English vocabulary practice: useful words beginning with V
Useful B1 words beginning with V include value, variety, vehicle, verify, visible, volunteer, vote, and vocabulary. Learn each word with a short context and its usual word partners.
Everyday small talk
Explore expressions for ordinary conversations. Notice how the example connects the expression to a real situation.
Sign in to save phrases and report a problem
English vocabulary practice: useful words beginning with W
To learn a new W word, connect its meaning to a complete example and its usual grammar. For instance, wait is followed by for before a thing or person, while warn someone about a possible problem.
Enough: quantity, degree, and position
Put enough before a noun, as in enough time or enough chairs. Put it after an adjective or adverb, as in warm enough or quickly enough. Use enough to plus a base verb when you say what someone or something can do.
Formal and informal writing: choose the right tone
Choose your tone after you decide who will read the message and what you need from them. Use a suitable greeting and closing, make requests politely when the situation needs it, and avoid slang or very casual abbreviations in formal writing.
Forming adverbs from adjectives: spelling and sentence position
To form many adverbs, add -ly to an adjective: careful becomes carefully. With an adjective ending in consonant plus y, change y to i and add -ly: happy becomes happily. Check the sentence too: an adjective describes a noun, while an adverb often tells how an action happens.
Group discussion tips: join, respond, and build on ideas
Listen for a pause, enter with a phrase linked to the current point, say how you respond, then add one reason, example, or question that helps the group continue.
Gut feeling: meaning and use in English
Use gut feeling for a personal sense or impression that you cannot fully explain. Say I have a gut feeling that the train will be late, or My gut feeling is that we should wait. The phrase is informal and does not mean that you have proof.
Head over heels: meaning and use in English
Use head over heels when someone is strongly in love: 'Maya is head over heels for her new partner.' The phrase is figurative, so it does not describe a physical fall. It is informal and usually appears in personal conversation, stories, or light writing.
Idioms and proverbs: how to tell the difference
Ask whether the expression needs the rest of a sentence. In "Mina is under the weather," under the weather is an idiom inside the sentence. "Better late than never" is a proverb because it can stand alone as advice about doing something late.
Idioms exercise: choose the meaning from the situation
To understand an idiom, read the whole sentence and ask what the speaker is doing, feeling, or describing. Do not translate each word separately.
Idioms exercise: understand meaning from context
Use context to work out an idiom. Look for the event, the speaker's feeling, and the result. In “After missing the bus, I had to bite the bullet and walk home,” the difficult walk shows that bite the bullet means to face an unpleasant task bravely.
Inseparable phrasal verbs: keep the phrase together
With an inseparable phrasal verb, keep the verb and particle together. Put the object after the full phrase, as in look after the dog and run into my teacher.