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Grammar

  • Double negatives in English – a big no no

    Double negatives in English – a big no no

    Picture it: you are sitting in an English class and a teacher says “don’t use double negatives”. Double negative? What is a double negative? How can anything be negative twice? What is a double negative? A double negative in the content of language is when a sentence has multiple negative words. A negative word can…

  • Future in the past – What were you going to do?

    Future in the past – What were you going to do?

    In English, there exists a concept called “future in the past”. This is when you talk about how the future was going to be at some point in the past (whether it actually happened or not). Before you continue this article, if you are unfamiliar with either the future tense or the past tense, please…

  • Reported Speech – He said, she said

    Reported Speech – He said, she said

    Sometimes when you are telling a story or relaying information someone told you, you don’t necessarily want to say absolutely everything in exactly the same way as it was told to you (i.e. direct speech). Sometimes you simply can’t remember and other times exactly what was said was important. So what do you do instead?…

  • Past habits – Over and over again

    Past habits – Over and over again

    In this article we will cover: You can describe past habits (or actions that happened repeatedly in the past) in three different ways in English: used to, would and the past simple tense. Used to If you have learnt about modal and semi-modal verbs before, you may be familiar with used to. In fact, this…

  • Modal verbs – Can vs May

    Modal verbs – Can vs May

    Before reading this article, make sure you are familiar with the uses of can and may. You will need that information to understand can vs may. You may have heard someone say “Can I go to the bathroom.” You might have also heard “May I go to the bathroom”. Can we use both “can” and…

  • Semi-modal verbs – used to

    Semi-modal verbs – used to

    The last semi-modal on our list is “used to”, which you will probably be very familiar with. You have probably used “used to” to talk about habits: As a child I used to play near the stream every day. This was an action that happened many times in the past but no longer. You can…

  • Semi-modal verbs – ought to

    Semi-modal verbs – ought to

    For many of you, reading this post will be one of the few times (if not the first time) you have seen the word “ought to”. This word is the next semi-modal verb on our list. What is it and why are we including it on our list? What does it even mean? It is…

  • Semi-modal verbs – had better

    Semi-modal verbs – had better

    Probably one of the more unusual semi-modal verbs is “had better”. While it follows the rules of normal modal verbs, this one is the only one that comprises a verb in the past tense (which stays the same for all tenses) and an adverb. You can use it for a variety of things, such as…

  • Semi-modal verb – need

    Semi-modal verb – need

    The next semi-modal verb on our list is the verb “to need”, which means “to require something”. Usually it follows the rules for normal verbs, such as in the following example: I need to go. A non-modal use of the verb “need” Did you know that there is a way to use it as a…

  • Semi-modal verb – dare

    Semi-modal verb – dare

    The next semi-modal verb on our list is the verb “to dare”, which means “to have the courage to do something” or “defy/challenge someone to do something”. But wait, Jamie, you might say: I have seen this verb used normally, such as in the sentence below. How is this a semi-modal verb? Does he dare…

  • Showing obligation: “must” vs “have to”

    Showing obligation: “must” vs “have to”

    What are the differences between must vs have to? Formality Urgency (must vs have to) Further learning So we have looked at the modal verb “must” and the semi-modal verb “have to” and have seen that they serve very similar roles. They both talk about an obligation – something that is needed to be done.…

  • Semi-modal verbs – have to

    Semi-modal verbs – have to

    The verb “to have” is very versatile. It forms the perfect tenses and also has its own meaning which shows possession. For example: As a semi-modal verb When the verb “have” is in the form “have to”, it functions like must, showing obligation and is a semi-modal verb. But why is it a semi-modal verb…

  • An Introduction to semi-modal verbs

    An Introduction to semi-modal verbs

    Before we talk about what a semi-modal verb is, you should be familiar with the concept of a modal verb. What is a semi-modal verb? A semi-modal verb is similar to a modal verb. In fact the prefix semi– means “half” or “partially”. In this case a semi-modal verb is partially a modal verb and…

  • Modal verbs – can/could

    Modal verbs – can/could

    In the English language, the modal verb pair can/could is one of the most difficult modal pairs to learn as the modals can be used in a variety of situations. These include: The difficulties that many English-learning beginners have is that can and could are used in many situations and can even be used in…

  • Modal verbs – shall/should

    Modal verbs – shall/should

    The modal pair shall/should seem like they should be the easiest modal verbs to learn, so why aren’t they? Unlike most modal verbs, there are some regional and dialectical differences between shall and should. Let’s look at their uses and differences below: Order/command/prophecy Questions (advice or suggestions) + shall/should Normal/recommended behaviour (without strong obligation) +…