Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<blockquote>&ldquo;Hollywood has the Oscars. Broadway has the Tonys. Now Twittter has&hellip;the Shorty Awards.&rdquo;&mdash;The New York Times</blockquote>

Ah, grammar! Even in the midst of our excitement over our <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shorty Award nomination</a>, we had to stop and deal with some grammar and usage questions related to social media. But that&rsquo;s nothing new&mdash;English is a complex language, and we don&rsquo;t always agree on all the rules!

These questions came about when ESL Library was nominated for a <a href="http://shortyawards.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shorty Award</a> last week. These awards honor those who produce content in short form for social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc. In short (pun intended), they recognize the best of social media. We are so excited that the nominating board has chosen ESL Library as one of seven finalists in the Education category! The voting is happening now, and it&rsquo;s really quick and easy to show your support. We love our fans, and we&rsquo;d appreciate <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">your vote</a>!

I have to give a shout-out to our site&rsquo;s media director, Tara Benwell, for all her amazing work with social media for ESL Library! Tara, also our head writer, produces amazing content on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/esllibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnFRJ3mNt6nL9vMHduwCCyg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/tarabenwell/english/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pinterest</a>, and <a href="http://instagram.com/esllibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a> sites. She provides daily resources and tips on ELT and education, and interacts with teachers and other ELT professionals from around the world. While some of the content is a team effort (president Ben Buckwold, designer Robyn Shesterniak, and editor Tanya Trusler), the majority of the credit definitely goes to her. Great job, Tara! :)

Now onto the grammar questions! Let&rsquo;s tackle these topics:

<h3>Should the Shorty Awards take a singular or plural verb?</h3>

This is a tough question, similar to the one we dealt with in <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/olympics-singular-or-plural/" target="_blank">Olympics: Singular or Plural?</a> Should we look at the Shorty Awards as a singular event (and thus use a singular verb) or a group of awards (and use a plural verb)? I couldn&rsquo;t find any reference to this in my style guides, so I went straight to the source: the <a href="http://shortyawards.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shorty Awards website</a>. They use a plural verb, like in the following sentence: &ldquo;The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media.&rdquo;

This actually sits well with me because it is similar to the Olympics (singular verb) versus the Olympic Games (plural verb). Since the plural word &ldquo;awards&rdquo; is part of the phrase &quot;the Shorty Awards,&quot; it would sound a little strange to say &ldquo;The Shorty Awards honors&hellip;&rdquo;

However, you can see both singular and plural verbs following various award ceremonies all over the internet. Google &ldquo;awards is&rdquo; and &ldquo;awards are&rdquo; and you&rsquo;ll see what I mean&mdash;plenty of examples for both. Basically, you can&rsquo;t go wrong. Either way is acceptable. The main thing is to choose one way of doing it and try to be consistent.

But remember to consider the sentence each time, too! For example, we have chosen to use a plural verb, so we would say, &ldquo;The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media.&rdquo; On the other hand, when Tara asked me if the sentence &ldquo;The Shorty Awards is Twitter&rsquo;s version of the Oscars!&rdquo; was correct, I said &ldquo;yes.&rdquo;&nbsp;I think it would sound strange to say &ldquo;The Shorty Awards are Twitter&rsquo;s version&hellip;&rdquo; because are and version don&rsquo;t agree. Another example where I would use a singular verb would be, &quot;The Shorty Awards is a ceremony that takes place annually.&quot;

Conclusion: We are going with a plural verb (unless a singular noun such as ceremony&nbsp;is mentioned as the object). What do you think? Join the debate in the comments section below!

<h3>Should we capitalize social media sites like Facebook and Twitter?</h3>

What do we do for names and titles that use an initial lowercase letter in their logo, such as &ldquo;facebook&rdquo; and &ldquo;twitter&rdquo;? If there are no entries in dictionaries or style guides to follow, I usually do two things: first, see how the site itself treats the name, and second, google it to see what the majority of people do. Both Facebook and Twitter, while using a lowercase letter in their logos, use a capital letter everywhere else on their site. So when they&rsquo;re writing out their names, they spell them as Facebook and Twitter. For example, Facebook lists their copyright as &ldquo;Facebook &copy; 2014,&rdquo;&nbsp;and Twitter says this on their site, &ldquo;Promote your account and get discovered by more people on Twitter.&rdquo;

Conclusion: Write out &ldquo;Facebook&rdquo; and &ldquo;Twitter&rdquo; with an initial capital letter.

Voting is on for 5 more days! Check out our video and interview on our <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">profile page</a>, and please take a moment to <a href="http://shortyawards.com/ESLlibrary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nominate @ESLlibrary for a Shorty Award in #education</a>&mdash;we could use your support! :)

Shorty Awards: Singular or Plural? And Should "Twitter" Be Capitalized?

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<h1>Let the Grammar Games&nbsp;begin!</h1>

With the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics starting tomorrow, many teachers will be discussing the Olympic Games in class over the next two weeks. (For Olympics lesson and activity ideas, check out <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/the-olympics" target="_blank">this collection</a>.) But what about the grammar? Does the Olympics take a singular or a plural verb? When do we capitalize words associated with the Games? What&rsquo;s the best adjective form? When do we hyphenate words? Think of this article as your one-stop resource to all things grammatical when it comes to the Olympics, and let the Games&nbsp;begin!

<h1>Is the Olympics Singular or&nbsp;Plural?</h1>

<blockquote>the Olympics + singular verb</blockquote>

<blockquote>the Olympic Games + plural verb</blockquote>

I tackled <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/olympics-singular-or-plural/" target="_blank">this thorny topic</a> two years ago during the 2012 Summer Olympics. The short answer is that the slight majority of people and publications refer to the Olympics as singular&nbsp;and the Olympic Games as plural. The idea is that the Olympics is one event or one thing (as another example, think of one huge, week-long concert like Woodstock where multiple bands are playing). However, the Games refer to the many separate sporting&nbsp;events. Point out to your students that they may see the Olympics taking both a singular and a plural verb. Challenge your students to find examples of each, and ask them what they think. Be sure to check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/olympics-singular-or-plural/" target="_blank">the complete post</a> and join the&nbsp;debate!

<h1>Capitalization of Olympic Words</h1>

<blockquote>Always capitalize: Winter Olympics, Olympics, Olympic, Olympic Games, Games</blockquote>

<h2>1. The Olympics</h2>

The Olympics, being an event name, is always capitalized. Words associated with the actual name of the Olympics are also capitalized (Winter, Sochi, Games), but other related words are not (medal, podium,&nbsp;torch).

<ul>
	<li>Winter Olympics</li>
	<li>Sochi&nbsp;2014 Winter Olympic Games</li>
	<li>Summer Olympics</li>
	<li>the 2014 Winter Games</li>
	<li>the Olympics</li>
	<li>Olympic podium</li>
	<li>Olympic torch</li>
	<li>Olympic flag</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Country Names, Nationalities &amp;&nbsp;Languages</h2>

Country names, nationalities, and languages are always&nbsp;capitalized.

<ul>
	<li>Canada, the USA, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, Kenya,&nbsp;etc.</li>
	<li>Russian, Norwegian, Chinese, Jamaican, South African, British, Venezuelan,&nbsp;etc.</li>
	<li>English, French, Hindi, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, German,&nbsp;etc.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Sports &amp; Sporting Event&nbsp;Names</h2>

Sports/sporting event names are not usually capitalized. One exception is&nbsp;Nordic combined (because Nordic refers to the country/area).

<ul>
	<li>hockey</li>
	<li>biathlon</li>
	<li>cross-country skiing (American spelling&mdash;other countries use cross country&nbsp;skiing)</li>
	<li>bobsleigh</li>
	<li>luge</li>
	<li>figure skating</li>
	<li>short track speed skating</li>
	<li>Nordic combined</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. The</h2>

Note that &ldquo;the&rdquo; is never capitalized in running text, according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. Only capitalize &ldquo;the&rdquo; when it is the first word in a&nbsp;sentence.

<ul>
	<li>I&rsquo;m going to watch the Olympics every&nbsp;day.</li>
	<li>He knows someone who will be competing in the 2014 Winter&nbsp;Games.</li>
	<li>The Winter Olympics takes place in Sochi this&nbsp;year.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Adjective Forms: Capitalization and&nbsp;Hyphenation</h1>

<blockquote>1. Adjective form = Olympic 2. Use a hyphen for multiple-word adjectives (e.g., a gold-medal&nbsp;winner)</blockquote>

The adjective form of the Olympics is Olympic. It is always capitalized. Adjective forms almost never take an -s ending in English. Also, when a multiple-word adjective precedes a noun, it usually takes a&nbsp;hyphen.

<ul>
	<li>the Olympic Games</li>
	<li>Olympic events</li>
	<li>a gold-medal winner</li>
	<li>an expert-level slope</li>
</ul>

Note: You may notice that we use Olympics before a noun in some places on our site. Why? When referring to a lesson, it is common to use the noun form instead of the adjective form. So we use Winter Olympics lesson and Olympics lesson plan. Another example is sports. You would naturally say our Sports lesson plan, not our Sport or Sporting lesson plan. Note that we would normally capitalize any word in this position, since it is the title of the lesson. If this is confusing, you could always reword it like this: a lesson plan on the Olympics or a lesson plan on sports, where you would clearly need the noun form and wouldn&rsquo;t need to capitalize the topic for a regular word since it&rsquo;s not the&nbsp;title. Be sure to visit <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/the-olympics" target="_blank">our Olympics collection</a>. Go team!

Grammar Rules for the Olympics

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<blockquote>&quot;I don&rsquo;t have any time today. We can meet anytime next week.&quot;</blockquote>

When a two-word phrase has a one-word variant, it can cause confusion for both English speakers and&nbsp;ELLs. One such example is <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/everyday-vs-every-day/" target="_blank">every day vs. everyday</a>: every day is a time expression that usually appears at the beginning of end of a sentence, while everyday is an adjective that appears before a noun. Another slightly more complicated example is any time vs. anytime. Is there a meaning difference? What are the usage rules for these two expressions?

<h3>Quick Tricks</h3>

If you use British English, the answer is easy! Always use any time (because&nbsp;anytime is not widely accepted).

If you use American English, it&rsquo;s a bit more complicated. Basically, if preceded by a preposition, a negative word, or a question word, use any time. In all other cases, use anytime.

<h3>Any Time</h3>

Think of any time as a quantity of time. This determiner + noun can follow a preposition (usually at) or be used in a question or negative sentence (any almost always takes the place of some in these cases).

<ul>
	<li>Go ahead and start the project at any time.</li>
	<li>Do you have any time to meet with me today?</li>
	<li>She won&rsquo;t have any time to prepare for the presentation.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Anytime</h3>

Think of&nbsp;anytime as whenever. Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary defines the adverb anytime as &ldquo;at any time whatever.&rdquo;&nbsp;Anytime is most often used at the beginning or end of a sentence, but it can also follow a verb. Anytime is sometimes described as a simply a &ldquo;casualism&rdquo; of any time, but note that in American English, anytime is the more common form.

<ul>
	<li>Go ahead and start the project anytime.</li>
	<li>She will arrive anytime between 7:00 and 8:00&nbsp;pm.</li>
	<li>Anytime you need a friend, I&rsquo;ll be there.</li>
</ul>

*Note that the first example of both sets have the same meaning&mdash;you can almost always use at any time or anytime with no difference in meaning.

If you have any other questions, ask me anytime!

Tanya

Any Time Vs. Anytime

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<h3>&quot;All you need is love.&quot;&nbsp;&mdash;the Beatles</h3>

One of the most popular bands of all time undoubtedly deserves its own holiday. In 2001, UNESCO declared January 16th to be &quot;Beatles Day.&quot; And as with most holidays in English, it&#39;s tough to figure out the&nbsp;correct capitalization and punctuation of the holiday name!

<h3>Capitalization</h3>

For all major holidays in English, we capitalize the word &quot;Day.&quot;&nbsp;Examples include Valentine&#39;s Day, Christmas Day, Canada Day, and Independence Day. It follows that the word &quot;day&quot; in Beatles Day should also be capitalized. What about the word &quot;month&quot;? I was just discussing this with our head writer, Tara Benwell, as we were preparing our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/107/resources/2148" title="eye idioms">Eye Idioms</a> poster for Eye Care Awareness Month. I believe that &quot;month&quot; should follow the same rules as &quot;day&quot; for holidays, and therefore be capitalized.

<h3>Punctuation</h3>

Should it be Beatles Day or Beatles&#39; Day? Is it possessive (the day that belongs to the Beatles, so Beatles&#39; Day) or not (a day about the Beatles, so Beatles Day)? Technically, both are correct. And unfortunately, if we look at other common holidays, we get a mix of possessive and non-possessive (think of Valentine&#39;s Day and St. Patrick&#39;s Day, but Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Day). First, I check the dictionary (I use <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com">http://www.merriam-webster.com</a>&nbsp;for American English and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com">http://www.oxforddictionaries.com</a>&nbsp;for British English). If the holiday isn&#39;t listed, as in this case, then I&nbsp;go by what the organization or government body that formed the holiday has chosen (a Google search should show you that, or at least show you which way is more common).&nbsp;Beatles Day it is!

<h3>Activity</h3>

This holiday is a great chance for teachers to incorporate some music into the classroom! Turning a song into a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloze_test" title="cloze">cloze exercise</a> is an activity that always goes over well. Google the lyrics to your favorite Beatles&nbsp;song, white out some of the lyrics, and voil&agrave;! You have a listening activity that your students will love.

<h3>Lessons</h3>

Now is a great time to check out our Famous People lessons on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1388">the Beatles</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1336">John Lennon</a>! These lessons each include a reading, vocabulary exercises, and discussion questions about &quot;the Fab Four.&quot;

Happy Beatles Day! (Or Is It Beatles' Day?)

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

I&#39;ve been the editor for <a href="https://ellii.com/lessons">ESL Library</a> for over two years now, and I absolutely love my job (being the grammar nerd that I am)! The director of ESL Library, Tara Benwell, asked me to share some of my experiences as an editor, and we decided to make our style guide available to everyone, too! I&#39;ll start by posting a link to our style guide (which you can also print out), then discuss what editing is all about.

<h3>Our In-House Style Guide</h3>

Why make our style guide available to everyone? We thought it would be helpful for teachers and students! There are a lot of English rules that don&rsquo;t get explained in traditional textbooks, such as when to use an en dash (&ndash;) and em dash (&mdash;), or how to write song titles (they should be enclosed in double quotation marks). We&rsquo;ve made it printable, so you can keep a copy for easy reference if you wish.

<a href="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2162/content_ESL-Library-Style-Guide-Public-PDF.pdf" target="_blank">Download ESL Library&#39;s Style Guide PDF</a>

<h3>An Editor&#39;s Roles</h3>

Ever wonder what editors do? Most people can guess that they check documents for mechanical errors such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. But editing involves so much more!

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">Substantive Editing (also called Developmental Editing) - Reorganizing content and structure, including possible additions and deletions</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Stylistic Editing (also called Line Editing) - Checking for clarity of meaning and effectiveness of language used; rewriting sentences if necessary</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Copyediting - Correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mechanical errors</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Proofreading - Checking the final version of an edited document</li>
</ul>

It&#39;s also helpful, but not necessary, if an editor can bring an area of expertise to the table. In my case, having been an ESL teacher for over ten years is very helpful when I edit lessons. I&#39;m able to offer suggestions such as additions or changes because I&#39;m familiar with what will and won&#39;t work within a lesson.

<h3>Consistency</h3>

When you&rsquo;re editing more than one document for the same company, it&rsquo;s very important to be consistent. As ESL Library&rsquo;s editor, I need to make sure that the style choices I make (e.g., using a serial comma) are reflected in all of our material, including our blog, lessons, and website.

In order to be consistent, editors need to follow a style guide (also known as a style manual or style sheet). If the company you work for doesn&rsquo;t already have one, it&rsquo;s up to you to create your own so you remember all your choices.

<h3>What We Use</h3>

At ESL Library, we follow our in-house style guide, which is based on the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., for style rules, and both&nbsp;Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., and <a href="http://merriam-webster.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">merriam-webster.com</a> for spelling. When we need to indicate the American vs. British spelling differences in our lessons&rsquo; answer keys, we refer to&nbsp;<a href="http://oxforddictionaries.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">oxforddictionaries.com</a>.

<h3>Our Choices</h3>

Sometimes there is more than one acceptable way to do something, so the editor must make a decision. For example, some of the in-house style choices I&rsquo;ve made are to use the serial comma, one space after a colon, and headline-style capitalization. Sometimes I&#39;ve even decided to deviate from Chicago&#39;s recommendations if it better suits our purposes. For example, we use caps for both parts of hyphenated words in a title so that it stands out more (e.g., In-House) instead of just capitalizing the first word (e.g., In-house).

<h3>Questions?</h3>

If you have a question that&rsquo;s not addressed in the style guide, please leave a comment below. I&rsquo;d be happy to look it up for you!

Creating Our In-House Style Guide

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The past perfect often stumps students since it&rsquo;s not commonly used. The past perfect progressive, also known as the past perfect continuous, seems even more complicated! But these two verb tenses don&rsquo;t have to be a mystery to students. With the following helpful diagrams and chart, your students will be able to recognize and use these tenses when&nbsp;needed.

<h1>Past Perfect</h1>

<h4>HAD + P.P.</h4>

The past perfect is formed with the past auxiliary verb had and the past participle of the main verb. It is used when the first past action finishes before the second past&nbsp;action.

<img alt="Past Perfect chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/153/content_Tanya_Past-Perfect-Vs-Past-Perfect-Progressive_PP_Chart.png" />

<h1>Past Perfect Progressive</h1>

<h4>HAD + BEEN + ‑ING&nbsp;VERB</h4>

The past perfect progressive is formed with the past auxiliary verb had, the past participle auxiliary verb been, and the present participle form (‑ing) of the main verb. It is used when the first past action continues until the second past action.

<img alt="Past Perfect Progressive chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/154/content_Tanya_Past-Perfect-Vs-Past-Perfect-Progressive_PPP_Chart.png" />

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Note</h5>

If you want to elaborate for more advanced students, you can explain that the past perfect progressive is formed by combining the past perfect (had + p.p.) plus the basic progressive pattern (be + ‑ing verb). Since the past participle of the Be verb is been, you get had + been + ‑ing verb when&nbsp;combined.
</div>

<h1>Comparison Chart</h1>

To compare the two verb tenses and show your students examples, use the following verb chart. You can print out the chart and make photocopies, show them on the computer, or write it out on the&nbsp;board.

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2761"><img alt="Past Perfect Vs. Past Perfect Progressive Grammar &amp; Usage Resource" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/152/content_103_Past-Perfect-Vs-Past-Perfect-Progressive_US.png" width="400" /></a>

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2761">Past Perfect Vs. Past Perfect Progressive</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp;&nbsp;Usage

<h2>Important Note</h2>

When giving your students examples, it is very important to mix up the order of the independent and dependent clauses. Make sure that you give some examples where the independent clause comes first (with the past perfect or past perfect progressive), and others where the dependent clause comes first (with the simple&nbsp;past).

Point out that when the dependent clause comes first, students must use a comma between the clauses. Showing both types of examples means that students won&rsquo;t simply memorize &ldquo;had + p.p. first, past verb second,&rdquo; which can cause&nbsp;errors.

<h1>Did You Know?</h1>

English speakers often don&rsquo;t bother with these complicated verb tenses, especially in informal speaking and writing. In most cases, you can substitute the simple past in place of the past perfect, and the past progressive in place of the past perfect progressive, with no change in meaning. Often the context or the time markers are enough to make the timing clear. Consider the following&nbsp;examples:

<ul>
	<li>My friend had texted me five times before I answered. (past&nbsp;perfect)</li>
	<li>My friend texted me five times before I answered. (simple past, same&nbsp;meaning)</li>
	<li>We had been waiting for two hours before she arrived. (past perfect&nbsp;progressive)</li>
	<li>We were waiting for two hours before she arrived. (past progressive, same&nbsp;meaning)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

For more tips, examples, and practice exercises, try the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1599">Past Perfect</a> and the <a href="https://www.ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1993">Past Perfect Progressive</a> lessons in the Grammar Practice Worksheets section. These lessons include mixed exercises that compare the past perfect and the past perfect progressive tenses as well as the past perfect with&nbsp;the simple past and present&nbsp;perfect.

<h1>For Fun</h1>

<a href="https://www.facebook.com/theofficialgrammarpolice" target="_blank" title="grammar police">The Grammar Police</a> shared this photo on Facebook a while ago. Try analyzing it with your students! See if they can figure out why it&rsquo;s grammatically correct to use four &ldquo;hads&rdquo; in a row in this sentence:&nbsp;All the faith he had had had had no effect on the outcome of his&nbsp;life.

<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="auto" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/JFcwTK8Ft-2XFcY6edqZzI-bQJ_DyzJZsTZUbdzkkWYeVnWooNbFwABI7sYuu7nJOiaNG0P_RDO5xm3tSRekXryqdRVxy6EdLhjz3C0xY94XTqqi1_TML50rRQ" width="400" />

<h2>Answer</h2>

Think of the first part of the sentence like this: He had had a lot of faith by the time he was an old&nbsp;man.

Think of the second part of the sentence like this: His faith had had no effect on the outcome of his life by the time he was an old&nbsp;man.

If you join them together, and the context of age is implied, then you can get this result: All the faith he had had [subject] had had [main verb] no effect [object] on the outcome of his&nbsp;life.

Past Perfect Vs. Past Perfect Progressive

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<blockquote>
&ldquo;Life lessons will be repeated until&nbsp;learned.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

Last week, our customer Sandra asked us if it were possible to use both learned or learnt in the quote above. (I&rsquo;m not sure who originally said this quote&mdash;if anyone knows, please leave a comment below!)

The short answer is yes, both are possible. So what&rsquo;s the difference? Why do we have two forms for the same tense of the same&nbsp;word?

<h1>It depends where you live&hellip;</h1>

The ‑ed form is more common in American and Canadian English, while the ‑t form is more common in British English. The fact that Canadian English uses the ‑ed form is a bit surprising, since Canada usually follows British English spelling rules.

<blockquote>
Learned = American &amp; Canadian English

Learnt = British English
</blockquote>

<h1>Which is more common in print&nbsp;(books)?</h1>

Even back in the 1800s, learned was used far more often than learnt, according to <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams" target="_blank" title="Ngram">Google books Ngram&nbsp;Viewer</a>.

<img alt="Graph of learned vs learnt" class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/248/content_Tanya_Learned-Learnt_Graph.png" width="400" />

<h1>Which is&nbsp;more common on the web?</h1>

According to <a href="http://www.googlebattle.com" target="_blank" title="GoogleBattle">GoogleBattle</a>, learned shows up online much more often than learnt. Out of 120,900,000 pages searched, learned appears 107,000,000 times compared to learnt at 13,900,000 times. <a href="http://www.googlefight.com" target="_blank" title="Googlefight">Googlefight</a> has even stronger results for learned, with 4,910,000 results compared to 38,100,000 for&nbsp;learnt.

<img alt="Search results for learned vs learnt" class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/249/content_Tanya_Learned-Learnt_Search-Results.png" width="300" />

<h1>Looking back and looking&nbsp;forward&hellip;</h1>

The evolution of language is fascinating to me. In North America, many verbs such as learn have all but lost their irregular form. Learnt sounds way too formal and out of place nowadays in North America and elsewhere. Other such verbs include clapped/clapt, leaned/leant, spoiled/spoilt, and&nbsp;smelled/smelt.

However, some verbs are still in the transitioning stage (dreamed/dreamt, kneeled/knelt, leaped/leapt, burned/burnt, spilled/spilt, sunburned/sunburnt, sweeped/swept), so both forms are common and acceptable. For these words, I would still recommend using the ‑ed form in North America and the ‑t form&nbsp;elsewhere.

It&rsquo;s interesting to note that some ‑t past verbs don&rsquo;t have an ‑ed form&mdash;yet! How about slept, wept, and kept? Will we be using sleeped, weeped, and keeped one&nbsp;day, or are they too tricky to pronounce and will therefore remain as is?

Learned Vs. Learnt

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<blockquote>
I used to study English every day, but it still took a while to get used to all the rules. Now I am used to English&nbsp;grammar!
</blockquote>

Used to, get used to, and be used to are three verb forms with similar structures but different meanings. Students often get them confused because they look and sound similar, so explicit instruction that compares and contrasts these three forms is beneficial and&nbsp;appreciated!

Try presenting used to, get used to, and be used to using the comparison chart below. Then get your students to practice with the discussion questions at the end of this post or the grammar exercise in our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories">Grammar &amp; Usage Resource</a> on <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2830">Used To, Get Used To &amp; Be Used&nbsp;To</a>.

<h1>Comparison Chart</h1>

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2830"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/216/content_Tanya_Used-To_Chart.png" /></a>

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2830" target="_blank">Used To, Get Used To &amp; Be Used&nbsp;To</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage Resources

<h1>1. Used To</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Used To + Base Verb</h5>
</div>

Used to is always followed by a base verb. Note that used to follows normal simple past verb rules, so it becomes use to with the auxiliary verb did in questions and negative&nbsp;statements.

<h2>Usage</h2>

Used to is a unique expression in English. Its form and function are similar to a modal (i.e., it gives extra information about the verb and is followed by a base verb). Used to shows that an action was performed repeatedly in the past, but is no longer performed in the present. It is commonly used when talking about long periods in the past (e.g., childhood, school years, past job,&nbsp;etc.).

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I used to eat meat, but I don&rsquo;t&nbsp;anymore.</li>
	<li>They used to study English every day in high&nbsp;school.</li>
	<li>Did you use to play video games when you were a&nbsp;child?</li>
	<li>My teacher didn&rsquo;t use to give us any homework. Now we get homework every&nbsp;day!</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Get Used To</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Get Used To + Noun/‑ing Verb</h5>
</div>

Get used to is followed by a gerund (‑ing verb) or a noun. In this expression, the used to part will never change to use to. Only get changes to reflect the verb&nbsp;tense.

<h2>Usage</h2>

Get used to indicates that something is becoming familiar. Use this expression for a new habit or routine. Though it is possible to use get used to for both positive and negative experiences, it is more commonly used with negative situations (e.g., when something is&nbsp;difficult).

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I am getting used to living with my new&nbsp;roommate.</li>
	<li>Our new teacher quickly got used to our large, multicultural&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>They couldn&rsquo;t get used to the noisy neighborhood, so they&nbsp;moved.</li>
	<li>Has your brother&nbsp;gotten used to his new&nbsp;boss yet?</li>
</ul>

<h1>3. Be Used To</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Be Used To + Noun/‑ing Verb</h5>
</div>

Be used to is followed by a gerund (‑ing verb) or a noun. Note that the used to part will never change to use to. Only be will change to reflect the verb&nbsp;tense.

<h2>Usage</h2>

Be used to indicates that something has become familiar. Use this expression when something is now a habit or routine (and has been going on for a while). Like get used to, it is possible to use be used to for both positive and negative experiences, but it is used for negative situations slightly more&nbsp;often.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>She is used to getting up at 6:00&nbsp;am&nbsp;because she does it every&nbsp;day.</li>
	<li>Is your friend used to the noise from the construction site next to her&nbsp;office?</li>
	<li>The teacher wasn&rsquo;t used to answering so many questions during&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>By this time next year, I will be used to living in&nbsp;Brazil.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

Get your students to ask each other the following&nbsp;discussion questions to practice used to, get used to, and be used&nbsp;to.

<ol>
	<li>What is something that you used to do as a child but no longer do&nbsp;now?</li>
	<li>Name five&nbsp;things that you are used to doing every&nbsp;day.</li>
	<li>Think of a time when you started a new hobby. Was it hard to get used to it? How long was it until you were used to&nbsp;it?</li>
	<li>Imagine you have to move to a new city. Do you think you&rsquo;ll have a hard time getting used to living there? How about another&nbsp;country?</li>
	<li>What types of TV shows did you use to watch when you were younger? What do you enjoy watching&nbsp;nowadays?</li>
</ol>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1594">Simple Past</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1565">Simple Past &ndash; I Used To</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1276">Fracking</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-teach-used-to-in-6-easy-steps/">How to Teach &ldquo;Used To&rdquo; in 6 Easy Steps</a></li>
</ul>

Used To, Get Used To & Be Used To

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<blockquote>
I used to understand&nbsp;this&hellip;
</blockquote>

Eventually, every English learner needs to master speaking, reading, and writing about the past. I&rsquo;ve previously offered advice on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/simple-past-vs-past-progressive/" title="simple past vs. past progressive">comparing the simple past with the past progressive</a>, but what about the short, common past expression used to? I&rsquo;ve often found that my students make mistakes with this expression, especially in negative statements and questions. So what&rsquo;s the best way to teach them how to use used&nbsp;to?

<h1>1. Form</h1>

<h4>Used To + Base&nbsp;Verb</h4>

Used to is always followed by a base verb. Don&rsquo;t forget to tell your students that used to follows the normal past verb rules: it becomes use to with the auxiliary verb did in questions and negative&nbsp;statements.

See section&nbsp;4 below for examples&mdash;make sure you give your students lots of examples with did and didn&rsquo;t&nbsp;so that they&rsquo;ll remember this&nbsp;change!

<h1>2. Use</h1>

Used to is a unique expression in English. Its form and function are similar to a modal (i.e., it gives extra information about the verb and is followed by a base verb). Used to shows that an action was performed repeatedly in the past, but is no longer performed in the present. It is commonly used when talking about long periods in the past (e.g., childhood, school years, past job,&nbsp;etc.).

<h1>3. Examples</h1>

<ul>
	<li>I used to eat meat, but I don&rsquo;t&nbsp;anymore.</li>
	<li>They used to study English every day in high&nbsp;school.</li>
	<li>Did you use to play video games when you were a&nbsp;child?</li>
	<li>Did my sister use to sing when she was little? I&nbsp;forget.</li>
	<li>I didn&rsquo;t use to play the piano as a child, but I took lessons later&nbsp;on.</li>
	<li>My teacher didn&rsquo;t use to give us any homework. Now we get homework every&nbsp;day!</li>
</ul>

<h1>4. Tricky Points</h1>

Don&rsquo;t forget to point out to your students that used to + base verb is NOT the same as the past participle of the verb use followed by an infinitive verb! This can be confusing for students. Try giving them the following&nbsp;examples:

<ul>
	<li>He used to work out every day. (Form: used to + base verb. Meaning: He worked out often in the past but doesn&rsquo;t&nbsp;anymore.)</li>
	<li>This machine is used to make student ID cards. (Form: use (present passive) + infinitive verb. Meaning: Making student ID cards is the machine&rsquo;s&nbsp;function.)</li>
</ul>

When use indicates the function of something, it is almost always in the passive voice. Tell students that if they see the be verb before used, it is likely indicating function, not a past habit/routine.

And as previously mentioned, make sure you remind students that used to becomes use to when used with the auxiliary verb did. (See the examples&nbsp;above.)

<h1>5. Practice</h1>

Try our lesson <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1565" title="Simple Past – I used to">Simple Past - I used to</a> in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons" title="Basic Grammar Sentences">Basic Grammar Sentences</a> section. This six‑page lesson has a pair activity, a writing exercise, a speaking activity, and a fun word search that will have your students using used to correctly in no&nbsp;time!

<h1>6. Fun Activity</h1>

When I teach used to, I often have my students do the following pair activity. Have them draw two columns on a piece of paper. One column has the title &ldquo;When I was a child&hellip;&rdquo; and the other says &ldquo;Now&hellip;&rdquo;&nbsp;(I often&nbsp;write it on the board to show them). If you teach children, you could make it &quot;Two years ago&hellip;&quot; and &quot;Now&hellip;&quot;&nbsp;instead.

Brainstorm topics as a class, such as food, transportation, games, hobbies, family, etc. Try to come up with 10 topics. Next, give them a few examples of your own, such as &ldquo;When I was a child, I used to ride my bike. Now I drive a&nbsp;car.&rdquo;

Students can now ask their partners questions about the topics and write down their answers. (E.g., &ldquo;What did you use to eat when you were a child? What do you like to eat now?&rdquo;) Make sure your students answer the questions about their childhoods using used&nbsp;to!

Alternatively, you could get your students to write their own answers for homework and discuss them with a partner the next&nbsp;day.

What about be used to and get used to? Students often mistakenly believe that these expressions have the same form and meaning as used to, but there are important differences. Find teaching tips, activities, and a comparison chart on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/used-to-get-used-to-and-be-used-to/" title="Used To, Get Used To, and Be Used To">Used To, Get Used To, and Be Used&nbsp;To</a>.

Here&rsquo;s to using used to&nbsp;correctly!

How to Teach “Used To” in 6 Easy Steps

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One of the first decisions that an editor has to make is whether to use American English or British English spelling.

For a company with an international audience, that decision can be daunting. For an ELT materials publishing company, that decision affects not only teachers who are fluent in English, but also students who are learning English&mdash;learners who will likely be confused by spelling variations.

<h2>How did ESL Library come to the decision to use American English spelling?</h2>

Good question! After all, we are a Canadian company (Canada follows British English spelling&nbsp;for the most part) with subscribers from all over the world. But, in the end, we decided to go with our largest market, the USA.

It wasn&rsquo;t an easy decision to make. Almost all of the team members at ESL Library come from English-teaching backgrounds, so we are aware of the frustrations that English teachers and learners face when dealing with materials that don&rsquo;t use the same spelling system as the country you&rsquo;re in.

I myself worked at an ESL school in Vancouver, Canada, that used textbooks from both the US and the UK. I saw the confusion that different spellings could create&nbsp;for my students. Let&rsquo;s face it&mdash;English vocabulary and spelling is tough enough without having more than one variation per word!

<h2>Does ESL Library address spelling variations?</h2>

Yes, we do! One thing we strive to do is to include a list of all the words with spelling variations in every lesson.

If you&rsquo;re doing one of our lessons, check out the Answer Key / Teachers&rsquo; Notes at the end of the PDF lesson. There&#39;s usually a box called Spelling Notes with a list of how words are spelled in America vs. other English-speaking countries.

We also suggest challenging students to spot those words within the lesson and see if they know the alternate spelling.

For example, you could ask, &ldquo;Who can find the word favorite? What pages does it appear on?&rdquo; and &ldquo;Who can tell me another spelling of favorite?&rdquo; (for lower-level learners), or &ldquo;Who can find a word in this lesson that is spelled differently in the US/Canada/the UK?&rdquo; (for higher-level learners).

<h2>Should you teach spelling variations to your students?</h2>

Even though spelling variations can be a pain, we feel it&rsquo;s something that students should be exposed to in the classroom.

The internet&nbsp;is a huge part of most students&rsquo; lives, so they come across both American and British spelling on a regular basis.

Preparing them to encounter these spelling variations (see my three suggestions&nbsp;below) and dealing with these variations in class will cause less confusion in the long run.

<h2>3 suggestions for dealing with spelling variations with your students</h2>

1) Provide students with a spelling comparison list.

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">Try ESL Library&#39;s Grammar &amp; Usage resource on <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2226" target="_blank">American Vs. Canadian Spelling</a>.</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Review a dictionary&#39;s post on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dictionary.com/e/aluminum-or-aluminium/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">British and American spelling</a>.</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Try having students compare American / British word differences too (e.g., truck/lorry)&mdash;this is always a fun activity for students. Have students look up lists online, or try <a href="https://www.spellzone.com/blog/Sixty_American_English_Words_and_their_British_English_Counterparts.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">this one from Spellzone</a>.</li>
</ul>

2) Point out spelling variations within a lesson.

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">Point out the words that have an alternate spelling as you&rsquo;re working through a lesson.</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Check out the Answer Keys for almost all ESL Library&rsquo;s PDF lessons&mdash;we&rsquo;ve already found the spelling variations for you (look in the box called Spelling Notes).</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Challenge your students to find those words in the lesson (PDF or digital) and see if anyone can tell you the alternative spelling.</li>
</ul>

3) Tell students why American spelling is different from British spelling.

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">Have students do their own research.</li>
	<li dir="ltr">If time is of the essence, offer this simple explanation: 
	In a nutshell, back in 19th-century America, Noah Webster (of Webster&rsquo;s and Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s dictionaries) decided to make spelling changes to distinguish American English from British English and to better reflect the pronunciation of certain words.</li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>We&rsquo;re curious to know what our fellow teachers do!</h5>

Do you go over spelling variations in class? Do you use materials from different countries, or do you stick to textbooks from only one country? Have you ever changed the spelling within a lesson before handing it out? How do you handle this when the lesson is in a digital format? Leave us a comment below and tell us about your experiences with English spelling.
</div>

Why We Use Spelling Variations in Our ELT Materials

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National Donut Day takes place on the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/when-is-the-real-donut-day_563a2bd2e4b0411d306f03cd">first Friday of June and on Nov 5</a>. We&#39;ll accept that. Grab yourself a coffee and a donut to enjoy while you read this related&nbsp;post.

<h1>Coffee, donuts, and spelling&hellip;</h1>

Tim Horton sure is one famous Canadian. He&rsquo;s known not only for being a hockey legend (who played primarily for the Toronto Maple Leafs), but also for his chain of popular coffee and donut shops all across Canada and the US.

Last week, I edited a lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1398">Tim Horton</a> in our in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons">Famous People</a> section. This led to a discussion with our writer, Tara, about why the restaurant is called Tim Hortons&nbsp;when his last name is Horton. Why not Tim Horton&rsquo;s? And how about the spelling of donut vs. doughnut&mdash;which is correct? I decided to do a little sleuthing for my blog post this&nbsp;week.

<h2>Tim Horton Donuts &amp; Tim Horton&rsquo;s Do-nuts</h2>

It seems like there were a few different names originally. According to Tim Horton himself in a video on the <a href="http://www.timhortons.com/ca/en/about/bio_timhorton.html " target="_blank" title="Tim Hortons About">About</a> page of <a href="http://www.timhortons.com">www.timhortons.com</a>, it was called Tim Horton Donuts at one point. And according to Always Fresh, the story of the Tim Hortons restaurant empire by Ron Joyce and Robert Thompson, it was once called Tim Horton&rsquo;s Do-nuts. So how did it become Tim&nbsp;Hortons?

<h3>Tim Horton&rsquo;s?</h3>

It&rsquo;s common practice to use the possessive form as a company name. Take the fast food restaurant chain Wendy&rsquo;s, for example (who, incidentally, partnered up with Tim Hortons in 1995). Is Tim Hortons a mistake that got fossilized over time&mdash;a result of dropping the&nbsp;apostrophe?

<h3>Tim Hortons</h3>

Well, my research is coming up a bit short. I can&rsquo;t find anything online or in the book Always Fresh about why the decision was made to call the restaurant Tim Hortons, but it appears the change happened very early on, so I suspect it was a company decision and not an error. Company names are often pluralized (e.g., Starbucks, Chapters). Maybe as soon as there was more than one restaurant, they decided to go with the plural&nbsp;form.

<h2>A Tim Hortons&rsquo; Coffee or a Tim Hortons&rsquo;s Coffee?</h2>

How should we write the possessive form? According to the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, we should add &rsquo;s to a singular noun that ends in -s (e.g., Dickens&rsquo;s novel) &nbsp;but an apostrophe only to a plural noun that ends in -s (e.g., the Lincolns&rsquo; house). So it depends on how you look at it: if you see Tim Hortons as the singular man, you would write Tim Hortons&rsquo;s coffee.

But if you see it as the plural restaurants, you would write Tim Hortons&rsquo; coffee. Perhaps this is why we see both cases so often, because people aren&rsquo;t sure how to look at it. I recommend using the apostrophe only (Tim Hortons&rsquo; coffee) because I see Tim Hortons as the restaurant chain, not the man (his name was Tim Horton, after&nbsp;all).

<h2>Donut or Doughnut?</h2>

Here&rsquo;s one I can definitively answer. In American, Canadian, and British English, the preferred spelling is doughnut (according to reputable dictionaries like Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s, Oxford Canadian, and Oxford Dictionaries Online). In most dictionaries, donut is listed as a variant of doughnut, meaning both are correct and accepted, but doughnut is the more accurate choice.

However, the Tim Hortons website uses donut, so that&rsquo;s what we used in our ESL&nbsp;Library lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1398">Tim Horton</a>.

<h2>Timmy&rsquo;s or Timmies?</h2>

Finally, how do we spell the cute, common nickname for Tim Hortons? Is it Timmy&rsquo;s or Timmies? This one&rsquo;s not going to appear in any dictionary, so I decided to defer to the company&rsquo;s decision as well as the logic of a plural noun form. According to the Tim Hortons website, the correct spelling is&nbsp;Timmies.

Tim Hortons, Hortons', or Horton's? Donut or Doughnut?

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<blockquote>
I had my students learn these&nbsp;patterns&hellip;
</blockquote>

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2314-causative-verbs-have-let-make">Causative verbs</a> are just what they sound like: verbs where one person is &ldquo;causing&rdquo; another to do something. English has three true causative verbs: have, let, and&nbsp;make.

This grammar target has a special pattern that often confuses students because it requires a base verb where an infinitive verb would normally go. Once we present the pattern to our students and they see some examples, they should be able to remember to use the base&nbsp;form.

It&rsquo;s also important to point out the other verbs with a similar meaning that are not, in fact, causative verbs. Verbs such as get, force, allow, and cause take an infinitive verb, not a base&nbsp;verb.

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2314"><img alt="Causative Verbs resource" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/215/content_103_Causative-Verbs-Have-Let-Make.png" width="400" /></a>

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2314">Causative Verbs: Have, Let, Make</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources

<h1>I. Causative Verbs</h1>

<h3>Have, Let &amp;&nbsp;Make</h3>

<h4>Subject (person) + Have / Let / Make&nbsp;+ Object (person) +&nbsp;Base&nbsp;Verb</h4>

The verbs have, let, and make follow this irregular pattern when they have the meaning of causing someone to do something. These verbs are pretty common in English and are usually introduced around an intermediate level. From strongest to weakest, the causative verbs are make, have, and&nbsp;let.

It&rsquo;s important to give examples with both singular and plural objects as well as different tenses so that students truly understand that a base verb is required, not just a present verb. I find the biggest mistakes textbooks make is that they only give examples in the present tense. I&rsquo;ve often had students tell me that they didn&rsquo;t &ldquo;get it&rdquo; until they saw an example in the past&nbsp;tense.

<ul>
	<li>I had my friends tell me what happened. (not&nbsp;told)</li>
	<li>She will let her friend borrow her new jacket. (not borrows or will&nbsp;borrow)</li>
	<li>Mark&rsquo;s teacher makes him do homework every day. (not&nbsp;does)</li>
</ul>

The subject and object of causative sentences are usually people, but things are also&nbsp;possible.

<ul>
	<li>The heavy rain made the paint peel off the&nbsp;building.</li>
	<li>The phone message made him feel&nbsp;nervous.</li>
	<li>We let the dogs run wild at the&nbsp;beach.</li>
</ul>

Also, the imperative verb form (no subject) is common with causative verbs, since both causatives and imperatives are used for giving&nbsp;orders.

<ul>
	<li>Have Mr. Smith call&nbsp;me.</li>
	<li>Let the dogs go outside after&nbsp;dinner.</li>
	<li>Make her secretary type out the&nbsp;report.</li>
</ul>

<h1>II. Non-Causative Verbs</h1>

<h3>Get, Force, Allow &amp; Cause</h3>

<h4>Subject + Get / Force / Allow / Cause + Object (person) +&nbsp;Infinitive&nbsp;Verb</h4>

All other verbs, outside of the three causative verbs, will follow the &ldquo;normal&rdquo; pattern of noun + infinitive. This pattern occurs for most verbs regardless of meaning (e.g., My friend wants me to come to the party or She asked me to help&nbsp;her).

There are other verbs that have the meaning of cause, but because they aren&rsquo;t true causative verbs, they take an infinitive verb form instead of a base verb. Common verbs are, from strongest to weakest: force, cause, get, and&nbsp;allow.

Get, especially, is very common, so make sure you remind your students that it always takes an infinitive verb, and give your students plenty of&nbsp;examples.

<ul>
	<li>He got his friend to help him&nbsp;move.</li>
	<li>My mother forces me to practice the piano every&nbsp;day.</li>
	<li>Our teacher is going to allow us to go home early&nbsp;today.</li>
	<li>The test is causing them to panic. It&rsquo;s really&nbsp;difficult.</li>
</ul>

<h1>III. The Passive&nbsp;Causative</h1>

<h3>Get &amp;&nbsp;Have</h3>

<h4>Subject (person) + Have / Get + Object (thing) + Past&nbsp;Participle</h4>

Can causative sentences be passive? Yes! The passive causative is quite common for services. For more information, see our blog post on the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-passive-causative">Passive&nbsp;Causative</a>.

<ul>
	<li>He had his car fixed (by a&nbsp;mechanic).</li>
	<li>She got her hair cut&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	<li>My sister got her nails&nbsp;done.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson">Lesson:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2325-causative-verbs" target="_blank">Causative Verbs</a></li>
	<li class="resource">Chart:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2314-causative-verbs-have-let-make" target="_blank">Causative Verbs: Have, Let &amp;&nbsp;Make</a></li>
	<li class="lesson">Lesson:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/1601-passive">Passive</a></li>
	<li class="resource">Chart:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2276-the-passive-voice" target="_blank">The Passive Voice</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post">Blog Post:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-passive-voice" target="_blank">The Passive Voice</a></li>
<li class="lesson">Lesson:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2834-passive-causative" target="_blank">The Passive Causative</a></li>
	<li class="resource">Chart:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2324-the-passive-causative-have-get" target="_blank">The Passive Causative: Have &amp;&nbsp;Get</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post">Blog Post:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-passive-causative" target="_blank">The Passive Causative</a></li>
</ul>

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Tanya Trusler