by Martin Burke | Sep 15, 2019 | Everyday grammar
One common error made by learners of English is the tendency to use adjectives as nouns. Consider the following example; A customer is visiting a car showroom and looking at cars of different colours. In French, the customer can say to the salesperson; ‘Moi, je...
by Martin Burke | May 15, 2019 | Everyday grammar
We use ‘it’, ‘this’ and ‘that’ to introduce further information about a topic already mentioned. However, the words have different uses. In my last blog I talked about how for French learners of English, it’s not easy to know when to translate ‘ça’ into ‘it’, ‘that’,...
by Martin Burke | Apr 29, 2019 | My language journey
Some years ago, while in France, I was waiting to withdraw money from an ATM machine. There was a woman in front of me using the machine, and she appeared to be having some difficulty trying to read the display; she was shading her eyes with her hands against the...
by Martin Burke | Apr 8, 2019 | This is how we say it
In a recent lesson, one of my English language students said the following ‘when I was there, I tried and catch a bus’. When I told her that the correct expression in this case is ‘I tried to catch a bus’, she asked me to explain why there was a difference, since she...
by Martin Burke | Apr 2, 2019 | This is how we say it
What is Groundhog Day? Many newcomers to the English language may have heard this expression being used but not perhaps have been aware of its significance or its origin. Here is an extract from Wikipedia; Groundhog Day … is a popular tradition celebrated in...
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