Sometimes there is a need to pass on or report something that was said. Reported speech, also known as ‘indirect speech’, is a way of reporting (second hand as it were) what someone has said in ‘direct speech’, but without…
A relative clause is a type of ‘dependent clause’ that usually modifies the subject or object of a main clause. This can be a noun or pronoun, but also an adjective or a noun phrase that is functioning as the…
Any language is a constantly changing system, and one of the unique aspects of the English language is how some words can be both nouns and verbs. Although they may look the same in writing, some words have different meanings…
What are phrasal verbs? This post looks in depth at phrasal verbs in the English language. While other languages of the Germanic branch also have something akin to phrasal verbs, they are unique to English in their abundance. There are…
This post looks at conjunctions. Conjunctions are a part of speech or word class often described as ‘joining words’, because many conjunctions such as ‘but’ and ‘and’ join words or clauses together to form one sentence. However, not all conjunctions have…
Tag questions are short phrases that are added at the end of a sentence to turn a statement into a question. They are often used to seek agreement or confirmation. This post gives examples of tag questions in positive and…
Many English language students are preparing to sit official language exams such as IELTS, Pearson, Aptis and Cambridge. For these exams, a spoken or written summary of the information given in a graph, chart or diagram is often required, usually…
Like possessives, double possessives are used to provide specific information about the relationship between a possessor and a possessed object. Double possessives, also known as ‘double genitives’ or double possessive constructions, occur when two possessive elements are used together to…