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

Grammar & Usage

<blockquote>
&quot;Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by&nbsp;education&hellip;&quot;

&mdash;Charlotte Bront&euml;
</blockquote>

The idea for this post came to me when I was editing some materials on likes and dislikes. In those lessons, sentences such as I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes, and I don&rsquo;t like celery, either were used. In this case, and is used, but I remembered how or must often be used in negative sentences such as I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes or&nbsp;celery.

This used to confuse my students so much! They&rsquo;d naturally want to write I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes and celery, because they didn&rsquo;t like both things. This kind of question always appears in tests like the TOEIC as well. So how do we explain it to&nbsp;students?

<h1>Or = not joining independent clauses</h1>

In English, or is used in negative sentences to join two or more nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, dependent clauses, etc. To recognize a negative sentence in English, look for adverbs such as not or&nbsp;never.

<h2>Trick #1</h2>

Tell students that if not is used once, they will most likely need or.

<ul>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like apples or&nbsp;oranges.</li>
	<li>English isn&rsquo;t quick or easy to&nbsp;learn.</li>
	<li>My friend doesn&rsquo;t want pork, beef, or fish for&nbsp;dinner.</li>
	<li>He never reads books or watches TV after&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>I didn&rsquo;t say that you could eat my food or that your friends could come&nbsp;over.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Trick #2</h2>

It might help to tell students to think of the full conjunction pairs of both&hellip;and and either&hellip;or.

<ul>
	<li>She likes (both) apples and&nbsp;oranges.</li>
	<li>She doesn&rsquo;t like (either) apples or oranges. (We would never say She doesn&rsquo;t like either apples and&nbsp;oranges.)</li>
</ul>

<h1>And = joining independent clauses</h1>

In English, and is used in negative sentences to join two independent&nbsp;clauses.

<h2>Trick #3</h2>

Tell students that if not is used twice, they will most likely need&nbsp;and.

<ul>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like basketball, and I don&rsquo;t like volleyball,&nbsp;either.</li>
	<li>Mr.&nbsp;Lutz doesn&rsquo;t want to meet today and he doesn&rsquo;t want to meet tomorrow,&nbsp;either.</li>
</ul>

Point out to your students that while these constructions are possible, they&rsquo;re quite long and cumbersome, and native speakers often prefer the shorter versions with or (I don&rsquo;t like basketball or volleyball; Mr. Lutz doesn&rsquo;t want to meet today or&nbsp;tomorrow.)

<h1>Exceptions</h1>

<h2>Exception #1</h2>

We can use and when it&rsquo;s not joining independent clauses to show that the items are joined (act as one unit&mdash;e.g., peanut butter and jelly). To avoid confusion, I recommend only pointing this out to higher-level students. Compare the&nbsp;difference:

<ul>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter or jelly. (I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter. I don&rsquo;t like&nbsp;jelly.)</li>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter and jelly. (I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter and jelly together, but I might like them&nbsp;separately.)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Exception #2</h2>

Don&rsquo;t forget that even though words such as hate or dislike have a negative meaning, not isn&rsquo;t used, so and is used to join two or more parts of&nbsp;speech.

<ul>
	<li>I dislike apples and oranges. (I dislike apples or oranges is&nbsp;incorrect.)</li>
	<li>She hates rain and snow. (She hates rain or snow is&nbsp;incorrect.)</li>
</ul>

I hope your students aren&rsquo;t confused or defeated by these conjunctions&nbsp;anymore!

Tanya

Or or And in Negative Sentences?

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Updated February 2017

There are two present verb tenses in English: the simple present and the present progressive (also known as the present continuous). Students sometimes have trouble figuring out when to use each tense, but I&rsquo;ve found that using a chart such as the one below is a great&nbsp;way to clearly explain the differences between the two&nbsp;tenses.

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2372"><img alt="Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive Chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/213/content_Tanya_Simple-Present-Vs-Present-Progressive_Chart.png" /></a>

<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2372">Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources

<h1>Simple Present</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<blockquote>
Base V (+ -s with third person singular subject)
</blockquote>

The simple present looks like the base form of the verb. With a third person singular subject, add the ending -s. Remind students that subjects that need -s include he, she, it, singular count nouns, or non‑count&nbsp;nouns.

<h2>Time Markers</h2>

<h3>A. Repeated Actions</h3>

<ul>
	<li>every (every day, every week, every month, every year,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>once, twice, three times, etc. (once a week, twice a month, three times a year,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>adverbs of frequency (always, almost always, often, usually, sometimes, almost never, never,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
</ul>

<h3>B. Non-Action Verbs</h3>

<ul>
	<li>be</li>
	<li>have</li>
	<li>feelings (love, like, hate,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>thinking verbs (think, know, believe,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>five senses (see, hear, taste, touch,&nbsp;smell)</li>
</ul>

Note: There are some exceptions to these rules. For example, some of the verbs above use the present progressive when taking on an &ldquo;action&rdquo; role, such as I&rsquo;m thinking of last night (&ldquo;remembering&rdquo;) vs. I think that global warming is a serious problem (&ldquo;opinion&rdquo;). Point this out to students, but remind them that these verbs don&rsquo;t usually use the -ing&nbsp;form.

<h3>C. True Facts</h3>

<ul>
	<li>scientific facts</li>
	<li>historical facts</li>
	<li>unchanging truths</li>
	<li>etc.</li>
</ul>

<h3>D. Schedules</h3>

<ul>
	<li>TV schedules</li>
	<li>transportation timetables</li>
	<li>etc.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I talk to my best friend every day. (repeated&nbsp;action)</li>
	<li>She never eats meat. (repeated action with adverb of&nbsp;frequency)</li>
	<li>He thinks that you shouldn&rsquo;t go out tonight. (non-action&nbsp;verb)</li>
	<li>Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. (true&nbsp;fact)</li>
	<li>Our favourite show starts at 8:00&nbsp;pm. (schedule)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Present Progressive</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<blockquote>
Be + -ing&nbsp;V
</blockquote>

The present progressive is formed by taking the Be&nbsp;verb and an action verb + -ing. Remind students that forms of the Be verb include am, are, is, and are, depending on the&nbsp;subject.

<h2>Time Markers</h2>

<ul>
	<li>now</li>
	<li>right now</li>
	<li>currently</li>
	<li>nowadays</li>
	<li>these days</li>
	<li>at the moment</li>
	<li>at this time</li>
	<li>presently</li>
</ul>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I am studying English&nbsp;nowadays.</li>
	<li>At the moment, Jim is taking a&nbsp;nap.</li>
	<li>He is shopping right now, so he can&rsquo;t meet up with&nbsp;us.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Non-Action Verbs</h2>

Even with the time markers above, non-action verbs almost never take -ing. For&nbsp;example:

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">She is happy&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">She is being happy&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li class="correct">My friend has a boyfriend at the&nbsp;moment.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">My friend is having a boyfriend at the&nbsp;moment.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

Time Markers provide the best clues for students to figure out what verb tense to use. I always suggest that students memorize the time markers that correspond to certain verb&nbsp;tenses.

<h1>Practice</h1>

Try our <a href="http://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons">Basic Grammar Sentences</a> sections for many lessons on the simple present and the present progressive. The <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1593">Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive</a> lesson has exercises that directly contrast the two verb tenses. We&rsquo;ve also got a new Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive resource <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2372-simple-present-vs-present-progressive">chart</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2372-simple-present-vs-present-progressive">worksheet</a>.

Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive

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<blockquote>
There&rsquo;s a whole lot of difference between they&rsquo;re, their, and&nbsp;there.
</blockquote>

Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently. They&rsquo;re, their, and there are some of the most troublesome homophones around. If L1 English speakers have trouble remembering when to use these terms, imagine how our students must feel!

Try presenting they&rsquo;re, their, and there to your students using the method outlined below. Consider reviewing this list often so that students are less likely to mix up these&nbsp;terms.

<h1>1. They&rsquo;re</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

Short for &ldquo;they are,&rdquo;&nbsp;it&rsquo;s the third person plural pronoun and the corresponding form of the Be&nbsp;verb.

<h2>Structure</h2>

They&rsquo;re is found at the beginning of a sentence or&nbsp;clause.

<h2>Trick</h2>

Say they are out loud or to yourself as you&rsquo;re writing. If it makes sense, use they&rsquo;re. If not, you&rsquo;ll need there instead, or their if followed by a&nbsp;noun.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>They&rsquo;re coming to the party tonight. (They&nbsp;are)</li>
	<li>I like those shoes. I wonder if they&rsquo;re for sale. (they are)</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Their</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

This is the third person plural possessive adjective. It means &ldquo;belonging to&nbsp;them.&rdquo;

<h2>Structure</h2>

Their always appears before a&nbsp;noun.

<h2>Trick</h2>

Look for a noun that follows. Also, saying they are out loud shouldn&rsquo;t make&nbsp;sense.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Is that their dog? (their + the noun dog; not they are&nbsp;dog)</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m sure they have their reasons. (their + the noun reasons; not they are&nbsp;reasons)</li>
</ul>

<h1>3. There</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

There has many functions in English. Two of the most common are an indefinite pronoun subject and a&nbsp;location.

<h2>Structure</h2>

There comes at the beginning or end of a sentence or clause. It appears at the beginning when it&rsquo;s acting as an indefinite pronoun, and at the end when describing a&nbsp;location.

<h2>Tricks</h2>

At the end of a sentence, it will always be there. At the beginning, say they are out loud or to yourself as you&rsquo;re writing. If it works, use they are. If it doesn&rsquo;t, use there. Don&rsquo;t forget that if it&rsquo;s at the beginning or end of a sentence but followed by a noun, you&rsquo;ll need to use&nbsp;their.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>There are two versions of this story. (indefinite pronoun; not they&nbsp;are)</li>
	<li>You can get your ticket at the table over there.&nbsp;(location)</li>
</ul>

There, that wasn&rsquo;t so&nbsp;hard!

Tanya

Teaching Tips: They're, Their & There

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<blockquote>
How do you explain &ldquo;you&rsquo;re&rdquo; and &ldquo;your&rdquo; to your students?
</blockquote>

Both L1 speakers and English language learners&nbsp;get these homophones confused. This is probably the most common mistake I see in newspapers, in signs, on social media, etc. Students of all levels could likely use a reminder of when to use you&rsquo;re and your. Try my tricks for remembering which is&nbsp;which!

<h1>1. You&rsquo;re</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

You&rsquo;re is a combination of the second person singular or plural pronoun and the Be verb. It&nbsp;stands for &quot;you are.&quot; It can be used as the subject of a sentence or&nbsp;clause.

<h2>Structure</h2>

You&rsquo;re comes at the beginning of a sentence or&nbsp;clause.

<h2>Trick</h2>

Say you are to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s possible to say you are, write you&rsquo;re, not&nbsp;your.

<ul>
	<li>You&rsquo;re great students. (You&nbsp;are)</li>
	<li>If you&rsquo;re not going to the party, I&rsquo;m not going, either. (you&nbsp;are)</li>
	<li>You should pay attention in class so that you&rsquo;re not missing anything important. (you&nbsp;are)</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Your</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

Your is a second person singular or plural possessive adjective. It indicates possession,&nbsp;ownership, and belonging.

<h2>Structure</h2>

Your comes before a&nbsp;noun.

<h2>Trick</h2>

Say you are to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s not possible to say you are, write your, not&nbsp;you&rsquo;re.

<ul>
	<li>Can I borrow your pencil? (not you are&nbsp;pencil)</li>
	<li>Your brother is really cute. (not you are&nbsp;brother)</li>
	<li>I wasn&rsquo;t sure if your friend was coming with us or not. (not you are&nbsp;friend)</li>
</ul>

Another trick is to notice if there is another verb in the sentence. You&rsquo;re already has a verb, so there won&rsquo;t be another main verb in the clause. Your needs a verb, so there will be a main verb in the&nbsp;clause.

<ul>
	<li>You&rsquo;re the best soccer player on our team. (no other&nbsp;verb)</li>
	<li>I really like your new car. (like is the&nbsp;verb)</li>
</ul>

Now you&rsquo;re sure your students get it,&nbsp;right?

Teaching Tips: You're & Your

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<blockquote>
&ldquo;Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live&nbsp;forever.&rdquo;

&mdash;Mahatma Gandhi
</blockquote>

Students have trouble figuring out when to use the &uuml;ber-common words to, too, and two. Even native speakers confuse these tricky homophones! Every level of English learner could use a review of these terms. Listing them on the board and providing some examples will go a long way to clearing things&nbsp;up!

<h1>1. To</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

To is a preposition that is used for many reasons in English. Some of the more common reasons include movement,&nbsp;direction, purpose, and as part of the infinitive verb&nbsp;structure.

<h2>Structure</h2>

You&rsquo;ll see to before a noun or before a base&nbsp;verb.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>He&rsquo;s going to the mall after class.&nbsp;(movement)</li>
	<li>A compass points&nbsp;to the north.&nbsp;(direction)</li>
	<li>They came to our aid.&nbsp;(purpose)</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m taking this class to improve my English. (infinitive of&nbsp;purpose)</li>
	<li>Do you want me to call you later?&nbsp;(infinitive)</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Too</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

Too is an adverb that means also or&nbsp;very.

<h2>Structure</h2>

Too is usually found at the end of a sentence after a comma (also meaning) or before an adjective or adverb (very&nbsp;meaning).

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I want to go to Paris, too.&nbsp;(also)</li>
	<li>Me, too. (also)</li>
	<li>The teacher spoke too quickly, so the students were confused.&nbsp;(very)</li>
	<li>That desk is too large to move by myself.&nbsp;(very)</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>*Note</h5>

The first and last examples are good for demonstrating to and too&nbsp;together!
</div>

<h1>3. Two</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

Two (2) is a number that means one plus one. As for the part of speech, most dictionaries call it an adjective, while most grammar books differ in what to call it: adjective, article, determiner, or&nbsp;quantifier.

<h2>Structure</h2>

Two is found before a noun, or on its own in a subject or object position if the noun is&nbsp;understood.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I bought two bags of chips at the&nbsp;supermarket.</li>
	<li>My roommate wanted to watch two movies last&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>A: How many books did you buy? 
	B: I bought two. 
	(books is&nbsp;understood)</li>
	<li>A: How many copies do you need? 
	B: Two should do it. 
	(copies is&nbsp;understood)</li>
</ul>

Here&rsquo;s to success with these&nbsp;terms!

Tanya

Teaching Tips: To, Too & Two

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<blockquote>
As teachers, we need to help each other&nbsp;out.
</blockquote>

Last week&rsquo;s blog post was about teaching students when to use <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tips-for-teaching-other-another-and-the-other">other, another, and the other</a>. But confusion over these terms might not stop there. How do we form the possessive&mdash;is it each other&rsquo;s or each others&rsquo;? And should a singular or plural noun follow the possessive form? Should we use each other or one another? Get prepared for all these potential student questions by brushing up on the rules&nbsp;below.

<h1>Each Other&rsquo;s or Each&nbsp;Others&rsquo;?</h1>

This can be confusing for students, because the rule for possessives is usually &rsquo;s for singular count and non-count nouns and s&rsquo; for plural count nouns (e.g., one teacher&rsquo;s desk, two teachers&rsquo; desks). However, you should point out to students that each other is treated as a singular pronoun and emphasizes two or more separate people. Each other&rsquo;s is always correct, and each others&rsquo; is never correct. Think of it this way: You would say&nbsp;We talked to each other for hours. You would never say We talked to each others for&nbsp;hours.

<ul>
	<li>The students marked each other&rsquo;s&nbsp;papers.</li>
	<li>They went to each other&rsquo;s houses last&nbsp;weekend.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Singular or Plural&nbsp;Noun?</h1>

Since each other implies that two or more people are involved, the noun that follows is usually a plural noun (if it&rsquo;s countable). Think of it this way: Let&rsquo;s review each other&rsquo;s essays means my essay and your essay; i.e., two&nbsp;essays.

<ul>
	<li>My roommate and I always borrow each other&rsquo;s jackets because we&rsquo;re the same&nbsp;size.</li>
	<li>We meet in each other&rsquo;s offices when we need to discuss important&nbsp;issues.</li>
</ul>

Note that not all grammarians or style guides agree on this point. As a general rule of thumb, a plural noun is considered more common, while a singular noun is considered more logical. This would be great to discuss with higher-level students, but I wouldn&rsquo;t recommend confusing lower-level students with it (stick with the rule above for lower&nbsp;levels).

<ul>
	<li>We borrowed each other&rsquo;s jackets. (correct&mdash;more common&mdash;the two jackets were&nbsp;switched)</li>
	<li>We borrowed each other&rsquo;s jacket. (correct&mdash;more logical&mdash;we each have one&nbsp;jacket)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Each Other or One Another?</h1>

The rule that grammar traditionalists follow is to use each other when there are only two people involved and one another for more than two. However, in my opinion, one another is quite formal, so each other can be used casually for more than two people. Also, I&rsquo;ve heard people use&nbsp;one another for two people in formal situations, not just for more than two people. That&rsquo;s why I teach my students to use&nbsp;each other no matter how many people are involved, but I do point out that they might see&nbsp;one another in formal writing or&nbsp;speaking.

<ul>
	<li>My best friend and I tell each other everything. (two people, casual, 100%&nbsp;correct)</li>
	<li>My best friend and I tell everything to one another. (two people, formal, generally&nbsp;accepted)</li>
	<li>As teachers, we need to help each other out. (many people, casual, generally&nbsp;accepted)</li>
	<li>As teachers, we need to help one another out. (many people, formal, 100%&nbsp;correct)</li>
</ul>

Source: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. section&nbsp;5.220.

Each Other's or Each Others'? Each Other or One Another?

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<h1>Yet another confusing grammar point&hellip;</h1>

Other, another, and the other are terms that students should be familiar with at a fairly low level. They appear in most beginner and intermediate‑level textbooks as well as on tests such as the TOEIC. Yet a lot of students seem to have trouble grasping when to use these adjectives. (I&rsquo;m using Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s categorization of &ldquo;adjectives&rdquo; for these terms, but personally, I usually refer to them as articles or determiners since I think that&rsquo;s closer to the role they fill&mdash;but that&rsquo;s a discussion for another blog post!) Once I started explaining these terms&nbsp;with the following chart, my students had an easier time keeping them straight. I hope your students will find this chart useful,&nbsp;too!

<table class="hasBorder">
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>General (a, an, X)</th>
<th>Specific (the)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Singular (one)</th>
<td><h5>Another</h5>e.g., I'm still hungry. I want another sandwich.
<td><h5>The Other</h5>e.g., No, not that pen. I want the other sandwich.
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Plural (more than one)</th>
<td><h5>Other</h5>e.g., Do you have any other books I can borrow?
<td><h5>The Other</h5>e.g., No, not those songs. Let's listen to the other songs / the others.
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<h3>Notes for teachers on General vs. Specific:</h3>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>Explain that GENERAL refers to an object that there are many of (one of many). Usually we can&rsquo;t see this&nbsp;object.</li>
	<li>Explain that we use &quot;a&quot; or &quot;an&quot;&nbsp;for a singular, general count noun, and that &quot;another&quot;&nbsp;is &quot;an&quot; + &quot;other.&quot;</li>
	<li>Explain that we don&#39;t use an article for plural, general count nouns, so &quot;other&quot;&nbsp;stands on its&nbsp;own.</li>
	<li>Explain that SPECIFIC&nbsp;refers to an object that there is only one of. Often we can see this object, and/or both speaker and listener know of this&nbsp;object.</li>
	<li>Explain that we use &quot;the&quot;&nbsp;with singular and plural specific nouns, so we use &quot;the&quot;&nbsp;+ &quot;other.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Notes for teachers on Other, Another, and The Other:</h3>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li>For ANOTHER and OTHER, point out that there are no other sandwiches or books around (we would normally say these sentences when we can&rsquo;t see a sandwich or other&nbsp;books).</li>
	<li>For ANOTHER, point out that the noun that follows is a singular count noun&nbsp;(doesn&rsquo;t end in ‑s).</li>
	<li>For OTHER, point out that the noun that follows is a plural count noun (ends in -s) OR&nbsp;a&nbsp;non‑count noun&nbsp;(doesn&#39;t end in&nbsp;‑s).</li>
	<li>For THE OTHER (singular), demonstrate with two pens (preferably different colours) on the table in front of you. Say &ldquo;No, not that pen&rdquo; (and point to the red pen). Say &ldquo;Pass me the other pen&rdquo; (and point to the blue pen). Point out that we can see the other&nbsp;pen.</li>
	<li>For THE OTHER (plural), draw two quick pretend playlists on the board. Say &ldquo;No, not those songs&rdquo; (and point to the first playlist). Say &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s listen to the other songs&rdquo; (and point to the second playlist). Point out that we can see the other songs, or both speaker and listener know which songs are being referred&nbsp;to.</li>
	<li>For THE OTHER (plural), point out that if the noun is already mentioned, we can drop the plural noun after &rdquo;other&rdquo; and make it &ldquo;others.&rdquo;&nbsp;Demonstrate again with the previous example, but say &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s listen to the others&rdquo; when pointing to the second&nbsp;playlist.</li>
	<li>Point out that THE OTHER is used for both&nbsp;count&nbsp;and&nbsp;non‑count&nbsp;nouns.</li>
</ul>

I hope your students now have no other questions about these&nbsp;terms! Here is a <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2941" target="_blank">ready-made resource</a>&nbsp;with a practice task.&nbsp;

Tanya

Teaching Tips: Other, Another & The Other

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<h3>I will resume writing my resume...</h3>

With all the different regions of the world that use English, and all the words borrowed from other languages, English spelling sure is problematic! There is often more than one acceptable spelling for a word. The team at ESL Library was recently confronted with some controversy over the spelling of &ldquo;resume.&rdquo;&nbsp;This word, which comes from&nbsp;the French noun &quot;r&eacute;sum&eacute;,&quot;&nbsp;appears many times in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/85/lessons">English at Work</a>&nbsp;lessons, as well as in a few lessons within the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons">Everyday Idioms (Part 2)</a> section and&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/75/lessons/1653">Employment</a>&nbsp;lesson&nbsp;in our Living in English section . We had been spelling &ldquo;resume&rdquo; without any accents, but had to make a decision as to whether we wanted to continue to spell it that way. We&rsquo;ll share our thought process below, and we&rsquo;d love to know what other teachers think.

<h3>What do the dictionaries say?</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">In the US: Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary lists this entry as r&eacute;sum&eacute; or resume, also resum&eacute;, which means that all forms are correct and acceptable. However, they consider &ldquo;r&eacute;sum&eacute;&rdquo; and &ldquo;resume&rdquo; to be equal variants, whereas &ldquo;resum&eacute;&rdquo; is a secondary variant and not as common as the first two options.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">In Canada: The Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English lists this entry as resum&eacute;, and doesn&rsquo;t list any variants. However, the Government of Canada&#39;s website uses both&nbsp;r&eacute;sum&eacute; and&nbsp;resume often. As a Canadian myself, I tend to use&nbsp;resume&nbsp;when typing online in order to avoid code problems.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">In the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa: In these countries, &ldquo;Curriculum Vitae&rdquo; or &ldquo;CV&rdquo; is preferred. However, the Oxford Dictionary Online lists this entry as resume: a variant spelling of r&eacute;sum&eacute; (North American), which means that they consider &ldquo;r&eacute;sum&eacute;&rdquo; to be the more acceptable form.</li>
</ul>

<h3>What about confusion with the verb &ldquo;resume&rdquo;?</h3>

Our consensus was that context is sufficient to determine whether &ldquo;resume&rdquo; is referring to the noun (CV) or the verb (to begin again). The noun is used primarily in business English contexts when discussing job hunting, applying for jobs, interviewing, etc. Students need to learn how to use context to help figure out word meanings; it&rsquo;s an essential skill. Words such as wind (noun) / wind (verb) and present (noun) / present (verb) don&rsquo;t normally pose a problem because the context usually clarifies which meaning/part of speech is being used.

<h3>What is best for the students?</h3>

My personal opinion is that students will most often see and write (i.e., type) &ldquo;resume&rdquo; without accents because that is the most common way it is spelled on computers and mobile devices. Most people don&rsquo;t bother using their &ldquo;special characters&rdquo; feature to find accented letters, especially in English where accents are rare. Also, many students are native speakers of languages where accents have specific functions that are not always related to pronunciation (some accents are used to indicate syllable stress, for example), and some students may never have seen accents at all. Using &ldquo;r&eacute;sum&eacute;&rdquo; or &ldquo;resum&eacute;,&rdquo;&nbsp;with accents, might result in confusion, if only at first.

However, after seeing &ldquo;resume&rdquo; in the lesson, I would advise that teachers talk to students about the other two spellings. I believe it&rsquo;s always a good idea to present the other variations of a word to students in case they come across them at some point.

<h3>Conclusion:</h3>

We are sticking with &ldquo;resume&rdquo; for now, but plan to include a note in the answer key to remind teachers to introduce the other spelling variations if they wish (especially if they are in countries outside the US). What do you think?

Tanya

<h3>Related</h3>

Try ESL Library&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2099">How to Write a Resume</a>&nbsp;lesson from our Writing in English section.

&nbsp;

Resume, Résumé, or Resumé?

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<h3>Students learn not only what the rules of parallel structure are, but also&nbsp;how to use paired joining terms.</h3>

Parallel structure is important in English, but it is all too often used incorrectly. From simple words to complex phrases, the basic rule of parallel structure is that all the elements must be equal (i.e., they must match) on either side of the comma or conjunction. Parallel structure is especially important when it comes to paired joining terms such as not only...but also, either...or, neither...nor, and both...and. Listed below are some of the rules, examples, and tricky cases that you can use when teaching your students about these terms.

<h3>General Rules of Parallel Structure</h3>

There must be a match in form and function when joining words, phrases, clauses, or sentences in English. The form must be the same; i.e., nouns must be joined to other nouns, verb + object phrases must be joined to other verb + object phrases, SVO clauses must be joined to other SVO clauses, etc.

Examples:

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">She cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and dusted the living room. (wrong: N, N, V + N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">She cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room. (correct: N, N, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">I wrote the report, called the client, and the storeroom was organized. (wrong: V + N, V+ N, N + V)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">I wrote the report, called the client, and organized the storeroom. (correct: V + N, V + N, V + N)</li>
</ul>

The grammatical function must also be the same; i.e., adjectives must be joined to other adjectives, past verbs should be joined to other past verbs, gerunds must be joined to other gerunds, etc.

Examples:

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">The house was old but a beauty. (wrong: Adj, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">The house was old but beautiful. (correct: Adj, Adj)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Specific Cases of Parallel Structure: Paired Joining Terms</h3>

The following expressions are mainly used for emphasis. They are especially common in writing. The most important thing to remember about these expressions is that the first joining term must be placed before the part of the sentence that has the same form and function as the second part of the sentence that you&rsquo;re trying to match. It&rsquo;s tricky! Native speakers and students alike make mistakes with this. Showing your students the examples below should make it clear.

<h3>1. Not only...but also</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">We not only ate pizza, but also pasta. (wrong: V + N, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">We ate not only pizza, but also pasta. (correct: N, N)</li>
</ul>

Be careful! When joining two sentences (using not only at the beginning of the sentence), the subject and verb become inverted.

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">Not only she will take a test, but she will also give a presentation. (wrong: no inversion)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Not only will she take a test, but she will also give a presentation. (correct: inversion)</li>
</ul>

For practice with not only...but also, try the exercise in Ellii&rsquo;s <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1396" title="esl-library-chris-hadfield">Chris Hadfield lesson</a>.

<h3>2. Either...or</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">The students can either choose to study or to exercise. (wrong: V + Infinitive, Infinitive)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">The students can choose either to study or to exercise. (correct: Infinitive, Infinitive)</li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Neither...nor</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">My roommate neither likes the red dress nor the green dress. (wrong: V + N, N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">My roommate likes neither the red dress nor the green dress. (correct: N, N)</li>
</ul>

Point out to students that using not with either...or has the same meaning as neither...nor. Neither...nor is quite formal and not often used in speaking, so understanding how to change it to not with either...or is useful for students.

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">They ate neither the apples nor the oranges. (correct, but formal, used in formal writing)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">They didn&rsquo;t eat either the apples or the oranges. (correct, more common in informal writing and speaking)</li>
</ul>

<h3>4. Both...and</h3>

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">The child both wanted to ride the roller coaster and&nbsp;to eat ice cream. (wrong: V + Infinitive + N, Infinitive&nbsp;+ N)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">The child wanted both to ride the roller coaster and&nbsp;to eat ice cream. (correct: Infinitive + N, Infinitive + N)</li>
</ul>

I hope you found this post useful for&nbsp;both&nbsp;your students and&nbsp;yourself,

Tanya

Source: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, section 5.214.

Parallel Structure and Paired Joining Terms

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<blockquote>
If I were you&hellip;
</blockquote>

English doesn&rsquo;t just have verb tenses, it also has voices and moods. One of the moods that students struggle with most is the subjunctive. The subjunctive is used only in specific cases that students aren&rsquo;t often exposed to until they reach a high‑intermediate or advanced level. But presenting the subjunctive earlier on isn&rsquo;t a bad idea&mdash;when it&rsquo;s laid out in certain patterns (see below), it becomes easier to understand and remember. Also, this form is often included in certain tests such as the TOEIC, and students of all levels take these tests. Most students wish the subjunctive were easier to learn&mdash;make their wish a&nbsp;reality!

<h1>The Subjunctive</h1>

In English, the subjunctive is a grammatical mood that is used to express an unreal situation such as a wish, possibility, or action that may or may not happen. The most common occurrences of the subjunctive that students are likely to encounter include sentences reporting suggestions, the second conditional, and sentences with&nbsp;&ldquo;wish.&rdquo;

<h1>1. Reporting Suggestions</h1>

<h2>Use #1</h2>

The subjunctive form is used for reporting suggestions. Certain verbs (that I like to call verbs of suggestion to help students easily pick them out) in the independent (main) clause will result in the base form of the verb in the dependent &ldquo;that&rdquo; clause. Point out this pattern to&nbsp;students:

Verb of suggestion + that + base&nbsp;verb

Some of the more common verbs of suggestion that follow this pattern include: advise, ask, demand, insist, prefer, propose, recommend, request, require, suggest, and urge.

<ul>
	<li>His boss demanded that he work&nbsp;overtime.</li>
	<li>Her teacher suggested that she study for three hours last&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>I prefer that he speak to me&nbsp;directly.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Use #2</h2>

The subjunctive form is also used for giving strong suggestions or commands. Certain adjectives (that I call adjectives of importance to help students remember) in the independent clause will result in the base form of the verb in the dependent &ldquo;that&rdquo; clause. Point out this pattern to&nbsp;students:

Adjective of importance + that + base&nbsp;verb

Some common adjectives that follow this pattern include: important, necessary, imperative, essential, vital, and&nbsp;urgent.

<ul>
	<li>It was important that he call me&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	<li>It is essential that the operator of this machine remain calm during an&nbsp;emergency.</li>
	<li>I think it is necessary that your dog be kept on a leash while in this&nbsp;area.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Notes</h2>

<h3>Note #1</h3>

Make sure you don&rsquo;t give students example sentences where they won&rsquo;t notice the base verb. If you use the simple present tense and a subject other than the third-person singular, students may think it&rsquo;s a simple present verb in the dependent clause instead of a base verb. For instance, in the sentence They suggest that we look over the document, &ldquo;look&rdquo; could be mistaken for a simple present verb instead of a base&nbsp;verb.

<h3>Note #2</h3>

The subjunctive often occurs in clauses that begin with &ldquo;that.&rdquo; Point out to students that seeing &ldquo;that&rdquo; is a good indication that the subjunctive may be required (particularly on a test such as the TOEIC). However, &ldquo;that&rdquo; can be dropped in English, so it isn&rsquo;t always a surefire way to spot the subjunctive. (E.g., I suggested that he study for at least two hours. / I suggested he study for at least two hours.) It&rsquo;s more important to notice the verb or adjective in the main clause. Is the meaning of the verb &ldquo;suggestion&rdquo;? Is the meaning of the adjective &ldquo;importance&rdquo;? If so, the subjunctive should be&nbsp;used.

<h1>2. The Second Conditional</h1>

The second conditional, also known as the unreal conditional, follows this&nbsp;pattern:

If + past, would + base verb

It is used to show an unlikely or impossible outcome that probably wouldn&rsquo;t happen. The subjunctive mood becomes apparent when we use the be verb. This verb always takes the form of were, no matter what the subject is. It&rsquo;s a holdover from long ago when we used certain forms to express mood far more often than we do nowadays. It&rsquo;s important to point out this was/were case to your students because they won&rsquo;t be expecting it! Give them a few examples (make sure the subject would normally take &ldquo;was&rdquo;). You could also print out the lyrics to &ldquo;If I Were a Boy&rdquo; by Beyonce and play it in class as a fun way to see the subjunctive in&nbsp;use.

<ul>
	<li>If I were rich, I&rsquo;d travel around the&nbsp;world.</li>
	<li>If he weren&rsquo;t so lazy, he would get good&nbsp;grades.</li>
</ul>

For more tips on the conditional forms, check out my blog post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/an-easy-way-to-teach-conditionals">An Easy Way to Teach Conditionals</a>. For an example of this form in use, look at the quote in the Grammar Review section of our Mini‑Debates lesson <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1312">The Right to&nbsp;Die</a>.

<h1>3. Wish</h1>

Another case where the subjunctive is used in English is with the verb wish. When wish is used in the independent clause, the be verb always takes the form were in the dependent clause when there is a present or future meaning. This confuses students for two reasons: 1) Why do we use a past verb when our meaning is present or future? 2) Why don&rsquo;t we use was for the first and third persons singular? Again, we use were to indicate a hypothetical or unreal situation. It&rsquo;s good to get them to memorize the pattern wish&nbsp;+&nbsp;were.

<ul>
	<li>I wish I were able to go to Vegas with you next month, but there&rsquo;s no way I can get the time off&nbsp;work.</li>
	<li>She wishes that she were&nbsp;taller.</li>
</ul>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Note about wish and&nbsp;hope</h5>

Wish indicates an impossible or unlikely situation (much like the second conditional); use were, a past verb, a past perfect verb, or would&nbsp;+&nbsp;verb.

<ul>
	<li>I wish you would stop growing so&nbsp;fast.</li>
</ul>

Hope indicates a possible situation (much like the first conditional); use a&nbsp;present verb or&nbsp;will&nbsp;+&nbsp;verb.

<ul>
	<li>I hope you&nbsp;feel better&nbsp;soon.</li>
</ul>
</div>

If I were filthy rich, I&rsquo;d still blog about&nbsp;grammar!

Tanya

<h1>Sources</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Collins Cobuild English Grammar, section 7.40.</li>
	<li>My own brain after 10 years of teaching TOEIC. :)</li>
</ul>

Tips for Teaching the Subjunctive

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<blockquote>
Are you yourself confused by reflexive pronouns being used intensively, or is it only your students who are&nbsp;confused?
</blockquote>

As we were working on the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons/1541">Gerald R. Ford lesson</a> this week at ESL&nbsp;Library, the topic of intensive pronouns came up because of this&nbsp;sentence:

<blockquote>
&ldquo;President Nixon himself resigned a year later due to his involvement in an illegal cover‑up related to his re‑election&nbsp;campaign.&rdquo;
</blockquote>

This got us talking about reflexive pronouns that are specifically used for emphasis, which are known as intensive pronouns. But what are the differences in usage and sentence position between reflexive pronouns in general and intensive pronouns? Here is the breakdown for teaching these pronouns to your&nbsp;students:

<h1>Reflexive Pronouns</h1>

<h2>Usage</h2>

Reflexive pronouns reflect the subject of the verb. Use these pronouns when the subject and object of the verb are the same&nbsp;person.

<h2>Sentence Position</h2>

Reflexive pronouns are most often found in the object position. They can also appear in an indirect object position, meaning they can follow a&nbsp;preposition.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>We asked ourselves if the new system would actually&nbsp;work. (direct object)</li>
	<li>I really hurt myself this morning when I fell down the&nbsp;stairs.&nbsp;(direct object)</li>
	<li>She looked at herself in the mirror for&nbsp;hours.&nbsp;(indirect object)</li>
	<li>They think of themselves as upstanding members of the&nbsp;community. (indirect object)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Intensive Pronouns</h1>

<h2>Usage</h2>

Intensive pronouns are reflexive pronouns that are used to emphasize the subject or object&nbsp;noun.

<h2>Sentence Position</h2>

Intensive pronouns are usually appositive, meaning they follow the subject directly. They can also follow an&nbsp;object.

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>President Nixon himself resigned a year later due to his involvement in an illegal cover-up related to his re‑election&nbsp;campaign.</li>
	<li>Even though everyone expected her to know it already, she herself was surprised by the&nbsp;news.</li>
	<li>I am not a very punctual person&nbsp;myself.</li>
	<li>You don&rsquo;t need help. You can do it&nbsp;yourself.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Summary</h1>

Reflexive pronouns are the object or indirect object of the main verb, and therefore will follow the verb. Intensive pronouns will never appear in an object position; they will follow a noun&nbsp;(appositive).

Compare the following sentences to make the distinction crystal&nbsp;clear:

<ul>
	<li>I cut myself. (Reflexive; myself is the object of the verb cut; I did this action to&nbsp;myself.)</li>
	<li>I cut her hair myself. (Intensive; my hair is the object of the verb cut; myself emphasizes the subject I because it&rsquo;s surprising/unexpected&nbsp;that I cut her hair since I&rsquo;m not a&nbsp;hairdresser.)</li>
</ul>

<div class="white-box">
<h5>Note</h5>

A preposition isn&rsquo;t enough to determine whether a pronoun is reflexive or intensive. The important thing is to look for the object. Remember, if there is another object, the pronoun is probably&nbsp;intensive.

<ul>
	<li>Why were you staring at yourself in the mirror? (Reflexive; at yourself is the indirect object of the verb were&nbsp;staring.)</li>
	<li>You can do it by yourself (Intensive; it is the object of the verb&nbsp;do.)</li>
</ul>
</div>

I myself hope that you&rsquo;ve enjoyed this&nbsp;post!

Tanya

<h4>Sources</h4>

<ul>
	<li>Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, section&nbsp;5.49.</li>
	<li>Collins Cobuild English Grammar, section&nbsp;1.121.</li>
</ul>

Reflexive Vs. Intensive Pronouns

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<h1>Everyday practice means practicing every day...</h1>

As a teacher, I saw students often confuse the terms&nbsp;everyday and every day, mostly because they were unaware of the grammar involved. And as an editor, I see this mistake in native speakers&rsquo; writing all too frequently. It&rsquo;s not only a matter of spelling; the spelling reflects the grammar rules that must be adhered to. But fear not! The grammar rules are easy to remember, and if you read through this post, you and your students will most likely never make this mistake again.

<blockquote>
<h2>Rule</h2>
If you&rsquo;re unsure which form to use, look for the noun. Is there a noun that follows? If so, use everyday. If not, use every day.</blockquote>

<h3>Everyday</h3>

Everyday, spelled as one word, is an adjective that must come before a noun (see the note below concerning this adjective following the be verb).

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">Our band has an everyday practice session.</li>
	<li dir="ltr">The everyday uses of this new technology are numerous.</li>
	<li dir="ltr">These are just my everyday clothes. I&rsquo;ll dress up tonight.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Every day</h3>

Every day, spelled as two words, is a time expression that is best defined as an adverbial expression. It takes the same sentence position as many adverbs and adverb clauses do, namely at the beginning or end of the sentence or clause. It is technically an adjective and a noun (but note that some grammar books, unlike most dictionaries, classify every as an article or quantifier), though together these terms take on an adverb function.

<ul>
	<li dir="ltr">Our band practices every day. (Note: the American spelling of the verb is practices.)</li>
	<li dir="ltr">Every day before school, I review my notes from the previous lesson.</li>
	<li dir="ltr">He calls his girlfriend every day to show her that he cares.</li>
</ul>

<h3 dir="ltr">Note</h3>

In English, most adjectives can either come before a noun or follow the verb to be (e.g., She is intelligent. The painting was beautiful.) However, the adjective everyday will not occur in this position (e.g., The practice session is&nbsp;everyday at 6:00 pm. = incorrect). When we use the be verb in this case, the meaning is about the time or frequency, so we should write the time expression every day (e.g., The practice session is&nbsp;every day at 6:00 pm. = correct). It&rsquo;s a good idea to point this out to students so that they won&rsquo;t make the understandable mistake of using the adjective form after the be verb for this case.

You can see examples of these terms in use right in the titles of these ESL Library&#39;s sections: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/77/lessons">Everyday Idioms</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons">Everyday Dialogues</a>.

I really should (and will!) write a blog post dedicated to the different time expressions in English: adverbs of frequency (e.g., always, sometimes), adverb clauses (e.g., when + SVO), and adjective + noun (e.g., every day, once a week). Coming soon!

Wishing you happiness every day,

Tanya

&nbsp; &nbsp;

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Tanya Trusler