Count and Non-Count Nouns: The Exception to the -s Posted by Gabriele on Mar 5, 2012
Yesterday, I began a discussion and presented an overview of count versus non-count nouns. Today I’m going to tell you about some exceptions to the rules I presented yesterday. There are almost always exceptions to the rules! Certain nouns in English can be both count and non-count nouns and when they are, they have both…
Count and Non-count Nouns Posted by Gabriele on Mar 4, 2012
Nouns in English can be classified or grouped together in many different ways: people, places or things, proper or common nouns, count or non-count nouns, etc. For my next three posts I am going to focus on the differences between count and non-count nouns (“non-count” or “noncount” nouns are also sometimes called “mass” nouns). Knowing…
Crossing Paths with a Pigeon Posted by heather on Mar 3, 2012
This week I am in the United Kingdom for a small trip. Today I had a meeting in central London and took the opportunity after the meeting to do a bit of shopping and wandering around with a friend. When we were done, we headed back to the station to catch our train back home…
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Posted by Gabriele on Mar 2, 2012
Today is Dr. Seuss’ birthday! Dr. Seuss is the pen name* for a famous American children’s book author, poet, and cartoonist. Dr. Seuss’ real name is Theodor Seuss Geisel. He was born and lived in the United States from 1904 to 1991. Geisel received many awards and accolades** for his writing during his lifetime, but…
Bored vs. Boring Posted by Gabriele on Mar 1, 2012
A very common error I often hear ESL speakers commit is the misuse of the words “bored” and “boring.” These two words are homophones. Unfortunately, when you misuse or interchange one of these words for the other there is a big difference in meaning! When you say someone or something is “boring” you are saying…
Comprehension Practice: Being a Member of a Club Posted by heather on Feb 29, 2012
Yesterday evening I attended a meeting of a photography club that I am a member of. I thought it would be a good example to use for practising your English comprehension (the action or capability of understanding something), so I have included a mini-story about the evening with some questions at the end. I have…
Gibberish and Gobbledygook Posted by Gabriele on Feb 27, 2012
Gibberish is a generic* term in English for speech that sounds like actual English words or language, but actually are not words and are just groups of sounds that have no real meaning. Gobbledygook is a term similar to gibberish, but it is used to explain meaningless text or written language. The best thing about…