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Shopping Vocabulary

Average: 4 (14 votes)

How often do you go grocery shopping (shopping for food)? Do your family do one big shop a week or do you buy little and often? Do you shop in big supermarkets or at small local shops.

Below are seven words we associate with shopping (they are all nouns). The letters of these words have been scrambled (mixed up). Read the definition of each word and then use the letters to form the correct spelling. Type the words into the boxes provided:

Linking Verbs

Average: 3.8 (48 votes)

What is the difference between the two smell verbs in these sentences?

James smelled the flowers.

The flowers smelled amazing.

The first sentence expresses an action, while the second verb connects the subject of the sentence to additional information about the subject. The second sentence contains a linking verb.

Prepositions For, Of and To

Average: 3.4 (170 votes)

Prepositions are often confusing for English learners, especially when one preposition can have more than one meaning. Today we look at the prepositions for, of and to and three of their possible meanings.

For

For usually tells us about the use of something, a reason or purpose.

We need new batteries for the remote control.

These drinks are for after work.

We use it for cutting grass.

This, That, These, Those

Average: 4 (53 votes)

This, that, these and those are called demonstratives. We use a demonstrative when we want to talk about whether something is near or far from us and if the subject is singular or plural.

This car is nice (singular, near)
That car is nice (singular, distant)
These cars are nice (plural, near)
Those cars are nice (plural, distant)

Past Tenses

Average: 4.1 (73 votes)

Apart from some irregular verbs (drink > drank > drunk), the past tense of regular verbs is made by adding -d or -ed to the base form of the verb. The past simple tense is also often the past participle form (play > played > played).

The Past Progressive Tense

"He was talking."

Irregular Plural Nouns

Average: 3.7 (38 votes)

A singular noun refers to one of something (a chair, a hat, a dog); a plural noun means more than one (chairs, hats, dogs).

In most cases we make a plural noun by adding s to a singular noun (car > cars).

Words that end in -ch, x, s or s-like sounds take -es for the plural (kiss > kisses).

When a noun ends in y we replace it with –ies to make the plural (city > cities).

Than and Then

Average: 4.4 (29 votes)

Confusing then and than is a mistake we frequently see online, even made by native speakers. Although their spelling and pronunciation may appear similar, they have very different meanings.

Than

Than can be either a conjunction or a preposition.

It can be used to join two parts of a comparison or used with 'more' or 'less' to compare numbers or amounts:

I am a lot older than my brother.

There are fewer people here than last year.

I would rather go to a restaurant than a bar.

Use the correct verb

Average: 3.8 (86 votes)

A verb is a word that shows an action. It is important to choose the verb that fits with the subject and object in a sentence otherwise your English will not sound natural or you may not be able to make yourself understood.

For example it would be very strange for someone to say, "we is" instead of "we are", or "I need to make a break", instead of, "I need to take a break".

We can also change the form of verbs to show when an action happens.

Star Sign - Leo

Average: 3.6 (22 votes)

What's your star sign?

People born between July 23 and August 22 are Leos.

Leo (the Latin word for Lion) is the fifth of the 12 signs of the zodiac. Leo is one of the 88 modern constellations, and one of the most easily recognisable constellations in the night sky because of its many bright stars and distinctive shape that is reminiscent of the crouching lion it depicts.

Robin Williams - Good Will Hunting

Average: 3.3 (61 votes)

We woke up to sad news today with reports that Robin Williams, the actor and comedian died in his home at the age of 63.

His career included such much-loved films as Good Morning Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), The Fisher King (1991), Aladdin (1992) and Mrs. Doubtfire.

One of our favourite Robin Williams' films is 1997's Good Will Hunting. In this movie Williams plays the role of therapist to Matt Damon's genius patient, Sean. His performance as Dr Sean Maguire won Robin Williams an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.