A speaking exam: defending a view while the examiner tests it
An examiner probes a candidate's position on banning cars from city centres; the candidate concedes, corrects and holds the line.
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A, an, the, and none at all: how English articles actually work
English articles explained: a or an by sound not spelling, when the definite article is required, and when to use no article at all. With the usual mistakes.
Able to recover quickly from something difficult
A warm, approving adjective for people, economies and materials that spring back after a blow.
Anyone with an interest in how a project turns out
Core project vocabulary for anyone with an interest in how something turns out.
Appearing to be the reason, though probably not the real one
An adverb that reports the official reason while signalling that the writer does not believe it.
Asking a stranger the way to the nearest pharmacy
A visitor asks a passer-by for the closest place to buy medicine and gets a two-step route.
Asking for things politely in work emails
Why direct commands fail in work emails, and which softening frames native writers use instead.
Avoiding a decision between two sides
An idiom for the person who refuses to commit to either side.
British place names that are not said the way they are written
Ten British place names whose spelling is centuries out of date, with the local pronunciation and the three patterns that explain most of them.
Building the regular past
Build the regular past form, watching the spelling changes that happen before the ending.
Buying a few things in a small shop: greeting, asking and paying
A customer greets the shopkeeper, asks for three everyday items and pays.
Changing the rules after the game has started
A football idiom for complaining that someone in authority changed the target after you had aimed.
Choose the word that places the sentence in time or in space
Choose the preposition that places each sentence in time or in space, or decide that none is needed.
Choosing the right line for each move in a work email
A work email is a sequence of moves; here is a ready-made line for each move at three levels of formality.
Choosing the right present ending
Choose the present ending by deciding whether the subject is one other person or thing.
Coffee-machine small talk about a much-delayed office relocation
Two near-strangers fill the wait at the coffee machine with small talk about a move that keeps slipping.
Connecting your ideas: choose the linker
Work out the logical relationship between two ideas and choose the connector that signals it.
Connectors that hold an essay together
The connectors that make an essay's logic visible, grouped by the relationship each one signals.
Costing little money
The everyday adjective for a low price, and the hint of poor quality it can carry.
Disagreeing with a colleague's plan without turning the meeting into a fight
Two colleagues disagree about a launch date and keep the meeting from turning into an argument.
Disappointing, but exactly what you expected
A golf idiom for a bad outcome that is exactly what everyone expected.
Dramatic negative openings: rebuild the sentence
Rebuild each sentence after its dramatic negative opening, putting the auxiliary before the subject.
Everyday expressions where one word is fixed and cannot be swapped
Common fixed expressions in which one word is welded in place and cannot be swapped for a synonym.
Expressions you can half-guess: the body, the weather and money
Expressions built from the body, the weather and money, half guessable from their ordinary words.
Feeling slightly unwell, but not ill enough to see a doctor
An idiom for feeling mildly unwell, with nothing to do with the forecast.
Find the word that takes the beat when a sentence corrects an idea
Find the word that carries the strongest beat when a sentence rejects one idea and replaces it with another.
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.
Grant the point first: complete each opening
Complete the fixed frames that grant the other side a point before taking it back.
Granting your opponent a point, then taking it back
A set of frozen openings that let you concede the other side's point in the first half of the sentence so that your own argument lands with full weight in the second.
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.
Hearing a quiet no: a junior proposal is gently parked
A partner turns down a junior analyst's proposal without ever saying no; she has to hear the refusal in the wording and step back gracefully.
How the verb steps back when you pass on someone's words
What happens to tenses, pronouns and time expressions when you pass on yesterday's words today.
How to use English idioms correctly: what to learn, and what only to recognise
English idioms are mostly a skill for understanding others, not for speaking. Common examples with their meanings, and a filter for the few worth saying.
How to write a polite email in English that does not read as rude
Politeness in a professional email in English is carried by the shape of the request. The format, the phrases and the habits that make formal emails land well.
Idioms you must learn whole
Fixed expressions behave like single vocabulary items: their verb bends into any tense, while every other word is locked and no synonym may be substituted.
In, on, at: one scale of precision that covers both time and place
In, on or at? One scale of precision - point, surface, container - explains both time and place, plus the in time and on time difference and the exceptions.
Learned words whose spelling hides the way they are said
Ten educated words, most of them from Greek and French, that kept spellings the ordinary rules cannot read, each with a plain respelling.
Naming the people you are related to, by blood and by marriage
Family words in three layers: the household, the wider family, and relatives by marriage.
Numbers in words: get the ending and the hyphen right
Write each figure out in letters, getting the ending and the hyphen right.
One sound apart: choosing the word the sentence needs
Each answer sits one consonant away from a rival word; pick the one that fits the sentence.
One thing or many: which opener fits
Decide whether the noun after the gap names one thing or several, then pick the matching opener.
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.
Paraphrasing the question in IELTS Writing Task 2: what examiners reward
IELTS Writing Task 2 paraphrasing, judged against the band descriptors: which techniques earn marks, which words to leave alone, and where a rewrite costs you.
Passing on a claim you do not vouch for
Supply the small grammatical word that lets a sentence pass on a claim without endorsing it.
Physically relaxed, or free from worry
One adjective with a physical sense and a mental sense, and a pronunciation that drops a syllable.
Plural forms that refuse to follow the rule
The nouns that change inside the word to form a plural, and the few that do not change at all.
Point, surface, container: one scale for both time and place
Point, surface and container: one scale that chooses the preposition for both time and place.
Present perfect continuous
An action that started in the past and is still going on now.
Present perfect or past simple?
Decide whether each sentence needs the present perfect or the past simple, then check the answers.
Present perfect vs past simple: the question that actually decides it
Present perfect or past simple? The deciding question is not whether the action is finished, but whether the sentence names a finished time. With the traps.
Pronunciation of the regular past ending: three sounds, one rule
The regular past tense ending is pronounced three ways in English. One question about the sound before it decides every verb, so there is nothing to memorise.
Punctual, or early enough? Two expressions that are not interchangeable
One small word separates arriving punctually from arriving with time to spare.
Put back the missing word in the fixed expression
Put back the locked noun in each set expression for something easy or difficult.
Put in the missing word, or leave the gap empty
Put the right article in front of each noun, or recognise the cases where nothing belongs there.
Question tags: the tune decides whether you are asking or checking
The same question tag can check or genuinely ask, and only the tune of the voice tells the listener which.
Read the strength of a soft objection: complete the softening word
Five polite sentences from a senior colleague, each hiding a firm no behind one missing softening word.
Ready-made lines for opening and closing an email
Opening and closing lines for workplace email, sorted by how formal the relationship is.
Real conditions, real results: fill the gaps
Complete real conditions and their results, using the right form in each half of the sentence.
Real future possibilities and their results
How English links a real future possibility to its result, and why one half of the sentence stays in the present.
Refusing a request without causing offence
Complete the fixed phrases that let a work email say no without giving offence.
Reporting a claim without owning it
How formal written English lets you pass on what people are claiming while quietly making clear that you are not the one claiming it.
Restore the unguessable word in each everyday expression
Restore the one unpredictable word in each fixed everyday expression.
Rewrite the action as a noun
Restate the action in each sentence as a noun, the move that lifts an essay's register.
Rewriting the question in your own words
How to reword an essay prompt so the examiner sees your language, not the question's.
Ringing a company to move an appointment you cannot keep
A client rings to move an appointment his flight will make him miss; the receptionist offers alternatives.
Same sound, different word: traps even native writers fall into
Word sets that sound the same but are spelled differently, the slips fluent writers make at speed.
Say the place name: choose the spoken form
Five sentences with a British place name in each; pick the respelling local speakers actually use.
Saying that something exists
How English announces that something exists, and how the noun that follows chooses between the two openers.
Separable and inseparable phrasal verbs: the test that tells them apart
Separable and inseparable phrasal verbs explained: the one test that tells them apart, worked examples of each, and the pronoun rule that settles word order.
Set expressions for saying something was easy or hard
Ready-made expressions for saying that something was effortless or a struggle, sorted by tone.
Shifting the verb back when reporting
Move the verb one step back in time when passing on what someone said.
Shortening a clause down to its verb form
How a full clause shortens to its verb form, what the shortened clause can and cannot do, and the classic error.
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.
So weak that it is unlikely to survive examination
The formal adjective for a link or an argument too thin to carry the weight put on it, the measured way to dismiss a claim.
Starting with a negative for dramatic effect
The formal word-order swap that follows a fronted negative phrase, and why it makes writing sound emphatic.
The beat of the sentence: which words carry it and which almost vanish
Content words carry the rhythm of spoken English; the grammar words between them shrink to fit.
The busiest verb and its two-part combinations
The busiest verb in English combined with its small words, one meaning per combination.
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.
The four parts of a strong interview answer, and what weakens it
A good interview answer is a tiny story in four fixed parts, and most weak answers skip one of them.
The half you cannot guess: expressions about the body, weather and money
Fill the gap that hides the fixed word in expressions about the body, the weather and money.
The irregular past forms you cannot avoid
The ten irregular past forms you will meet every single day, with both past forms side by side.
The letters that are spelled but never spoken
The letters that are written but never spoken, grouped into the small number of patterns they follow.
The missing second word: complete each two-part verb
Supply the small word that completes each two-part verb; the rest of the sentence tells you which.
The opening phrase that describes the wrong person
A phrase at the start of a sentence quietly borrows its subject from the main clause, which is how confident writers end up attributing an action to whatever happens to follow the comma.
The regular way to talk about finished actions
One ending turns a regular verb into the past - when to use it, and how the spelling shifts along the way.
The set expressions you will hear first in everyday English
The set expressions you will meet first in everyday English, each paired with its plain meaning.
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.
The small second word that decides what a verb means
The two-part verbs a beginner meets in the very first week, and why the small word that follows the verb is never decoration.
The small words that follow common adjectives
Common adjectives with the fixed small word that follows each one.
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.
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.
The two all-purpose verbs: pick the right one
Pick the right all-purpose verb for each collocation and put it in the correct form.
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.
Three different sounds for one written ending
One written past ending, three spoken sounds - and the simple rule your mouth already wants to follow.
Three-part verbs that never split, and where each sits on the register scale
Ten three-word verbs that never separate, with a register note on where a single-word verb reads better.
To carry more weight than a competing consideration
The formal verb of written argument for saying one consideration matters more than another.
To decide to do something later instead of now
A neutral two-part verb for postponing, and where its pronoun object has to go.
To do something wrong and escape the punishment it deserved
A three-part verb for doing something wrong and escaping the consequences; it never splits.
To force something into a space or schedule too small for it
A mildly humorous verb for forcing something into a space or schedule that is too small for it.
To have enough money to buy something
A verb that almost always follows an ability word, usually in a negative sentence or a question.
To take something you will give back later
The verb for the person who takes something for a while; the giver's side uses a different verb.
To think of an idea, plan, or answer
The everyday three-part verb for producing an idea, a plan or an answer.
To use what you already have to gain an advantage
The corporate verb for using an asset or position you already have to gain more from a situation.
To waste time on small fiddly things instead of the job
British, informal and affectionately impatient: wasting time on fiddly things instead of the job.
Treating a complicated question as if it had one easy answer
An adjective that always criticises: it accuses an answer of ignoring the real complexity.
Turning actions into nouns to lift the register
Turning verbs into nouns to lift the register of an essay, with the endings that build each noun.
Two everyday verbs learners constantly mix up
Two everyday verbs share the work that a single verb does in most other languages - here is how English splits it.
Two friends compare their weekends on a Monday morning
Two friends trade weekend stories before work, one of them visibly short of sleep.
Two sounds from one spelling, and the wrong ones learners reach for
One pair of letters spells two different consonants, and every substitute learners reach for is already a real word.
Two-part verbs and their single-word formal twins
Two-part verbs paired with the single Latin-origin word that replaces each one in formal writing.
Two-part verbs: where does the pronoun go
Put the two-part verb and its pronoun object in the only order English allows.
Understatement in senior meetings: how small words carry a large no
In a British meeting the softer the wording, the firmer the objection; this lesson teaches you to hear a polite sentence at full strength.
What comes after the verb: the two patterns
Which verbs are followed by the -ing form and which by the to-form, learned pair by pair.
What each paper of the A2 Key exam asks you to do
The three papers of the A2 Key exam, what each one asks you to do and how the marks are shared.
When the stress moves, the meaning changes
How moving the stress from one syllable to the other turns a thing into an action in dozens of common word pairs.
When two near-synonyms describe the same behaviour and only one is a compliment
Pairs of near-synonyms that describe the same behaviour, where one praises and the other criticises.
Where the little word goes in two-part verbs
Where the object goes in two-part verbs - and the one position a pronoun is never allowed to take.
Which of the three ending sounds do you hear
Say each past verb aloud and identify which of the three ending sounds you hear.
Which strong adverb goes with which adjective
Strong adverbs keep a small circle of regular adjective partners; this table lists the pairs worth learning.
Which syllable carries the beat, and what makes it move
Which syllable carries the beat in longer words, and the endings that make the beat move.
Which word goes in front of the noun, and when nothing does
The indefinite article, the definite article and no article at all, with the meaning each choice carries.
Why a friendly opening sounds wrong in a formal setting
Every greeting also announces how close you think you are to the other person, which is why a warm one can misfire.
Why you cannot hear where one word ends and the next begins
How fluent speech runs words together, and the patterns that let you hear the joins.
Words for what you eat: which take a plural and which never do
Food words sorted into the ones that take a plural and the ones that never do, with the quantity words each accepts.
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.
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