Everyday Grammar: Mastering Reported Speech

We often need to tell others what someone else said. There are two ways to do this. One is to say the same words and use quotation marks. That is direct speech. The other method is to summarize, or tell about what someone said. This is called reporte

VOA慢速英语2017--演讲与历史现在时

Reported Speech and the 'Historic Present' Tense The 2008 film, The Dark Knight, tells the story of Batman, a fictional superhero. At one point in the movie, Batman's enemy, the Joker, says the following lines: My father was a drinker and a fiend. An

VOA慢速英语2018--Can You Find the Clauses?

Imagine we are having a conversation about dance. Suddenly I say, Because I love to dance! You might learn something about me: that I love dancing. But you might also look at me strangely since I told you only a reason for something, but I didnt tell

VOA慢速英语--学习被动语态:这是可以做到的!

Imagine that you are planning to travel to another country. There is a lot that you need to do before you leave. Here are some things that might need to be done: Your passport has to be renewed. Your hair still needs to be cut. Your shoes should be r

VOA慢速英语2018--Like or Alike?

Have you ever wanted to talk about similarities between people or things but were unsure what words to use? Todays question comes from Nagim of Israel. Question: Hello from Israel. How can we use alike and like? These two words are very difficult for

VOA慢速英语--Improve Your Writing with Inversion, Part 1

In English, the traditional word order of a statement is subject + verb. Never do we change the order except when asking a question. Or do we? If you listened closely, you may have noticed that my statement beginning with the word never failed to fol

VOA慢速英语--Where Did You Learn English? Forming Questions, Part 3

Imagine you are meeting a group of English learners to practice your speaking skills. The group leader puts everyone into small practice groups. The people in your group begin to ask each other questions. Here are some questions you might hear or ask

VOA慢速英语--Improve Your Writing with Inversion, Part 2

In last weeks Everyday Grammar, we told you about a few kinds of inversion that are useful in academic writing and common on the TOEFL. But there are others. Today, well talk about three more. In fact, I already used one kind in my introduction. Comp

VOA慢速英语2018--Sentence or Statement?

Many VOA Learning English stories and programs use the words sentence and statement. But what exactly does each word mean? Are there differences between the two? This week, our question comes from Armando. Here it is: Question: Whats the difference b

ESL露西的一天 第107期:准备上床睡觉讲解(2)

The word toner comes from the verb to tone, tone, which has a couple of different meanings, 润肤水，这个词来自动词绷紧，它有好几个意思， but is often used when you are talking about your muscles -that you want to make your muscl

俚语口头禅:Be at odds with someone

【句子对照】 I was at odds with Mary about the schedule. She wanted me to work on Saturday, but I couldn't. 在工作时间安排上我和玛丽的意见不一致。他要我星期六上班，但我不原意。 【关键俚语】 be at odds with someone (verb phrase) 英：to be in disagree

手把手教你学口语23

Although auxiliary verbs are not usually stressed, when we want to strongly emphasize a verb, we stress the auxiliary verb. And if theres no auxiliary verb, we add one. These sentences are called emphatic sentences. For example, compare the sentences

手把手教你学口语28

Welcome to Daily Tips on Learning English. Todays tip is on the difference in meaning between forget doing something and forget to do something. Lets take an example. Whats the difference between I will never forget to lock the door and I will never

ESL露西的一天 第99期:清洁与放松讲解(4)

So, to put something away means to put it where it belongs. 所以，把东西收起来的意思就是把它放回它所属的地方。 Often, this means putting it in a closet or somewhere where you store it or keep it so that people can't see it. 通

ESL露西的一天 第97期:清洁与放松讲解(2)

A rag, rag, or a rag, depends on what part of the country you are from, 抹布，抹布，还是抹布（发音不同），与你来自哪个国家哪个地区有关， in my part of the country, we say rag, I take out a rag and start dusting the liv

ESL杰夫的一天 第103期:休息 邮件和垃圾讲解(5)

One thing I hate about watching television something I don't like is having to watch all the commercials. 看电视时我讨厌的一件事我不喜欢的事就是要看那些广告。 A commercial is the same as an advertisement on television or rad

ESL杰夫的一天 第18期:清洁讲解(7)

So, I put some toothpaste on my toothbrush and then I brush. 因此，我在牙刷上挤上一些牙膏，然后开始刷牙。 We use that verb, to brush, to mean to clean my teeth. 我们使用动词刷，来指清洁牙齿。 But, we don't say, I'

ESL杰夫的一天 第106期:休息 邮件和垃圾讲解(8)

A container is like a big box that you put something in, A container就是可以放东西进去的大箱子， and so a trash container is a big, in my case, plastic box that has wheels that I can then put it down on the street. 因此，在我看来，

ESL杰夫的一天 第35期:吃早餐讲解(10)

And, jam is made from fruitsuch as strawberriesand sugar, 而果酱是由草莓这类的水果和糖做成的， and they put them together and it makes a thick liquid that you can put on a piece of toast. 人们把它们放在一起，这样就能做出

ESL杰夫的一天 第84期:开车回家和跑腿讲解(10)

Well, the bagger puts my food into my cart, and I push my cart to my car. 好了，装袋工把我的食品放进了手推车里，我把手推车推到了我车子旁边。 My cart, cart, sometimes called a shopping cart, 手推车（cart），有时又