Conversation scripts are templates we use in everyday conversations, and there are similar ones in many other languages. Learning scripts can be a great way for students to feel more comfortable about speaking English.
In this post, we discuss the definition we at Insights use for ‘Participles’, since it’s argued among grammarians and varies by source material. We also highlight where Gerunds fit in.
Sometimes “going with whatever sounds right” doesn’t work with multiple nouns in a noun phrase. We might need to think about parallelism or grouping in order to word the sentence correctly.
The word ‘like’ is used frequently in casual speech, especially by younger Americans. Beyond the traditional definitions, there are 4 different ways the modern ‘like’ can be applied.
While English teachers and textbooks consider there to be several different tenses (anywhere from 12 to around 20), many grammarians claim there are only two tenses. Why the discrepancy, and which two are the 2?
There are some words we use almost exclusively in negative or interrogative clauses, most of which have corresponding words used almost exclusively for positive clauses. There’s just a handful of these, but they’re pretty common.
When we think of ‘will’ on its own, we probably only think of its designation of the future. But then why is it considered a modal verb? Maybe there’s more to the word than we realize.
Should we always say “you and I” instead of “you and me”? What’s the difference between ‘who’ and ‘whom’? It helps to pay attention to where these pronouns fit into a sentence and their relationship to the main verb.
What happens when nouns with irregular pluralizations are used in proper nouns? How do we pluralize them then? Do we say ‘Batmans’ or ‘Batmen’? Is my friend’s family the Fairchilds or the Fairchildren?
As a teacher, it helps to be aware of the three categories of modals because they allow for different uses of the same word, dictate how multiple modals can be combined in a verb string, and determine whether defective forms can/should be used.
‘They’ is acceptable as the 3rd-person singular pronoun for nouns of an unknown or undefined gender. Here’s how we can use them and what happens to their verbs.
Semicolons are not commonly used, but they’re my favorite punctuation mark. Hear me out. They’re rather versatile in connecting two aspects of a single idea. They reflect natural speech, and they also add variety to the transitions and sentence structure in your writing.
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