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WRITING ASSIGNMENT RUBRIC - LEVEL 2 (updated)

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video + explanations

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English Grammar Rules

A very confusing concept is when to use WILL and when to use BE GOING TO when we refer the future.

Both refer to the future and there is a slight difference between the two though in most cases they can be used interchangeably with no difference in meaning. Even if you misuse them, a native speaker is going to understand you without any problems.

When to use GOING TO

The structure BE GOING TO is normally used to indicate the future but with some type of connection to the present. We use it in the following situations:
1. When we have already decided or we INTEND to do something in the future. (Prior Plan)
The decision has been made before the moment of speaking.

They're going to retire to the beach - in fact they have already bought a little beach house.

I'm going to accept the job offer.

2. When there are definite signs that something is going to happen. (Evidence)
Something is likely to happen based on the evidence or experience you have.

I think it is going to rain - I just felt a drop.

I don't feel well. I think I'm going to throw up. (throw up = vomit)

3. When something is about to happen:
Get back! The bomb is going to explode.

When to use WILL

In other cases, where there is no implicit or explicit connection to the present, use WILL:
1. For things that we decide to do now. (Rapid Decisions)
This is when you make a decision at that moment, in a spontaneous way.

I'll buy one for you too.

I think I'll try one of those. (I just decided this right now)

2. When we think or believe something about the future. (Prediction)

My team will not win the league this season.

I think it will rain later so take an umbrella with you.

Note: You can use both Will and Going to for making future predictions.
3. To make an offer, a promise or a threat.

I'll give you a discount if you buy it right now.

I promise I will behave next time.

I'll take you to the movies if you'd like.

4. You use WON'T when someone refuses to do something.

I told him to take out the trash but he won't do it.

My kids won't listen to anything I say.

My car won't start.

Future Predictions

As you can see, both Will and Going to can be used for making future predictions without having a real difference in meaning.

The weather report says it will rain tomorrow. (Correct)

The weather report says it is going to rain tomorrow. (Correct)

Compare Will vs. Going To

If someone asks: "Are you busy this evening?"

If I respond: "Yes, I'm going to go to the movies." I use going to because it is a plan I made earlier (before I was asked the question). - In this case we cannot use Will.

If I haven't made plans, then you can say either: "I will probably watch TV." OR "I'm probably going to watch TV."

Both will and going to are possible in this situation because we are predicting what will happen (since we haven't made any plans).

Quick Summary Chart

Next activity

For more framework on the use of WILL and GOING TO refer to the student notes for each of these at:
Will and Going to

If you found this grammar guide about WILL and GOING TO in English useful, let others know about it:

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Future Tense Will vs. Going To - English Grammar Lesson

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English Grammar lesson about the difference between Will and Going To - El Futuro en Inglés con WILL y GOING TO

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Verb tenses are changes or additions to verbs to show when the action took place: in the past, present, or future. The phrase…

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There arem any reasons to use our sentence spinner tool.

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There arem any reasons to use our sentence spinner tool. 1. This tool by Paraphrase Online is built for simplicity. It can actually pass for the simplest paraphrasing tool you'll ever come across. You don't need a whole lot of inputs to use it other than your written text.

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Thesaurus.com - The world’s favorite online thesaurus!

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Thesaurus.com is the world’s largest and most trusted online thesaurus for 25+ years. Join millions of people and grow your mastery of the English language.

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1. Find articles that support your topic
2. Find quotes from articles that support your points (keep them in direct quotations & organize them into each main idea)
3. Create your citations and cite your quotes
4. Keep the quotes in one document (organized by article), and copy the most relevant ones into your outline document (organized by each main point)
5. Paraphrase whatever quotes you can (keep the citation)
6. Build your writing around each quote.
7. Add all citations to your reference list

**Use a thesaurus to find synonyms & alternatives ways to say things
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**If you are 1-10 minutes late to class, you must wait outside until I open the door.
**If you are more than 10 minutes late, go see Zahra before coming to class

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Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom (I-TESL-J)

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Interesting questions for discussions in Engish lessons.

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In this video I will make the phonetic chart explained and talk about the purpose and overall structure of the Phonetic chart for English Pronunciation.

In this video we are going to be looking at the phonetic chart.

At first it looks like a meaningless collection of symbols. But each symbol represents a different sound.

In spoken form, most of the English language can be broken down into 44 separate sounds. The phonetic chart shows us how these sounds relate to each other. There are three sections to the chart.

Phonetic Chart Explained: Vowels

The first section is single vowel sounds. These are also sometimes called monophthongs. When we think about the alphabet we normally think of there being 5 vowels A, E, I, O, U.

However, there are many ways that these letters are pronounced, so the pronunciation is very inconsistent. This makes things difficult when learning English especially as in many other languages the vowels sounds are pronounced more consistently with how they they are spelled.

On the top row we have the sounds

With all these sounds the mouth is almost closed and the sound is made at the top of the mouth. That is why they are on the top row.

On the second row we have the sounds

Now the mouth is open a little more and it feels like the sounds comes straight out through the middle of the mouth. That is why they are on the middle row.

On the bottom row we have the sounds

To make these sounds our mouths should be almost wide open and it feels like the sound is coming from the bottom of the mouth. That is why they are on the bottom row.

The columns are also important because they give us an idea of the position of the tongue.

With the left column the tongue is at the front.

The tongue moves back a little for the second column.

Back a little more for the third.

And now finally at the back

Phonetic Chart Explained: Diphthongs

The second section is the diphthongs, on our charts that is the section in red. Diphthongs are also vowel sounds, but they are combinations of two vowel sounds that appear together within the same syllable producing a new unique sound.

They're arranged according to the second sound.

In the first column we have the /ə/ sounds

In the second column we have the /ɪ/ sounds. We should note that the symbols for these diphthongs are written with the /ɪ/ symbol but the sound is often the longer but similar /i:/.

And in the third column we have the /ʊ/ symbol. Again sometimes the sound is more similar to the longer /uː/.

Phonetic Chart Explained: Consonant Pairs

The third section is the consonant sounds, The first 2 rows are sometimes called consonant pairs. This is because the sounds of each pair are produced in a very similar way. Lets look at the first pair.

The sound is similar but the physical shape of mouth is almost exactly the same. The only difference is /b/ is voiced which means that we use our vocal chords to produce the sound. If you feel you neck when you say the sound you should feel some vibration. Now if you say /p/, if you say it correctly you will not feel that vibration.

The same is true of the next pair

/d/ is voiced and /t/ isn't.

Phonetic Chart Explained: Single Consonants

Finally in the bottom row we have the single consonants

So you can see now, that the phonetic chart is not just a random collection of symbols but useful tool learning correct pronunciation. For an even more detailed explanation of one of the sections, click on one of the annotations on the left of the screen. We have also produced an interactive chart using YouTube's annotations. So you can click on a symbol and it will jump to the part of the video that play that sound. So you can listen over and over to the sounds you want to study. Remember you can have online classes with me or one of our other teachers. Check out our website for details. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Skype. If you have any questions or comments please get in touch, we are here to help you.

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Phonetic Chart Explained - English Language Club

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In this video I will make the phonetic chart explained and talk about the purpose and overall structure of the Phonetic chart for English Pronunciation. In this video we are going to be looking at the phonetic chart. At first it looks like a meaningless collection of symbols.

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Which type of milk is best for you? - Jonathan J. O’Sullivan & Grace E. Cunningham

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Preply - Speaking: Pronunciation Practice: -ed ending

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Spelling:

"o" - go​ne, follow

"augh" - caught, daughter

"ough" - bought, though​t

"aw" - saw, lawyer

"a" - always, false,

"oa" - abroad, broad

"au" - August, author

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The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 2005)

There are two MRI viewing options for both charts: MRI 1 and MRI 2.

MRI 1 was recorded in 2014 at Edinburgh Imaging Facility Queen's Medical Research Institute (QMRI), with a frame rate of 7.5fps. Each file has been overdubbed with "clean" audio, recorded in a recording studio.

MRI 2 was recorded in 2022-2023 at the Edinburgh Imaging Facility, Royal Infirmary Edinburgh (RIE), with a frame rate of 6.25fps and a 70% increase in image resolution, compared to MRI 1. Audio for the MRI 2 files was recorded in the MRI machine using an optical microphone and post-hoc noise cancelling. We aim to replace the MRI 2 audio with clean audio in the near future.

Consonants (Pulmonic - produced with air from the lungs))

Press on a symbol to play the associated video.

Charts reprinted with permission from The International Phonetic Association

How to refer to this resource: Lawson, E., Stuart-Smith, J., Scobbie, J. M., Nakai, S. (2018). Seeing Speech: an articulatory web resource for the study of Phonetics. University of Glasgow. 1st December 2023. https://www.seeingspeech.ac.uk/

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There are two MRI viewing options for both charts: MRI 1 and MRI 2. MRI 1 was recorded in 2014 at Edinburgh Imaging Facility Queen's Medical Research Institute (QMRI), with a frame rate of 7.5fps. Each file has been overdubbed with "clean" audio, recorded in a recording studio.

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The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a set of symbols that linguists use to describe the sounds of spoken languages.

This page lets you hear the sounds that the symbols represent, but remember that it is only a rough guide. There is lots of variation in how these sounds are said depending on the language and context. For example, in English voiceless plosives usually end with a puff of air called aspiration, but the voiceless plosives on this page aren't aspirated.

Choose a symbol to hear the sound it represents.

For best results, please use a browser with HTML5 Audio support. The latest version of any popular web browser will do.

Sorry, you have JavaScript disabled or your web browser doesn't support it.
This interactive chart won't work without JavaScript enabled. Please enable JavaScript or upgrade to a modern web browser.

Vowels

Pulmonic consonants

Bilabial

Labiodental

Dental

Alveolar

Post alveolar

Retroflex

Palatal

Velar

Uvular

Pharyngeal

Glottal

Non-pulmonic consonants

Clicks

Voiced implosives

Ejectives

ǁ Alveolar lateral

ʛ Uvular

ʼ etc...

Other symbols

ʍ Voiceless labial-velar fricative

w Voiced labial-velar approximant

ɥ Voiced labial-palatal approximant

ʜ Voiceless epiglottal fricative

ʢ Voiced epiglottal fricative

ʡ Epiglottal plosive

ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative

ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal fricative

ɺ Alveolar lateral flap

ɧ Simultaneous ʃ and x

Affricates

t͡s Voiceless alveolar affricate

t͡ʃ Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate

t͡ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate

ʈ͡ʂ Voiceless retroflex affricate

d͡z Voiced alveolar affricate

d͡ʒ Voiced post-alveolar affricate

d͡ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate

ɖ͡ʐ Voiceless retroflex affricate

Queries and comments can be directed to [email protected]

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New features and a special offer - save up to 75% off

The offer expires on 2024-02-28

On this page, you will find charts with all American English consonant and vowel sounds.

You can choose one of the two phonetic transcription systems - both use the symbols of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA):

1. Broad, or phonemic, transcription, for example, /ˈwɔtɚ/

2. Narrow transcription, for example, [ˈwɔɾɚ]

To understand the difference, read the footnotes and learn what allophones and phonemes are and how they will help you improve your pronunciation in English.

Click on any word in the chart to watch a video with a native speaker pronouncing this word!

Consonants in American English
Transcription
Vowels in American English
Transcription
R-colored vowels in American English
Transcription
Diphthongs in American English
Transcription
Phonemes and allophones - definitions

A phoneme is a speech sound that is capable of changing the meaning of a word. For example, substituting the last sound in the word kiss with the sound /l/ creates another word - kill. Therefore, /s/ and /l/ are phonemes.

Phonemic transcription uses phonemes to show the pronunciation of words. It is written between slashes, as in the examples below:

This type of transcription is sometimes called broad since it doesn't show small differences between similar sounds. To show the exact pronunciation of a word, narrow transcription is needed. For the same two words, for example, we would write:

Note that in narrow transcription, square brackets are used instead of slashes. In our example, narrow transcription also uses slightly different symbols. Why? Because each phoneme in a language may have several different pronunciations. These variant pronunciations of the same phoneme are called allophones.

Let's take the phoneme /k/, for example. In English there are two allophones of /k/:

unaspirated [k], as in quite [ˈkwaɪt]

aspirated [kʰ] with a strong burst of breath after the release, as in kill [ˈkʰɪɫ]

Now you may wonder - why do I need to know all this? It looks complicated! Well, at first sight, it is. But if you really want to improve your pronunciation and sound like a native speaker, we highly recommend familiarizing yourself with all the allophones (different variants) of each phoneme in English language.

Let's take the phoneme /t/, for example, in the following English words: today, two, water, certain. If you look up their pronunciation in a dictionary, most likely you will find something like this:

All four words have the "same" phoneme /t/. But does it sound the same? No! In narrow transcription (which shows the exact pronunciation, remember?) the same words would be transcribed like this:

That means that the phoneme /t/ has at least four allophones:

unaspirated [t],

aspirated [tʰ],

alveolar tap [ɾ] which sounds almost like [d],

glottal stop [ʔ] which is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract (glottis).

When you use English phonetic translator on this site and want to obtain narrow transcription, make sure to select the following options (the second option is only available for American English):

Insert the symbol [ʰ] after aspirated consonants

Display allophones for phonemes /t/ and /l/

Conversely, if you want to obtain broad transcription, unselect these two options.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols used in this chart

The phonetic symbols used in this IPA chart may be slightly different from what you will find in other sources, including in this comprehensive IPA chart for English dialects in Wikipedia.

It was difficult to decide which set of IPA symbols to use for English phonetic translator and the IPA chart on this page. We eventually decided to follow the recommendations from the book by Larry H. Small Fundamentals of Phonetics, 4th Edition. The book provides a very good summary of all the content from other sources.

In the following table, you will find the features of the phonetic transcription used in this book.

Feature

Transcription in Fundamentals of Phonetics

Transcription in most American English dictionaries

Syllabic consonants /l̩/, /m̩/ and /n̩/ are displayed with a little vertical line below.
Example words: little, student

/ˈlɪtl̩/
/ˈstudn̩t/

/ˈlɪt(ə)l/
/ˈstud(ə)nt/

Unstressed /eɪ/ is written as /e/, unstressed /oʊ/ - as /o/. In the final position they remain diphthongs /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ even if unstressed.
Example words: vacation, photos

/veˈkeɪʃən/
/ˈfoʊtoz/
/ˈfoʊtoʊ/

/veɪˈkeɪʃən/
/ˈfoʊtoʊz/
/ˈfoʊtoʊ/

No elongation symbol [ː] is used for the phonemes /u/ and /i/.
Example words: eat, group

/ˈiːt/
/ˈɡɹuːp/

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International Phonetic Alphabet for American English - IPA Chart

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Find examples of American English words for each sound of the American English language. Watch a video with a native speaker pronouncing each word.

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Correcting Errors: Although / Even Though

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Correcting Errors: Although / Even Though

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Sentence Pattern: Although / Even Though

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Sentence Pattern: Although / Even Though

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Paragraph - Writing a Concluding Sentence

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Paragraph - Writing a Concluding Sentence

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Scroll down below to find materials for our class!

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Scroll down below to find materials for our class!

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Here are some helpful resources! Click on the links to visit the websites!

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Here are some helpful resources! Click on the links to visit the websites!

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Word Stress Rules | Pronunciation | EnglishClub

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This page gives you the rules for word stress, with audio. Two simple rules and five more complicated rules for which syllable to stress in English. Pronunciation for ESL learners.

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Grammar-Quizzes › Clauses › Comparative Clauses › The more, the more

Express that two things vary together

In Context

At 3:20 in the early morning, we were awakened from our sleep by the shaking of our bed. As we lay there, the shaking became more intense. Things started to fall. The louder it became, the more we understood that we needed to take cover. We rolled out of bed and under it, and we waited for the shaking to end. When it did, the room was still and silent except for our beating hearts.

We found our phones and used the flashlights to locate our shoes and coats. The lights were not working, so we knew this was a bad earthquake. We walked around and surveyed the damage. The more we looked, the more stuff-glass, dishware, ceiling plaster, fireplace bricks-we found lying on the floor. Fortunately, we were not hurt. (South Napa, California 2014)

Two things vary- The more vs. As

debris (N) - the pieces of something that are left after it has been destroyed in an accident, explosion

plaster (N) - the wall or ceiling finish (a substance that is applied to walls in a pasty form, then dries hard, and then can be painted)

retrieve (V) - find something and bring it back

survey (V) - take a general or comprehensive (over all) view of something, inspect, examine

take cover (VP) - move to a safe or protected place

(Huddleston 13 §4.6)

Related pages More / -er, Farther/Further, Comparisons.

Express outcome

Expected vs. Unexpected Outcome

The stronger, the better - "Note that in this structure, the word the is not really the definite article- it was originally a form of the demonstrative pronoun, meaning 'by that much'." - (Swan 139.5)

Also see The Group (an adjective names the group) the strong, the weak, the blind.

Express specific vs. general

The more expression with count and noncount nouns

The is used in the comparative phrasing of each part, particularly with the more, the greater, the better, the lesser, the fewer, the harder.
"Historically this the is not the usual definite article but the fossilised remnant of an Old English instrumental case-form meaning "by so/that much". It came to fall together phonologically with the definite article, but its syntactic distribution still reflects its different origin." (Huddleston 13 §4.5)

Related page Count / Noncount (both sing. and plural)

Place emphasis in the varying relationship

Basic vs. Fronted Clause Order

In basic word order, emphasis is placed on the effect expressed in the main clause followed by the cause (varying item) in the subordinate clause. The main clause is worded as a comparative clause (-er, more, less) followed by as and a clause with another comparative phrase (-er, more, less) or word. This clause order often sounds awkward with the more, the more wording.

MAIN (HEAD) CLAUSE

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE

*not used / ~awkward sounding

compliance - when someone obeys a rule, agreement, or demand

impose - to force someone to have the same ideas, beliefs as you

correlative comparative construction - The more they work, the more we pay. Note the parallel construction of the two parts. This is a scalar comparison. One thing changes as the other changes. The reverse is not necessarily equivalent: The harder they work = the more we pay.

Focus and Solutions

Error and Solution

*not used

Texts & Images

Text

Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum, et al. "The correlative comparative construction." The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.

Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.

Images

Education - Creative Commons. By NEC of America, Flickr. 7 Sep. 2014. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Accessed 7 May 2017.

"Sweet Success". By Michael Kooiman, Flickr. 4 Sep. 2007. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Accessed 7 May 2017.

"South Napa earthquake Sam Kee Laundry Building debris." By Cullen328, Wikimedia Commons. 2014. File:2014 South Napa earthquake Sam Kee Laundry Building debris.jpg. Licensed under CC0. Accessed 7 May 2017.

Vintage Big Foot 4x4 Monster Truck. By Joe Haupt. Flickr. 28 Dec. 20146. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Accessed 7 May 2017.

The more..., the more!

Complete the expression.

1. Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.

2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" or the "check 1-12" button.

Expressions & Sayings

Complete the expression with a relative activity that is logical.

1. Select the word or words that best complete the sentence.

2. Compare your response to the answer to the right by clicking the "check" button.

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Express that two things vary together: 'The more X happens, the more/the less Y happens' as a comparative relationship 'as X occurs, Y also occurs'

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Quantifiers: little, a little, few, a few

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Quantifiers: little, a little, few, a few

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Little, a little, few, a few - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary

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In this lesson, you will learn how to use could have.

Below the video, you'll find lots of examples to help you understand this modal verb.

Watch in HD!

Share the video with your friends, and then read the article below...

Could Have

Could have is used to talk about something that was or wasn't possible in the past.

You could have bought the cheaper jacket, it looked great on you.

Ben couldn't have known about the promotion, I haven't told anyone yet!

We also use could have to say that we were capable of doing something but we didn't.

The boy could have run away from the bullies, but he decided to confront them. or

I couldn't have done that to him, he is my best friend after all.

Could have is often used with a tone of criticism.

You could have just been honest with me.

It is also used for speculations about things that didn't happen.

Are you out of your mind?! You could have crashed into that wall!

One of the biggest differences between could and could have is that could shows a past ability while could have shows only a past possibility.

He could swim very fast before the accident.

He could have swum faster if his leg hadn't hurt him.

Here are some more examples:

People could do so much more for their community.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

We could have left the party earlier.

The girl was crying because she couldn't find her parents.

You could have stopped by the grocery store. We need some milk.

I couldn't have done it without you.

What to Do Now:

1. Give an example of 'could have' in the comment section below.
2. Check out my video on should have

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How to Use Could Have (with Examples) | To Fluency

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In this lesson, you will learn how to use could have. Below the video, you'll find lots of examples to help you understand this modal verb. Watch in HD! Share the video with your friends, and then read the article below... Could Have Could have is used to talk about something that was or wasn't [...]

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Possibility and impossibility

They could come by car. (= Maybe they will come by car.)
They could be at home. (= Maybe they are at home.)

It can be very cold here in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold here in winter.)
You can easily get lost in this town. (= People often get lost in this town.)

Level: intermediate

It could be very cold there in winter. (= It was sometimes very cold there in winter.)
You could easily get lost in that town. (= People often got lost in that town.)

Ability
Level: beginner
We use can and can't to talk about the ability to do something at a specific time in the present or future:
Level: intermediate
We use could have to say that someone had the ability or opportunity to do something, but did not do it:

She could have learned Swahili, but she didn't want to.
I could have danced all night. [but I didn't]

Permission
Level: beginner
We use can to ask for permission to do something:

We use can't to refuse permission or say that someone does not have permission:

Requests

We use could you ... as a polite way of telling or asking someone to do something:

Offers

Suggestions

Questions and negatives

We make questions by putting the subject after can/ could:

The negative form is can't in spoken English and cannot in written English.

The negative form of could is couldn't in spoken English and in written English.

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They could come by car. (= Maybe they will come by car.) They could be at home. (= Maybe they are at home.) It can be very cold here in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold here in winter.) You can easily get lost in this town.

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Adjective Order Rules in English | Grammarly Blog

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Why? It's technically correct-it's a big meal, it's Italian food, and your grandma makes it. But it doesn't sound quite right, and that's because the adjective order in that sentence isn't correct.

Most students aren't taught about adjective order in school and instead learn it through listening and reading. In English, the rules regarding adjective order are more specific than they are in other languages; that is why saying adjectives in a specific order sounds "right," and deviating from that order makes a statement sound "wrong," even if it's otherwise grammatically perfect.

Adjective order in English

In English, the proper order for adjectives is known as the Royal Order of Adjectives. The Royal Order of Adjectives is as follows:

Determiner (This isn't a type of adjective, however, determiners-including articles, possessives, and demonstratives-are considered in the Royal Order of Adjectives. They must always come before adjectives and the nouns they modify.)

Opinion
Delicious, heroic, misunderstood, valuable.
Sometimes, this category is divided into two categories: general and specific opinion, with general opinion coming before specific opinion. For example, you might describe a specific tablet as a popular, perfect choice for digital illustrators. The general opinion here is that it's popular, an opinion held by many (and easily verified). The more specific opinion is that it's perfect for digital illustrators-it's personal opinion, but it might not be as widely held as the opinion that it's popular.

Although you might not have ever seen the proper adjective order listed like this, you may have picked up on it and used it without even realizing what you're doing. You could naturally follow this order any time you use more than one adjective to describe a noun, no matter where those adjectives fall within the Royal Order.

Take a look at this chart to see how different noun phrases illustrate the Royal Order:

See how even when you don't use an adjective from every category, you still follow this order?

However, even with a specific adjective order to follow, there are circumstances where you need to change the order to communicate your message clearly. One of these circumstances is when one of the adjectives in your sentence is part of a compound noun . Take a look at this example:

She moved into a brand-new tiny house.

According to The Royal Order of Adjectives, this sentence read "She moved into a tiny brand-new house," right? If you're describing a smaller-than-average new house, yes. But if you're specifically referring to a , the answer is no. There are a lot of ways English can be confusing and in of those cases, there's a hidden logic as to .

Why do adjectives need to be in this order?

It's an unsatisfying answer, but it's the only answer: We don't really know. However, there are a few theories. One is that the closer an adjective sits to its noun, the more vital it is to the noun's description. For example, referring to a house as a "brick house" is more specific than referring to it as an "old house" or a "beautiful house." But this theory doesn't always hold up. To use another example, compare "small dog" to "black dog." Is a black dog really a more specific description than a small dog?

Like other English language quirks, adjective order is one you just have to roll with.

Using commas with adjectives

When you have more than one adjective in a sentence, some need commas and some don't.

Confusing, right?

It's actually not that bad-there's a logic to this one.

When two or more adjectives come from the same category, they need to be separated by commas:

We rode in a comfortable, luxurious limousine.

When your adjectives come from different categories, they aren't separated by commas:

And you never use a comma between the final adjective and the noun it's describing.

You also never put a comma between a noun's determiner and its adjectives. A determiner is a word at the beginning of a phrase that communicates how many and which noun is being described. For example:

Add some adjectives into these phrases and you get:

If you're stuck on whether to use a comma or not, here's an easy trick: if you can add the word "and" between the adjectives reverse the adjectives' order without losing the sentence's clarity, you don't need a comma.

How sentence position affects adjective order

In a , adjectives go before the noun they're describing or modifying. Usually.

Take a look at this sentence:

In this sentence, they follow the verb ("to be," which is in its past tense here: was).

The sentence can easily be rewritten as:

Both are correct. But when your adjectives follow your verb as in the example above, they don't follow the same comma rules as they would when they precede your noun. When the last word in the phrase, clause, or sentence is an adjective, it needs to follow "and":

And when you have three or more adjectives, comma placement depends on whether your style includes the Oxford comma , otherwise known as the serial comma. If you don't use the Oxford comma, each adjective before the second-to-last one needs to be separated by a comma:

If you do use the serial comma, each adjective needs to be separated by a comma:

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"Every Sunday, my grandma makes an Italian big meal," said no one ever. Why? It's technically correct-it's a big meal, it's...

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Verb Tenses--How to Use Them Correctly | Grammarly

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Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous. The future tense describes things that have yet to happen (e.g., later, tomorrow, next week, next year, three years from now).

The following table illustrates the proper use of verb tenses:

The Present Tenses
Simple Present Present Perfect Present Continuous Present Perfect Continuous
The Past Tenses
Simple Past Past Perfect Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
The Future Tenses
Simple Future Future Perfect Future Continuous Future Perfect Continuous

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Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous.

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Preposition Examples and How to Use Them | Grammarly

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Prepositions indicate relationships between other words in a sentence.

Many prepositions tell you where something is or when something happened.

Most prepositions have several definitions, so their meaning depends quite a bit on context.

Ending a sentence with a preposition is not a grammatical error.

What is a preposition?

"Vampires! Zombies! Werewolves!"

"Behind you!"

Thank goodness for prepositions. Imagine not knowing where the danger lay . . .

Prepositions tell us where or when something is in relation to something else. When monsters are approaching, it's good to have these special words to tell us where those monsters are. Are they behind us or in front of us? Will they be arriving in three seconds or at midnight?

Prepositions often tell us where one is in relation to another (e.g., "The coffee is on the table beside you"). But they can also indicate more abstract ideas, such as purpose or contrast (e.g., "We went for a walk despite the rain").

Types of prepositions

Prepositions indicate direction, time, location, and spatial relationships, as well as other abstract types of relationships.

Preposition examples

Unfortunately, there's no reliable formula for determining which preposition to use with a particular combination of words. The best way to learn which prepositions go with which words is to read as much high-quality writing as you can and pay attention to which combinations sound right. Here are a few examples of the most common prepositions used in sentences.

You can also use tools like the Google Books Ngram Viewer to see which prepositions most commonly occur with particular words-but remember, this tool can't explain the difference in meaning between different prepositional phrases like "pay for" (to purchase) and "pay off" (to bribe). For that, you may want to refer to a list of prepositions that includes the meanings of common combinations, which you can find online, or to a usage guide such as The Chicago Manual of Style , which includes a list of words that often give writers trouble along with the prepositions that go with them in different constructions.

Ending a sentence with a preposition

The old claim that it's wrong to end a sentence with a preposition has been debunked. It's not true now and it never was true. Writers who insist that a preposition can't end a sentence often end up with stilted and unnatural-sounding sentences:

That said, it is sometimes more elegant to move a preposition to an earlier spot in a sentence, especially in very serious and formal writing . But if you do move the preposition, remember to delete it from the end.

Unnecessary prepositions

One of the most common preposition mistakes is adding an unnecessary to the end of a question.

Although this is common in some English dialects , it's considered nonstandard in writing. You can fix the problem by simply deleting the .

On the bright side, if you're not sure which preposition to use, sometimes you can just get rid of it altogether. In fact, you should always get rid of unnecessary prepositional phrases. Too many prepositions can be a sign of flabby writing. Look at how many prepositions appear in the sentence below:

Getting rid of the prepositions forces you to tighten up the sentence. The result is shorter, more direct, and easier to understand:

Here's another example:

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Prepositions indicate where something is or when something happened. Here are some helpful examples of common prepositions and their different meanings.

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Prepositions form a small but very important word class. We use prepositions very frequently. In fact, the prepositions to, of, in, for, on, with, at, by, from are all in the top 25 words in English. If you can understand and correctly use prepositions, it will greatly improve your fluency. And remember, there are not very many prepositions. There are only 150 prepositions and we only use about 70 of these commonly. The following rules will help you understand and use prepositions correctly.

1. A preposition must have an object

All prepositions have objects. If a "preposition" does not have an object it is not a preposition-it's probably an adverb. A preposition always has an object. An adverb never has an object. Look at these example sentences:

2. pre-position means place before

The name " preposition" indicates that a preposition (usually) comes before something (its object):

But even when a preposition does not come before its object, it is still closely related to its object:

3. A pronoun following a preposition should be in object form

The noun or pronoun that follows a preposition forms a 'prepositional object'. If it is a pronoun, it should therefore be in the objective form ( me, her, them), not subjective form ( I, she, they):

4. Preposition forms

Prepositions have no particular form. The majority of prepositions are one-word prepositions, but some are two- or three-word phrases known as complex-prepositions:

one-word prepositions (before, into, on)

complex prepositions (according to, but for, in spite of, on account of)

5. to preposition and to infinitive are not the same

Do not confuse the infinitive particle "to" ( to sing, to live) with the preposition "to" ( to London, to me).
to as preposition to as infinitive particle
6. The golden preposition rule
A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is NEVER followed by a verb.
Read more about this important preposition rule here.

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Prepositions form a small but very important word class. We use prepositions very frequently. In fact, the prepositions to, of, in, for, on, with, at, by, from are all in the top 25 words in English. If you can understand and correctly use prepositions, it will greatly improve your fluency.

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Quizzes on the Language Portal of Canada

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Definition

Articles, determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and modify nouns:

the teacher, a college, a bit of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice

Sometimes these words will tell the reader or listener whether we're referring to a specific or general thing ( the garage out back; A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!); sometimes they tell how much or how many ( lots of trees, several books, a great deal of confusion). The choice of the proper article or determiner to precede a noun or noun phrase is usually not a problem for writers who have grown up speaking English, nor is it a serious problem for non-native writers whose first language is a romance language such as Spanish. For other writers, though, this can be a considerable obstacle on the way to their mastery of English. In fact, some students from eastern European countries — where their native language has either no articles or an altogether different system of choosing articles and determiners — find that these "little words" can create problems long after every other aspect of English has been mastered.

Determiners are said to "mark" nouns. That is to say, you know a determiner will be followed by a noun. Some categories of determiners are limited (there are only three articles, a handful of possessive pronouns, etc.), but the possessive nouns are as limitless as nouns themselves. This limited nature of most determiner categories, however, explains why determiners are grouped apart from adjectives even though both serve a modifying function. We can imagine that the language will never tire of inventing new adjectives; the determiners (except for those possessive nouns), on the other hand, are well established, and this class of words is not going to grow in number. These categories of determiners are as follows: the articles (an, a, the — see below; possessive nouns (Joe's, the priest's, my mother's); possessive pronouns, (his, your, their, whose, etc.); numbers (one, two, etc.); indefinite pronouns (few, more, each, every, either, all, both, some, any, etc.); and demonstrative pronouns. The demonstratives (this, that, these, those, such) are discussed in the section on Demonstrative Pronouns. Notice that the possessive nouns differ from the other determiners in that they, themselves, are often accompanied by other determiners: " my mother's rug," " the priests's collar," " a dog's life."

Some Notes on Quantifiers

Like articles, quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how much. Selecting the correct quantifier depends on your understanding the distinction between Count and Non-Count Nouns. For our purposes, we will choose the count noun trees and the non-count noun dancing:

The following quantifiers will work with count nouns:
many trees
a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees

The following quantifiers will work with non-count nouns:
not much dancing
a little dancing
little dancing
a bit of dancing
a good deal of dancing
a great deal of dancing
no dancing

The following quantifiers will work with both count and non-count nouns:
all of the trees/dancing
some trees/dancing
most of the trees/dancing
enough trees/dancing
a lot of trees/dancing
lots of trees/dancing
plenty of trees/dancing
a lack of trees/dancing

In formal academic writing, it is usually better to use many and much rather than phrases such as a lot of, lots of and plenty of.

There is an important difference between "a little" and "little" (used with non-count words) and between "a few" and "few" (used with count words). If I say that Tashonda has a little experience in management that means that although Tashonda is no great expert she does have some experience and that experience might well be enough for our purposes. If I say that Tashonda has little experience in management that means that she doesn't have enough experience. If I say that Charlie owns a few books on Latin American literature that means that he has some some books — not a lot of books, but probably enough for our purposes. If I say that Charlie owns few books on Latin American literature, that means he doesn't have enough for our purposes and we'd better go to the library.

Unless it is combined with of, the quantifier "much" is reserved for questions and negative statements:

Much of the snow has already melted.

How much snow fell yesterday?

Not much.

Note that the quantifier "most of the" must include the definite article the when it modifies a specific noun, whether it's a count or a non-count noun: "most of the instructors at this college have a doctorate"; "most of the water has evaporated." With a general plural noun, however (when you are not referring to a specific entity), the "of the" is dropped:

Most colleges have their own admissions policy.

Most students apply to several colleges.

An indefinite article is sometimes used in conjunction with the quantifier many, thus joining a plural quantifier with a singular noun (which then takes a singular verb):

Many a young man has fallen in love with her golden hair.

Many an apple has fallen by October.

This construction lends itself to a somewhat literary effect (some would say a stuffy or archaic effect) and is best used sparingly, if at all.

Predeterminers

The predeterminers occur prior to other determiners (as you would probably guess from their name). This class of words includes multipliers ( double, twice, four/five times . . . .); fractional expressions ( one-third, three-quarters, etc.); the words both, half, and all; and intensifiers such as quite, rather, and such.

The multipliers precede plural count and mass nouns and occur with singular count nouns denoting number or amount:

This van holds three times the passengers as that sports car.

My wife is making salary.

This time we added five times the amount of water.

In fractional expressions, we have a similar construction, but here it can be replaced with "of" construction.

Charlie finished in one-fourth [of] the time his brother took.

Two-fifths of the respondents reported that half the medication was sufficient.

The intensifiers occur in this construction primarily in casual speech and writing and are more common in British English than they are in American English. The intensifier "what" is often found in stylistic fragments: "We visited my brother in his dorm room. What a mess!"

This room is rather a mess, isn't it?

The ticket-holders made quite a fuss when they couldn't get in.

What an idiot he turned out to be.

Our vacation was such a grand experience.

Half, both, and all can occur with singular and plural count nouns; half and all can occur with mass nouns. There are also "of constructions" with these words ("all [of] the grain," "half [of] his salary"); the "of construction" is required with personal pronouns ("both of them," "all of it"). The following chart (from Quirk and Greenbaum) nicely describes the uses of these three predeterminers:

The Articles

The is used with specific nouns. The is required when the noun it refers to represents something that is one of a kind:

The moon circles the earth.

The is required when the noun it refers to represents something in the abstract:

The United States has encouraged the use of the private automobile as opposed to the use of public transit.

The is required when the noun it refers to represents something named earlier in the text. (See below..)

We use a before singular count-nouns that begin with consonants (a cow, a barn, a sheep); we use an before singular count-nouns that begin with vowels or vowel-like sounds (an apple, an urban blight, an open door). Words that begin with an h sound often require an a (as in a horse, a history book, a hotel), but if an h-word begins with an actual vowel sound, use an an (as in an hour, an honor). We would say a useful device and a union matter because the u of those words actually sounds like yoo (as opposed, say, to the u of an ugly incident). The same is true of and (because of that consonantal "Yoo" sound). We would say a once-in-a-lifetime experience or a one-time hero because the words once and one begin with a w sound (as if they were spelled wuntz and won).

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary says that we can use an before an h- word that begins with an unstressed syllable. Thus, we might say an hisTORical moment, but we would say a HIStory book. Many writers would call that an affectation and prefer that we say a historical, but apparently, this choice is a matter of personal taste.

For help on using articles with abbreviations and acronyms ( a or an FBI agent?), see the section on Abbreviations.

First and subsequent reference: When we first refer to something in written text, we often use an indefinite article to modify it.

A newspaper has an obligation to seek out and tell the truth.

In a subsequent reference to this newspaper, however, we will use the definite article:

There are situations, however, when the newspaper must determine whether the public's safety is jeopardized by knowing the truth.

Another example:
"I'd like a glass of orange juice, please," John said.
"I put the glass of juice on the counter already," Sheila replied.

Exception:
When a modifier appears between the article and the noun, the subsequent article will continue to be indefinite:
"I'd like a big glass of orange juice, please," John said.
"I put a big glass of juice on the counter already," Sheila replied.

Generic reference: We can refer to something in a generic way by using any of the three articles. We can do the same thing by omitting the article altogether.

A beagle makes a great hunting dog and family companion.

An airedale is sometimes a rather skittish animal.

The golden retriever is a marvelous pet for children.

Irish setters are not the highly intelligent animals they used to be.

The difference between the generic indefinite pronoun and the normal indefinite pronoun is that the latter refers to any of that class ("I want to buy a beagle, and any old beagle will do.") whereas the former (see beagle sentence) refers to all members of that class.

Proper nouns: We use the definite article with certain kinds of proper nouns:

Geographical places: the Sound, the Sea of Japan, the Mississippi, the West, the Smokies, the Sahara (but often not when the main part of the proper noun seems to be modified by an earlier attributive noun or adjective: We went swimming at the Ocean Park)

Pluralized names (geographic, family, teams): the Netherlands, the Bahamas, the Hamptons, the Johnsons, the New England Patriots

Public institutions/facilities/groups: the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Sheraton, the House, the Presbyterian Church

Newspapers: the Hartford Courant, the Times

Nouns followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with "of": the leader of the gang, the president of our club

Abstract nouns: Abstract nouns—the names of things that are not tangible—are sometimes used with articles, sometimes not:

The storm upset my peace of mind. He was missing just one thing: peace of mind.

Injustice was widespread within the judicial system itself. He implored the judge to correct the injustice.

Her body was racked with grief. It was a grief he had never felt before.

Zero articles: Several kinds of nouns never use articles. We do not use articles with the names of languages ("He was learning Chinese." [But when the word Chinese refers to the people, the definite article might come into play: "The Chinese are hoping to get the next Olympics."]), the names of sports ("She plays badminton and basketball."), and academic subjects ("She's taking economics and math. Her major is Religious Studies.")

When they are generic, non-count nouns and sometimes plural count-nouns are used without articles. "We like wine with our dinner. We adore Baroque music. We use roses for many purposes." But if an "of phrase" comes after the noun, we use an article: "We adore the music of the Baroque." Also, when a generic noun is used without an article and then referred to in a subsequent reference, it will have become specific and will require a definite article: "The Data Center installed computers in the Learning Center this summer. The computers, unfortunately, don't work."

Common count nouns are used without articles in certain special situations:

idiomatic expressions
using be and go

We'll go by train. (as opposed to "We'll take the train.)
He must be in school.

with seasons

In spring, we like to clean the house.

with institutions

He's in church/college/jail/class.

with meals

Breakfast was delicious.
He's preparing dinner by himself.

with diseases

He's dying of pneumonia.
Appendicitis nearly killed him.
She has cancer
(You will sometimes hear "the measles," "the mumps," but these, too, can go without articles.)

with time of day

We traveled mostly by night.
We'll be there around midnight.

Principles of Choosing an Article

Choosing articles and determiners: Briefly defined, a determiner is a noun-marker: when you see one, you know that what follows is a noun or noun phrase. There is a list of such words in the table below. When you place your mouse-cursor over a word or pair of related words (such as either/neither), you will see in the right-hand frame an image describing the kinds of words that word can modify.

Zero article (see table below) means either that no article would be appropriate with that kind of noun or that that kind of noun can be used (in that context) without an article.

If you would like to see these images listed on one page, click HERE.

Notice that there is a difference between a "stressed" some or any and an "unstressed" some or any. Consider the words in ALL CAPS as shouted words and you will hear the difference between these two:

That is SOME car you've got there!

I don't want to hear ANY excuse!

As opposed to. . .

We have some cars left in the lot.

Isn't there any furniture in the living room?

In terms of the words they usually modify, the unstressed some and any do not modify singular count nouns.

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Articles, determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and modify nouns: the teacher, a college, a bit of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice Sometimes these words will tell the reader or listener whether we're referring to a specific or general thing ( the garage out back; A horse!

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