Ought to and must: understand the difference
Use ought to for advice and likely expectations. Use must for a strong obligation, an essential need, or a conclusion that seems certain.
English for work and meetings
Practice expressions used to talk about work, projects and other people. Try each recording before opening the explanation.
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Personal or personnel: what is the difference?
Use personal for something connected with one person. Use personnel for the employees or staff of an organization.
Phrasal verbs: learn the meaning in context
A phrasal verb is a verb plus one or more short words that work together as one meaning. In look after, the phrase means take care of.
Present perfect exercise: choose the natural form in context
Choose the present perfect for a past experience, a recent result, a change, or a situation in an unfinished time period when it connects to now. Use have with I, you, we, and they; use has with he, she, it, and singular nouns. Add the past participle after have or has.
Present perfect tense: connect past events to now
Use have or has plus a past participle when a past event is relevant now, or when the time period continues to now. For example, I have lost my keys means I do not have them now.
SMS English: abbreviations, clarity, and when to use full words
Use short forms such as msg, mins, and btw in casual messages when the reader will understand them. Use complete words and a clear request for work, school, customer service, or a first message to someone you do not know well.
Say and tell in reported speech
Use say with the message: Maya said that the train was late. Use tell with a listener and the message: Maya told us that the train was late. Do not put the listener directly after say, and do not leave it out after tell when tell introduces a reported statement.
Sentence fragments: find and repair incomplete sentences
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Check whether the words have a subject and a verb and whether they give a complete thought. Repair a fragment by joining it to a complete clause or by adding the missing words.
Separable phrasal verbs: place the object
With a separable phrasal verb, put a noun object after the particle or between the verb and particle. Put a pronoun object between them.
Sports idioms in English: meanings beyond the game
A sports idiom uses a game-related phrase to express an idea outside sport. Get the ball rolling means start an activity. Treat the whole expression as one unit instead of translating each word separately.
Suit or suite: clothing, fit, and connected rooms
Use suit for matching clothes or for something that fits or is suitable. Use suite for connected rooms or a related group of things.
Tell or say: choosing the right reporting verb
Use tell when information or an instruction goes to a person. Use say when the sentence focuses on the words or message. Tell normally takes a listener directly after it; say normally takes the message.