Having a lot to do and no free time
The everyday adjective for a person with a lot to do or a place full of people, and the polite way to say you cannot come.
A1 Beginner
This is the very beginning. You are here if you can recognise a few written words but cannot yet build a sentence of your own without help. The material covers the verb that holds nearly every simple sentence together, how to say that something exists, and the ending that appears when you talk about someone else. Start with the most basic verb forms, then take the short practice sets before moving to A2.
Buying a few things in a small shop: greeting, asking and paying
A customer greets the shopkeeper, asks for three everyday items and pays.
The word changes if you drop the last sound: complete each sentence
Two words that differ only in their final sound: say both and choose the one the sentence needs.
The consonant at the end of a word carries the grammar
Plural, past and third person all live in the final consonant, so dropping it drops the grammar.
Five written vowels, roughly twenty spoken ones: why spelling misleads
Five written vowels stand for roughly twenty spoken sounds; this chart shows which letter gives which.
Punctual, or early enough? Two expressions that are not interchangeable
One small word separates arriving punctually from arriving with time to spare.
The sound that decides which form goes in front
The article in front of a noun is chosen by the first sound you hear, never by the first letter.
Openings and farewells, from the most formal to the most relaxed
Greetings and goodbyes arranged from the most formal to the most relaxed, with the situation each one suits.
Numbers in words: get the ending and the hyphen right
Write each figure out in letters, getting the ending and the hyphen right.
Writing the numbers from 1 to 100 in words, with the usual spelling traps
Every number from 1 to 100 written out, with the spelling traps in the teens, the tens and the hyphenated forms.
Singular opener, plural noun: the grammar rule your course left out
The singular opener turns up before plural nouns in every kind of English speech. Here is why it happens, when the rule genuinely bends, and what to write.
The three present forms of the most important verb
The three present forms of the most frequent verb in English, and which subject takes which.
Choosing the right present ending
Choose the present ending by deciding whether the subject is one other person or thing.
One thing or many: which opener fits
Decide whether the noun after the gap names one thing or several, then pick the matching opener.
Saying that something exists
How English announces that something exists, and how the noun that follows chooses between the two openers.
The small letter that changes the verb when someone else acts
Why the verb gains one small letter when the subject is a single other person or thing - and nowhere else.
Costing little money
The everyday adjective for a low price, and the hint of poor quality it can carry.