almost the same - moving up, from a low position to a higher position, either physically or metaphorically.
The difference between them is a grammatical one. 'Raise' needs an object, and 'rise' cannot take an object. So, for example, I can say that I personally think that the government of this country needs to raise taxes (and 'taxes' is the object of the verb); another way I can say that is that I think that taxes need to rise. We are always talking about the need to raise standards (and 'standards' is the object of the verb) - another way of saying it is that standards need to rise.
18/2/13
Person and People
Question:
I wrote to you because I am in doubt with the correct use of 'person' and 'people'. That was my question - because I know that 'person' and 'people' both are nouns and I would like to know when I'm going to use 'person' or 'people'.
Answer:
There are several points to make here. The first one is to do with singular and plural nouns, I'm sure you know that most nouns in English are made plural by putting an s on the end, so for example, girl – girls, boy – boys. But some nouns have irregular plurals, for example child – children. And 'person' is one of those nouns that has an irregular plural. 'People' is in fact the plural form of person. So for example we talk about one person and two people. So in normal everyday speech you will hear people talking about 'many people', 'there were a lot of people at the concert', for example.
However it becomes slightly more complicated because sometimes you do see the word 'persons'. For example if you're in a lift or elevator you might see the sign 'Four persons only'. And sometimes if you're listening to the news, to news reports you may hear news reports talking about persons. So for example 4 persons were injured in the accident, or police are looking for 5 persons. Persons is normally a more formal use, a more formal plural form.
It gets slightly more complicated when you find the word peoples. People can be used to mean a nationality – all of the people of one country – so for example 'the people of Cuba'. And when you're talking about a group of nationalities you may find the word 'peoples', for example, 'the peoples of South America'. So that's another slightly more complicated and not so common use of the word 'peoples'.
Finally you may find the word 'person' attached to a number. For example 'a two-person car', 'a three-person room'. This is where 'person' is being used to describe the noun. '2 – person' is the adjective describing 'car' and as you know we don't put an 's' on an adjective. So far example we talk about a 'two-week holiday' not a 'two-weeks holiday' or a 'three-year course' not 'a three-years course'. So hear we use 'two-person car'.
So in summary, normally you find 'people' as the plural form of 'person' – one person, three people. Sometimes you'll find people used to describe the nationality so you'll find 'peoples' to describe different nationalities and sometimes you'll find the word 'persons' in more formal styles of writing or in signs for example.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
6/2/13
When to use 'in' or 'at'
Question:
"Which preposition is the correct one in stating one's place of residence? Is it 'in' or 'at'? For example, do I say I live 'in' Victoria, Gozo or I live 'at' Victoria, Gozo?"
Answer:
The answer to this question is very straightforward, but I'll give you some explanations afterwards. You say I live 'in' Victoria, Gozo.
The reason you do this is because of the differences between 'in' and 'at'. We use 'at' for a position at a point. So for example, if there was a train line that ran to Victoria and passed Victoria to other places, you would say to your friend 'Get off the train at Victoria'.
Also, if we're using the name of a building we tend to use 'at'. So we're doing this recording at Bush House in London - 'at'. We also use 'at' where people work or study when the name of the place is given. So I can say 'I have a cousin who works at the Pentagon,' or 'my daughter is studying at the Institute of Education' - 'at'. We also use 'at' for group activities. So you could say 'I was at a concert, a party, a football match.'
The idea we have with 'in' is of a position inside an area or inside a three-dimensional space. So you would say 'in the kitchen, in the woods,' or indeed, 'in Malta'. So you can say 'I live in Victoria' or 'I live in Malta'.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
24/01/13
Adjectives ending -ed and -ing
Adjectives that end ‘-ed’ (e.g. ‘bored’, ‘interested’) and adjectives that end ‘-ing’ (e.g. ‘boring’, ‘interesting’) are often confused.
-ed adjectives
Adjectives that end ‘-ed’ describe emotions – they tell us how people feel about something.
Eg. I was very bored in the maths lesson. I almost fell asleep.
He was surprised to see Helen. She’d told him she was going to Australia.
Feeling tired and depressed, he went to bed.
-ing adjectives
Adjectives that end ‘-ing’ describe the thing that causes the emotion – a boring lesson makes you feel bored.
Eg. Have you seen that film? It’s absolutely terrifying.
I could listen to him for hours. He’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.
I can’t eat this! It’s disgusting! What is it?
Beware!
Remember that people can be boring but only if they make other people feel bored.
Eg. He talks about the weather for hours. He’s so boring.
NOT I was very boring at the party so I went home.
Here are some more adjectives that can have both an ‘-ed’ and an ‘-ing’ form:
amused
amusing
annoyed
annoying
confused
confusing
disappointed
disappointing
excited
exciting
exhausted
exhausting
frightened
frightening
satisfied
satisfying
shocked
shocking
Source: learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
22/01/13
'Must', 'have to', and 'have got to'
Do you get confused about when to use 'must' and when to use 'have to' or 'have got to'?
Hopefully these tips will make it a little clearer:
Expressing the present
Must, have to and have got to are all used to express the obligation or need to do something.
They can be used interchangeably in the present tense, except that must suggests that it is the speaker who has decided that something is necessary, whereas have to and have got to suggest that somebody else has decided it is necessary.
Have got to is generally used in informal speech.
- You must come and visit us soon. It's been ages since we last saw you!
- I have to go to the dentist for a check-up this afternoon.
- Sorry, I can't come out now. I've got to tidy my room before I'm allowed out.
For more information on how to use must, have to, and have got to, click here!
12/11/12
What is the difference in meaning between 'come' and 'go'
So we use 'come' when we are talking about movement towards the speaker. So I might say to someone who's walking away from me "come back". That is what a linguist would call the 'prototypical' usage of 'come' - that is to say, the usage around which the other usages are based. But you can also use it when you're talking about a speaker's past or future position - so "They came back to our house" or "Can you come to the party?" In those two cases we're talking about the location of the speaker.
We can also, if we're telling a story, locate the centre of the action in one of the people in the story, so that 'come' is about movement towards the person we are focusing on and 'go' is about movement away from the person we're focusing on. So you might say: "He begged her to come back to him" or "He begged her to go back to her family". So 'come' is towards the speaker or towards the person you are talking about and 'go' is away from the speaker or away from the person you are speaking about.
It's a neat and pretty clear rule. Lots of rules in English aren't neat and clear but this one is and I hope that helps you.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
2/11/12
Effect and Affect:
Part of the problem is that these two words, although spelt differently, are pronounced the same by many people in many contexts. So many people say affect and effect - for the word that begins with 'a' they say
and for the word that begins with 'e' they say . I tend to say and /Ifekt/ - so I tend to pronounce the one that begins with 'e', / Ifekt/ but not everybody does. What's the difference? The main use of 'affect' - with an 'a' - is as a verb meaning to have an influence. So you could say: 'Your emotional state affects how you remember things'. The word with an 'e' - effect - is usually used as a noun and it means the result of an influence. So: 'What effect will the new law have on road use?' Part of the problem, you see, is not only that these two words are spelt very similarly, often pronounced the same, but their meanings are also very similar - one's a noun, one's a verb. There is a rarer and more formal use of 'effect' as a verb - that's the one with the 'e' - meaning 'to make something happen'. So you could say: 'It is pointless to try and effect a chance in policy now'.
There are also a number of fixed phrases so something that you might hear quite often is 'take effect'. So that's effect - with an 'e' - used as a noun. Here's an example: 'New privacy regulations will take effect on July 1st.'
Since we're being complete here, I'll give you one last little meaning. You may sometimes run across the word with an 'a' but it's pronounced differently, meaning a good or bad feeling towards something, or an attitude towards something. And that's usually pronounced /æfekt/. So it's a psychology term. You might hear, or read more likely: 'The influence of positive effect on social behaviour'. But, that's quite rare and I hope that differentiating 'affect' - with an 'a' - as a verb, and 'effect' - with an 'e' - as a noun, will at least set you on the right track. Hope that's helpful.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
30/10/12
The difference between 'inquire' and 'enquire'
The spelling with 'e' is British, the spelling with 'i' is North American. The same goes for the nouns, 'inquiry' and 'enquiry'.
There are of course other differences in spelling between American and British English. The most common ones are words that end with 'our' in British English and are spelled 'or' in American English - labour (labor), honour (honor), and so on.
Another common difference is words that end in 're' in British English and are spelled with 'er' in American English- theatre, centre.
And finally, words that end with - 'ize' in American English and are often spelled with - 'ise' in British English - sympathise, criticise, and so on.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
23/10/12
The difference between 'wait' and 'await'
The first difference is in the grammatical structures that are associated with these two verbs.
The verb 'await' must have an object - for example, 'I am awaiting your answer'. And the object of 'await' is normally inanimate, not a person, and often abstract. So you can't say, 'John was awaiting me'.
The verb 'wait' can come in different structures. Firstly, you can just use 'wait' on its own: 'We have been waiting and waiting and waiting and nobody has come to talk to us.'
Another structure that is very common is to use 'wait' with another verb - for example, 'I waited in line to go into the theatre.'
Very often, with 'wait', you mention the length of time that you have been waiting - for example, 'I have been waiting here for at least half an hour.'
Finally, speakers often mention what or who they have been waiting for - so, if a friend was really late you could say, 'I have been waiting for you for two hours!'
The other difference between the two verbs, 'wait' and 'await', is the level of formality. 'Await' is more formal than 'wait' - it would be used in formal letters, for example.
If you want a tip about using these two verbs, I would suggest that you should use 'wait for'; use 'await' only in cases where you are absolutely sure that you have heard good users of the language using it, and in cases where things are quite formal.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
22/10/12
The difference between 'say' and 'tell'
19/10/12
The difference between 'hear' and 'listen'
We use hear for sounds that come to our ears, without us necessarily trying to hear them! For example, 'They heard a strange noise in the middle of the night.'
Listen is used to describe paying attention to sounds that are going on. For example, 'Last night, I listened to my new Mariah Carey CD.'
So, you can hear something without wanting to, but you can only listen to something intentionally. An imaginary conversation between a couple might go:
'Did you hear what I just said?'
'No, sorry, darling, I wasn't listening.'
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
16/10/12
Invaluable vs Inexpensive - why the English language can appear confusing!
Source: @languagelab, http://ow.ly/i/10CP4
Onto or on to
The preposition onto meaning ‘to a position on the surface of’ has been widely written as one word (instead of on to) since the early 18th century, as in the following sentences:
He threw his plate onto the floor.
The band climbed onto the stage.
Nevertheless, some people still don’t accept it as part of standard British English (unlike into) and it’s best to use the two-word form in formal writing.
In US English, onto is more or less the standard form: it seems likely that this will eventually become the case in British English too. Remember, though, that you should never write on toas one word when it means ‘onwards and towards’. For example:
√ Let’s move on to the next point.
X Let’s move onto the next point.
√ Those who qualify can go on to university.
X Those who qualify can go onto university.
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Click here to return to the Language Lab home page
He threw his plate onto the floor.
The band climbed onto the stage.
Nevertheless, some people still don’t accept it as part of standard British English (unlike into) and it’s best to use the two-word form in formal writing.
In US English, onto is more or less the standard form: it seems likely that this will eventually become the case in British English too. Remember, though, that you should never write on toas one word when it means ‘onwards and towards’. For example:
√ Let’s move on to the next point.
X Let’s move onto the next point.
√ Those who qualify can go on to university.
X Those who qualify can go onto university.
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Click here to return to the Language Lab home page
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