Phrasal verbs are made of two parts: a base verb and another small word that is either a preposition or an adverb particle.
It is not always possible to guess the meaning of a phrasal verb from the individual words in it. The more exposure you have to phrasal verbs the easier they are to learn.
Take a look at the following ten sentences and decide which preposition is needed to form the correct phrasal verb.
A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to change its meaning. For example, the suffix re- means either again or back as in return, repeat or refurbish.
The following 4 prefixes are easy to confuse because they all have a negative meaning.
The prefix un means not, reverse action, deprive of, release from. For example, unable or unfair.
Collocations are the natural combination of words. In English it refers to the way words are linked with each other. For example, have and a haircut go together, so do catch and cold; get and married, and free with time:
Below is a small text about a 10 year old girls experience on a trip to Disneyland. However, some of the text is missing. All the verbs below fit into the text but they must be changed to past simple.
Have you ever been to a theme park like Disneyland, how was it?
Remember to change these words to past simple.
For the second year in a row, a hip-hop artist has the _1_ nominations in the Grammy Awards.
Kanye West got seven nominations, but has been ignored in the Album of the Year category. He's nominated for his Watch the Throne album with Jay-Z and also picked other nominations, including Song of the Year, for "All of the Lights," which _2_ Rihanna, Fergie and Kid Cudi.
Studying can be very stressful and when you have been doing it for a while, you may find yourself unable to concentrate very well. Meditation has a number of benefits and could be an interesting way to support your learning process. Here is a small article with a few of the benefits of meditation, but some of the words are missing. Can you fill the gaps with the correct words?
If you are studying at our London centre I strongly recommend The LondonBuddhist Centre in Bethnal Green.
I have a head full of trivia.
I don't know why this should be, but it's true. Random facts and useless bits of information seem to stick around in my memory like nobody's business, to be recalled instantly whenever the need arises. The problem is, of course, that the need never really arises. Nobody has ever - not once - asked me why vampires can't see their reflections in mirrors, for example, and it's really difficult to crowbar such a topic into everyday conversation. Which is a shame, because it's quite interesting really.
Students - in each sentence do you know who is talking, the waiter or the customer?
For example: 'Would you like fries with that?' is something that the waiter would ask.
When you have answered the questions, tell us what your favourite restaurant is, and your favourite food!
Good luck! PS: Two of the sentences have different words but the same meaning- we say one in American English and one in British English. Which two sentences have the same meaning?
Lesson by Caroline
How well do you remember this modal verb which expresses ability? Can you remember everything or can't you remember anything?!
Try this exercise to find out! In each sentence choose which answer is needed to make the sentence work.
Note: Sometimes we replace 'can't' with 'cannot'. They have exactly the same meaning but can't is much more common.
Lesson by Caroline
Choose the correct combination in the following sentences:
There are lots of adjectives in English that we can convert into nouns by using 'ness'. A noun ending in 'ness' literally means the state of the original adjective.
For example, hungriness means ‘the state of being hungry. Below are ten sentences which require a noun ending in 'ness'.
Look at the adjectives below and guess which one goes in each sentence. Then add 'ness' and change spelling when needed.
Good luck!
Lesson by Caroline
