I’ve been telling teachers to use timelines for as long as I can remember, but, strangely enough, they used to play a lesser role in my own classroom practice. I believe this has a lot to do with my baffling inability to make sense of anything that bears the slightest resemblance to a map or a diagram. But some years ago I decided that it was time to put away my fear of shapes and patterns and dust off my old, long-forgotten verb tense timelines.
Grammar
Subject / verb agreement mistakes: 7 things to bear in mind.
First things first: What is subject / verb agreement?
It’s a grammatical rule that states that the verb must agree in number with its subject. In English, present tense verbs change to show agreement in the third person singular form by adding an S (or ES). Seems fairly straightforward, doesn’t it? So how could it be that students of all levels, nationalities and age groups seem to get this wrong far more often than would seem reasonable?
Test your English: gerund or infinitive after “to”?
Here’s another post in the test your English series. This one focuses on the use of the gerund or infinitive after the word to.
Look at the sentences below. Would you use go or going to complete each one?
1. No, you didn’t wake me up. I am used to _____ to bed late. Don’t worry.
2. I attempted to _____ from my existing diet to one containing no carbs and nearly died.
3. I need to find something (or someone!) that will help me stay committed to _____ to the gym.
4. I like Starbucks, but I wouldn’t like to limit myself to _____ there only.
5. A certain celebrity, who shall remain nameless, recently admitted to _____ under the knife. Who could it be?
6. I am so looking forward to _____ on vacation.
7. Quote of the day: “In order to _____ up, one must go down, first.” Yeah, whatever.
8. I was offered an initial short-term contract with a view to _____ permanent.
9. When I was younger, I didn’t object to _____ to church. Now I kind of wish I had.
10. I am slowly getting accustomed to _____ to work on foot. It will take a little getting used, though.
11. My father’s company came dangerously close to _____ out of business.
Ready for the answers?
Test your English: count vs. non-count nouns
Which of these sentences are grammatically correct?
1. My boss gave me a very useful feedback the other day.
2. Supermarkets have aisles for different foods.
3. I have loads of homeworks to do.
Easy, huh? Well, carry on.