Germany is a beautiful and diverse country. It is clean and dynamic and life ranges from large industrial cities to some of the most unspoilt and gorgeous countryside in Europe. It is very regional, also, and traveling around you will find great variations not only in...
Third Conditionals in English Grammar
The past is past and (sometimes unfortunately) it cannot be changed. All we can do is imagine how it might be different now if things had gone differently. To do this, to describe unreal situations in the past, we use the Third Conditional. If I had known the party...
Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching (or CLT) is a popular approach to language teaching which emphasizes using language in the same way that it's used in real life. In other words, you put your students in language situations which are as close to real life as possible....
Question Tags in English Grammar
Question tags are used at the end of sentences when we want to check something, when we want someone to do something or when we want to show surprise. They are separated from the main question by a comma: You're English, aren't you? You've got five minutes to spare,...
Subject Questions in English Grammar
Here's a simple statement: Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper in 1903. It follows the usual pattern of English statements of SVO: subject + verb + object Mary Anderson + invented + the windshield wiper. Often we ask questions about the object of the...
Teaching English in Costa Rica
A good level of English is amongst the requirements of many employers in Costa Rica, consequently Costa Ricans attend English courses on regular basis to improve their chances of landing a good job. Needless to say this creates a demand for English teachers. English...
Understanding and Using English Grammar (book)
Author: Betty Schrampfer Azar Publisher: Pearson ESL Details: paperback; 475 pages; 3 Edition; Pub. 1998 ISBN: 013958661X This book is a comprehensive reference grammar/workbook for non-native speakers of English at intermediate to advanced level. The book is divided...
Dangling Participles in English Grammar
A present participle is a verb ending in -ing. Running down the street, I fell over and bruised myself. This sentence is made up of two clauses: The main clause: I fell over and bruised myself. The subordinate clause: Running down the street. In this case, the...
Numbers in English Grammar
Numbers are classified in grammar into two main groups: Cardinal and Ordinal. Numbers serve as adjectives in that they modify the noun which follows, e.g. There are young people here. There are many people here. There are six people here. Note that in a sentence...
Interrogative Pronouns in English Grammar
A pronoun, as you all know, is a word which stands in place of another. John kicked the can.He kicked it. However, let's suppose we wanted to find out the name of the person who kicked the can. We don't know so we need to use a pronoun which could stand for anyone (or...