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P.1 - Adult

Your Questions: The best of June

Average: 3.3 (20 votes)

Every month we ask our newsletter readers to send in their questions to Tim, our English teacher at EC Brighton, about the English language. Here are your questions:

 

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June's Star Question - Thanks to Thao from Vietnam:

Vocabulary Exercise - How well can you do?

Average: 3.9 (8 votes)

Todays's exercise is a what we call a 'mixed bag'. That means it has a bit of everything.  Let's begin.

OK, so you think you're good at English? Well, today we have ten tricky words and phrases that I think you've heard before. They're all common and, above that, they're all useful. Let's see how many of you can get 10/10 and let's see if I made any spelling mistakes...right, Yura?

Auxiliary Verbs

Average: 2.9 (18 votes)

Time for a basic grammar view:

The verbs be, have and do are auxiliary verbs when they are used with a main verb to form questions, negatives, tenses and passives. Modal verbs, like  could and would, are also auxiliary verbs. Here are some quick examples:

"I am driving my car."

"We were looking for you."

"Do you know the way?"

How to use Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns

Average: 3.2 (212 votes)

Choosing between a subject pronoun and an object pronoun can be tricky in a number of situations.  First, let's look at a list of pronouns.

Learn English Idioms

Average: 4.7 (10 votes)

Idioms. There are thousands of them! Pick up a newspaper or watch a TV show and you'll find them everywhere. Let's see how many of these idioms you are familiar with. Choose the correct word to complete each idiom. 

Link: Practice Idioms

How to use Sense Verbs

Average: 4.9 (1031 votes)

When describing how someone (or something) looks, feels, sounds tastes or smells, we use adjectives.

Look, feel, sound taste and smell are all sense verbs. Here are some examples of sense verbs in action:
"You look angry."
"Her perfume smells nice."
"I feel tired."

In the news: Michael Jackson dies at 50

Average: 2.5 (11 votes)

Michael Jackson, the legendary King of Pop, passed away on Thursday 25.

Paramedics were called to the singer's house in Bel Air following an emergency phone call.  It is believed that he suffered a cardiac arrest. Although the paramedics tried to resuscitate, he was pronounced dead two hours later at the UCLA medical centre.

Question and Answer Match

Average: 2.3 (14 votes)

Choose which question is best matched to each answer.  This will help you to learn some set phrases and it will help you review your understanding of English grammar.

If you have problems choosing which is correct, leave a comment.

Link: Question and Answer Exercise

Link: How to use Wh- questions

Homework: You help us, we help you!

Average: 3.5 (6 votes)

Dear English Learners of the World,

We've had a great idea about something that we can do together! Do you have a blog or your own website? You do! Wonderful!

Shopping English

Average: 3.6 (13 votes)

Are you a shopaholic (a person who shops frequently)? Do you live to shop?

However you feel about it, a little retail therapy (shopping to make you happy) is often a good thing. While you're away on holiday in a foreign country, your family and friends are going to expect some small souvenirs (something you buy to help you remember a holiday/ a holiday present).

Here are a few expressions and words that will make your retail experience a whole lot more enjoyable.