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

Grammar & Usage

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Teaching with Ellii

<blockquote>
<p>Nobody wants to be isolated&mdash;not even verb&nbsp;tenses!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Most textbooks present verb tenses in isolation. Students study the simple present before moving onto the present progressive, simple past, etc. This is necessary at first because students need to learn all the rules and exceptions for the <strong>form</strong>&nbsp;(how to form the verb) and <strong>function</strong> (when it&rsquo;s used) of each verb tense in&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>After they&rsquo;ve learned a verb tense, however, it&rsquo;s not always beneficial to only give exercise after exercise where students must produce that one tense. It&rsquo;s easy enough to produce the simple present when it&rsquo;s the only tense being asked for, but can your students distinguish when to use the simple present vs. the present progressive? How about the present vs. the past and&nbsp;future?</p>

<h1>Mix It Up</h1>

<p>When I was teaching four‑skills classes, I found most textbooks were sorely lacking in this area. The tenses were only taught in isolation, and though my students could ace an exercise, they couldn&rsquo;t use the tense properly in general speech or writing. My TOEIC students had the advantage of studying/reviewing some or all the tenses at the same time.</p>

<p>When I saw how teaching and practicing multiple tenses worked for the &ldquo;big verb tense picture,&rdquo; I started creating my own review sheets that mixed the tenses. That way, my students learned how the tenses worked together, and they really understood the importance of <strong>context</strong> and <strong>time markers</strong>. They were better able to <strong>produce the correct tense in everyday speaking and writing</strong>. And as a teacher, I could easily see which tenses were still causing trouble for my&nbsp;students.</p>

<h1>Time for a Change</h1>

<p>At ESL Library, we strive to provide much more than the average textbook. We recently created a NEW, ready‑made mixed tense lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section: <strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1963">Verb Tense Review 1 &ndash; The Simple&nbsp;Tenses</a></strong>.</p>

<p>This lesson offers 13 pages of various combinations of <em>the simple present</em>, <em>simple past</em>, <em>simple future</em>, <em>present progressive</em> (also known as <em>present continuous</em>), <em>past progressive</em>, and <em>future&nbsp;progressive</em>.</p>

<p>You&rsquo;ll find exercises that&nbsp;combine:</p>

<ul>
	<li>all six tenses</li>
	<li>the present, past, and&nbsp;future</li>
	<li>the simple present and present&nbsp;progressive</li>
	<li>the simple past and past&nbsp;progressive</li>
	<li>the simple future and future&nbsp;progressive</li>
</ul>

<p>The exercises include verb worksheets as well as speaking and writing exercises, so you will clearly see which tenses your students have mastered and which still require some&nbsp;work.</p>

<p><strong><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1997">Verb Tense Review 2 &ndash; The Perfect Tenses</a>&nbsp;</strong>is also available now. This review features a mix of <em>the present perfect</em>, <em>present perfect progressive</em>, <em>past perfect</em>, <em>past perfect progressive</em>, <em>future perfect</em>, and <em>future perfect&nbsp;progressive</em>.</p>

<p>We hope these worksheets are beneficial to you and your students! Please let us know what you think in the comment section&nbsp;below.</p>


Teaching Mixed Tenses

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<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Effective use of the comma involves good judgment, with ease of reading the end in view.&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>How can such a little punctuation mark cause so much trouble for both English language learners and native speakers? There are so many cases where commas are needed (such as with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/restrictive-non-restrictive-adjective-clauses/" target=_"blank">non-restrictive adjective clauses</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjective-order-and-punctuation/" target=_"blank">multiple adjectives</a>), where it&#39;s your choice to use them or not (such as with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/in-defence-of-the-serial-comma/" target=_"blank">the serial comma</a>), and where they&nbsp;shouldn&#39;t be used&nbsp;(such as with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/restrictive-non-restrictive-adjective-clauses/" target=_"blank">restrictive adjective clauses</a>). Also, as more&nbsp;of us text and write on our computers or other mobile devices, comma usage seems to be dwindling.</p>

<p>So where does this leave students who are trying to learn the correct way to use commas? Luckily, there are a few basic&nbsp;rules that will still be considered correct for a long time to come.</p>

<h2>Independent Clauses</h2>

<h3>Rule #1: Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If two independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (<em>and, but, so,</em>&nbsp;<em>or</em>), use a comma. This is true whether the subject is the same or different in both clauses. This is also true for imperative sentences where the subject is dropped.</p>

<ul>
	<li>They are just finishing up&nbsp;the report, so&nbsp;they&nbsp;are almost&nbsp;ready to present it to the boss. (<em>same subject</em>)</li>
	<li>She didn&#39;t like the restaurant I recommended, but her husband really enjoyed it. (<em>different subjects</em>)</li>
	<li>Discuss these questions with your group, and be sure to take notes during the discussion. (<em>imperative verbs</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rule #2: No Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If the conjunction is only joining&nbsp;parts of the independent clauses (i.e., the second subject and/or verb is dropped because it is the same), no comma should be used. However, if you teach higher-level students, you may want to point out that a comma could&nbsp;be added if the first clause is quite long (for the sake of readability&mdash;see the conclusion below).</p>

<ul>
	<li>We finished the report and presented it to the boss.</li>
	<li>They want to go skiing and snowboarding over the holidays.</li>
	<li>I&#39;ll call him tonight or email him tomorrow.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rule #3: Comma Optional</h3>

<p>If the two independent clauses are very short, you can omit the comma. As noted in the intro, the trend nowadays is to omit the comma wherever possible. Note that students might be wondering how they can tell if a clause is &#39;short.&#39; Remind them that if they&#39;re in doubt, use a comma because that will always be considered correct. In fact, you may not want to mention this rule to your lower-level students&mdash;it might cause unnecessary confusion.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I cooked and she cleaned.</li>
	<li>Lisa made cookies&nbsp;and Pedro baked a cake.</li>
	<li>Raise your right hand and repeat after me.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Dependent Clauses</h2>

<h3>Rule #4: Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If the dependent clause comes before the independent clause, use a comma.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Even though it was raining, I didn&#39;t bring an umbrella.</li>
	<li>Because you reminded him, he&nbsp;brought the necessary documents to the meeting.</li>
	<li>If she calls in sick, I will take over for her.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rule #5: No Comma Needed</h3>

<p>If the dependent clause comes after the independent clause, don&#39;t use a comma.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I didn&#39;t bring an umbrella even though it was raining.</li>
	<li>He&nbsp;brought the necessary documents to the meeting because you reminded&nbsp;him.</li>
	<li>I will take over for her if she calls in sick.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>Tell your students they can feel confident that their written work will always be correct if they follow the rules above. But make sure they also understand that some commas are optional (or can be&nbsp;added or deleted for readability even when it&#39;s not the usual rule). They will come across instances where the rules aren&#39;t followed to a T (and that&#39;s usually okay). The good news is that even if they make a mistake with the rules above, it won&#39;t always be considered wrong. If there is another comma case you&#39;d like me to blog about, just&nbsp;leave a comment below!&nbsp;</p>

<p>Source:&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th edition, sections 6.16&ndash;6.32</p>


Commas in Independent & Dependent Clauses

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<p>There are&nbsp;many commonly confused words in English, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">too/two/to</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/">there/their/they&#39;re</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">your/you&#39;re</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-explain-despite-vs-although/" target="_blank">despite/although</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/lay-vs-lie-lets-lay-this-matter-to-rest/" target="_blank">lay/lie</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/inquire-vs-enquire/" target="_blank">inquire/enquire</a>, etc. Words get&nbsp;confused because they have similar sounds, spellings, and/or meanings. Tara, our head writer, recently asked for a post about the difference between&nbsp;<em>assure</em> and&nbsp;<em>ensure</em> so she could include it in a lesson. While we&#39;re at it, let&#39;s take a look at&nbsp;<em>insure</em>,&nbsp;too!</p>

<h1>Assure, Ensure &amp; Insure</h1>

<p>Some would argue that these words are&nbsp;interchangeable since they can&nbsp;all be&nbsp;defined as &quot;to make certain; to guarantee.&quot;&nbsp;However,&nbsp;most people&nbsp;would argue (and most dictionaries would corroborate) that they are used for different situations. I&#39;d recommend teaching your students&nbsp;the most common uses (and differences)&nbsp;below.</p>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Assure</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to tell someone that something will definitely&nbsp;happen</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(ah-SHURE) or, when speaking quickly,&nbsp;/ə&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(uh-SHURE)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I can&nbsp;<em>assure</em> <strong>you</strong> that&nbsp;your&nbsp;package will arrive on&nbsp;time.</li>
				<li>The teacher&nbsp;<em>assured</em> <strong>the students</strong> that the test would only cover chapters 1 and&nbsp;2.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teaching Tip:</th>
			<td>Look for a direct object that is a&nbsp;<strong>person</strong>.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Ensure</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to guarantee that something will&nbsp;happen</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/ɛn&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(en-SHURE)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>He took steps to&nbsp;<em>ensure</em> <strong>his gift</strong> would arrive before December&nbsp;25.</li>
				<li>Correcting homework as a class will <em>ensure</em> <strong>that your students have understood the previous day&#39;s&nbsp;lesson</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teaching Tip:</th>
			<td>Look for a direct object that is <strong>not a</strong>&nbsp;<strong>person</strong>, or look for a <strong>noun clause</strong> instead of an&nbsp;object.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Insure</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to buy insurance for&nbsp;something (see the definition for <em>insurance</em> below)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/ɪn&nbsp;ˈʃʌr/&nbsp;(in-SHURE)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Do you want to <em>insure</em> <strong>your package</strong> against damage or&nbsp;theft?</li>
				<li>I <em>insured</em> <strong>my car</strong>&nbsp;for the maximum amount yesterday, so now I&#39;m&nbsp;broke.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Teaching Tip:</th>
			<td><em>Insure</em>&nbsp;is most commonly used for legal and financial purposes. Look for&nbsp;a direct object that is a <strong>thing</strong>, not a&nbsp;person.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>Teaching Tip</h2>

<p>I came across a great teaching tip from <a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/assure-versus-ensure-versus-insure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Charles Carson</a> to help your students remember these terms! (I found this tip&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/assure-versus-ensure-versus-insure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Grammar Girl&#39;s website</a> in a post called <a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/assure-versus-ensure-versus-insure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Assure Versus Ensure Versus Insure</a>.)&nbsp;Students appreciate good memory&nbsp;tricks!</p>

<blockquote>
<p>&quot;&hellip;use <strong>assure</strong> for things that are alive (remember that <strong>a</strong> is for <strong>alive</strong>), <strong>ensure</strong> to guarantee events and conditions (remember those two <strong>e</strong>&#39;s at the end of <strong>guarantee</strong>), and <strong>insure</strong> for all of the above in financial contexts (remember the <strong>i</strong> is for&nbsp;<strong>income</strong>).&quot;</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>Assurance &amp; Insurance</h1>

<p>How about the noun forms?&nbsp;<em>Ensure</em> doesn&#39;t have one, so we don&#39;t have to worry about that. And&nbsp;<em>assurance</em> and&nbsp;<em>insurance</em> have quite different meanings, so they are easier for students to learn than the verb&nbsp;forms.</p>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Assurance</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>noun</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>the state of being sure about&nbsp;something</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;&nbsp;ˈʃʌ&nbsp;ˌr&aelig;ns/&nbsp;(ah-SHU-ranse) or, when speaking quickly, /ə&nbsp;ˈʃʌ&nbsp;ˌrəns/&nbsp;(uh-SHUH-rinse)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Example:</th>
			<td>You say the package will arrive&nbsp;on time, but what <em>assurance</em> do I have? It was two weeks late last&nbsp;time.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Insurance</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>noun</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>a policy/agreement where payments are made to protect something against future loss or&nbsp;damage</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/ɪn&nbsp;ˈʃʌ ˌr&aelig;ns/&nbsp;(in-SHU-ranse)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Example:</th>
			<td>Most people buy car <em>insurance</em>, home <em>insurance</em>, and life <em>insurance</em> to protect themselves and their&nbsp;families.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Show your students the word&nbsp;<em>assure</em> in context in the description of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons/1926" target="_blank">Lesson 1, A Recipe for Disaster</a>, of our brand new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons/" target="_blank">Detective Series 2,&nbsp;<em>False&nbsp;Alarm</em></a>. Did you notice that&nbsp;a lot of the examples above involved sending packages by mail or courier? With Christmas right around the corner, you could naturally use these terms in context at this time of&nbsp;year.</p>


Assure, Ensure & Insure

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<h1>Can I inquire about your inquiry?</h1>

<p>English-speaking countries around the world spell most words similarly. But there are a few American spelling differences that we&#39;re all familiar with, such as -or/-our (American&nbsp;<em>color</em>, British&nbsp;<em>colour</em>) and -er/-re (American&nbsp;<em>center</em>, British&nbsp;<em>centre</em>). However, one difference that many people have trouble remembering (myself included) is&nbsp;<em>inquire/enquire</em>. Which is British and which is American? Do they have the same meaning? What about the noun forms? Even though these words are quite formal (and therefore well-suited to a Business English or test-prep class), any English language learner would benefit from a refresher on which spelling to use in what&nbsp;country.</p>

<h1>Verb Form: Inquire Vs. Enquire</h1>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<th>Inquire, Inquired, Inquiring</th>
			<th>Enquire, Enquired, Enquiring</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>More common in&hellip;</th>
			<td>American &amp; Canadian English</td>
			<td>British English</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Use in&hellip;</th>
			<td>US &amp; Canada</td>
			<td>other English-speaking countries</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>Do the verbs&nbsp;<em>inquire/enquire</em> have the same meaning? The short answer is &quot;yes.&quot;&nbsp;They both are a formal way of saying &quot;ask about&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;investigate&quot;&nbsp;something.&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary</em> (US), for example, lists both definitions under <em>inquire</em>. However, the traditional distinction is that&nbsp;<em>enquire</em> is used for &quot;ask&quot;&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>inquire</em> is used for &quot;investigate,&quot;&nbsp;so it is possible to see both forms used in the same country. Confused yet? My advice is to tell most students to stick with&nbsp;<em>inquire</em> in the US/Canada and <em>enquire</em> elsewhere, and only discuss the other possibility with higher-level students.</p>

<h1>Noun Form: Inquiry Vs. Enquiry</h1>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>&nbsp;</th>
			<th>Inquiry, Inquiries</th>
			<th>Enquiry, Enquiries</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>More common in&hellip;</th>
			<td>American &amp; Canadian English</td>
			<td>British English</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Use in&hellip;</th>
			<td>US &amp; Canada</td>
			<td>other English-speaking countries</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>Do the nouns&nbsp;<em>inquiry/enquiry</em>&nbsp;have the same meaning?&nbsp;Like the verb forms, both noun forms are formal and refer to &quot;asking for information&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;an investigation.&quot;&nbsp;American and Canadian English use&nbsp;<em>inquiry&nbsp;</em>for both meanings, whereas British English prefers&nbsp;<em>enquiry</em> for &quot;asking for information&quot;&nbsp;and <em>inquiry</em> for &quot;an&nbsp;investigation.&quot;</p>

<h1>Pronunciation</h1>

<p>What about pronunciation? Do&nbsp;<em>inquire</em> and&nbsp;<em>enquire&nbsp;</em>sound different? When you&#39;re speaking at a natural pace, they sound exactly the same. This is because unstressed vowels in English are pronounced with a schwa sound (/ə/,&nbsp;the sound in &quot;the&quot;).</p>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Word</th>
			<th>Pronunciation</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>inquire</th>
			<td>/ˌən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>inquiry</th>
			<td>/ən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquire</th>
			<td>/ˌən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquiry</th>
			<td>/ən&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>However, when&nbsp;speaking slowly or enunciating carefully (or pronouncing the noun with the stress on the first syllable), you will hear the&nbsp;difference.</p>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Word</th>
			<th>Pronunciation</th>
			<th>Note</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>inquire</th>
			<td>/ˌɪn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
			<td rowspan="2">/ɪ/ is the sound in &quot;tin&quot;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>inquiry</th>
			<td>/ˌɪn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ri/ or /ˈɪn&nbsp;kwə&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquire</th>
			<td>/ˌɛn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪr/</td>
			<td rowspan="2">/ɛ/ is the sound in &quot;ten&quot;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>enquiry</th>
			<td>/ˌɛn&nbsp;ˈkwaɪ&nbsp;ˌri/ or /ˈɛn&nbsp;kwə&nbsp;ˌri/</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>Do I tell my students all of this? You bet! Students generally speak slowly when they&#39;re learning another language, so they should learn to pronounce these words differently. But my students are always excited to try speaking quickly, so get them to try pronouncing these words with the schwa, too. It&#39;s also important for them to realize that when they hear a native speaker saying these words, both terms will probably sound the&nbsp;same. A note on the pronunciation of the noun form: Do you place the stress on the first or second syllable? In the US and Canada, both are possible. In fact,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inquiry" target="_blank"><em>Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online</em></a> (US)<em>&nbsp;</em>lists five different possible pronunciations! The&nbsp;<em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English</em> lists the two mentioned above. <a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/enquiry?searchDictCode=all" target="_blank"><em>Oxford Dictionaries Online</em></a> lists only the stress on the second syllable in their British &amp; World English dictionary. We&#39;d love to hear from fellow teachers around the world in our comments section: Where are you, and how do you pronounce&nbsp;<em>inquiry/enquiry</em>?</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Challenge your students by writing this on the board: &quot;Can I inquire about your enquiry?&quot;&nbsp;See if they can tell you what&#39;s wrong. (Answer: You shouldn&#39;t mix American and British spellings together. Choose one or the other, depending on where you live. In the US, use &quot;Can I inquire about your inquiry?&quot;&nbsp;In other English-speaking countries, use &quot;Can I enquire about your&nbsp;enquiry?&quot;&nbsp;You&#39;ll find the words&nbsp;<em>inquire</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>inquiry</em>&nbsp;used throughout our NEW Writing lesson:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1942">How to Write a Business Letter</a>. Try it with your&nbsp;class!</p>

Inquire Vs. Enquire

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<h3>Have you ever heard of such a thing?</h3>

<p>I was editing one of our simple past lessons recently, and I was trying to change one of the comprehension questions from the present perfect to the simple past so as not to introduce another verb tense into the lesson. The question was <em>Have you ever seen a car accident?</em>&nbsp;Changing it to D<em>id you ever see a car accident?</em>&nbsp;sounded unnatural to me, so I didn&#39;t include it in the lesson. However, this made the ESL Library team wonder if we could naturally use &quot;ever,&quot;&nbsp;which provides emphasis on&nbsp;<strong>any</strong>&nbsp;time in the past,&nbsp;with the simple past in English.</p>

<h3>&quot;Ever&quot;&nbsp;with the Present Perfect</h3>

<p>The adverb &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp; is normally used with a present perfect verb, since this tense is used for an unspecified past time. (E.g., <em>I have tried frog&#39;s legs.</em>) For more information on the present perfect, check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-easy-steps-for-teaching-the-present-perfect-and-the-present-perfect-progressive/">5 Easy Steps for Teaching the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Progressive</a>. With the present perfect, &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;is used in questions and negative sentences.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have you ever been to Paris?</li>
	<li>Has she ever studied this before?</li>
	<li>I haven&#39;t ever tried smoking.</li>
	<li>He hasn&#39;t ever thanked me.</li>
</ul>

<h3>&quot;Ever&quot;&nbsp;with the Simple Past</h3>

<p>Can &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;be used with the simple past? Yes, but it&#39;s not that common, and it&#39;s only used in certain cases. The simple past is used for a specific time in the past that&#39;s usually mentioned in the context. (E.g.,&nbsp;<em>I went to a party last night.</em>) For more information about the simple past, check out <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/simple-past-vs-past-progressive/">Simple Past Vs. Past Progressive</a>. With the simple past, &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;is only used for reference to a specific past time that has been previously mentioned (or is understood). Compare the following examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>You told me yesterday that you used to live in London by yourself. Were you ever lonely? (<em>at that time in your life</em>)</li>
	<li>Have you ever been lonely? (<em>in your whole life</em>)</li>
</ul>

<div>
<ul>
	<li>You mentioned last year that you were planning a trip to Paris. Did you ever go to Paris? / Did you ever end up going? (<em>at some point last year</em>)</li>
	<li>Have you ever been to Paris? (<em>in your whole life</em>)</li>
</ul>
</div>

<h3>&quot;Ever&quot;&nbsp;with Other Tenses</h3>

<p>Can we use &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;with present or future verbs? It&#39;s not as common as its use with the present perfect, but it&#39;s definitely possible when we want to emphasize &quot;at any time&quot;&nbsp;in the present or future. The sense that something will never actually happen (hopelessness) is also usually implied, whether it&#39;s literal or meant as a joke.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Present: Can I ever borrow your car?</li>
	<li>Present: Are you ever home?</li>
	<li>Future: Am I ever going to hear from him again?</li>
	<li>Future: Will this project ever be finished?</li>
</ul>

<h3>What Should We Teach Our Students?</h3>

<p>My advice is to teach students that &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;is used with the present perfect tense for past cases and leave it at that. For more advanced students (or if it came up in class), I&#39;d go into the uses for the present and future and also explain when it can be used with the simple past. I usually like teaching exceptions to a grammar rule, but I think throwing in the simple past &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;examples would be confusing to a simple past lesson (or a present perfect lesson) and would only do so if my students could handle it.</p>

<p>Don&#39;t forget to point out that &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;can always be dropped! All of the example sentences above make perfect sense without &quot;ever&quot;---it&#39;s only used for emphasis. And in case you&#39;re wondering, we ended up dropping &quot;ever&quot;&nbsp;and changing the question to &quot;Did you see a car accident last year? How about two years ago?&quot;&nbsp;in our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1641">Grammar Stories &ndash; Simple Past with Past Progressive</a>&nbsp;lesson because we didn&#39;t want to throw the present perfect into the mix! &nbsp;</p>

Can We Ever Use "Ever" with the Simple Past?

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<blockquote>
<p>Have your students spent enough time studying gerunds and&nbsp;infinitives?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Gerunds and infinitives are many students&rsquo; worst nightmare. Certain verbs are followed by the <em>‑ing</em> form of a verb (gerund), and others are followed by <em>to + base verb</em> (infinitive). Students often feel that hours of memorization are required to keep gerunds and infinitives&nbsp;straight.</p>

<p>Luckily, there are four rules that are almost always true:</p>

<ol>
	<li>noun + infinitive</li>
	<li>adjective + infinitive</li>
	<li>preposition + gerund</li>
	<li>subject = gerund</li>
</ol>

<p>(See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/gerunds-and-infinitives-helpful-teaching-tips/" target="_blank">Gerunds and Infinitives: Helpful Teaching Tips</a>&nbsp;for more information and examples.) However, almost all English grammar rules have&nbsp;exceptions.</p>

<p>While the <strong>noun + infinitive</strong> rule is very useful for students, there is an important exception involving <strong>time</strong> that is common enough to warrant pointing it out to&nbsp;students.</p>

<h1>The Noun + Infinitive Rule</h1>

<p>If there is a noun or pronoun following the main verb, it should be followed by the <strong>infinitive form</strong>.&nbsp;Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I asked <strong>my friend to help</strong> me move next&nbsp;Saturday.</li>
	<li>She wanted <strong>him to call</strong>&nbsp;her.</li>
	<li>My coworkers need <strong>me to finish</strong> the project on&nbsp;time.</li>
	<li>The teacher advised <strong>her students to study</strong> for the&nbsp;test.</li>
</ul>

<p>The last example with the verb &ldquo;advise&rdquo; shows just how useful this rule is. Advise is usually followed by a gerund (<em>Our teacher <strong>advised studying</strong> for the test</em>), but when you add a noun/pronoun object, the noun + infinitive rule takes precedence (<em>The teacher <strong>advised her students to study</strong> for the&nbsp;test)</em>.</p>

<h2>The Exception</h2>

<h4>Spend/Waste Time + Gerund</h4>

<p>While the noun + infinitive rule works in almost every case, there is a common exception involving&nbsp;<strong>time</strong>. When the phrases <em>spend time</em> or <em>waste time</em> are used, the noun &ldquo;time&rdquo; is NOT followed by an infinitive. A gerund always follows these phrases. Also note that the noun &ldquo;time&rdquo; can be replaced by an amount of time (using the nouns <em>months</em>, <em>days</em>, <em>hours</em>, <em>minutes,&nbsp;</em>etc.) and a gerund is still required.&nbsp;Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>spent</strong> <strong>time working</strong> on my project last&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>He <strong>wastes</strong> a lot of <strong>time watching</strong>&nbsp;TV.</li>
	<li>My sister is <strong>spending</strong> <strong>five hours helping</strong> out at the&nbsp;auction.</li>
	<li>They have <strong>wasted</strong> <strong>four days arguing</strong> about&nbsp;it.</li>
</ul>

<p>But be careful! If the noun &ldquo;time&rdquo; is not part of the <em>spend time/waste time</em> phrase, the normal noun + infinitive rule&nbsp;applies.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>have time to help</strong> you&nbsp;today.</li>
	<li>They <strong>need more time to finish</strong> the&nbsp;test.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/gerunds-and-infinitives-helpful-teaching-tips/" target="_blank">Gerunds and Infinitives: Helpful Teaching Tips</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-verbs-with-meaning-changes-gerunds-and-infinitives-advanced/" target="_blank">5 Verbs with Meaning Changes: Gerunds and Infinitives</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2256" target="_blank">Gerunds &amp; Infinitives</a> &ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1637" target="_blank">Gerund &amp; Infinitive Stories</a> &ndash; Grammar Stories</li>
</ul>


Exceptions to the Noun + Infinitive Rule

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<p>Recently at ESL&nbsp;Library we&rsquo;ve been hard at work creating our second <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/101/lessons"><strong>Detective Series</strong></a>. In one of the lessons, head writer Tara Benwell included an exercise on <em>compliment</em> and <em>complement</em>, and she pointed out how to tell them apart. I thought this pair of commonly confused words would also make a great blog post since English language learners might have a hard time keeping these homophones straight. (And to find out what <em>homonyms</em>, <em>homophones</em>, and <em>homographs</em> are, read the blurb at the end of this&nbsp;post!)</p>

<h1>Compliment</h1>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Noun</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Definition:</th>
			<td>a positive remark, something nice that was said about someone or&nbsp;something</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>He paid me a compliment on my dress this&nbsp;morning.</li>
				<li>She gave her boss a compliment about how well the meeting&nbsp;went.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Verb</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Definition:</th>
			<td>to say something nice about someone or&nbsp;something</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>My teacher complimented me on my&nbsp;presentation.</li>
				<li>Their realtor complimented them on their interior&nbsp;design.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Complement</h1>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Noun</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Definition:</th>
			<td>something that matches or goes well with another&nbsp;thing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>This spicy sauce is the perfect complement to barbecued&nbsp;meat.</li>
				<li>Red wine is a well-known complement to red meat, and wine wine is a good complement to poultry and&nbsp;seafood.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Verb</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Definition:</th>
			<td>to match or go well with another&nbsp;thing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I&rsquo;m looking for a new chair that will complement the rest of my&nbsp;furniture.</li>
				<li>That shade of blue in your dress really complements your&nbsp;eyes.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Tara&rsquo;s Trick</h1>

<p>Think of the &ldquo;e&rdquo; in <em>compl<strong>e</strong>ment</em> as &ldquo;<strong>e</strong>xtra&rdquo; (one thing complements another, extra&nbsp;thing).</p>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<p>Did you know that even the adjective and adverb forms of these two words look and sound the&nbsp;same?</p>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Compliment <em>(n, v)</em></th>
			<th>Complement <em>(n, v)</em></th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Complimentary <em>(adj)</em></td>
			<td>Complementary <em>(adj)</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Complimentarily <em>(adv)</em></td>
			<td>Complementarily <em>(adv)</em></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>The meanings of the adjectives and adverbs are similar to the noun/verb meanings, but it&rsquo;s worthwhile mentioning to students that another common meaning of the adjective <em>complimentary</em> is &ldquo;free, no charge.&rdquo; (E.g., Complimentary breakfast is served every day at the&nbsp;hotel.)</p>

<h1>Homonyms, Homophones &amp;&nbsp;Homographs</h1>

<p><strong>Homonyms</strong> are words that have the same pronunciation and/or spelling but different meanings, such as&nbsp;<em>left</em> (the opposite of right) and&nbsp;<em>left</em> (the past tense of <em>leave</em>). Homonyms include <strong>homophones</strong> and&nbsp;<strong>homographs</strong>.</p>

<p><strong>Homophones</strong> are words with the same pronunciation but different meanings and/or spelling, such as <em>to</em>, <em>too</em>, and&nbsp;<em>two</em>.</p>

<p><strong>Homographs</strong> are words with the same spelling but different meanings and/or pronunciation, such as <em>bow</em> (a position where one bends over at the waist) and <em>bow</em> (a wooden weapon that is used to shoot&nbsp;arrows).</p>

<p><em>Compliment</em> and <em>complement</em> are homonyms. Specifically, they are homophones because they are both pronounced <span class="ipa inlineBlock">/ˈkɑm plə ˌmənt/</span> even though they are spelled differently and have different&nbsp;meanings.</p>


Compliment Vs. Complement

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<p>One of our subscribers recently asked us for a post on <em>either</em> and <em>neither</em>, and it&rsquo;s easy to see why. These two words look and sound so similar that it&rsquo;s no wonder students get confused. What&rsquo;s the best way to teach these two&nbsp;terms?</p>

<h1>Meaning</h1>

<p><em>Either</em> and <em>neither</em> have two main functions in&nbsp;English:</p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Function 1</th>
			<td>Agreeing with a negative&nbsp;statement</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>A: I don&#39;t like the rain.<br />
				B: Me neither.</li>
				<li>A: I never eat vegetables.<br />
				B: I don&#39;t, either.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Function 2</th>
			<td>The negative version of &quot;both&quot; (representing two people or&nbsp;things)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Neither of my roommates is home&nbsp;tonight.*</li>
				<li>I don&rsquo;t think either chair is for&nbsp;sale.*</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>*See Important Note #3&nbsp;below for a discussion on singular and plural verb&nbsp;usage.</p>


<h1>Either or Neither?</h1>

<p>The easiest way for students to figure out which term to use is to look for a negative word in the sentence (usually &quot;not&quot;). <strong>If there is a negative word, use <em>either</em>. If not, use <em>neither</em>.</strong> Tell them to think of the first letter &ldquo;n&rdquo; in <em>neither</em> as replacing &quot;not&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;never.&quot;</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>never</strong> liked this movie&nbsp;<strong>either</strong>.</li>
	<li>You don&#39;t like cheese? I <strong>don&#39;t</strong>&nbsp;<strong>either</strong>.</li>
	<li>If you&#39;re not registering for this class, then I <strong>won&#39;t</strong>&nbsp;<strong>either</strong>.</li>
	<li>I <strong>don&#39;t</strong> think <strong>either</strong> manager is coming to the&nbsp;meeting.</li>
	<li>You don&#39;t like watching sports? <strong>Neither</strong> do&nbsp;I.</li>
	<li>You don&#39;t want to go out tonight? Yeah, me&nbsp;<strong>neither</strong>.</li>
	<li><strong>Neither</strong> of my closest friends is coming to my party&nbsp;tonight.</li>
	<li>She told me that <strong>neither</strong> applicant got the&nbsp;position.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Important Notes</h1>

<h2>1. Other negative&nbsp;words</h2>

<p>Students might get confused by other negative words such as&nbsp;<em>dislike, hate, be sick of,&nbsp;</em>etc. Make sure you point out that if the verb doesn&#39;t have a negative&nbsp;adverb (<em>not</em>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<em>never</em>), then the rule above doesn&#39;t apply. So even though the meaning of&nbsp;<em>dislike</em>&nbsp;is negative, we have to use&nbsp;<em>me too</em>&nbsp;instead of&nbsp;<em>me&nbsp;neither</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>You hate that book? Me&nbsp;too.</li>
</ul>

<h2>2.&nbsp;<em>Either</em> for choice in affirmative&nbsp;sentences</h2>

<p><em>Either</em> can be used without a negative word. Examples include the formal expression&nbsp;<em>in either case&nbsp;</em>or to indicate a choice where there&#39;s no clear preference (<em>e</em><em>ither one will do, give me either of them,</em>&nbsp;<em>either&hellip;or,</em>&nbsp;etc.).</p>

<h2>3.&nbsp;Singular or plural verb?</h2>

<p>When used as a subject<em>,&nbsp;</em><strong><em>either</em> and <em>neither</em> + a singular verb</strong> is always correct. For higher-level students, you can explain it in more detail and point out that a plural verb is possible in some&nbsp;cases:</p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Rule 1:</th>
			<td>Either/Neither +&nbsp;singular noun + singular&nbsp;verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I don&#39;t know if either parent is coming to the&nbsp;performance.</li>
				<li>Neither parent is coming to the&nbsp;performance.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Rule 2:</th>
			<td>Either/Neither + <em>of</em> + plural noun + singular OR plural&nbsp;verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I don&#39;t know if either of my parents is/are coming to my&nbsp;performance.</li>
				<li>Neither of my parents is/are coming to my&nbsp;performance.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>Note that using a plural verb is considered more informal, and students always want to know the most common, casual way of speaking in&nbsp;English!</p>

<h1>Short Answers</h1>

<p>There are a few different ways to agree with someone&rsquo;s negative statement in&nbsp;English.</p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Negative Statement:</th>
			<td>I don&#39;t eat breakfast.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Responses:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Me neither.</li>
				<li>Me either.*</li>
				<li>I don&rsquo;t either.</li>
				<li>Neither do I.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>I usually tell my students that&nbsp;<em>me neither</em>&nbsp;is the most common, informal way of replying.&nbsp;<em>Me neither</em>&nbsp;is especially common in speaking.&nbsp;For a slightly more formal response (and one that is more common in writing), use&nbsp;<em>I don&rsquo;t either</em>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<em>neither&nbsp;do&nbsp;I</em>.</p>

<p>*Some people say&nbsp;<em>me either</em>&nbsp;while others insist it&#39;s incorrect. Personally, I prefer&nbsp;<em>me&nbsp;neither</em>.</p>

<h1>Pronunciation</h1>

<p>So how do we pronounce <em>neither</em> and <em>either</em>? There are two equally common, acceptable ways to pronounce these terms. I tell my students to choose one way and stick to&nbsp;it.</p>

<h2>Option 1</h2>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Neither:</th>
			<td>/ˈni&nbsp;&eth;ər/&nbsp;(nee-thur)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Either</th>
			<td>/ˈi&nbsp;&eth;ər/&nbsp;(ee-thur)</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>Option 2</h2>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Neither:</th>
			<td>/ˈnɑɪ&nbsp;&eth;ər/&nbsp;(neye-thur)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Either</th>
			<td>/ˈɑɪ&nbsp;&eth;ər/ (eye-thur)</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>Reassure students that they can&rsquo;t really go wrong. The only strange thing might be to mix up the two pronunciations in the same sentence (however, I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;ve been guilty of that once or twice in my&nbsp;life!).</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<p>Stay tuned for upcoming posts on&nbsp;<strong>Either&hellip;Or Vs. Neither&hellip;Nor</strong> and <strong>Ever&nbsp;Vs.&nbsp;Never</strong>.</p>

<h1>Sources</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Azar,&nbsp;<em>Fundamentals of English Grammar</em>, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall Regents, 1992.</li>
	<li>Collins Cobuild,&nbsp;<em>English Grammar</em>, HarperCollins Publishers, 1990.</li>
</ul>

Either Vs. Neither

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<h3>It&#39;s better to figure this out sooner than later!</h3>

<p>Many words in English are commonly confused because of similar spellings, sounds, or meanings. Some of the most commonly confused words are <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-its-and-its" target="_blank">It&rsquo;s / Its,</a> <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/" target="_blank">They&rsquo;re / Their / There</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">To / Too / Two</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">You&rsquo;re / Your</a>. English language learners and even&nbsp;speakers whose first language is English make mistakes with these tricky terms! Two other such words are <em>than</em> and <em>then</em>. I&rsquo;ve seen countless students mix these two words up because of their similar spelling and sound. It&rsquo;s helpful to point out the differences to the class the first time you notice a student using the wrong word.</p>

<h3>Than</h3>

<p><strong>Meaning: </strong>We use <em>than </em>when we want to <strong>compare</strong> two things.</p>

<p><strong>Structure: </strong><em>Than</em><strong><em> </em></strong>comes in the middle or near the end of a sentence, before the word, phrase, or clause that is being compared to something else.</p>

<p><strong>Pronunciation:</strong>&nbsp;/&eth;&aelig;n/ (The vowel sound is the same as the vowel sound in <em>van, cat, nap, catch, </em>etc.)</p>

<p><strong>Tip: </strong>Think of the letter &ldquo;a&rdquo; in the word <em>compare</em>. It matches the &ldquo;a&rdquo; in <em>than</em>. (compAre - thAn)</p>

<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>She is taller than him.</li>
	<li>She is taller than he is.</li>
	<li>I would rather work at home than at school.</li>
	<li>It&rsquo;s easier said than done.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Then</h3>

<p><strong>Meaning: </strong>We use <em>then</em> to indicate a certain <strong>time</strong> or to say what will happen <strong>next</strong>.</p>

<p><strong>Structure: </strong><em>Then </em>has many possible sentence positions, but it is especially common at the beginning or end of a sentence or following a conjunction.</p>

<p><strong>Pronunciation:</strong>&nbsp;/&eth;ɛn/ (The vowel sound is the same as the vowel sound in <em>pen, get, them, bread,</em> etc.)</p>

<p><strong>Tip: </strong>Think of the letter &ldquo;e&rdquo; in the word <em>time</em>. It matches the &ldquo;e&rdquo; in <em>then</em>. (timE - thEn)</p>

<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>I&rsquo;ll be home by 8:00. I&rsquo;ll call you then.</li>
	<li>I haven&rsquo;t had another accident since then.</li>
	<li>First you pour in the milk, and then you stir it all together.</li>
	<li>Then what happened?</li>
</ul>

<h3>Practice</h3>

<p>Put students into pairs, and have them write a quiz for their classmates. Get them to write 5 sentences with a blank for <em>than </em>or <em>then</em>. Exchange quizzes when all the students have finished and see who can get 5/5! </p>


Teaching Tips: Than & Then

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<h3>Dispelling the myths&hellip;</h3>

<p dir="ltr">There are many ways to state a reason or cause in English. Our students need to be aware of all of the choices, and they need to learn the sentence patterns and punctuation associated with each. On top of all that, there have been many controversial opinions on the usage of some of these terms through the years. Which rules are correct and which are myths? What should we teach our students? Read on for this editor&rsquo;s opinion on the modern-day usage of these terms.</p>

<h3>Basic Patterns</h3>

<p>Before we discuss some common controversies and myths surrounding the following terms, a review of the basic sentence patterns is in order. Review the patterns and examples below with your students.</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Because + SVO</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Since + SVO</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">As + SVO</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Because of the fact that + SVO</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Due to the fact that + SVO</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Because of + N</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Due to + N</p>

<p dir="ltr">Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I brought my umbrella because it was raining.</li>
	<li>Because it was raining, I brought my umbrella.</li>
	<li>I brought my umbrella since it was raining.</li>
	<li>Since it was raining, I brought my umbrella.</li>
	<li>I brought my umbrella as it was raining.</li>
	<li>As it was raining, I brought my umbrella.</li>
	<li>I brought my umbrella because of the fact that it was raining.</li>
	<li>Because of the fact that it was raining, I brought my umbrella.</li>
	<li>I brought my umbrella due to the fact that it was raining.</li>
	<li>Due to the fact that it was raining, I brought my umbrella.</li>
	<li>I brought my umbrella because of the rain.</li>
	<li>Because of the rain, I brought my umbrella.</li>
	<li>I brought my umbrella due to the rain.</li>
	<li>Due to the rain, I brought my umbrella.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Because</h3>

<h2>Can we begin a sentence with <em>because</em>?</h2>

<p dir="ltr">Yes, we can! In the past, some have argued that it&rsquo;s not grammatically correct to start a sentence with <em>because</em>. Nowadays, most agree that it is perfectly acceptable. <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage</em>, for example, states the following:</p>

<p dir="ltr">&ldquo;This rule is a myth. <em>Because</em> is frequently used to begin sentences, particularly in magazine and newspaper writing.&rdquo;</p>

<p dir="ltr">Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Because her parents were worried about her, she called them regularly during her trip.</li>
	<li>Because I hadn&rsquo;t studied French before, they put me in Level 1.</li>
</ul>

<h3>As</h3>

<h2>Can we use <em>as</em> to replace <em>because</em> or <em>since</em>?</h2>

<p dir="ltr">Yes, we can, but it is best left to formal writing. Some grammarians have argued against this use because of possible ambiguity. (E.g., in the sentence <em>As the phone was ringing, she got out of the shower</em>, does <em>as</em> mean <em>because</em> or <em>while</em>?) However, most experts agree that the context would clear up any ambiguity. As <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage</em> puts it, &ldquo;Causal <em>as</em> is a standard and acceptable alternative to <em>because</em> and <em>since</em>.&rdquo; They do note that <em>as</em> is much less frequently used than <em>because</em> or <em>since</em>, and that is something worth passing on to students. I would advise telling students that <em>as</em> is less common and more formal than <em>because</em> or <em>since</em>, and they should use it mainly in formal essay writing.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I couldn&#39;t go to the concert as I didn&#39;t have a ticket.</li>
	<li>Please return the form tomorrow as the school will be closed the day after.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Since</h3>

<h2>Can we use <em>since</em> instead of <em>because</em>?</h2>

<p>Yes, we can. Some people believe that <em>since</em> should be used only for the temporal meaning (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>since January</em>) and not the causal meaning.&nbsp;But, as&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style&nbsp;</em>(16th ed.) points out, &quot;The causal&nbsp;<em>since&nbsp;</em>was a part of the English language before Chaucer wrote in the fourteenth century, and it is useful as a slightly milder way of expressing causation than&nbsp;<em>because</em>.&quot;&nbsp;I advise my students to use&nbsp;<em>since&nbsp;</em>in both writing and speaking. Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Students aren&#39;t going back to school today since the teachers&#39; union and the government haven&#39;t reached a deal.</li>
	<li>Since he was so distracted by his upcoming date, he forgot to call me yesterday.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Due To</h3>

<h2>Can we use&nbsp;<em>due to</em> instead of&nbsp;<em>because of</em>?</h2>

<p>Basically, yes. There has been controversy since the 18th century over this construction, when some thought that&nbsp;<em>owing to</em> was the &quot;correct&quot;&nbsp;way to say&nbsp;<em>as a result of</em>. Some people still consider <em>due to</em> to be inferior to <em>owing to&nbsp;</em>or <em>because of</em>. However, the&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20to" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary</a>&nbsp;</em>points out that &quot;<em>Due to</em> is as grammatically sound as&nbsp;<em>owing to&quot;</em>&nbsp;and &quot;There is no solid reason to avoid&nbsp;<em>due to</em>.&quot;&nbsp;In fact, the definition for their&nbsp;<em>due to</em> entry is&nbsp;<em>as a result of; because of</em>. I tell my students that&nbsp;<em>due to&nbsp;</em>sounds slightly more formal than&nbsp;<em>because of</em>, and it is commonly used in writing. In speaking, I recommend sticking to the more casual&nbsp;<em>because of</em>. Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>The game was canceled due to the rain.</li>
	<li>Due to the tension between the two parties, a mediator was called in.</li>
</ul>

<h3>The Fact That</h3>

<h2>What about the wordy expressions <em>because of the fact that</em> and <em>due to the fact that</em>? Should we use them?</h2>

<p dir="ltr">These expressions are best avoided nowadays. In terms of plain language principles, the extra words <em>the fact that</em> are unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence and should be dropped. In their entry for <em>due to the fact that</em>, <em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em> (16th ed.) states clearly, &ldquo;Use <em>because</em> instead.&rdquo; If you wish, you could tell advanced students that they may want to use these terms (sparingly) in their formal, academic essays for variety (instead of using <em>because</em> and <em>since</em> repeatedly).</p>

<h3>Because + Noun</h3>

<h2>Can we use <em>because</em>&nbsp;as a preposition?</h2>

<p>There has been a recent trend, seen mostly in social media, of using <em>because</em> as a preposition (instead of its normal role as a conjunction that joins two sentences/clauses). Consider the example below:</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">A: Why did you turn off the TV?</p>

<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">B: Because homework.</p>

<p><em>Because homework</em> replaces <em>Because of my homework</em> or <em>Because I have homework</em>. Efficient, yes, but is it grammatical? It was named the <a href="http://www.americandialect.org/because-is-the-2013-word-of-the-year" target="_blank">American Dialect Society&rsquo;s Word of the Year 2013</a>, as I discovered in Tyson Seburn&rsquo;s humorous post, <a href="http://fourc.ca/because/ " target="_blank">Because grammar (and cats)</a>. Should we teach it to our students? I believe that in relatively new language cases like this, there is no need to confuse lower-level students by mentioning all the exceptions to a grammar rule. However, with higher-level students, cases like this make for interesting discussions on the evolution of language&mdash;tell students that they might come across this new construction and ask them what they think about it. Do they have a similar construction in their own language? Stay tuned for an upcoming <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a>&nbsp;lesson where students can practice some of these causal constructions.</p>


What's the Deal with Because, Since, As, and Due To?

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<blockquote>
<p>However you look at it, &ldquo;however&rdquo;&nbsp;is tricky to teach and&nbsp;learn!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1286">Militarized Police</a> lesson, we&rsquo;ve included&nbsp;a grammar review of the term <em>however</em> because it is used in various ways in the reading. Our head writer asked me to expand on it in this week&rsquo;s blog post, and I thought that was a great idea since many of my former students struggled with this word when writing formal essays (especially in my TOEFL class). Any intermediate to advanced student would benefit from a review of the usage, sentence position, and punctuation of&nbsp;<em>however</em>!</p>

<h1>Use #1: Contrast</h1>

<h2>A. As a Connector</h2>

<p>The most common use of <em>however</em> is as an <strong>adverb</strong> that connects two sentences/clauses in order to show a contrasting idea. In this use, <em>however</em> is also known as a <em>transition word</em> or a <em>conjunctive adverb</em>. It is common in formal speaking and writing. Think of it as a formal way to say <em>but</em>, but don&rsquo;t make the mistake of using it with the same punctuation! (Conjunctions like <em>but</em> and <em>and</em> take an optional comma before and no comma&nbsp;after.)</p>

<h3>Sentence Position #1</h3>

<p><em>However</em> comes at the beginning of the second sentence (the one that describes the contrast or opposite viewpoint), following the period from the first sentence. In this position, <em>however</em> is followed by a&nbsp;comma.</p>

<ul>
	<li>We were told we would be discussing the new schedule during the meeting<strong>. However,</strong> our boss never brought it up&nbsp;once.</li>
	<li>The temperature on Mercury&rsquo;s surface exceeds 430&nbsp;degrees Celsius during the day<strong>. However,</strong> it falls to minus 180&nbsp;degrees at&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>Our school only has Apple computers<strong>. However,</strong> some students are more familiar with&nbsp;PCs.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Sentence Position #2</h3>

<p>Similar to Position #1, <em>however</em> can also join two sentences/clauses together. Place a semicolon after the first clause, followed by <em>however</em> and a&nbsp;comma.</p>

<ul>
	<li>We were told we would be discussing the new schedule during the meeting<strong>; however,</strong> our boss never brought it up&nbsp;once.</li>
	<li>The temperature on Mercury&rsquo;s surface exceeds 430&nbsp;degrees Celsius during the day<strong>; however,</strong> it falls to minus 180&nbsp;degrees at&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>Our school only has Apple computers<strong>; however,</strong> some students are more familiar with&nbsp;PCs.</li>
</ul>

<p>What&rsquo;s the difference between the examples in Sentence Positions #1 and #2? Nothing! Use both ways for variety within your essay. Using a period is often recommended when both sentences are quite long. Using a semicolon is recommended for shorter sentences or to keep the train of thought &ldquo;flowing&rdquo; smoothly (using a semicolon connects and relates two sentences a bit more than a period&nbsp;does).</p>

<h2>B. As an Aside</h2>

<p><em>However</em> is also an adverb in this case, and it is used to show contrast or opposing ideas. The difference is in the <strong>placement</strong> of the word, which also affects its <strong>strength</strong>. In these next two positions, <em>however</em> is not directly following one idea and preceding the next, so as you can guess, it&rsquo;s not as strong of a contrast. <em>However</em> in these positions is also known as a <em>nonessential adverb</em> or a <em>parenthetical adverb</em>. It is not essential or as important to the meaning of the sentence. The idea is that you could remove <em>however</em> without it affecting the meaning of the rest of the sentence that&nbsp;much.</p>

<h3>Sentence Position #3</h3>

<p>Insert <em>however</em> after the subject of the second sentence. It can also fall between a two‑part verb (between the auxiliary or modal and main verb). In these positions, commas must come before and after&nbsp;<em>however</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I can&rsquo;t make it to the party. My husband<strong>, however,</strong> will be&nbsp;attending.</li>
	<li>The union came up with a plan. The government<strong>, however,</strong> wants to&nbsp;renegotiate.</li>
	<li>Camping in the summer is fun. You must<strong>, however,</strong> remember to use&nbsp;sunscreen.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Sentence Position #4</h3>

<p>Place <em>however</em> at the end of the second sentence. A comma must precede <em>however</em> in this&nbsp;position.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I can&rsquo;t make it to the party. My husband will be attending<strong>,&nbsp;however.</strong></li>
	<li>The union came up with a plan. The government wants to renegotiate<strong>,&nbsp;however.</strong></li>
	<li>Camping in the summer is fun. You must remember to use sunscreen<strong>,&nbsp;however.</strong></li>
</ul>

<p>What&rsquo;s the difference between the four sentence positions so far? Can we use all four with no difference in meaning? The answer to that is <em>yes</em>, although using Positions #3 and #4 suggests that the connection between the two sentences is slightly less&nbsp;important.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I have two dogs<strong>. However,</strong> my roommate prefers&nbsp;cats.</li>
	<li>I have two dogs<strong>; however,</strong> my roommate prefers&nbsp;cats.</li>
	<li>I have two dogs. My roommate<strong>, however,</strong> prefers&nbsp;cats.</li>
	<li>I have two dogs. My roommate prefers cats<strong>,&nbsp;however.</strong></li>
</ul>

<h1>Use #2: In Whatever Manner</h1>

<p><em>However</em> is also a <strong>conjunction</strong> or <strong>adverb</strong> (depending on the sentence position) that means<em> in whatever manner or means </em>or <em>no matter&nbsp;how</em>.</p>

<h3>Sentence Position #5</h3>

<p><strong>Conjunction:</strong> Place <em>however</em> between two clauses with no punctuation on either&nbsp;side.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I will assist <strong>however</strong> I&nbsp;can.</li>
	<li>Decorate it <strong>however</strong> you&nbsp;like.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Sentence Positions #6 &amp; #7</h3>

<p><strong>Adverb:</strong> Place <em>however</em> at the beginning of the dependent clause. In English, dependent clauses can follow independent clauses (use no punctuation before or after <em>however</em>) or begin the sentence (use no punctuation after <em>however</em>). If the dependent clause begins the sentence, don&rsquo;t forget to include a comma at the end of the dependent&nbsp;clause.</p>

<ul>
	<li>The situation is unfair <strong>however</strong> you look at&nbsp;it.</li>
	<li><strong>However</strong> you look at it<strong>,</strong> the situation is&nbsp;unfair.</li>
</ul>

<p>Even though this seems like a lot to take in, remember that most formal transition words in English (such as <em>moreover</em>, <em>on the other hand</em>, <em>furthermore</em>, <em>in contrast</em>, etc.) all follow the same first four sentence patterns. Find a comprehensive list of transition words on page&nbsp;5 of our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1831">How to Write Body Paragraphs</a>&nbsp;lesson.</p>


However: 7 Sentence Positions & 2 Uses

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<blockquote>
<p>How much difference does an apostrophe&nbsp;make?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The apostrophe is a tricky punctuation mark in English&mdash;<strong>it&rsquo;s</strong> difficult to remember all of <strong>its</strong> uses! One of the more challenging instances is knowing when to use it with the words <em>it&rsquo;</em> and <em>its</em>.</p>

<p>As an editor, I see L1 speakers making mistakes with <em>it&rsquo;s</em> and <em>its</em> all the time, so it&rsquo;s no wonder our students make errors with the apostrophe in this case!</p>

<p>As a teacher, I&rsquo;ve found that reviewing the rules with my students (frequently, if need be) goes a long way toward helping them keep these words straight. Try presenting these words using the suggestions below and watch for their &ldquo;aha&rdquo;&nbsp;moment!</p>

<h1>1. It&rsquo;s</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>It&rsquo;s</em> is short for <em>it is</em> or <em>it&nbsp;has</em>.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>It&rsquo;s</em> is used as the subject of a sentence or clause, so it is usually found at the beginning of a sentence or clause. <em>It&rsquo;s</em> is usually followed by an object (noun) or an adjective. Because <em>&rsquo;s</em> can stand for <em>is</em> or <em>has</em>, it can also be followed by an ‑ing verb (present progressive tense) or the past participle of a verb (passive or present perfect&nbsp;tense).</p>

<h2>Tips</h2>

<h3>Tip #1</h3>

<p>At the beginning of a sentence, we almost alway use <em>it&rsquo;s</em> (but see &ldquo;Its&rdquo; tip&nbsp;#2).</p>

<h3>Tip #2</h3>

<p>If followed by a singular count noun, look for an article (<em>a</em>, <em>an</em>, <em>the</em>). If there is an article, you must use&nbsp;<em>it&rsquo;s.</em></p>

<h3>Tip #3</h3>

<p>If followed by an adjective, use <em>it&rsquo;s</em>.</p>

<h3>Tip #4</h3>

<p>If followed by an ‑ing verb or a past participle, use&nbsp;<em>it&rsquo;s</em>.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>It&rsquo;s</strong> a beautiful day today. (beginning of a sentence, followed by&nbsp;<em>a</em>)</li>
	<li><strong>It&rsquo;s</strong> the way she smiles that first captivated me. (beginning of a sentence, followed by&nbsp;<em>the</em>)</li>
	<li>The crowd is getting restless, so <strong>it&rsquo;s</strong> time to get started. (subject of a&nbsp;clause)</li>
	<li><strong>It&rsquo;s</strong> incredible to see his artwork in person. (beginning of a sentence, followed by an&nbsp;adjective)</li>
	<li>I wonder if <strong>it&rsquo;s</strong> possible to finish on time. (subject of a clause, followed by an&nbsp;adjective)</li>
	<li><strong>It&rsquo;s</strong> beginning to get cooler. (beginning of a sentence, followed by an ‑ing&nbsp;verb)</li>
	<li>Do you realize <strong>it&rsquo;s</strong> been six months since I&rsquo;ve seen them? (subject of a clause, followed by the past&nbsp;participle)</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Its</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>Its</em> is the possessive form of the third person singular pronoun <em>it</em>. It is used for objects, animals, and sometimes for babies when we don&rsquo;t know the gender. <em>Its</em> means that something belongs to something&nbsp;else.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Its</em> is always followed by a noun. Because possessive adjectives like <em>my</em>, <em>your</em>, <em>her</em>, <em>its</em>, etc. already make a noun specific, we don&rsquo;t need articles like <em>a</em>, <em>an</em>, or&nbsp;<em>the</em>.</p>

<h2>Tips</h2>

<h3>Tip #1</h3>

<p><em>Its</em> must come before a noun. Look for an article (<em>a</em>, <em>an</em>, <em>the</em>). If there is no article, you almost always use&nbsp;<em>its</em>.</p>

<h3>Tip #2</h3>

<p><em>Its</em> is most common in the object position (near the end of the sentence). It is also possible, though less common, in the subject&nbsp;position.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Give the dog <strong>its</strong> bowl. (object position, before a noun with no&nbsp;article)</li>
	<li>Check out my new phone. Have you seen all <strong>its</strong> features? (object position, before a noun with no&nbsp;article)</li>
	<li><strong>Its</strong> color is what makes it distinctive. (subject position, before a noun with no&nbsp;article)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Video Lesson</h1>

<p>Play this video in class or share it with students who want more&nbsp;practice. The video below links to our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ellii">student YouTube channel</a>. To see this video ad-free or to play it on the <a href="https://ellii.com">Ellii platform</a>, visit our <a href="https://ellii.com/media/videos/grammar/grammar-tips">Media Gallery</a> for this video and many more!</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M1gUGL1ejyA" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p>

<h1>More Commonly Confused Words</h1>

<p>Are your students struggling with other commonly confused words? Here are some more resources that can&nbsp;help:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on You&#39;re and Your</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on They&#39;re, Their, and There</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on To, Too, and Two</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-whos-vs-whose" target="_blank">Teaching Tips: Who Vs. Whose</a></li>
</ul>
