英语语法：225 Is It OK to Switch Verb Tenses?

Todays topic is whether its OK to switch verb tenses in conditional sentences. It all started with a grammar question about was and were. On the Grammar Girl Facebook page, Veronica wanted to know whether she should write If the test was readminister

VOA慢速英语--Noun Clauses in Everyday Speech

From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Almost every American has seen or heard of the movie Forrest Gump. The film is a touching story about the life of a man who faces many challenges. One of the most famous quotes from Forrest Gump is

VOA慢速英语--The Many Uses of 'Would' in Everyday Speech, Part 1

Imagine that you are visiting a friend in Washington, D.C. Your friend takes you to a popular restaurant. You look at the menu and decide what you want: crab cakes. Your friend is taking a little longer to decide. So, when the server comes to your ta

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

Everyday Grammar: Fun with Future Tenses

Everyday Grammar: Fun with Future Tenses For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. This week, we are going to talk about the future tenses. There are several ways to talk about future events in English. Compared to the past and present, fut

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--What’s the Difference? ‘So’ and ‘So That’

If you asked even the most knowledgeable Americans, they probably could not tell you more than a few meanings for the word so. It is an everyday word that most people use without even realizing its complexity. But this mysterious little word can act

英语语法入门：可能性状语

Adverbials of probability 可能性状语 We use adverbials of probability to show how certain we are about something. The most frequent adverbials of probability are: 我们用可能性状语表示我们队对某件事的确定程度。最常用的可

生活英语对话 Episode 30: Career decisions

本单元是关于职业生涯的对话 Episode 30: Career decisions Tim: Hi Alice, what are you reading? Alice: Oh. It's about maternity and baby care. They've asked me to change wards. Tim: But you love working in the emergency wards. Alice: Yes, well...I wan

英语语法：83 Sentence Fragments

Grammar Girl here. Today's topic is sentence fragments. I often imagine that listeners are writing articles and essays and books, but I was recently reminded that some people make their living writing shorter things like headlines and ad copy, and th

VOA慢速英语--How to Show That You Are Not Sure

In the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan, actor Tom Hanks plays the part of Captain Miller. The fictional Captain Miller was an English teacher before becoming a soldier and fighting in World War II. In one scene, Captain Miller describes how he has chan

The Mystery of the Disappearing ＂That＂

The Mystery of the Disappearing ＂That＂ From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Today, we are going to explore a mysterious word in English that seems to appear and disappear at will! If you are wondering what we mean, consider these

VOA慢速英语2015 Everyday Grammar: Introducing Conditionals

Everyday Grammar: Introducing Conditionals In this week's episode of Everyday Grammar, we are going to talk about conditionals. We use conditionals to show that something is true only when something else is true. Conditionals offer endless possibilit

Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing: Part 2

Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing: Part 2 This week, we are going to give you more information about another common pattern in English: the linking verb pattern. To get you started with linking verb patterns, consider this passage fr

Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing: Part One

Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing: Part One Many English learners have spent a lot of time studying the parts of speech: adjectives, nouns and verbs, for example. But sometimes studying the English sentence from a larger perspective

They Say That Reported Speech is Easy

They Say That Reported Speech is Easy 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 wha

If You Learn Conditionals, You'll Be Glad You Did!

If You Learn Conditionals, You'll Be Glad You Did! In this week's episode of Everyday Grammar, we are going to talk about conditionals. We use conditionals to show that something is true only when something else is true. Conditionals offer endless po

Common Sentence Patterns: Part 4

Common Sentence Patterns: Part 4 English has many patterns. Learning and mastering these patterns can help you improve your writing and speaking skills. They can also help you do better on your next grammar test! Today, we explore a common verb patte

VOA慢速英语--Common Sentence Patterns: Part 3

Common Sentence Patterns: Part 3 From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. English has many patterns. Basic grammatical patterns can explain the structure of around 95% of sentences in English, says Martha Kolln, a grammar expert. Learning

VOA慢速英语2019--Also, Too and As Well

Today on Ask a Teacher, a reader from Brazil asks about two common adverbs. Here is his question: Question: Hello from Brazil! Teacher, could you explain to us how and when to use as well and too? Obrigado! Luan Garcia, Brazil Answer: Hello, Luan! I