Indefinite pronouns like everybody and anyone take singular verbs.

Some nouns which end with –s, like

news, and diabetes – are actually singular. Other words like data and media are plural, and collective
nouns like team, government and group can be singular or plural.

Some nouns
Rule which follow this Example sentence
rule
Some indefinite
pronouns have a
everybody,
plural meaning, Everybody is in hospital
anyone, everything
but take singular
verbs
Some nouns mathematics,
which end with –s physics, rabies, Rabies is on the increase
are singular diabetes, news
Some nouns
people, children, The media have collected
which don't end
data, media more data
with –s are plural
The jury has found the
Some collective
family, team, defendant guilty
nouns can be
police, group,
singular and
government, jury The jury are having a
plural
discussion

Now it's your turn to write an imaginary news report. Use at least one noun (as a subject) from each of
these 4 groups:

someone, somebody, each, either one, everyone, anyone

mathematics, physics, rabies, diabetes, news

people, children, data , media

family, team, police, group, government, jury

You might begin your report like this:

…And some news just in. This morning…

We'll publish our five favourite entries.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Christopher, Mexico
And some news just in. This morning some children were intoxicated in school's cafeteria. Family are
very angry about this. Anyway, government asks cafeteria's owner some explanation for the bad food.

Nuala says:

Hi Christopher,

Well that story has certainly put me off my lunch!

You've got your subject and verbs agreements correct here – children were and government asks.
Well done!

Here are a couple of points you might want to consider:

First, vocabulary – children aren't likely to be intoxicated because that's something we usually associated
with alcohol. Instead bad food, usually poisons people.

Second, articles - you might want to look at some of the other Grammar Challenges about articles
because you made quite a few slips in your piece.

Here's a link to a Grammar Challenge about some of the basic rules of articles.

And here's your piece again, this time with some article options. Can you figure out what the correct
answers are?

And some news just in. This morning some children were poisoned in a / an / the school cafeteria. A /
An / The families are very angry about this. A / An / The government has asked a / an / the cafeteria
owner for a / an / the explanation for a / an / the poisoning.

Nuala

Tony, Singapore
Triskaidekaphobia People from the village Triskaideka Island in the northern part of the Indian ocean are
complaining that their calendar does not show the date 13. The Triskaidekans have only 353 days in a
year. Though this sounds strange, the government has confirmed that this is in line with their
Triskaidekaphobic traditions. The government spokesmen also said that those people who are
complaining are a minority and not thinking about everyone else and the Triskaidekaphobic traditions.

The news that the government is not going to do anything about it has angered the anti-
triskaidekaphobic party. They have blamed the media of portraying their party as anti-nationalist. It is also
reported that the anti-triskaidekaphobic party chairman Mr. Triskai Anti Phob will be arrested by the police
sometime today. We will be back with more news as it progress. Reporter: Mr. Never-Triskaidekaphobic
Joseph

Nuala says:

What a great news story! No-one here in the BBC Learning English offices is scared of the (some might
say unlucky) number 13. We don't suffer from triskaidekaphobia but Elena says she's frightened of
walking under ladders!

Thanks for making us all laugh here. We all thoroughly enjoyed your headline news!
Nuala

Thienloi, Vietnam
This morning, one severe accident occurred in the highway from Phu Gia to Lang Co. Police were there
after 5 minutes and protected the site. Three men died and several people were wounded. The cause
of the accident wasn't reported. The latest information will be updated at the Nine O'clock News.

Nuala says:

Hi Thienloi,

Thanks for your news report. It sounds very serious if three people died.

You decided here to think of the police as a collection of individual officers so you used in the plural 'were'
when talking about them. And you used the correct subject verb agreement with 'people' (plural) and
'accident' (singular). Well done!

In you first sentence you said 'one severe accident occurred in the highway'. It might sound more
natural to say 'a serious accident happened on the highway'.

And in your final sentence you said 'The latest information will be updated at the Nine O'clock
News'. If you said 'We'll have more for you at nine o'clock', you might sound more like a newscaster.
Or you could try a sentence using 'all the latest updates'. Can you figure out what the sentence should
be?

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Khaled, Syria
And some news just in. This morning, police found out about a plan to kill a sports team's members. The
team were surprised as the news was a shock for them. Some children were a part of the plan. They
were going to be used for attracting the members of the team. Everyone in the team is under the
protection of the police this week. Anyone who has a comment can share it with us on our website.

Nuala says:

Hi Khaled,

That's good news that the plan was thwarted!

You've certainly got the hang of subject and verbs agreements. For example, you wrote The team were
were, children were and Everyone in the team is. Well done!

Here are a couple of points you might want to consider:

We usually follow used with 'to + base verb' rather than 'for + verb-ing'. They were going to be used
to attract the team members.

And 'a sports team's members' doesn't sound quite right. You could use 'members of a sports team'
or more simply, 'a sports team'.

Thanks for writing in

Nuala

Neha, India
Diabetes has become very common these days. Not only limited to the older section of society but also
gripping the young. Owing the credit to the ever changing and fast paced lifestyle, diabetes is on the
increase in the modern developed world. But the disease can be controlled by having proper control of the
diet and by adequate physical exercise.

Nuala says:

Hi Neha,

Thanks for your news report. I hope people in India and elsewhere take note of your story.

Your subject – verb agreement is good when you're talking about diabetes. You used the singular verb
there (twice), which is correct.

Here are a few others things you might like to think about:

You need an introductory verb in the your second sentence. You could use 'This is' or 'It's'.

'Owing the credit to' isn't quite right. You could either say 'Taking credit for this disease is the ever-
changing, fast-paced lifestyle...' or 'Because of the ever-changing, fast-paced lifestyle...'

Finally, you need a verb with 'adequate exercise'. Do you know if it should be 'play' or 'do'?

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Subject-verb agreement
This week, we hear the first of two programmes about subject-verb agreement. In the challenge, we ask
Peng Jin from China settle a dispute between two students who can't agree on their English homework.

Listen to the programme!

Subject-verb agreement

Singular subjects take singular verbs, but plural or multiple subjects take plural verbs, even when they are
separated from their subjects. Subjects with each and every usually take a singular verb.

(Type of subject) subject verb

(singular) My father lives in Beijing.
(uncountable) Chinese food is delicious.
(single -ing verb) Living in Beijing costs a lot of money.
(plural countable) My brothers live in Tokyo.
(plural countable) Chinese pancakes are delicious.
Reading and
(2 –ing verbs) are important skills.
writing
(every) Every resident has to pay tax.
in a special
(each) Each address is listed
register.

Download Catherine's grammar explanation and table (pdf - 35 K)

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.8 MB)

Download or subscribe to this programme's podcast

Tell us a little bit about life in your country. Use single and plural nouns, uncountable nouns, verb-ing subjects, each and
every. Pay special attention to subject – verb agreement.

We'll publish our five favourite entries.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Francisco, Colombia
Living in this country is a bit difficult, as we have many problems: war, poverty, bad education, etc. But at the same
time every Colombian that I know is a hard worker, a creative person who is always trying to be happy and confident
about the future. Good people, a lot of natural resources and a willingness to be better are our tools to make this
country great!!

Catherine says:
Hi Francisco, and thanks for your very positive comment!

You have very nice English, Francisco, and you've included plenty of very good (and correct!) examples of this week's
grammar in your comment - well done!

I'd like to offer a word of advice about collocations (words which are often used together). I think that poor education
would sound better than bad education in your comment - that is, if you want to say that the quality of education is low.

Thanks again for your comment, Francisco!

Catherine
Marisela, Venezuela
Living in Venezuela is very amazing, especially by the beaches. Living near of them is a bit hard because of the big
hot. Dancing, drinking and burning are very common practices at them. I love Cata and Choroni beaches, each
beach is very similar, both have a beatiful river. Also every tourist has to keep so clean each of them. Some of my
brothers live far from me but each of them come to visit me every year.

Catherine says:
Hi Marisela, and thanks for telling us about your country!

Your subject-verb agreement is pretty good on the whole, Marisela, although I'd like to point out one or 2 things.

You should say 'Living near them' (not 'Living near of them')

You need to change your word order a little bit for this sentence: 'every tourist has to keep so clean each of them' should
read 'every tourist has to keep each of them so clean'

and the sentence about your brothers should read 'each of them comes' (not 'come').

Thanks again for your comment, Marisela!

Catherine

Josette, France
In my contry there are some habits well rooted: every city like every village has its bullring. Fighting the bull can be
a hobby as well as a job according to the bullfighter's skill, fame... Each of us has his point of view about this but
everbody gathers around the scrummy food we have here. Every summer there are a lot of fetes. Each of them
lasts several days straight and... nights. So young people love this lively season.

Catherine says:
Hi Josette, and thanks for your very interesting comment: I'm sure there are a lot of differing opinions about this topic!

But turning to grammar, Josette: you've used some really lovely - and accurate - examples of this week's language - well
done!

You need to check your spelling of country (not 'contry')

And you need to bear in mind that in Englsih, adjectives usually go before the verb, so we would say 'well-rooted habits'
(not 'habits well rooted')

You could also consider re-writing this sentence - 'Each of us has his point of view...' - to use language that is less gender-
specific. So you could say:

'Each of us has his or her point of view...'

Or: 'Each of us has a point of view...'

Nice to hear from you, Josette!

Catherine

Azat, Russia
I and my best friend both live in a small city in Central part of Russia. Living in our city is not so expensive, as living
 in Moscow. Each of us prouds of our city.

Catherine says:
Hello Azat, and thanks for your comment!

You have worked hard on your subject-verb agreement, Azat, and I'm pleased to say that you've done a good job! I'd like
to mention that 'proud' isn't a verb, Azat, it's an adjective, so you need to change this sentence: 'Each of us prouds of
our city.' so that it says 'Each of us is proud of our city.'

I'd also like to give you some advice about comparative forms, Azat. You have written 'Living in our city is not so
expensive, as living in Moscow.' - this sentence would probably sound better if you said 'Living in our city is not as
expensive as living in Moscow.'

You can find more information about this grammar point in our Ask About English area.

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Azat!

Catherine

Jean-Christophe, France
I've been living in Lyon for 20 years. Each part of this town is beautiful and reflects a piece of a two thousands years
history. Gardens are richly decorated with flowers and old fountains. There are two big rivers and each one has one's
character and people love both of them.

Catherine says:
Hi Jean-Christophe, and thanks for your description of Lyon - it sounds lovely!

Your subject-verb agreement is very good, too, Jean-Christophe - especially your use of 'each'.

I'd like to give you some advice about numbers as adjectives: the phrase 'a two thousands years history' would
probably work better if it was written as 'a two-thousand-year history'.

Your sentence which starts 'Gardens are richly decorated...' needs to start with an article, like this: ' The gardens are
richly decorated...'

And finally, 'each one has one's character' could be re-written as 'each one has its own character'

Thanks again for writing in, Jean-Christophe!

Catherine
So / such
Some people find this week's grammar point so tricky they give up trying to work out the rule! Luckily,
Grammar Challenge is on hand to give such a clear explanation that everyone's doubts should be cleared
up.

Listen to the programme!

So / such

So... that and such... that are used to describe reasons and results.
So + adjective + that

Subject & verb so adjective that (result)

The ice-cream was so good that I ordered a second bowl

Such + adjective + noun + that

Subject & adjective +

such that (result)
verb noun
It was such good coffee that I drank three cups
a great I'll definitely go
It's such that
restaurant again

Tell us about an interesting outing or trip somewhere - it might be to a restaurant, a tourist attraction or
even another country. Use 'so' and 'such' to talk about reason and result.

We'll publish our favourite five entries.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Jess, Malaysia
Pulao Redang was such a beautiful and romantic beach that I always think to have a second
trip. The sea there was so clear that you can see the fish passing by clearly. Besides, the coral
under the sea was so colourful and amazing that I could never forget after the first glance.

Catherine says:
Hello Jess! I hope I get to visit Pulao Redang some day - it sounds absolutely stunning!

You have used 'so' and 'such' very competently in your comment, Jess - well done!

Let's have a quick look at one or two of your phrases, Jess. In this one, you wrote: 'Pulao Redang was
such a beautiful and romantic beach that I always think to have a second trip'. This would probably
sound better like this:

'Pulao Redang was such a beautiful and romantic beach that I'm always thinking about having a
second trip'.

And this sentence: '...the coral under the sea was so colourful and amazing that I could never forget
after the first glance.' could be improved by writing:

'...the coral under the sea was so colourful and amazing that since the very first glance, I have never
forgotten it.'

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Jess!

Catherine

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Cox's Bazar has the largest sea shore in the world. It is so fascinating that will attract you. It is such
an beautiful place that you can see the beauty of nature. You can see sun rising and sun set from
this place. Waves of the sea is so high that will thrill you. All the things of this place so beautiful
that your mind will not want to leave this place. and the belongings of this place are such good
people that you will really astoniced. So, don't forget to visit Cox's Bazar.
Catherine says:
Hello there! You haven't given your name, but your comment about Cox's Bazar was so interesting that
we just had to publish it!

The first thing I'd like to mention is that you need a subject in the second part of your 'so' or 'such'
sentence. So this sentence: 'It is so fascinating that will attract you' should read:

'It is so fascinating that it will attract you.'

And this one has a similar problem: 'Waves of the sea is so high that will thrill you.' should read:

'The waves of the sea are (not 'is') so high that they will thrill you.'

There are couple more things I'd like to point out. First, don't forget that this sentence needs a verb: 'All
the things of this place are so beautiful...'

'It is such an beautiful place...' should read 'It is such a beautiful place...'

And I think that the ideas in this sentence could be expressed a little differently: 'the belongings of this
place are such good people that you will really astoniced.' It might sound better if you said:

'the locals are such good people that you will be really astonished (not 'astoniced').'

Thanks again for your comment! Catherine

M. Elena Mignosi, Italy

Erice is a dream place to visit in Sicily not so far from Palermo, the city where I live. It's a little town from
the Middle Ages settled on the top of a mountain with a wonderful view all over the sea. It has such a
good position, that you can take a look over the three Egadi Islands (Levanzo, Favignana and
Marettimo). The town is so quiet and charming, that it appears specially lean for romantic dates.
Another thing to mention is Maria Grammatico's bakery, where you will find so delicious "cassatelle"
to taste with a good italian coffee, that you won't forget the nice trip.

Catherine says:
Hello there Elena! Erice sounds absolutely beautiful, and your use of English is pretty impressive too - well
done!

We do need to take a look at one of your 'so' and 'such' sentences again, though. Look again at this one:
'...you will find so delicious "cassatelle" to taste with a good italian coffee, that you won't forget the
nice trip.' Now, 'delicious "cassatelle"' is a noun phrase, so you should have used 'such' instead of
'so', like this:

'...you will find such delicious "cassatelle" to taste with a good italian coffee, that you won't forget the
nice trip.'

And don't forget to use a capital letter I when you write 'Italian'!

Now I'd like to turn to vocabulary for just a minute. You wrote: 'The town is so quiet and charming, that it
appears specially lean for romantic dates.' The word 'lean' doesn't really work in this sentence; you might
be better off using a word like 'suitable' or 'appropriate' or 'just right', like this: 'The town is so quiet and
charming, that it's just right for romantic dates.'

Lovely to hear from you, Elena!

Catherine

Parva, Iran
My husband and I had such a nice travel to Thailand last year. It was so exciting. There were
such beautiful temples there that we saw them several times. We tried so many delicious Thahi
foods that we could not stop eating them, and we met some new people during our trip who were so
friendly.
Catherine says:
Hello there Parva, and thanks for telling us about your trip! Your comment demonstrates the correct use
of 'so' and 'such' beautifully - well done!

There's only one thing I'd like to point out, Parva: 'travel' is a general noun (as well as a verb), but when
you are talking about a specific event that involves travel, you should use a noun like 'trip', 'journey', or
'holiday'. So your first sentence should read something like:

'My husband and I had such a nice trip to Thailand last year.'

I'm so pleased you enjoyed Thailand, Parva!

Catherine

Mohsin, Pakistan
My leaves very over due so I decided to visit London with my family in April 2006. It was such an
exciting tour that I have many good memories of it. Madam Tussaud's was so amazing that
every statue was made with such attention to detail that it seems real.

Catherine says:
Hi Mohsin! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed London - and especially pleased that you liked Madam Tussaud's
(a kind of museum, where you can see very life-like wax models of famous people).

I'd like to look at this part of your paragraph: 'Madam Tussaud's was so amazing that every statue was
made with such attention to detail that it seems real.' You have put two constructions with 'so' and 'such'
together in the same sentence, but the second one begins before the first one has finished - you haven't
given the first result, before you start talking about the second cause.

You can correct this by writing something like:

'Madam Tussaud's was so amazing that we spent almost the whole day there. Every statue was made
with such attention to detail that it seemed (not 'seems') real.'

Thanks for your comment, Mohsin!

Catherine

Between and among

Do you know when to use between and when to use among? We challenge Chuan from South Korea to get
it right by playing The Banana Game. But what is The Banana Game? Listen to find out!

Listen to the programme!

Between and among

Between distinguishes two or more separate things – and is followed by countable or uncountable, single
or plural nouns. Among means 'one of many', and usually goes with plural nouns.

between

noun(s) – referring to
clause between
individual things
He shared the money
between Jake and Mary
equally
among

clause among plural nouns

the top 10% of students in
Her exam results put her among
her group

Think about a situation in your life when you were part of a group – at school, with friends, at work or in a
club or other organization. Use between and among to tell us about some of your experiences.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Hebin, Korea
I thought I knew the difference between BETWEEN and AMONG well, but I was a little bit confused when I
was taking the quiz below. "Gina shared the cake BETWEEN herself, Sarah, Hebin, and Catherine." Is it
right if I understand like this; when different individuals are identified respectively, we use BETWEEN even
though there are four. still we can say 'she shared it AMONG 4 people'

Catherine says:
That's right Hebin: generally speaking, you can use 'between' for more than 2 things when they are
identified indivdually. If you are talking about a group of things, where the individuals are not identified,
'among' is more common. So the sentence 'Gina shared the cake BETWEEN herself, Sarah, Hebin,
and Catherine' is correct, and 'she shared it AMONG 4 people' is also correct!

Thanks for your comment, Hebin!

Catherine

Nazar Mohammad, Afghanistan

When I was in the village the boy I really trust on him among all the boys was Ahmad, and we
sheared everything between us.

Catherine says:
Hi Nazar Mohammad! One true friend is worth a thousand acquaintances!

Your comment is really short, Nazar Mohammed, but it demonstrates the correct use of 'between' and
'among' perfectly - well done!

In your first sentence, with the verb 'trust' you don't need to mention the object 'the boy'... 'him' twice.
You can just say 'the boy I really trusted (not 'trust') among all the boys...'

And you need to check your spelling of shared (not sheared).

Thanks for your comment, Nazar Mohammad!

Catherine

Le Vo Hue Quan, Viet nam

I'm learning in my university, and Nha is the best girl i have ever meet among my friend. Another
girl is Ngan, she love me too, but between Nha and Ngan I choose Nha, because Nha is more
beautyful, lovely, funny and she always by my side whenever i'm down. If i have a wish, i'll thank to the
God that give her to my life. Thanks you.

Catherine says:
Hi Le Vo Hue Quan! You are very lucky to be so popular ;-)

You have used 'between' and 'among' very well too. Don't forget to use the plural form of 'friend' in your
'among' sentence:

Nha is the best girl i have ever met (not 'meet') among my friends (not 'friend').

I'd like to point out one or two other things to think about. Firstly, don't forget to check your subject-verb
agreement: you should have written 'she loves me too' (not 'she love me too').

Remember also that the 'y' in 'beauty' changes to an 'i' in beautiful (not 'beautyful').

And there is a missing verb here: 'she always by my side' - you should have written 'she is always by my
side'.

Lastly, don't forget that when we use 'I' to mean 'me' it is always capitalised.

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Le Vo Hue Quan!!

Catherine

Arfa, Pakistan
It was our farewell party and I was the one amongst my group who decided that we shall wear saris.
We decided to compete on who, between me and Sara would have the best dress. When we arrived at
the party hall, among the entire crowd we were the only ones wearing saris. Every one was staring at
us. All my friends said that it was my idea and a quarrel arose between me and my friends. Among all
the parties I have ever been to, this was truly the worst one.

Catherine says:
Oh dear, Arfa! I'm sorry things turned out so bady for you - I expect it seemed like a good idea at the
time!!! But you have used 'between' and 'among' beautifully in your story.

There's only two comments I'd like to make about your piece, Arfa. The first is to say that the past of
'shall' is 'should'. So your first sentence should read: 'It was our farewell party and I was the one amongst
my group who decided that we should (not 'shall') wear saris.

And the second thing I'd like to point out is that everyone is usually written as one word (not 'every
one').

That's all from me, Arfa!

Catherine

Verb, object, to + infinitive

We use this structure to report requests, advice, encouragement and warning.

In today's challenge, Ehsan from Iran hears clips from a children's party and tells us what advice his
parents gave him when he left Tehran...

Listen to the programme!

Verb, object, to + infinitive

Certain verbs may be followed by an object and then by an infinitive with to – I told you to do it. The
negative infinitive is formed with not – I told you not to do it.

(not) to +
subject verb object
infinitive
Marco's
ordered him to get into the car.
mother
the the
Elena told not to touch
children glasses.

The following verbs take this pattern:

advise forbid
permit
allow force
persuade
ask instruct
remind
beg invite
tell
command oblige
want
encourage order

Were your parents strict when you were a child? What rules did they have? Did they ever give you any
warnings, commands, invitations, encouragement etc.? Use this week's grammar to tell us about it.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Sonali, India
when i had come to London my mother had given me many instractions. She told me to stay safe there.
She encoureged me to improve my english. my brother ordered me to bring some T shirts from
London.
I think my sentences are right.

Catherine says:
Hi Sonali!

Your sentences are lovely! You have used the verb - object - to - infinitive structure correctly every
time - well done!!!

There are 3 things I'd like to mention though. The first is the correct spelling of encouraged (you have
written 'encoureged') and instructions (not 'instractions')

Next, you need to look at punctuation. You need to use capital letters at the beginning of every sentence,
and for proper nouns like 'English' and 'I'.

You also need to think about tenses: you've used the past perfect in your first sentence, when the simple
past would probably be more suitable. So you should have written: 'When I came to London my mother
gave me many instructions'

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Sonali!!

Catherine

Farhana, Malaysia
Of course they were as I'm the only daughter in my family. When I was a child, they always warned me
not to wander outside of the house alone. They encouraged me to stay at home to read story books
until I became fond of reading. As a matter of fact, I used to beg my father to read me story books
every time he came home from work. However, my mother was stricter than my father as she always
reminded me to finish all my schoolwork. There was once she would sit besides me and ordered
me to do my schoolwork because I hadn't complete it.

Catherine says:
Great work, Farhana! You sound like you have very loving parents.

You've used the grammar from this week's programme very well too, Farhana, especially with the
negative sentence 'they always warned me not to wander...'.

You need to check your use of 'would', Farhana: we don't usually use 'would' to talk about things that only
happened once. So your sentence 'There was once she would sit besides me' sounds a bit odd. It would
probably be better to write: 'One time she sat beside (not 'besides') me...'

That's all from me, Farhana!!

Catherine

George, Cyprus
When I was a child my mother always ordered me not to playing football in the house because I was
breaking things all the time. My mother encouraged me to read books to improve my language skills
and my imagination. My father loves going for excursions and when I was a kid he was pleasing my
mother to go excursions all the family during the weekends. He was also taking me to football matches
and he encouraged me to handle with sports.

Catherine says:
Thanks for your message, George! I get the impression you are a sporty type... Let's look at some of your
sentences.

First, we need to check your use of infinitives. In this sentence: 'my mother always ordered me not to
playing football' you have used an -ing form: you should have used the verb - object - to - infinitive
structure to write 'my mother always ordered me not to play football'.

I think another of your sentences could be re-written too: 'he was pleasing my mother to go excursions all
the family during the weekends' might sound better if you said 'he pleased my mother by going on
excursions with all the family at weekends.'

I'm not sure about your vocabulary choice in this sentence: 'he encouraged me to handle with sports.' I
think you mean to say 'he encouraged me to get involved with sports.'

Thanks again for your comment, George!!

Catherine
Roya, Iran
My father would like to play with him and encouraged us (my brother and me) to play, to run and to
enjoy especialy our holiday. He asked to read book and magazin. He commanded less than Mum.
My mother told us to pack our clothes, our beds. She ordered not to run, not jump not play. We
was thinking my father is kinder than Mum. My mother had 4 little children and I think it was hard to
manage our home. She was very clean and forbaded to play in our home, when my father wasn't in
the home, we played playing-teacher and chess.

Catherine says:
Nice to hear from you, Roya! It sounds like you grew up in a very caring home. Let's have a look at what
you have written.

Your first sentence needs a couple of corrections. You need an object for the first verb, and you also need
to think about tenses, so you should have written: 'My father used to like to play with us ...' The next
part of this sentence needs a reflexive pronoun for the verb 'enjoy, and there is a missing preposition too.
Here is a corrected version:

'...and encouraged us (my brother and me) to play, to run and to enjoy ourselves, especially during
our holiday.'

You need an object in this next bit: 'He asked to read book and magazin.' You also need to think about
plural forms. Here is a corrected version:

He asked us to read books and magazines.

The next bit needs a couple of changes too. Here they are in bold: 'My mother told us to pick up our
clothes, and make our beds.' - but you have used the verb - object - to - infinitive structure very well
here, Roya!

In the next one, you need to add an object, like this: She ordered us not to run, or jump or play. And I
expect you noticed I changed not to or in a couple of places too.

This next sentence would be better in the simple past tense: 'We was thinking my father is kinder than
Mum.' It should read 'We thought my father was kinder than Mum.'

One more to go, Roya, and again there is a missing object - remember, the structure we are using here is
verb - object - to - infinitive. Here is the corrected version: 'She was very clean and forbade us (not
'forbaded') to play in our home'

Well Roya, I thought your piece was very nice, even though there were quite a few corrections.
Remember to use an object with this structure in future!!!

Thanks very much for writing to us, Roya!!

Catherine

Maripaz, Spain
Unfortunately, I grew up without father, because he died when I was nine months old. So that my mum
was very strict with me, because she used to say to me that she was dad and mum. She used to warn
to me about the dangers of the life. She ordered me to be at home before 10 o`clock. She didn`t
allow to me to spend the night at my friends' home. She forbad me to go travelling without her.
She encouraged to study at the University. She did her best. She died 7 years ago. I miss her.

Catherine says:
Thanks for your message Maripaz: your mother sounds like a very special and wise woman. You've used a
lot of verb - object - to - infinitive structures here Maripaz, most of them very well! But let's look at
one or two of them more closely. Firstly, there are a couple of extra words in this one: 'She used to warn
to me about the dangers of the life.' It should read:

She used to warn me about the dangers of life.

And in this one, the object is missing: 'She encouraged to study at the University'. It should read:

She encouraged me to study at the University.

One more correction I'd like to point out is in this sentence: 'Unfortunately, I grew up without father,
because he died when I was nine months old. So that my mum was very strict with me...' It would read
better like this:

'Unfortunately, I grew up without a father, because he died when I was nine months old. Because of that
my mum was very strict with me...'

Thanks for sharing your memories with us, Maripaz!

Catherine

Reported questions
In a previous edition of Grammar Challenge, we looked at reported speech. We use reported questions
when we want to relate a question that someone has asked. In today's challenge, we ask Noelia from
Spain to take a call from William's mum... and then to form correct reported questions.

Listen to the programme!

Reported questions

Say who was talking and use a reporting verb. Repeat the question word, or use if or whether for yes / no
questions. Statement word order, change the pronouns and move the tense back if necessary.

Use a reporting verb...

She asked if we were going over for tea.
For yes / no questions, use if or whether...
She asked if we were going over for tea.
Repeat question words...
She also asked how we were going to get there.
Use statement word order, change pronouns and move the tense
back if necessary...
She asked if we were going over for tea.
Have you spoken to one of your relatives recently? Who did you talk to and what did you talk about? Did
you ask each other any questions? Use reported questions to tell us about your conversation.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Patricia, Spain
My younger brother is 11 and he's paying me a visit next Saturday. I talked to my mum today and she
asked me what I wanted him to bring me, things such my heardryer, or clothes. She also wanted to
know whether I had the flight details clear, and demanded me to call her the moment I saw him.
Albert is very anxious and excited about this trip, and as we're going to Schotland he was wondering if
we were going to see Nessie and whether he could buy a quilt. I'm really looking forward to seeing
him... can't wait!

Catherine says:
Hi Patricia! Scotland is a beautiful country - I'm sure you'll have a lovely time! I do hope you see Nessie
(the monster that is supposed lo live in Loch Ness, the largest lake in Scotland) - do send us a photograph
of her!!!

Your reported questions are really lovely, Patricia: they are very well constructed! However, I'd like to
focus on your use of the reporting verb 'demand'. You wrote:

'She also wanted to know whether I had the flight details clear, and demanded me to call her the
moment I saw him.

the verb demand takes the pattern 'verb + to + infinitive', - with no object - so your sentence seems a
bit odd. Instead, you could use the verb 'order' which takes the pattern 'verb + object + to + infinitive'
so you could write she ordered me to call. Or you could use the subjunctive like this: She demanded
that I call her .

Click here to find out more about reporting verbs and the subjunctive.

And finally, Patricia, here are a few spelling corrections for you:

'heardryer' should be hairdryer

'Schotland' should be Scotland
'quilt' should be kilt (traditional Scottish men's clothing, rather like a skirt)

Have a lovely holiday, Patricia!

Catherine

Quetzall, Mexico
This evening I spoke with my cousin and asked her how she was doing because she is pregnant and
she's been having some problems with high blood pressure and she told me her blood pressure is still high
and she might deliver earlier because of that. I ask her if she was prepare for it and she said she was
preparing the suitcase with all the baby's stuff and hers, I also asked her if she was having some
medicine for the pressure she said no that the doctor only send some medicine for the baby's lungs. She
told me that the doctor said if next wednesday when she has her appointment the pressure is too high
then doctor will process with the deliver of the baby. I asked my cousin if she was relax or anxious
and she said she was fine that she wants her baby to born anytime. I also asked who was driving her
to the doctor she said she wasn't sure if her sister doesn't work maybe she will drive her or maybe her
mom. I told her I hope everything will be fine and to call me when she has news and we say goodbye.
Catherine says:
Hi Quetzall! What an exciting time for you and your family!

You've written a very clear account of your conversation with your cousin, Quetzall, with only minor errors
here and there. Let's have a look at one or two of them.

Firstly, because your phone conversation was in the past, all your reporting verbs should be in the past
tense. So instead of saying 'I ask her...' you need to say 'I asked her...'

You need to work on your participles and adjectives a little, Quetzall. Instead of 'she was prepare', you
should write 'she was prepared'. And 'she was relax' should be 'she was relaxed'

I'd also like to suggest a couple of vocabulary corrections to another of your sentences. You wrote
'...doctor will process with the deliver of the baby'. You can improve this by writing '... the doctor will
proceed with the delivery of the baby'

Thanks for your comment, and please give my very best regards to your cousin, Quetzall!
Catherine

Paolo, Italy
Yesterday I 'Skyped' my mum. She said she was really happy to hear me because I don't call her
frequently. Besides the usual stuff, asking about work, friends and the weather she couldn't stop asking
whether I had an haircut. She asked me if I could turn on my web cam and after that I did that
she could not stop complaining about the dreadlocks. An true episode of 'conditional' mother love...

Catherine says:
Hi Paolo! Thanks for your story - it made me smile! Mothers always want their children to look lovely...

Lets have a look at this sentence: 'she couldn't stop asking whether I had an haircut'. Since the haircut
happened in the past, it would probably sound more natural to use the past perfect in the reported
question, like this: 'she couldn't stop asking whether I'd had a haircut' - and notice that we say 'a
haircut' (not 'an')

Nice to hear from you, Paolo!

Catherine

Mom., Tehran
My mother asked if I studied properly. She wanted to know when I go to my friend's party. She
asked weather I could write a letter for her. She wanted to know if I had gone shopping.

Catherine says:
Hi Mom. (is your name Mohammed?) and thanks for getting in touch! You've constructed your reported
questions very well - but we need to check your tenses in a couple of them.

This reported question: 'My mother asked if I studied properly.' would probably sound more natural if
you used a continuous tense to talk about study that is happening around now, like this:

My mother asked if I was studying properly.

And this one: 'She wanted to know when I go to my friend's party.' could be re-written in one of several
ways:
Past: She wanted to know when I had been to my friend's party. OR
She wanted to know when I went to my friend's party.

Future: She wanted to know when I was going to my friend's party.

OR
She wanted to know when I would be going to my friend's party.

And let's just check your spelling: in reported questions we write whether (not 'weather')

You can find out a bit more about tenses in reported speech by going to our Ask about English area.

That's all from me!

Catherine

Carolina, Spain
I spoke to my aunt last week, and I asked her if she was coming to visit me next month. She said
yes, and then I asked her if she had checked her car because it is too old. She asked me whether I
has passed all my exams, and I told her I didn´t know yet. Finally, she wanted to know if I had
visited my grandmother recently, and I told her I would go next weekend.

Catherine says:
Hi Carolina! Thanks for sending us this lovely paragraph. You've got a very good knowledge of reported
questions, and I particularly like the way you have livened up your writing by using a variety of reporting
verbs.

We need to take a look at this sentence though: 'She asked me whether I has passed'

To correct this sentence, you need to think about subject-verb agreement and also tense. Then you can
write:

She asked me whether I have passed

OR
She asked me whether I had passed

Thanks again for your comment, Carolina!

Catherine

Unless
We can use unless in place of except if and only if to talk about the conditions under which something can
happen.

Today, William asks Hengchun to take tea with him at the Ritz - but what are the conditions under which
that can happen?

Listen to the programme!

Unless
Unless with a subject and verb means only if or except if in positive and negative sentences. The other
part of the sentence gives the possible result.

possible result unless subject and verb

I'm not going to dance unless you ask me.
I won't go by car unless it's a long way.
someone has a better
We can go to the park unless
idea.

unless subject and verb possible result

we won't get anything to
Unless we're there by 8 o'clock
eat.
Elena wants to take a
Unless we can go by bus.
taxi
you tell me who broke the
Unless I will make you pay for it.
cup

Imagine you are the parent of a very lazy teenager, Chris. S/he won't help around the house, is very
untidy and messy, and isn't doing very well at school. S/he has lots of plans for his or her free time, but
you have decided that it is time for some discipline! Read the dialogue below and see if you can continue it
using unless.

We'll publish our five favourite entries.

Chris: Can I go out tonight?

You: Have you done your homework yet?
Chris: ...
You: ...
Chris: ...
You: ...
etc.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Yuan, Indonesia
Chris: Not Yet
I: You cannot go out tonight unless you do your homework.
Chris: But Mom, I promise to do it tomorrow morning.
I: You have to help me preparing the breakfast. So you cannot help me preparing the breakfast unless
you do your homework tonight.
Chris: You're so cruel mom!
I: No.. I am a nice Mommy unless you're lazy

Catherine says:
Hello Yuan, and thanks for your dialogue! I really like the last line - very funny and with perfect use of
'unless' - well done!

I'd like to mention verb patterns, Yuan. You wrote 'You have to help me preparing the breakfast' - a
native speaker would probably say 'help me to prepare' or just 'help me prepare'.

Have a look at our Ask About English area to find out more about verb patterns.

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Yuan!

Catherine

Alicia, Argentina
Chris: no yet,and I wont do it unless you give me permission for going out tonight!!
Me: what!!??? Miss Untidy Girl! go to your beedroom and stay there until you finish your homework!
unless you want to see me very angry.
Chris: I'm very angry!
Me: Look at me, you made me crazy little girl, go away unless you want I take a very strong
decission,you are not allowed to go to dance for the next two week ends

Catherine says:
Ooh Alicia, you are a tough lady! You have used 'unless' beautifully in your dialogue too! But I'd like to
point out a few grammatical errors, if you don't mind...

Chris should say 'not yet' instead of 'no yet', and you give permission to do something, not 'for doing'
something. So Chris's first sentence should read:

Chris: not yet,and I won't do it unless you give me permission to go out tonight!!

And we can make a few improvements to your last sentence, like this:

Me: Look at me, you made me crazy little girl, go away unless you want me to (not 'I') take a very
strong decision (not 'decission'), you are not allowed to go to dance for the next two weekends (not
'week ends')

Thanks for writing in, Alicia!

Catherine

Reginaldo, Brazil
Chris: Sorry I haven't. I: Chris unless you'll do your homework, you'll go out tonight. Chris: Ok I'm going
to do my homework now. I: Please show me when you finish it.

Catherine says:
Hi Reginaldo, and thanks for your dialogue! We need to have another look at your sentence construction
with 'unless'.

One way we can understand 'unless' is to think about conditional sentences. Imagine that Chris's mum
says, 'Chris, if you don't do your homework, you won't go out tonight'. This is a first conditional
sentence, using 'if' + present simple with 'will' + infinitive. Now, we can substitute 'unless' for 'if
you don't' (they have the same meaning) and we will get this sentence:

Chris unless you do your homework, you won't go out tonight.

You can find more information about conditional sentences in our Ask About English area.

That's all from me, Reginaldo!

Catherine
Alberto, Italy
Chris: Well, I'll do them tomorrow.
I: Unless you don't do your homework, you can't go out from your room!
Chris: But dad, Unless I don't enroll for the skateboard championship, I can't participate.
I: Unless you don't tidy your room, you don't take the skateboard out the cabinet.
Chris: My skateboard is already out the cabinet, it's in the middle of the bedroom!

Catherine says:
Hi Alberto, and thanks for your dialogue! We need to check your use of positive and negatives with
'unless'.

In your first example of unless - 'Unless you don't do your homework, you can't go out from your room!'
- if we understand that 'unless' means 'except if', you have written that Chris can't go out of his room
unless (except if) he doesn't do his homework! In other words, if he does his homework, he will have to
stay in his room!!! You can correct this sentence like this:

'Unless you do your homework, you can't go out from your room!'

You need to correct your next example of 'unless' in the same way: 'Unless I enrol, (NOT 'don't enroll')
for the skateboard championship, I can't participate.'

And you need to make the same correction to your final example of 'unless', like this: 'Unless you tidy
your room, you can't (not 'don't) take the skateboard out the cabinet.'

That's all from me, Alberto!

Catherine

Alexey, Russia
C. Not yet.
Y. You cannot go out unless you do your homework.
C. I cannot do my homework unless I have something to eat.
Y. Unless you help me with housework we will not eat somehing.
C. OK

Catherine says:
Hi Alexey, and thanks for your dialogue! You are a very strict parent ;-) Your use of 'unless' is very good
in this dialogue, Alexy, well done! But don't forget that in negative sentneces, we usually use 'anything'
(not 'something'), like this:

Y. Unless you help me with housework we will not eat anything.

Thanks again for your dialogue, Alexey!
Catherine

Let and allow

We often use let and allow to discuss permission. This week, we ask Husniye from Turkey to imagine that
she ran a large zoo... but what will she allow William to do with the animals? Listen to find out!

Listen to the programme!

Let and allow

Both let and allow can be used to talk about giving and refusing permission.

Let
 infinitive or prepositional
subject let object
phrase
They let me go out and get a drink.
They wouldn't let me back in.

Allow

subject let object infinitive with to

They allowed me to go out and get a drink.
She won't allow anyone to smoke in the office.

Allow (passive)

passive
verb 'to be' allowed infinitive with to
subject
He wasn't allowed to go out and get a drink.
Nobody is allowed to smoke in the office.

Continue the conversation you heard in the programme, using let and allow.
We'll publish our five favourite entries.

Visitor: Can I play with the monkeys?

Zookeeper: No, we won't let you play with the

monkeys.

Visitor: I love stripey things... Can I play

with the tigers?

Zookeeper: We won't allow you to play with

the tigers.

Visitor: I've brought my swimming

costume... Can I go swimming
with the penguins?

Zookeeper: No, you're not allowed to swim

with the penguins.

Visitor: Ok, can I climb the giraffe?

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Roya, Iran
Zookeeper: no, you're not allowed to climb the giraffe because by doing so you may hurt the animal.
Visitor: am I allowed to enter the lion's enclosure?
Zookeeper: no, you're not allowed to. are you going to kill yourself?!!!
Visitor: I'm fond of horses. can I ride a horse?
Zookeeper: sorry, we can't let you ride a horse here.
Visitor: peacocks are really lovely animals. do you let me pluck a feather from a peacock (can I pluck
a peacock feather?)
Zookeeper: no, I won't let you do that.
Visitor: do you let me talk to the parrots?
Zookeeper: of course i'll let you. there are a lot of parrots here which are trained to speak. The
parrotcage is over there.

Catherine says:
Hi Roya, and thanks for your lovely dialogue! Your visitor is determined to enjoy the zoo!!!

You have very nice English, Roya, and you have used 'let' and 'allow' very well in your dialogue. To
improve it, try to remember that we don't usually say 'do you let me...?'. We're asking a question about
the future, so we have to say 'will you let me...? or possibly 'are you going to let me...?

And don't forget that when we are writing in English, we begin new sentences with a capital letter!!!

Thanks again for your dialogue, Roya!

Catherine

Yesmin, Chile
Zookeeper: No!, are you getting mad? How could we allow anyone to climb an animal?
Visitor: Ok, I think I better go to the Jungle.
Zookeeper: Mmm, ok, if you brought your swimming costume you can ask the dolphin's keeper if he let
you be part of the show.
Visitor: Really?
Zookeeper: No, I was joking, we won't allow mad people to get close to the animals.

Catherine says:
Thanks for your dialogue, Yesmin! I think William will find this one particularly enjoyable to read...

You've used 'let' and 'allow' very well in your dialogue, Yesmin, but remember to use 'will' or 'going to'
when you are asking questions about the future - like this: 'you can ask the dolphin's keeper if he will let
you be part of the show.'

And we usually say that someone is 'going mad', not 'getting mad'.

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Yesmin!

Catherine

Susanne, Germany
ZK: No, I'm sorry, you're not allowed to climb the giraffe
V: Would you let me play with the lionbaby. It is so cute?
ZK: I'm so sorry, but it is not allowed to play with the lionbaby, the lionmother wouldn't let you. But
you can go to the baby animals feedstation. My collegue over there will let you help him, to feed the
baby elephant.
V: Oh, thank you very much. Come on kids, we're going to the feedstation.

Catherine says:
Hi Susanne, and thanks for posting this most entertaining dialogue! The English word for 'lionbaby' is lion
cub.

Most of your 'let' and 'allow' sentences are fine, but I'd like to focus on this one:

'ZK: I'm so sorry, but it is not allowed to play with the lionbaby...'

we usually only use the phrase 'it is not allowed' as a complete sentence, to talk about something that has
already been mentioned, like this:

V: Would you let me play with the lion cub? It is so cute!

ZK: I'm so sorry, but it is not allowed. The lionmother wouldn't let you.

So 'it' means 'playing with the lion cub'. And did you notice how I corrected the punctuation in the
question?!

Thanks again for your comment, Susanne!

Catherine

Alex, Brazil
Zookeeper: I'm sorry, but unfortunately, you're not allowed to climb the giraffe.
Visitor: Can I feed the crocodile?
Zookeeper: We won't let you feed the crocodile, it's very dangerous!
Visitor: I'm not allowed to do anything here, what a boring zoo!
Zookeeper: That's not true. There's a shop over there where the visitors can buy specific food for some
animals that we have here. If you buy it, we'll let you feed the birds and the camels...
Visitor: Oh, thank you! That sounds good!

Catherine says:
Hi Alex! What a lovely comment, with really good use of 'let and 'allow'! I also like the way you've used
the adverb 'unfortunately' and a conditional 'if you buy it...' - it makes the dialogue sound very natural.

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Alex!

Catherine

Paolo, Italy
Zookeeper: Your allowed to climb the giraffe only if you wear the proper shoes and... Did you
brought a ladder?
Visitor: I'm not allowed to bring a ladder.
Zookeeper: Really who is that possible?
Visitor: I tried to, but the guards at the entrance did not let me do it.
Zookeeper: Ouch, then I fear today is not giraffe-climbing day.

Catherine says:
Hello Paolo, and thanks for your comment! I like your use of the phrase 'giraffe-climbing day' - it made
me smile a lot!
Your use of 'let and 'allow' is pretty good Paolo, but make sure you use the correct form when you shorten
'you are' - you should write 'you're allowed to climb the giraffe' (not 'your allowed...')

Don't forget to use the infinitive form with past tense questions: you should write 'did you bring' (not 'did
you brought'). And I think you meant to write 'how is that possible?' (not 'who is that possible?')

Thanks for getting in touch, Paolo!

Catherine

Disgreements with auxiliaries

Last week, we looked at using auxiliaries to make short agreements during a conversation. Now it's
time to find out how to disagree using them. To do this, William plays Beom's dad... will he succeed in
embarassing Beom in front of all his friends, or will Beom be able to disagree correctly with William? Find
out by listening to the programme!

Listen to the programme!

Disagreements with auxiliaries

Using auxiliaries to disagree:

1. Signal disagreement.
2. Repeat the subject of the original statement as a pronoun.
3. Use an auxiliary verb relative to the verb in the original sentence (negative – positive; positive –
negative).

Signal
Statement Pronoun Auxiliary
disagreement
We both went to a graduation party. No we didn't.
I was at the party with all my friends. No you weren't.
Joyce couldn’t find anybody to dance
Yes she could.
with.
We haven't got much time... Yes we have.

Here is the beginning of Keith's story of how he and Joyce met. Joyce doesn't agree with anything he
says! See if you can continue their dialogue: use disagreements with auxiliary verbs to show that Joyce
disagrees with Keith's story.

Keith: Well, you and I both went to a graduation party...

Joyce: No we didn't! It was a birthday party.

Keith: ... so I was at the party with all my friends...

Joyce: No you weren't! You were on your own.

Keith: And Joyce couldn’t find anybody to dance with her...

Joyce: Yes, I could actually! Keith, you're such a liar!!!

Iman, Palestine
Keith: No,I'm not a liar Joyce. Even that guy whom you consider as your boyfriend left you and danced
with another girl.
Joyce: No, he diden't. Stop lying Keith.
Keith: I'm not lying, the girl was wearing a blue dress.
Joyce: No, she wasn't. Her dress was green.
Keith: I caught you. So I'm not lying; you saw them.
Joyce: Oh, please Keith stop; it's enough

Catherine says:
Very funny, Iman - poor Joyce!

All the auxilliary verbs in your dialogue are correct - well done! But don't forget the correct spelling of
didn't (you wrote diden't)

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Iman!

Catherine

Marie, France
Keith: So I decided to invite her to dance. Joyce: No, you didn't. Moreover I was with someone! Keith:
It's not true. Erm...You were alone and all your friend were dancing! Joyce: No, they weren't. I had
came in this party with my boyfriend and you were jealous. You don't say the true. Keith: Yes, I do.

Catherine says:
Hello Marie, and thanks for your comment!

All the subjects and auxilliary verbs in your disagreements are correct - well done! But check the pural
form of 'friend' - Keith should have said 'All your friends were dancing'.

And Joyce's answer could be changed from ...I had came in this party...' ...to I had come to this
party...'

Later on in your dialogue, Joyce says to Keith: 'You don't say the true.' A native speaker would
probably say something like 'You are not telling the truth' - and Keith's reply would of course be 'Yes,
I am'.

Thanks a lot for your comment, Marie!

Catherine
Hassan, Iran
Keith: And I didn't eat anything.
Joyce: But you did!!!
Keith: And I was dancing all the night.
Joyce: You wasn't, you danced once for 10 minutes.

Catherine says: !
Hi Hassan, and thanks for your dialogue! Keith and Joyce don't seem to agree about anything!

Your first disagreement is lovely, but the second one needs attention. You have repeated the auxiliary
verb, but because the subject has changed from I to you, you need to change the form of the auxiliary.
So when Keith says 'And I was dancing all the night', Joyce should answer: 'You weren't (not 'you
wasn't'), you danced once for 10 minutes'.

Thanks again for your comment, Hassan!

Catherine

Evren, Istanbul
Keith: Joyce was wearing a yellow dresses...
Joyce: No, I wasn't. It was red.
Keith: Joyce looked to right to my eyes during the all night...
Joyce: No, I didn't. In fact, I was in love with another boy.
Keith: I beated the boy who she mentioned about.
Joyce: No, you didn't. Last remembered thing for me was, you were running away so fast!

Catherine says:
Thanks for your amusing dialogue, Evren!

All the auxilliary verbs in your dialogue are correct - well done!

I'd like to mention a couple of other grammar points though. You have written dresses but you should
have used the singular form, like this: 'Joyce was wearing a yellow dress '

You got a bit mixed up in this sentence: 'Joyce looked to right to my eyes during the all night...'. A correct
version of this sentence would read: 'Joyce looked right into my eyes all night long...'.

The past of 'beat' is 'beat' (not beated), and we don't usually use a preposition with 'mention'. So for this
sentence, just write: I beat the boy who she mentioned.

Finally, we can improve this phrase: 'Last remembered thing for me ...' by saying the last thing I
remember...

Thanks again, Evren!

Catherine

Jing, France
Keith: The hostess didn't speak with us all the nignt.
Joyce: Yes, she did. She even asked us where we were from.
Keith: Everybody appreciated the dessert.
Joyce: Non, I didn't.
Catherine says: Hi Jing and thanks for your comment!

Your first disagreement is lovely, and I like the way Joyce has added some evidence to her diagreement
by saying 'she even asked us where we were from.'

The second part of your dialogue is very interesting:

Keith: Everybody appreciated the dessert.
Joyce: Non, I didn't.

Strictly speaking, the pronoun in Joyce's sentence should be 'they' - to agree with Keith's 'everybody'. But
if Joyce's meaning is something like 'everybody except me appreciated the dessert', then the pronoun 'I'
is acceptable, but Joyce's speech would probably be punctuated differently, like this:

Keith: Everybody appreciated the dessert.

Joyce: No. I didn't.

And remember to use the English spelling of 'no' (not 'non')!

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Jing!

Catherine

Agreements with auxiliaries

In conversations, we can make short agreements by using auxiliary verbs. In this edition of Grammar
Challenge, we invite Onur to a party and ask him to make small talk - to talk about unimportant things.

Listen to the programme!

Agreements with auxiliaries

Using an auxiliary to agree is an easy way to keep a conversation going.

Positive and Negative:

Statement Signal agreement Pronoun Auxiliary

Oxford Street gets so
Yes it does.
busy these days.
All the shops are selling
That's true Joyce, they are.
the same stuff!
I can't afford to spend all
No Joyce, you can't.
this money.
We haven't got much
You're right, we haven't.
time...
Maria and John are talking about Maria's exam results. Continue the following conversation, using
agreements with auxiliary verbs where appropriate.

Maria: ... so I got the highest grade in the class.

John: Yes, Maria, you did.

Maria: I mean, that's not an easy thing to do!

John: No Maria, it isn't.

Maria: Because Chemistry is really hard, you know!

John: I know it is.

Ashy, India
Maria: but nothing is impossible
John: No, it isn't.
Maria: You know, I will never give up eventhough it sounds difficult.
John: I know you will not.
Maria: Next time I shall have the highest grade.
John : Yes, you shall.

Catherine says:
Hi Ashy, Moeoowau! What a nice little dialogue! All your pronouns and auxilliary verbs are correct, and I
like the way you have used modals like will and shall - well done!

Don't forget, Ashy, in spoken English, people often shorten will not to won't, so John could say: I know
you won't.

Thanks again, Ashy!

Catherine

Vandy, India
Maria: Moreover our chemistry teacher didn't teach us properly.
John : Yes. She did not.
Maria: I have got the highest grade last year too.
John : Yes, you did.

Catherine says:
Thanks for your dialogue, Vandy! All the auxilliary verbs in your dialogue are correct - well done!

You need to check your use of Yes and No Vandy. When we agree with a positive statement, we say Yes,
and when we agree with a negative statement, we say No.

So you should have written:

Maria: Moreover our chemistry teacher didn't teach us properly.

John : No. she did not.

We also need to look at your use of tenses. in you final sentence you mention a specific past time (last
year) so you need to use the past simple, not the present perfect. Your sentence should read:

Maria: I got the highest grade last year too.

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Vandy!
Catherine

Razzak, Bangladesh
Maria: Now, I should go to the class.
John: You are right, you should.
Maria: You know, it is needed to be present at the class to perform a good result for anybody.
John: I know it is.
Maria: Actually, Math is not easy to me.
John: No, it is not.
Maria: It takes so much time.
John: Yes, it does.
Maria: You will help me.
John: Of course, I will.

Catherine says:
Hi Razzak, and thanks for your dialogue! You've done a really good job here, Razzak: all the agreements
are correctly formed - well done!

This couplet sounds a little strange, though.

Maria: You will help me.
John: Of course, I will.

I think Maria would be more likely to ask a question here, like this:

Maria: Will you help me?

John: Of course, I will.

That's all from me, Razzak!

Catherine

Moeoowau, Myanmar
Maria: And I also tried very hard in Physics.
John: Yes, You did.
Maria: so, I am the most outstanding student in the class!
John: Yes, You are.
Maria: My parents will be very happy to hear it.
John: yes, they will. Maria: Do you envy in me? John: Yes, I do.

Catherine says:
Nice work, Moeoowau! You have used the correct pronouns and auxilliary verbs in all your examples - well
done!

A word about punctuation, Moeoowau: in these agreements, you don't have to use a capital letter for the
pronouns which follow 'Yes,...' (or 'No,...'). You have written:

John: Yes, You did.

Maria: so, I am the most outstanding student in the class!
John: Yes, You are.

With correct punctuation this would read:

John: Yes, you did.
Maria: so, I am the most outstanding student in the class!
John: Yes, you are.

Also, there is no prepostion with 'envy' - just write 'do you envy me?'

Thanks again, Moeoowau!

Catherine

Guthemberg, Brazil
Maria: And I've never been interesting student in Chemistry.
John: Indeed, you haven't.
Maria: But now it has changed.
John: Yes, it really has.
Maria: It made me feel better.
John: Yes, it did.
Maria: And it's very important to keep me motivade, isn't it?
John: For sure it is.

Catherine says:
Nice work, Guthemberg! All the pronouns and auxilliary verbs in your examples are correct - well done! I
also like the way you have used a variety of words to signal agreement. Mixing words like indeed, yes
and for sure helps the dialogue to sound much more natural.

You need to check your spelling, Guthemberg: you have written 'motivade' - but the correct spelling of
this adjective is motivated.

There is also a problem with the adjective in this sentence:

Maria: And I've never been interesting student in Chemistry.

To identify and correct this mistake, may I suggest that you take a look at the Grammar Challenge
programme about -ed and -ing adjectives ? I'm sure you'll find it very useful.

Thanks again for your dialogue, Guthemberg!

Catherine

Should have
In this programme we examine should have - a way of talking about regretable past actions.

Silvia Malkun from Colombia gets to grips with this grammar... and she explains to William why his wife is
so angry with him!

Listen to the programme!

Should have

When we want to talk about mistakes we made in the past, we can use 'should have' with a past
participle.
Positive and Negative:

should have / shouldn't

subject past participle
have
Matt should have worn a clean shirt.
He shouldn't have been late.

Question form:

should / shouldn't subject have past participle

Should Matt have worn a clean shirt?
Shouldn't he have arrived early?

Have you, or someone you know, made any mistakes in the past? Maybe you regret something that you
didn't do. Tell us what happened and use 'should have' + past participle to talk about it.

Gol Gol, UK
I had a drug addit. So now, my memories are not good. I should't have been spent any drugs. I regret,
I should have been obeyed my parents. I should have been learned English. Because my English is
very bed.

Catherine says:

Hi Gol Gol, and thanks for sharing your story with us.

Your English isn't so bad (not 'bed') Gol Gol: I understand what you have written, but I'd like to help you
with a couple of problems.

We need to look at the difference between 'should have' and 'should have been'.

We use 'should have been' with nouns, for example: 'My father was a teacher, but he didn't like his job.
He should have been a doctor.'

'Should have been' is also used with adjectives, for example: 'My father was sad when his fourth child was
born. I don't understand it: he should have been happy'

And we also use 'should have been' with passive verb forms: 'Nobody told me that the lesson had been
cancelled. I should have been told by email.'

If the verb is active, use should have without been, like this: 'Nobody told me that the lesson had been
cancelled. The college should have told me by email.'

For more information about passive forms, look at our new improved Ask About English area.

So here is an updated version of your comment, with rewrites of 'should have + past participle' and one
or 2 other corrections.

I had a drug addiction. So now, my memories are not good. I shouldn't have bought any drugs. I
regret that: I should have obeyed my parents. I should have learned English, because my English is
very bad.

Good luck for your future, Gol Gol!

Catherine

Suan Eng, Singapore

My marriage is miserable, I should have married another guy. I should have left my husband before
pregnant with my first son. To have independent life I should have been continuing to work after gave
birth to my son. My mum said I should have taken her advice in the first place.

Catherine says:

Suan Eng, I feel very sorry for you. I hope you can find some happiness in your life.

You have very nice English, Suan Eng, but in this sentence: 'I should have been continuing to work
'you have used a continous verb form instead of a participle to express your regret. You sentence should
say: 'I should have continued to work...'

I noticed a couple of missing words in your work: you should say '...before I got pregnant with my first
son. To have an independent life...'

I do hope things get better for you soon, Suan Eng!

Catherine

Claire, France
When I was a child, I played the cello. When I began to work, I didn't have enough time to continue. Now,
I think I should have taken time and continued to practice. It's too hard to learn again. It's only one
example. The list of leisure activities I stopped is very long: I try not thinking 'I should have continued
that' because have regrets is not a good way to advance in life. I always keep in mind 'Don't regret, do!'

Catherine says:

Nice to hear from you, Claire!

You're quite right, if you don't practice regularly you can lose your skill, not only in playing music, but in
many other areas of life. But you have a very positive outlook on life: it's wise not to think too much
about your regrets. As we say in English 'When one door closes, another one opens.'

You certainly shouldn't regret writing to us: your use of 'should have' + past participle is excellent!

There are just a couple of points at the end of your comment that I'd like to talk about. You wrote: 'I try
not thinking 'I should have continued that' because have regrets is not a good way to advance in life.' You
should have written 'I try not to think' and 'regrets are...'

Thanks again for your comment, Claire!

Catherine

Germany
My English was very bad. I should have payed attention on the school. I had a headache when I came
from the sauna. I should have drunk more water. It was too warm in my bedroom in the night. I
shouldn't have switched off the heating.

Catherine says:

I'm not sure if this is your real name, but thanks for writing in, 'Germany'!

I like the way you have given the reason for each of your 3 regrets. For example, you tell us that the
reason you should have paid (not 'payed') more attention in (not 'on the') school is that your English was
very bad.
We need to look at your third regret a bit more closely, though: if it was too warm in your bedroom in the
night, you should have (not shouldn't have) switched off the heating.

Thanks again, 'Germany'!

Catherine

P, Thailand
I just broke up with my boyfriend 3 months ago, I always think what is the problem, he said that I didn't
call him, and he think I got a new boyfriend, so now I realise that I should have taken care of him
more and I shouldn't have said something bad to him, I should have said sorry to him before we
were over and the last thing I should have love him more

Catherine says:

Oh P, what a sad story!

You have used lots of lovely 'should have' + past participle structures to talk about your past mistakes
and regrets. All of them are accurate (well done!) except the last one: I should have love him more.
You need a 'd' on the end of 'love' to make a past participle, like this: I should have loved him more.

Don't worry P, there are lots more fish in the sea!

Catherine

To, for, so that

In this programme we look at three ways to talk about the reason for doing something.

Our challenger is Selman Ozturt from Turkey. We ask Selman to imagine that he's going camping - but why is he taking
the items that he's packed below?
 Listen to the programme!

To, for, so that

To talk about purpose, or the reason why we do things, we can use for + verb-ing, we can use the infinitive with to, and
we can use so that + subject + verb.

Noun or pronoun 'for' + verb-ing

I'm bringing some pots and pans... for cooking

Action or event Infinitive with 'to'

We've got some water... to make tea

Action or event 'so that' + subject + verb

I'm taking some extra blankets... so that we don't get cold

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Have you been on a trip recently? What preparations did you make and what equipment did you take? Use
'to', 'for' and 'so that' to tell us about it.

Thank you for all your entries. This topic has now closed.

Tra My, Vietnam

Every year my family usually go to the seaside. Last year, we visited a famous place in the north of
Vietnam. We prepared for the trip a long time before we left. My mother bought me a beautiful skirt
so that I could wear it when I walked along the beach. My mother and I went shopping to buy
some food. I did not forget bringing sun cream for not being brown after the trip. Because of good
preparation, we had a memorable trip.

Nuala says:

Hi Tra My,

Sounds like a perfect holiday!

You used so that + subject + verb (so that I could) and infinitive with to (to buy) well in your
answer.

However when you were writing about the sun cream, although the form was correct 'for' + verb-ing' ,
it's more usual to say 'so that' when we're talking about preventing or stopping something from
happening. Also in that sentence you need an infinitive after 'forget' rather than 'verb-ing'. So instead, of
saying 'I did not forget bringing sun cream for not being brown after the trip', you could say 'I didn't
forget to bring sun cream so that we wouldn't get sunburned'.

Finally, in your last sentence your meaning is clear but to make it sound more natural, you might say
'Because we prepared well, we had a memorable trip' or 'We had a great trip because we prepared well'.

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Arnauld, France
Six monthes ago, I went to Mauritius to practice windsurfing. I didn't want to rent a gear on the island, so
I carried my own material. I chose to carry four sizes of sails so that I could go to the water
whatever the wind speed. Due to this choice, I spent a very nice sportfull stay.

Nuala says:

Hi Arnauld,

Sounds like your were very well organised on your holiday!

You used the structure so that + subject + verb (so that I could) in your answer correctly. Well done!

Let's look at a few spelling and vocabulary points now. 'Monthes' isn't correct. Which extra letter did you
add there? You used the word 'gear' correctly but 'material' isn't a suitable substitute. And 'sportfull'
isn't a word in English. Do you know what the correct adjective of 'sport' is? Finally 'Due to this choice'
is a very wordy and overly formal way of simply saying 'So'.

Thanks for telling us about your holiday!

Nuala
Milena, Serbia
I went to spend night at my friend's house. I took my toothbrush to brush my teeth, a box of candies for
eating and some films so that we can stay up late:)

Nuala says:

Hi Milena,

I can't think of anything more enjoyable that a sleepover, sweets and films!

You used 'so that + subject + verb', ' for verb+ing' and 'infinitive with to' well in your short answer.

Don't forget, your story is in the past so the verb here 'that we can stay up' should be in the simple past.

Hope you enjoyed the movies!

Nuala

Nagla, Egypt
I am going to visit Sharm El Sheikh with my family tomorrow morning. We're going to spend one week. I
am preparing everything. I am making a meals so that we don't feel hungry on the way. I am getting
an MP3 Player for listening some music. I am bringing some magazines for reading. I am taking
enough money to buy gifts to my friends. I just remembered I must bring my bikini for swimming… I'll
get it now.

Nuala says:

Hello Nagla,

Sounds like you're going to have a lovely holiday in Egypt!

You used a nice mixture of 'so that', 'infinitive with to ' and 'for' in your answer. Well done!

You need one more word at the end of this sentence 'We're going to spend one week', you need
another one after 'listening' and a different one from 'to' in this sentence 'buy gifts to my friends'.

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Suan Eng,Singapore
Last week I went to Korea for holiday. It was the beinging of the winter so I need a big suitcase to pack
my windbreakers, sweaters etc. To protect my skin, I brought diferent types of moisturizer for my face
and body. I took some instant cup noodles for supper in case I couldn't get used to the food
there. I exchanged a lot of Korean currency to purchase trendy clothes and handbags. Sigh...I am
broke now! Of course I can't go without medicine to prevent diziness during travelling. I used a
digital camera to capture the scenery so that my family could use the computer to see this beautiful
country. I prepared well so that this was the most wonderful holiday of my life.

Nuala says:

Hello Suan,

Sounds like a great holiday! I'm not surprised you've got no money left after doing all that shopping!
You used a nice variety of 'so that', 'infinitive with to' and 'in case' to talk about reasons why you
packed what you did.

Your holiday was last week so both these verbs should have been in past simple - 'need' and 'can't'.

There were a few spelling slips in your piece: 'beinging', ' diferent' and 'diziness' (although rather than
saying 'to prevent diziness during travelling' we'd usually say 'to prevent travel sickness'

Finally, in your last sentence your meaning is clear but it would sound more natural, to say 'the most
wonderful holiday I've ever had'.

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala
Future plans
Using 'going to' and the present continuous are two ways we can talk about our future plans and
arrangements in English. In this programme we learn more about them and the differences between
them.

Our challenger Sung Hyeon from South Korea has to describe her future plans when trying to find a space
in her busy diary for a meeting with Callum.

Listen to the programme!

Future plans

Both the present continuous and 'going to' can be used to talk about future plans and arrangements even
though they are present forms. This is because the future plan has already been made and exists in the
present, it is not something which is decided at the moment of speaking.

Often there is very little difference between the two forms and you can use either, however we tend to use
the present continuous for a fixed arrangements, such as appointments.

Present continuous
Subject to be verb + ing
am
I
'm babysitting tonight.
studying this weekend.
is
S / he not doing anything next week.
's
seeing the dentist on Tuesday.
You seeing friends at the weekend.
are meeting at 12.00 with the bank manager.
We
're
They

For intentions and decisions we'd normally use 'going to'.

Going to
Subject to be going to base infinitive
 am
I
'm
watch a film tomorrow.
is do the shopping later.
S / he
's going to take the train.
start music lessons soon.
You study really hard at the weekend.
are
We
're
They

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tells us about your plans for the next few weeks.

Thank you for all your comments. This topic has now closed.

Constance, Nigeria
Nest week am going to be very busy in the office from monday to friday. On saturday i am going to attained
the women's thanksgiven in my church. I would like to invite you, to go with me to sunday school in my church on
sunday.

Nuala says:

Hi Constance,

Thank you so much. I'd love to visit you in Nigeria but I'm going to be watching a friend's daughter in a dance
concert on Sunday. But thanks for the lovely invitation!

You used 'going to' to talk about your plans for this week and the weekend. Well done! But, you didn't put a
subject (I, you, he, she, etc) here - 'am going to be very busy'.

Don't forget that words like 'i' and days of the week ('sunday') need capital letters. And watch your spelling on
'nest', 'attained' and 'thanksgiven'

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nuala

Ahmed Elgaddar, Egypt

I'm seeing the doctor at 5 pm tomorrow. I've already made an appointment. He's going to pull out a bad tooth
and he's going to fill another. Then at 9 the same evening I'm meeting my girlfriend Susan. After that we're
going to a desco. We're going to have fun. What about you? What are you doing tomorrow evening? Any plans?

Nuala says:

Hi Ahmed,

It sounds like you've got packed day tomorrow. My day's much more mundane compared to yours! Nothing special
planned at all, unfortunately.
You used a nice mixture of ways to talk about your plans. Good!

In English we go to see a doctor if we're ill or something is wrong with our bodies. But for our teeth, we someone
else - the dentist

The spelling of 'desco' isn't quite right. Do you know what the right spelling is?

I hope the dentist doesn't cause you too much pain!

Nuala

Lili, France
l have a very exciting plan for next month. My husband and I are going to London for a week-end. We are
taking the Eurostar and are going to discover a new journey, a new station, St Pancras International and a new
London, as the adverts say. On Saturday evening, we are attending a concert at the Barbican. And maybe my
husband will agree to do shopping with me? After all, Christmas is coming soon. There is just one problem - my
English. I speak it so badly. In London, everybody speak English! But I am going to improve my English, thanks
to you.

Nuala says:

Hi Lili,

Someone else who's going to have a great weekend with a loved one. I see a theme emerging here, don't you?

You used a nice mixture of ways to talk about your plans for next month - the present continuous, going to and
will . Well done!

Just one small point to look at – 'everyone' is plural. So should it be 'everyone speaks' or 'everyone speak'?

And if your spoken English is anything like your written English, you'll do just find in London next month!

Glad to hear BBC Learning English is helping you improve your English!

Nuala

Rana, Abu Dhabi

This week I have a lot of things to do. On Thursday I have a computer exam so I going to study from Sunday to
Wensday. On Thusday I am having a dance class and after that I am going out with my friends. On Friday I am
going to go to Dubai with family.

Nuala says:

Hi Rana,

It sounds like you've got a busy week ahead of you!

You used the present simple, the present continuous and going to to talk about your plans. Well done!

You've missed out part of the verb 'to be' in this sentence 'I going to study '. And in this sentence 'I am having
a dance class' because it happens regularly(every week) the present simple would be better.

Finally, there were a few slips in your spelling of these two days – 'Wensday' and 'Thusday'. Do you know what
the right spellings are?

Good luck in your computer exam!

 Nuala

Ana Paula C, Brazil

I am going to have a dinner with my husband on Saturday night. But he does not know yet. I am going to
surprise him and we are going to wash a film after. He thinks we are not doing anything. Will be a great night!

Nuala says:

Hi Ana Paula,

It sounds like he's in for a surprise or two this weekend!

You used a nice mixture of ways to talk about your plans - going to and will. Well done!

Since you're talking about having a fun, relaxed time with your husband, I think if you used contractions, you
wouldn't sound so formal. For example, "I'm going to have". There are five more places you could use
contractions in your piece. Can you find them?

There are three other small points you might want to think about. Firstly, with the expression 'have dinner,
breakfast, lunch' etc we don't use the article 'a'. Secondly, the verb 'wash' means to clean with soap and water.
Is that really what you're planning to do with the film? And finally, you need a subject at the beginning of your
final sentence' Will be a great night!'. Should it be 'There', 'It' or 'We'?

I hope your husband enjoys his surprise film and food!

Nuala
Still, yet and already
Today we present some basic information for understanding the meaning of these adverbs and where to
put them in sentences.

Our challenger Alessia, from Italy, has to make good sentences using the correct adverbs in the correct
places.

Listen to the programme!

Still, yet and already

We use 'still' to talk about something, a situation or an action, that's continuing, often for a longer time
than expected. It hasn't changed or stopped. 'Still' usually goes in the middle of the sentence, before the
verb.

Still
Are you married to him?
Is she unemployed?
still
I'm living with my parents.
They haven't replied.

We use 'yet' mostly in questions and negative sentences. Using 'yet' shows that we're expecting
something to happen or have happened. In spoken English 'yet' almost always comes at the end of the
sentence or question and is commonly used with the present perfect.

Questions with 'yet'

Have you tidied your room
Has he come home
yet?
Has she finished
Have they seen the film

Negative statements with 'yet'

You haven't met her
He hasn't done it
yet?
She hasn't spoken to him
They haven't paid

We use 'already' to talk about things that have happened, often earlier than expected. It usually goes in
the middle or the end of sentence, just before or after the verb and is also commonly used with the
present perfect.

Present perfect with 'already'

Have you two met?
He's done it already
She's fixed it
They've sold their car

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tell us about your dreams and ambitions. You could describe something you've already achieved,
something you haven't done yet or something you are still trying to do.

Thank you for all your comments. This topic has now closed.

Brigitte, France
I have already brought up my children, I am still taking care of children and I haven't finished yet
because I look after my grandchild. I already travelled in the past, I still hope to go abroad as I have
yet to visit South America.

Nuala says:

Hi Brigitte,

And do you spoil your grandchildren more than you spoiled your own children? I suppose it's grandma's
role to give out more chocolate than mum!

You used 'already', 'still' and 'yet' well in your short piece.
A couple of times you could have used conjunctions to add ideas together or to contrast them. For
example 'and' could help connect two ideas here – 'I have already brought up my children and I am still
taking care of children'. Now, can you see two places where 'but' would help contrast two ideas?

Thanks for writing in and telling about your life as a granny.

Nuala

Aura, Romania
My English isn't very good but I still try to improve it every day. I started my first lesson when I was 45,
so I can be a litlle proud, can't I? My son is a student at Manchester University. I still hope to be able to
visit him one day and to understand his tutor's words when he tells us that my son is brilliant! There are
lots of English idioms that I can not explain yet, but that day will surely come. My English teacher is the
internet. I think I have made too many grammar mistakes, already so I must say goodbye for now.

Nuala says:

Hi Aura,

You're wrong! You've hardly made any mistakes at all. But you're absolutely right about one thing – you
should be proud of taking up English when you were 45. Keep up the good work!

You've used 'still' and 'yet' well in your piece.

There are just a couple of little things you might want to look at to improve your writing. Firstly, the
spelling ' litlle ' isn't quite right. And secondly, the verb 'explain' isn't correct in this sentence: 'There are
lots of English idioms that I can not explain yet'. The internet, a teacher or even our very own award-
winning "Teacher" can explain idioms but as a student, you learn or understand them.

Thanks for writing in and I hope you get to visit your brilliant son in Manchester soon.

Nuala

Koorosh, Iran
My friends usually ask me. "Are you still learning English?" I answer them, "Yes, I am still learning
English with this interesting site. I have not found a better site yet". I thought it took at least 2 years
to speak English fluently. As a matter of fact, I have spoken English after 1 year already. They also ask
me, "Have not you gone to London yet?" I answer them, "I am going to go to London next July." My
greatest ambition is to meet my great English teachers in London. Unfortunately, I have not met them
yet. I am sure some day it will happen. I promise!

Nuala says:

Hi Koorosh,

We're glad to hear you find the site interesting!

You've used 'still' and 'yet' well in your piece.

But 'already' isn't quite right in this sentence 'I have spoken English after 1 year already'. I'm not
exactly sure what you want to say here but if you started speaking English last year and you're still
speaking it, you could say 'I've been speaking English for a year already'.

One other general point is that your piece comes across as very formal, for example, Have not you gone
to London yet? What contractions ( 'I haven't found') could you use to make it sound more informal?

And who knows? Maybe we'll bump into you when you're in London!

Nuala

Maria Daluz, Portugal

I have been living in London for the past seven years and although people often say that my english is
extremely good. I still think i can improve it to a more advanced level! Sometimes, I feel that i have
achieved a great deal of success, like for example, i have worked as an interpreter in magistrates courts
and for someone whose english is not her first language it is not bad actually. But, in terms of job
satisfaction, i have not found anything that really makes me tick yet! I have already tried to work in
several different industries. On my last assignement i was working on a trading floor at Morgan Stanley, in
Canary Wharf, where i looked after a team of 25 bankers (includig two MDs). However, my dream job is to
work in a more creative environment, like film or TV as a producer ideally and combine all the skills that i
have already acquired from previous employment!

Nuala says:

Hi Maria,

You're absolutely right, your English is very good!

And you've used this week's three keys words (still, yet and already) very well in your article.

Here are a couple of other points your might like to look at in your ongoing quest to improve your English.

Although you've achieved a good standard of English, it's still important not to forget the basics – capital
letters on 'i', 'english ' and ' magistrates' courts ' and getting your spelling right on words like
'assignement' and 'includig '

Finally, for quite a long piece, you used only five sentences. If you re-wrote this piece, can you see how
you could divide up some of your longer sentences to make your piece easier for your reader?

Thanks for writing in and good luck with finding a career that makes you tick!

Nuala

China
China I still can't find out what's my dream for my future but I have already reached my middle age.
However who knows what will happen because tomorrow haven't arrived yet.

Nuala says:

Hi,

It's nice to keep your options open, isn't it? Who says dreams are only for the young?

You used a good mixture 'still' 'already' and 'yet' in your piece. Well done!

A couple of times you sounded more formal than perhaps you meant to. You could think about changing
'but I have already reached my middle age' to 'I've already reached middle age' or even, 'I'm
already middle-aged'. 'But' would sound more chatty than 'However' in 'However who knows what
will happen?'

And finally, 'tomorrow' is singular so do you know what you should have written instead of 'tomorrow
haven't arrived yet?

Good luck with finding your dream!

Nuala
The 'zero' article
Previously in Grammar Challenge we've seen how nouns usually have an article; the indefinite articles 'a'
or 'an' or the definite article 'the'. Sometimes though there is no article associated with a noun and this
can be called the 'zero' article. Today we learn some simple rules for when not to use an article.

In the programme we challenge Anastasiya from France to spot correct and incorrect uses of 'zero'
articles.
Listen to the programme!
The 'zero' article

There are a lot of rules about when we don't use articles. Here are four of them:

We don't use an article:

1. to talk about plural and uncountable nouns or when talking about things in
general:

I'm terrified of heights

I'm into drum and bass.
I hate cheese.

2. before countries, towns, streets, languages and single mountains:

I'm from China.

I've climbed Mount Everest.
She speaks French.

3. Before some places and with some forms of transport:

I live at home with my parents.

I came here by car.
He goes to work by bus.

4. In exclamations with what + uncountable noun:

What beautiful weather!

What loud music!
What disgusting food!

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tell us which things you love and hate and why.

We'll publish the most interesting five.

Thank you for sending in your comments. This topic is now closed.
Egypt
I like fredoom, I like playing footbaal and I like travelling. I do not mind watching TV and going to
cinema. I hate a noise and driving cars.

Nuala says:

Hello

Well that's short and sweet!

You correctly didn't use articles in quite a few places in your short piece (for example, 'travelling', 'TV'
and 'cars').

But you made a few errors with your articles as well. For example, we use the definite article with cinema
'I don't mind going to the cinema' but you don't need one with 'noise'. So it should be 'I hate noise'.

There were a few spelling slips. Do you know what the correct spelling of these words should be -
'fredoom' and 'footbaal'?

Thanks for writing in and telling us your likes and dislikes.

Nuala

Iman, Syria
I love English because I can communicate with you. I love playing piano because it takes me to another
world full of happiness. I hate war because it brings blood with it and people want flowers. I love
travelling because I can see different cultures. I hate the borders because it makes you think of yourself
not of humanity. I love peace because it makes people happy. I wish all peoplelived peacefully.

Nuala says:

Hi Iman,

What interesting things you chose to write about.

You correctly used zero articles in most places in your piece (for example, 'English', 'happiness',
'people' and 'flowers').

But a couple of times you didn't get your articles quite right. For example, 'I love playing piano' needs
an article. Do you know if it's 'the', 'a' 'or 'an'? And 'I hate the borders' isn't quite correct. Do you know
what it should be instead?

Thanks for writing to us.

Nuala

Ana, Portugal
I love gardening. I love walking in Autumn. I hate snobbish people. I hate noise. I hate marking
tests. I love doing these grammar quizzes.

Nuala says:

Hello Anna,

What a great mix of things you told us about! Your personality comes over loud and clear in six short
sentences!
You didn't use any articles at all throughout your piece and that was absolutely right. Well done!

Glad to hear you enjoy doing the quizzes.

Nuala

Linh, Vietnam
I really like country music and my favourite singer is Shania Twain. She's pretty and a lovely girl! When I
feel tired, I always listening to country music, cause it makes me feel better! But I don't like rock
music.

Nuala says:

Hi Linh,

I really like country and western music too. Have you heard the new album from Alison Krauss and Robert
Plant (from Led Zeppelin)? They're an unlikely combination but I think they sound fantastic together.

You correctly chose not to use articles when you were talking in general about different types of music
(for example, 'country music' and 'rock music'). Well done!

You were also right to use an indefinite article in this sentence 'She's pretty and a lovely girl' but the
article isn't quite in the correct place. Can you see where you should put the article? (You might even
want to change the word order too).

Thanks for writing in and telling us about your musical tastes.

Nuala

Antoni, Catalonia
I love my family, I'm married and I have two children. They're the most important people in my life.
Also, I love my country because it's where I grew up and it's where my ancestors lived. I hate all kinds of
racism because people are equal, the skin colour isn't important. Also, I hate the war. I don't understand
why countries use violence to solve their conflicts. I think that dialogue is better than violence.

Nuala says:

Hi Antoni,

You've chosen a great mixture of things to tell us about – your family and country, as well as, racism and
war.

And you've used a good mixture of definite articles ('It's the most important') and zero articles ('I hate all
kind of racism' and 'countries use violence', for example).

A couple of other times you used articles when you shouldn't have:

'the skin colour isn't important', should just be 'skin colour isn't important'.

The sentence - 'I hate the war' - is an interesting one because grammatically it could be right or wrong!
If you're talking about the current war in Iraq then using the definite article is correct. But from the others
things you wrote, I actually think you're talking about war in general. If that's the case, can you figure
out what you should have written?

Thanks for writing in.

Nuala
Indefinite articles
We've looked at the topic of articles before in Grammar Challenge. In this programme we look in a little
more detail at the use of the indefinite articles 'a' and 'an', concentrating on four basic rules.

Our challenger this week is Hanibal from Libya who has to make sentences using the correct articles.

Listen to the programme!

Indefinite articles

There are a lot of rules about how we use articles. Here are four rules for using the indefinite articles 'a'
and 'an' :

We use the indefinite articles a / an

1. to refer to something or someone for the first time in a conversation:

I've got two children – a boy and a girl. The boy is 7 and the girl 4.

2. before professions and job titles:

a nurse a plumber a politician a marketing executive

3. with some expressions of quantity, amounts and frequency:

a pair of jeans a few minutes twice a year 50 miles an hour

4. with expressions with "What ... !":

What a great dress! What a mess! What a shame!

Although we use an indefinite article with jobs or professions we don't use an article with adjectives about
jobs or work:
He's unemployed.
She's retired.

The indefinite article 'a' is used before words that begin with a consonant sound. 'An' is used before words
which begin with a vowel sound. Note that we are talking about sounds and not spelling.

For example the word "European" begins with the vowel letter 'e' but it is pronounced with the consonant
sound / j /. Therefore we say and write, "He's British but he thinks of himself as a European."

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tell us about your family. What jobs do they do? What transport do they use? Describe a photo (real or
imaginary) of them. What are they wearing? What are they doing?

We'll publish the most interesting five!

Thank you for sending in your comments. This topic has now closed.
Ahmet Ziya, Turkey
My family live in Turkey. My father and my mother were teachers and they retried ten years ago. I have
two sisters and they are married. My elder sister has got two children. She is an journalist. She works in
Trabzon. Ebru is my little sister. She is a lawyer and she was born in 1980 in Trabzon. She hasn't got a
child.

Nuala says:

Hi Ahmet,

It sounds like you come from a very clever and hard-working family.

You used indefinite articles three times in your piece – a lawyer is completely correct but an journalist
isn't right because the word 'journalist' doesn't start with a vowel or a vowel sound so it should be 'a
journalist'. And although 'a child' is correct, actually what we usually say here is 'She hasn't got any
children yet', I suppose because most women when they do have children usually have more than one.

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Katya, India
We are a family of four. My father is an engineer, he uses a car to go to work every day. My mother is a
homemaker, she prefers to walk to nearby marketplaces. My younger sister is studying in year 10 and
she goes to school by car. I remember a photograph of ours. Four of us went horse-riding when we were
in Shimla (a hill-station in India). My sister and I are dressed in a jeans and t-shirt, mother in a salwar-
kameez, father in a shirt and a pair of jeans. Though all of us seem to be very exhausted after the
bumpy ride, we clearly enjoyed it a lot as it was a first for all of us.

Nuala says:

Hi Katya,

What a lovely family holiday! The horse-riding sounds tiring but lots of fun!

You used a lot of indefinite articles in your story and 99% of them were correct. Well done! There were
just a slip you might want to look at:

'My sister and I are dressed in a jeans and t-shirt' should be 'dressed in jeans' or – as you said later
when you were describing what your father was wearing - 'a pair of jeans'.

Thanks for sharing your photo with us!

Nuala

South Korea
I have both my parents and four sisters. Two of my elder sisters are married already and the others are
not. My father used to work for Posco, which is one of the biggest companies in Korea, as a financial
excutive but he is retired. My mother is a housewife. My eldest sister is an english teacher and the
other elder sister used to work as a tie designer but she is a housewife now. One of my younger sisters
is working in an international club as a receptionist. The other is a student.

Nuala says:

Hi,

Do you like having four sisters? Or would you like a brother or two as well?

You used a lot of indefinite articles in your story and all of them were correct. Well done! There were just
a couple of errors you might want to think about:
'excutive isn't spelled correctly and you need a capital letter on 'english'

Thanks for telling us about your family!

Nuala

Adek, Poland
Adek, Poland I'm a 40-year-old man. I'm married with three children. I have a picture of them in my
hand. On the left you can see my oldest daughter: she is a tall girl; she has a book in her hand - she
always has a book on her. In the middle is my son; he's wearing a pair of jeans - he is an only son.
And my youngest daughter - she has always been a little troublemaker. I love them a lot.

Nuala says:

Hello Adek,

What a fantastic description of your children! Each of their distinct personalities came across very clearly
in the way that you wrote about them.

You used a lot of indefinite articles very well in your story.

There's just one thing to add to make your piece perfect. Your meaning is very clear when you say 'he is
an only son' but that's not quite how we express it in English. I think you're thinking of another English
expression 'to be an only child' (when there's only one child in a family) but we don't use this expression
with 'daughter' or 'son'. Instead you could say 'he's my only son' or 'he's the only boy in our family'.

Thanks for telling us about your lovely family!

Nuala

Tran, Vietnam
My mum is a teacher and I am, too. Dad has just retired from work. We use motorcycles as
transportation. It's a happy family which is not rich but full of laughter. Dad is wearing a white shirt
with a pair of glasses on his nose. Mum is wearing ao dai which is Vietnamese traditional costume. I am,
like other young people, in jeans and a pullover. Mum is beautiful but I am not. She is smiling and dad
stands by her with hands in hands. I am beside them with a dog lying on my leg.

Nuala says:

Hello Tran,

You're right! Who needs money when you've got a loving, happy family around you?

You used a lot of indefinite articles correctly in your story. Well done! You just need to add one before 'ao
dai' to make it 'an ao dai'. You also need a definite article (the) before 'Vietnamese traditional costume'.
And I'm not sure if you know the dog who's lying on your leg or not. If you do, you should say 'our dog',
'my dog' or even 'the dog'. If you don't know the dog, then 'a dog' is fine.

I know what you mean when you say 'with hands in hands' but what we'd say in English is 'She is smiling
and standing hand in hand with dad beside her'.

And finally, I'm sure you ARE beautiful!

Nuala

Pronunciation: 'ed' endings

Regular verbs in the simple past all end in 'ed'. These two small letters can be pronounced in three
different ways. In the programme we find out what these different pronunciations are and give our
challenger Sebastian the chance to produce the correct sounds in our role-play.
Listen to the programme!
Pronunciation: '-ed' endings

There are three different ways to pronounce the 'ed' ending of regular verbs in the simple past tense: / Id
/ , / t / or / d /.

The pronunciation depends on the sound at the end of the infinitve of the main verb and whether it is
voiced or not.

/Id / /d/ /t/

infinitives that end in the infinitives that end in a infinitves that end in an
sounds voiced sound unvoiced sound
/t/ or /d/
needed lived shopped
hated chilled picked
dated enjoyed wished
seated tried crunched

A voiced sound is one that vibrates in your throat when you say it. For more information and for a
technique for finding out whether a sound is voiced or not, download Nuala's description below.

To see a list of voiced and unvoiced sounds, vist our Pronunciation Tips section here.

As well as some consonant sounds, all vowels sounds are voiced.

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tell us what you did last week. After each regular past simple verb, write how you would pronounce the –
ed in brackets. For example, I got up, had a shower and washed (/ t /) my hair. Then I went to uni and
studied (/ d /) history…..

We'll publish the most interesting five.

Thank you for writing to us, this topic is now closed.

Natsu, Japan
Last Friday, my family and I went camping. As soon as we arrived (/d/) the mountain, it started (/id/)
snowing which was not totally expected (/id/). We watched (/t/) and played (/d/) with the snow for
a while and then my daughter collected (/id/) some and made a snowman. She enjoyed (/d/) it so
much. Unfortunately, we had to move to somewhere warm because we carried (/d/) no protection
against the icy weather. We headed (/id/) to the beach and stayed (/d/) there for a couple of nights.
We had great fun!

Nuala says:

Hi Natsu,

What a perfect weekend! Snow and then a beach - it sounds wonderful.

All your regular past simple ending were just right and the pronunciation of your –ed endings was 100%
correct. Well done!

You mentioned you 'arrived the mountain' but actually you need to add a preposition (a little word like
'in', 'on' or 'at') after 'arrived'. Can you figure out what should you have written instead?

Thanks for writing in and telling us about your lovely weekend in Japan.

Nuala

Sandra, Brazil
Yesterday I worked(/d/) like crazy. I waked (/d/) up at 5:40 am. I had a shower and went to school. After
school I went in the bank to pay my bills. I waited (/id/) for ages. In the afternoon I cleaned (/d/) my
flat. When I finished (/d/) I was almost dead.

Nuala says:

Hi Sandra,

I can't believe you got up that early and still had energy to clean your flat in the afternoon!

Most of your past simple verb endings were correct ('worked', 'waited', 'cleaned' and 'finished') but 'wake'
is an irregular verb and the past form of it is 'woke' not 'waked'.

Some of your pronunciation endings were fine too 'waited (/id/) ' and 'cleaned (/d/)'. But 'work'
ends in a voiceless sound so its –ed ending is /t/. The end of 'finish' is also a voiceless sound. So how
should you pronounce the past simple of that verb?

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Azza, Somalia
Last weekend I went to the mall. I did same shopping and I walked home. When I came home I cooked
/t/ and cleaned /t/ the house. I was so busy with the housework, I remembered /d/ to pick up the my
kids from their soccer game one hour later. I decided /d/ to wait and watch while they play.

Nuala says:

Hi Azza,

It sounds like you had a pretty busy weekend.

You've done well with most of your –ed endings ('cooked', 'remembered') but you forgot to put 'play' into
the past tense at the end of your piece.

Some of your pronunciation of past simple endings was fine 'cooked /t/' and 'remembered /d/ '. But
'cleaned /t/ 'and 'decided /d/ ' aren't quite right. The /n/ at the end of 'clean' is a voiced sound so
it's –ed ending is /d/. The /d/ at the end of 'decide' makes it go into a different group. Can you
remember how those –ed endings are pronounced?

Thanks for telling us about your life in Somalia.

Nuala

Claire, France
Last Thursday, I went to the office and prepared (/d/) a very important meeting. My American boss
arrived (/d/) at 1 PM. We had lunch together and then I presented (/id/) him our 2008 investments
list. I tried (/d/) to be persuasive, but it was difficult with my bad English! To relax after that, I went to
a jazz concert. I listened (/d/) all the musicians carefully. They were not famous but played (/d/) very
well. That was a great but long day!

Nuala says:

Hello Claire,

Listening to live jazz sounds like a lovely way to finish off your day.

All your regular past simple endings were all correct. Well done! I disagree with you. I think your English
is very good!

You made a few slips with prepositions (the small words we often put after verbs in English). It's
'prepared for a meeting', 'I presented him with a list' and 'I listened to the musicians'.

Thanks for writing in! Nuala

Besnik , Unmik, Kosovo

Last Saturday I was invited (id) by some friends to go and play football, but before we started (id)
playing we were informed (d) that some of our friends were having a party later on, so we played (d)
only for half an hour. At the party we danced (t) till we were really tired (d) and then went home to
sleep so we would be charged (d) for the next happy day.

Nuala says:

Hi Besnik,

It sounds like you've had an ideal Saturday – some sport, a party and plenty of sleep!

You've got your pronunciation rules down very well and all your regular past simple endings were just
right.

I know what you mean when you say 'so we would be charged for the next happy day' but the expression
we use in English is 'to re-charge your batteries', so it would be better to say 'so our batteries would be
re-charged for the next day'.

Hope your learning English batteries are all still charged up!

Nuala

For and since

For and since are two words which are often used in present perfect sentences when saying how long
something has been happening. In this programme we learn how to use the different words.

We challenge Hye Jung from Korea to use the correct words to make good sentences.

Listen to the programme!

For and since

FOR
We use for when we mention the length of time:

for
24 hours.
two days.
three hundred years.
a few years.

Some extra information about for

It is possible to leave out the word for in positive sentences. For example: "I've lived here for seven
years." / "I've lived here seven years." Both are perfectly correct.

But in negative sentences we almost always use for.

"She hasn't seen him six months" is wrong. "She hasn't seen him for six months" is correct.

With expressions like all morning, all my life or all day, we never use for:

"He's lived there all his life," not "He's lived there for all his life."

SINCE
We use 'since' when we mention a point in time in the past when something started:

since
yesterday morning .
1707.
I was at university.
they moved to London.
he left home.

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

What are some of the most important aspects of your life? What possessions are important to you? How
long have you lived where you live? Tell us about how long you've been doing your job. We'll publish the
most interesting five.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Linda, Denmark
The most important aspect of my life was when I meet my husbond. The most important possession is
some picture of me and my grandmother (she is dead now). I have lived in my place since 1987. I have
been doing my job for 1 year.

Nuala says:

Hi Linda,

You're very lucky to have photographs to help you remember your grandmother.

You've used 'for' and 'since' once each in your piece and both of them were correct, as were the two
examples of the present perfect (one simple and one continuous). Well done!

Just take care with the spelling of 'husbond'. It should be 'husband'. And you've made a little mistake
mixing up the singular 'picture with the plural 'some'. Can you figure out what you should have written
instead?

Thanks for writing to tell us about your life in Denmark.

Nuala

Romulo, Brazil
I am married and I have three children. I have been married for 31 years. I live in Juiz de Fora City and I
have been living here for 10 years, since 1997. I have been working in Daimler Chrysler for 10 years.
I'm senior Manager Final Assembly. The most importante aspect my life is the good relationship I have
with my wife and my children, and my friends. Health, love and happiness are the best possessions.

Nuala says:

Hi Romulo,

How lovely to hear that you're still happily married after more than 30 years. I wonder what the secret is.

You've used 'for' and 'since' and the present perfect well very well throughout your piece. Well done!

A couple of things could make your piece totally perfect – one is the spelling of this word - 'importante' -
there's an 'e' on the end of it in Spanish and Portuguese but not in English. And in describing your job,
you need a couple of extra small words – 'I'm a Senior Manager in Final Assembly'.

Thanks for telling us about your happily married life in Brazil.

Nuala

Michel, South Korea

One of the most important aspects of my life is my health. I have gone to the gym and gone hiking
since I underwent an operation on my stomach 3 years ago. I regard the diaries I have kept since I
was a little girl as precious. I have lived where I live for 12 years and I have worked in a bank for
2 years.

Nuala says:

Hello Michel,

It sounds like you're completely over your operation now. Good to hear that you're working out at the
gym and enjoying hiking too.

No wonder they call it the present perfect! You've used it and 'for' and 'since' perfectly in your piece.
Well done!

And keep up with your diary writing! It'll make great reading when you're a grandmother!

Nuala

Roya, Iran
My family, especially my husband (we have married since 1985 and we're still in love), and my work are
the most important aspects of my life. The property and the job aren't so important for me but the permit
of working and staying in my country are important I've been lived in Kerman for 17 years, since my
child was born. I am an economist researcher and an activist for children's rights. I have been doing it
for 16 years.
Nuala says:

Hi Roya,

It sounds like you have a good work-life balance. And how nice to hear that you and your husband are
still in love after all those years!

You've used 'for' and 'since' very well throughout your piece but you've made a slip or two with the
present perfect. Remember that the present perfect is made up of have or has + past participle. So
'We have married' should be 'We have been married'. This sentence in the present perfect continuous is
correct 'I have been doing it for 16 years'. Can you change this sentence to make a correct present
perfect continuous one? 'I've been lived in Kerman for 17 years'

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Ken-Min Lin, Singapore

I come from Taiwan and live in Singapore since 2005. I was a Buddhist monk for 15 years in Taiwan.
When I was 30 I left my temple, I went to study animation and film production in Australia for 7 years.
Now, I am working part-time designing websites since I graduated. I have a lot of stories and ideas.
Some come from my real life experiences and some from the Buddhist sutras I learned in the temple. I
wish one day I could write them down into a film script, But my English still not good enough to do it yet.
Well, I hope one day my wish will come true.

Nuala says:

Hi,

It sounds like you've had a very interesting life so far. And who knows what's in store for you in the
future?

You've used 'for' and 'since' well throughout your piece but a couple of the times when you've used the
past simple, the present perfect would have been better. For example. 'I live in Singapore since 2005'
should be 'I've lived in Singapore since 2005'. So can figure out what this sentence should be?

'Now, I am working part-time designing websites since I graduated.'

Good luck with your script writing!

Nuala

Articles introduction
One feature of English which can cause a lot of problems for learners is articles, those little words 'a', 'an'
and 'the'. Today we begin to look at this topic with a basic rule.

In the programme we challenge Saleh from Saudi Arabia to spot correct and incorrect uses of definite and
indefinite articles.

Listen to the programme!

Articles introduction
There are two types of articles. They are known as the definite and indefinite articles. The words 'a' and
'an' are the indefinite articles and 'the' is the definite article. Articles are used at the beginning of noun
phrases.

a or an?
If the noun begins with a vowel sound then the indefinite article to use is 'an', e.g. an apple. However if
the noun begins with a consonant sound, then the indefinite article to use is 'a', e.g. a cat.

The zero article

In some cases nouns such as plural and uncountable nouns do not have articles before them. This lack of
an article is sometimes known as the zero article, e.g. I've got two cats.

There are quite a few rules connected with the use of articles. Here is a basic one to start with:

We use the indefinite article – 'a' and 'an'

to refer to something or someone for the first time in a conversation:

She's has two children – a boy and a girl.

I hear you've just bought a new car.
She bought a lovely bag yesterday.

We use the definite article – 'the'

to refer to something or someone that both speakers in a conversation know about or that
has been referred to before:

The boy is 7 and the girl 4.

I'm going to use the new one for driving my family around and I'm keeping my old one
just for myself.
The bag was red leather and really lovely.

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tell us about the country you would like to visit the most. What would you do and see there, who would
you go with, where would you stay and what souvenirs would you buy?

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Mercy, Nigeria
The country I would like to visit is England. I will visit some of the major cities, universities and some
other tourist sites. I will also go shopping for some new clothes. I will travel alone because I want to learn
about things myself. I will stay with my cousin James who leaves in East London, to cut cost. My take
home souvenirs will include post cards, porcelain and some Liverpool emboss T-shirts.

Nuala says:

Hello Mercy,

How lovely to hear that you'd like to come over to England to visit us all! I live in East London so we
might even bump into each other while you're visiting your cousin James!
You used definite articles well in your piece. Well done!

Just a couple of things to note– 'leaves' means 'goes away'. I think you meant 'lives'. You've used a
lovely expression which means 'to save money' but it's a fixed phrase and it's 'to cut costs'. 'Take
home' is one word and it's hyphenated, 'post cards' should be one word, not two, and you're using
'emboss' as an adjective, so it should be 'embossed.

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Ahmed, Maldives
I would like to visit Papua New Guinea and I want to go there alone and spend a week with a family. I
would try to learn and explore their culture and heritage. And I would bring back one of there national
dresses as a souvenire.

Nuala says:

Hello Ahmed,

That's another very interesting destination. You're the only person who chose Papua New Guinea!

You used three indefinite articles in your piece - all completely correctly.

Just a couple of things to note – 'there' should be 'their' and you haven't got the spelling quite right of
'souvenire'.

I think your cultural trip to PNG sounds really interesting. Thanks for writing in.

Nuala

Lila, Argentina
The country I'd like to visit the most at the moment would be France. The reason is because I'd like
to go to the rugby matches and see my favourite team, the 'Pumas', play against Namibia. In addition,
I'd like to visit the Louvre museum, and appreciate the most beautiful paintings ever, such as the
Gioconda. If I had to choose anyone to go with, I'd go with my friends, because we all like art and cute
rugby players! Of course, we'd all stay at the 'Avenau Saint Germain' hotel. Finally, the souvenirs I'd
buy for my mom - a beautiful Esteé Lauder perfume; for my dad, a recipe book on French cuisine;
finally, my granny would get a nice yellow scarf and a perfume.

Nuala says:

Hello Lila,

Your trip to France sounds cultural and fun and seeing the Gioconda (or the Mona Lisa, as we say in
English) would definitely be a highlight. And your gifts for your family show that you've thought a lot
about what each of them would like.

You used lots of definite and an indefinite articles in your piece and most of the them were correct. Just
be careful of 'perfume'. It's an uncountable noun so we don't use an indefinite article with it. You should
say 'I'd buy some perfume for my mum', rather than 'a perfume'. '

Enjoy the rugby, even if it's only on TV!

Nuala

Seula Lee, South Korea

I would like to go to Liechtenstein in the middle of Europe. I heard from my high school teacher that it is
a very small but very beautiful country. It's like a fairytale. I want to go with my best friend called
Sojin and see an ordinary village in the country. I want to stay in a youth-hostel, because I can see
many people from a variety of counties there. I would like to buy some postcards with scenary of the
country, and send them to my family and friends.

Nuala says:

Hello Seula,

Your trip to Liechtenstein sounds great. You were the only person who chose this tiny country as your
destination. So top marks for originality!

You used lots of definite and an indefinite articles in your piece and all of the them were correct. Well
done! '

Just one point to note – you haven't got the spelling quire right here: scenary.

Thanks for writing in to tell us about Liechtenstein.

Nuala

Anne, France
The country I would like to visit the most is China. The life in China seems such different from Europe. I
would like to discover this country. I would go in China with my boyfriend, of course! We would visit a lot
of monuments and I would buy many souvenirs to give to my four children when we came back.

Nuala says:

Hello Anne,

A trip to China sounds great. And visiting the Great Wall and the Forbidden City would be fantastic! I was
lucky enough to go to China last year and really loved it. The best bit was the food! Sichuan cuisine is
something else. It's hot, spicy and really delicious!

You used a definite and an indefinite article correctly in your piece. Look out for a Grammar Challenge
programme soon about definite articles to find out why using the article in this sentence isn't correct:
'The life in China seems different'

A couple of other things you might want to look out for:

'I would go in China with my boyfriend '. The preposition you use with 'go' is 'to' not 'in'.

'Life in China seems such different from Europe'. With 'such', the structure is such + a + adjective
+ noun. So for example you could say 'It's such a different life in China'. With 'so', it's so + adjective.
So you could say 'It's so different in China'.

Thanks for writing in.

Nuala
Zero Conditional
Conditionals are structures which we use when talking about possible actions and their results. The zero
conditional is a form which expresses what always happens if or when a certain action takes place.

In the programme we challenge Jelena from Serbia-Montenegro to make correct sentences using this
grammar.

Listen to the programme!

Zero Conditional

Conditional sentences are usually made up of two parts, a conditional clause and a main clause. The
conditional clause is the 'if' part of the sentence and the main clause is the result, what happens.

There are other ways of forming a zero conditional sentence but this is the basic structure we talk about in
this programme.

CONDITIONAL CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE

If / when present simple present simple
you heat ice, it melts.
If
she's not in, her machine takes a message.
When
you don't water plants, they die.

The two clauses can come in any order. In written English if the conditional clause comes first, you put a
comma between it and the main clause. You don't use a comma if the main clause comes first. Look
carefully and you can see that the previous two sentences contain two examples of the zero conditional!

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tell us some things that are always true about you. For example;

• if I'm sad, I always cry and then I eat a lot of chocolate!

• When I see my dog, it makes me happy.
• If my boss shouts at me, it makes me sad.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Guga, Brazil
If I play soccer, I always be happy. When I study, I always get good results on tests. If I play guitar, I relaxe

Nuala says:

Hello Guga,

I like playing sports too. Badminton is my favourite sport but I only feel happy if I win!
The pattern for the zero conditional is If (or When) + present simple, present simple. So in your first sentence it
should be 'If I play soccer, I always am happy '.

The final word of your piece should be' relax' if it's a verb or if you want to use an adjective, you could say 'I feel relaxed'

Callum's a good musician and when I asked him he said, 'When I play the guitar my neighbours get annoyed!'. I THINK he
was only joking.

Nuala

Joanna, Poland
If I decide to begin something, I always finish it. If someone isn't honest with me, I always feel it. I like to go
out with my dog, when it's sunny.

Nuala says:

Hello Joanna,

I wish I had as much will power as you!

Your three examples of the zero conditional are all perfect. Well done!

Thanks for writing in and I hope you have some lovely sunny days soon so you can enjoy them with your dog.

All the best,

Nuala

Nigeria
When I see someone cry, I cry also. When my Brother smiles, I feel happy. If the wether is cold, I make
myself a cup of tea. When I see an Actress, I ask for an autograp.

Nuala says:

Hello,

I bet your brother is pleased to have you as his sibling.

You've used the zero conditional very well in your piece. Well done!

Here are a couple of points to think about:

You don't need capital letters on 'brother' or 'actress' and the spelling of 'wether' and 'autograp' aren't quite right.

Thanks for writing in from Nigeria and next time you contact us, don't forget to tell us your name.

Best wishes,

Nuala
 London
If my baby crying, I get stress. When my husband bring me a bunch of flowers, I get so happy.

Nuala says:

Hello London!

Yes, hearing a baby cry is stressful. And everyone loves getting flowers, don't they?

The pattern for the zero conditional is If (or When) + present simple, present simple. So in your first sentence it
should be If my baby cries, I get stressed. ('Stress' is a verb but the adjective, how you feel is 'stressed'.)

Now that you know the pattern of the zero conditional, can you figure out what your second sentence should be?

Lovely to hear from you and next time, don't forget to tell us what your name is!

Nuala

Eleonora, Italy
If I'm upset, I play the piano and then I fell better. When I see a beautiful landscape, my heart is full of joy. If it's
Monday morning, I don't want to get up because ahead I have a week of hard work!

Nuala says:

Hello Eleonora,

I think lots of us feel exactly the same on a Monday morning!

Thanks for writing in.

Nuala

Questions with 'like'

'Like' is a word frequently used in English. It is used in different ways and in this programme we compare
three different uses: talking about personality, physical appearance and hobbies.

In the programme we challenge Lorenzo from Italy to listen to answers and produce the correct question
forms.

Listen to the programme!

Questions with 'like'

To ask about someone's personality.

NB: We don't use 'like' in the answer.

What is she/he/it She's friendly,

What are you/they/we like? He's grumpy,
What am I They're very serious,
To ask about someone's physical appearance:
NB: We don't use 'like' in the answer.

She's tall and good looking.

What does she/he/it
look like? He's got green eyes.
What do I/you/they/we
They're both blonde,

To ask about someone's hobbies:

NB: You can use 'like' in the answer.

She likes sports

What does she/he/it like
He's into computers
What do I/you/they/we doing?
They love sailing and swimming

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Describe a well-known international person. He or she can be alive or dead. Tell us what he or she likes
(or liked), what he or she looks like (or looked like) and what he or she likes doing (or liked doing). But,
don't tell us the name of your chosen person!

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Koorosh, Iran
he is 37 years old. he is mature, fun-loving and also arty. he is tall and has got brown eyes and
black hair and hand-some. he like studying English especially with
www.bbclearningenglish.com. he also like walking and playing chess. guess who is he? his
favourite teachers are Nuala and Callum!

Nuala says:

Hi Koorosh

This is a really funny description. And I reckon you're talking about yourself! I'm so glad to hear you -
very modestly – describe yourself as very handsome! :)

Don't forget to put capital letters at the beginning of each of your sentences.

It's correct to use 'has got' with 'brown eyes' and 'black hair' but with 'handsome' you need' is' .

Don't forget your 3rd person 's' on the end of the present simple verb 'like'.

Callum and I are delighted to be your favourite teachers!

Nuala
Nitin Jain, India.
He was short, bald, and thin build. He used to wear glasses. He used to wear less number of
clothes. He had an amazing persona. He used to talk very well. He was not attractive looking.
He used to walk very fast. He liked reading. He liked to do everything by himself. He fought
against a big empire to get freedom for my country.

Nuala says:

Hello Nitin

This is a very clear description. And I'm 100% sure you're telling us about Mahatma Gandhi. Clues like he
was thin and wore glasses helped but the main one was that he fought against an empire to win freedom
for his country.

Here are a few pointers for you about your language:

It's correct to use 'was' with 'short' and 'bald' but if you want to use 'was' with 'thin build' you should
say 'was thinly built'.

I know Ghandi was famous for wearing only a dhoti and shawl so I understand what you mean when you
say 'He used to wear less number of clothes ' but actually what we say in English is 'He didn't used
to wear many clothes''

Thanks for writing in. Do let us know if you were describing Mahatma Gandhi

Nuala

Nina, Russia
I'll tell you about a very interesting person. What was he like? He was talent and many-sided. What
was he look like? He was tall, blond, the emigrant's son from Czechoslovakia. What did he like
doing? He liked paint posters, silk graphics and portraits of show business stars, for example, Monroe
and Elvis.

Nuala says:

Hello Nina,

This is an interesting description. And I'm almost 100% certain your mystery person is Andy Warhol but
I'm not completely sure. The main clues that make me think that are that he was tall and blonde and he
painted posters, including ones of Marylyn Monroe. I'm just not sure where his parents were from. I don't
think they were from, what was called then, Czechoslovakia.

There are a few things you might like to look at:

The adjective from the noun 'talent' is 'talented'. And although I know exactly what you mean with the
word 'multi-sided' actually the word we use in English is 'multi-faceted'.

The questions isn't 'What was he look like?' but What 'did he look like?' But being an immigrant's son
doesn't describe what he looked like so you need to start a new sentence when you give that information.
For example, you could say 'What did he look like? He was tall and blonde. He was also an
immigrant's son from Czechoslovakia'.

After 'like' you need the ing form - 'He liked painting'.

Let's us know if your 'interesting person' is Andy Warhol.

Nuala
Marinete, Brazil
He was sympathetic, friendly but serious. He was tall, thin, white skin, black and wave hair. He
loved sport and died driving a car.

Nuala says:

Hello Marinete

This is an intriguing description. But I've got no idea who your mystery person is.

You've described him very well telling us about his personality, what he looked like and what his hobbies
were.

Here are a few things you might like to look at:

As I mentioned to K M, we usually say 'he's white ', rather than 'white skin' And when we're describing
hair we say 'He's got black, wavy hair' rather than 'black and wave hair'

Please write back and let us know who you're describing!

Nuala

K M , South Korea
She is outgoing. She has Brown eyes and Black short hair. She also has black skin. I think she is
not tall, just common. She likes talking in front of many people. And, she like shopping. Also, she is
very generous, so she usually give many gifts to everyone especially audiences. Can you guess who?

Nuala says:

Hello K M,

That's a great description. I think I might know who it is but I'm not certain. Is it Oprah Winfrey, the US
TV chat show host? The clues that make me think that are: she's black, she likes talking and she famously
gave away a car to every single person in the audience on one of her shows. If only we could do that on
the webcast!

You've described her personality, physical appearance and hobbies very well and remembered not to use
'like' in your descriptions. Well done.

Here are a few other points you might like to look at:

Colours like brown and black don't need capital letters and we usually say 'She's black', rather than
'She has black skin'

I know what you mean by 'just common' but what we actually say in English is 'just average'.

Why not write back and let us know if I'm right about guessing it's Oprah?

Nuala

Must / mustn't
Must is a word that is used to talk about an obligation, something you have to do, like following a law or a
rule. In this programme we look at how to use this word and its negative form, mustn't.

Hanbing from China is our Grammar Challenge student who has the task of forming correct sentences
using this grammar.

Listen to the programme!

Must / mustn't

STRUCTURE must / mustn't + base form

I must do my homework.
Positive sentences
She must wear a uniform.
We mustn't talk in here!
Negative sentences
You mustn't steal.
I
You
have a visa.
She
All pronouns take buy a ticket.
He must / mustn't
must/mustn't smoke in here.
It
have long hair.
We
They

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

If you could rule your country for a week, what rules and laws would you introduce? What laws would you
change? And what ones would you abolish (or stop) and why?

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Daniel, Switzerland
Every new house must be built using efficient heating technology.

Nuala says:

Hello Daniel,

Short, to the point and eco-friendly too. Perfect!

Best wishes,

Nuala

Anna, Czech Republic

If I was in charge on my country for one week, I would have all the ice cream sold for free and I would
abandon all schools on the planet. However, I would make these rules permanent and therefore make
them last forever, even once I'm not in charge anymore.

Nuala says:

Hello Anna,

Free ice-cream forever? How soon can we get you elected? And just so you'll be prepared, I think I should
let you know my favourite flavour is Strawberry Rocky Road.

Stay chilled now!

Nuala

Lívia, Brazil
Some presidents must work hard for their people instead of fighting against others. We must stop
corruption! We must punish those who drive drunk. The president must create jog programs instead of
only giving poor people food. Otherwise they won't learn how to work hard. We must be more tolerant
and combat the racism.

Nuala says:

Hi Lívia,

You've got some great ideas there for when you're president. And you've used the structure must/mustn't
+ base verb very well throughout your piece. Well done!

There are just a couple of things I'd like to point out here:

'Drive drunk' is a fine expression and your meaning is perfectly clear but the more usual way to talk
about this is to say 'drink-drive or 'drink and drive'. So you could say 'We must punish drink-
drivers ' or 'We must punish drink-driving ' or 'We must punish those who drink and drive'

I don't know if it was just a slip on the keyboard or a spelling mistake but it's 'job' not 'jog programs'.

And you don't need the definite article 'the' before 'racism'.

Thanks for telling us about how you'd rule your world!

Best wishes,

Nuala

Maryam, Iran
Girls must be free to chose men's job.
English must be taught from an early age.
Students must have opportunity to visit other countries.
Boys and girls must be free to talk to each other in public.
Government must pay for ill people.

Nuala says:

Hello Maryam,
You've got some really interesting new laws there. But I'm a bit confused by a couple of them. The first
one sounds like you want girls to be able to decide what jobs men should do! But somehow I don't think
that's what you had in mind. If you mean that both men and women should be able to do the same jobs,
you could say 'Women must be free to do men's jobs' or 'Women must be allowed to do any job
they want'.

Your final rule sounds as if you want the government to buy sick people! But I think you mean that poor
people shouldn't have to pay for health care. So you could say 'The Government must make health
care free for poor people'.

There are a couple of times you need to use the definite article 'the' – once before 'opportunity' and
once before 'government'.

Look out for some Grammar Challenges coming up in September about articles!

Best wishs, Nuala

Fumi, Japan
We must stop to smoke in all the pubulic spaces.
Men must help thier wives with looking after their kids. Because in Japan men tend to work over times.
The gorverment must not raise the consumption tax.
We must not waist the energy.

Nuala says:

Hello Fumi,

Sounds like you'd run Japan very well, if you were in charge!

You've used 'must' and 'must not' + base verb correctly. Although in an informal piece like this, I'd
probably use 'mustn't' instead of 'must not'.

You said one of your rules would be 'We must stop to smoke' but this means stopping what you're
doing (say, walking or working) and then lighting up a cigarette. But I don't think that's what you meant.
If your law is to ban people smoking in public, you should say 'We must stop smoking in public' or 'We
mustn't smoke in public'.

You have a few slips in your spelling (or maybe just slips in your typing) - pubulic,thier, gorverment
and waist.

One vocabulary item to take note of is 'over times'. Overtime (one word) is an uncountable noun so we
can't make it plural. So to use the word correctly, you could say about Japanese men that they tend to
work 'overtime'.

Thanks for writing in to tell us about your rules.

Nuala

Have to / don't have to

Sometimes in life there are obligations or rules. There are things which you do not have a choice in, like
wearing a uniform at school, for example. One structure we use to talk about these rules is have to. This
programme is all about have to and its negative form, don't have to. Don't have to is used when there
is no obligation to do something.

Today we challenge Tomomi from Japan to make correct sentences using this grammar.
Listen to the programme!
Have to / don't have to

Positive
We use 'have to' to talk about things we must do, things we are obliged to do.

Subject have to / has to base form of verb

I
You wear a uniform.
have to
We get up early on Sundays.
They study hard.
He
has to
She

Negative
We use 'don't have to' to talk about things we have a choice about, things we aren't obliged to do.

don't / doesn't have

Subject base form of verb
to
I
You
don't have to wear a uniform.
We
They get up early on Sundays.
study hard!
He
doesn't have to
She

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

What are the rules and choices you have in your life, you school or your work. If you could change one
rule, what would you change and why?

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Dasari, USA
Dasari, USA I have to get up early in the morning to go to work on time everyday. I have to follow the
dress code. We do not have to follow the dress code on Fridays so I often wear jeans on Fridays.

Nuala says:
Hello Dasari,

Do people in your office call it 'dress down Friday'? That's the expression we usually use to talk about
wearing more casual clothes to the office just once a week.

You've used 'have to' correctly here and although technically you've used 'do not have to' correctly too, it
does sound very formal. And 'follow the dress code' also sounds quite formal. I think it would sound more
chatty and informal to say 'We don't have to dress smartly' or 'We don't have to wear a suit'.

You also used the word 'everyday' which actually has a very different meaning from the two separate
words 'every day'. The adjective 'everyday' means 'ordinary, or usual'. (For example, 'It wasn't a
special occasion or anything so we just went to that everyday cafe for a coffee'.) The two separate words
'every day' mean 'one day after the other'. So I think here you meant 'I have to get up early in the
morning to go to work on time every day '.

Enjoy your dress down Fridays!

Nuala

Guillaume, Paris
I study the history of art in Paris and I have a job in Musée du Louvre, so I have to understand English
at least. I have to wear a suit too, but fortunately I don't have to shave my beard off everyday! In
France, people don't have to learn English to live and work, like in several countries in the world. But I
like this language.

Nuala says:

Hello Guillaume,

You're really lucky to work in the Louvre Museum. What an interesting job! Do you get to see the Mona
Lisa every day?

You've used 'have to' and 'don't have to' correctly here to talk about what rules you have to follow and
what options you've got in your job.

There's one vocabulary item you might want to look at: 'I don't have to shave my beard off every
day'. A beard is growth that a man gets on his chin after he hasn't shaved for a few days, weeks or
months. So it's unlikely you'd have a beard to shave off every day! Probably it would be better (and
simpler) to say 'I don't have to shave everyday'. Or if you do have a beard, you could say 'I don't
have to shave off my beard'.

Glad to hear you like English!

Nuala

Sophia, Taiwan
I worked in the hospital. I have to wear white uniform. If I could change one rule, I don't have to
wear white uniform. We can to wear pink uniform. We will feel warm when we wear pink uniform.

Nuala says:

Hello Sophia,

I think nurse and doctors wearing pink (and all sorts of other colours too) would make everyone – staff
and patients - much happier!

Thanks for writing to tell us about your work.

Nuala

Tracy, Hong Kong

I have to keep learning English, since I work for a international company. I have to go to English
training centre after work. But I don't have to go at weekends. I have to dress smart, I need to meet
clients everyday. Sometimes I have to overwork. If I could change a rule, I would change the way of
dressing because I don't feel comfortable.

Nuala says:

Hello Tracey,

Sounds like you've got an interesting job - working for an international firm. It's just a pity you have to
wear smart clothes when you don't want to! I'm lucky, I can wear jeans to the office.

There's just one bit of vocabulary you might want to look at:

'Overwork' means 'to make someone work too much'. We don't usually say 'I have to overwork',
because it's normally someone else who overworks us. Instead you could say 'My boss overworks me'.
But in your example, I actually think you mean 'work overtime' because that's something we all often
have to do. 'Work overtime' means to work more hours than is usual – often you get paid more for doing
this extra work but sometimes you don't – and usually if your boss asks you to do overtime, you don't
have much choice but to say 'yes'.

Here's a link to a webcast we did about overwork

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Dave, Turkey
Hi! I am a programmer, so I have to improve my English. I have to do it independently and your
lessons make me a big help. I haven't to wear a uniform and I haven't get up early because I am a
freelancer. I only have my own rules which I have to observe.

Nuala says:

Hello Dave,

I wonder what kind of programmer you are, Dave? My guess is that you're a computer programmer. Am I
right?

You've used 'have to' correctly throughout your piece but you've made a few slips when you're writing
about things you're not obliged to do – things you have a choice about doing or not. To talk about them
we use 'don't have to + base verb' so instead of saying 'I haven't to wear a uniform ', you should
say 'I don't have to wear a uniform'. Can you figure what you should say instead of 'I haven't get up
early because I am a freelancer'?

There's one point of vocabulary you might want to look at too: 'Your lessons are a big help to me'
sounds more natural than 'your lessons make me a big help'
Glad to hear you find Grammar Challenge useful!

Nuala

Time prepositions
Prepositions are small grammatical words that usually go before nouns and pronouns. There are many
different prepositions that are used to describe where things are, how things happen and when things
happen, for example. In this Grammar Challenge we focus on the prepositions we use with certain time
expressions

Today Hiroko from Japan is challenged to choose the correct prepositions.

Listen to the programme!

Time prepositions

at half past 7
at midnight
At – for times of the day
at sunset
at breakfast time
on the 5th of June
on Tuesdays,
On - for days and dates
on Saturday morning
on Christmas day
in April
in 1987
In - for longer periods of time
in the winter of 1976
in the 1930s
next
No preposition – for some time last
words tomorrow
yesterday

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar!

Tell us about special days and festivals in your life or in your country. We'll publish the most interesting
five.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Gildo, Mozambique
It is on 4th October we celebrate Peace Day. It is the day the main parties signed the peace agreement
to stop fighting during civil war, which lasted sixteen years here in Mozambique. We usually wear at least
white clothes to show we are in peace and no more war must begin. The agreement was signed in Rome,
Italy in 1994 by the former Mozambican president in charge of Frelimo party and by the Renamo party
president Afonso Dlakama. We do not need any more war.
Nuala says:
Hi Gildo,
Thanks for telling us about this special day. If only we could get everyone to celebrate it, the world would
be a much more peaceful place.

Nuala

Romel, Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, we have many special festivals and the Language day is the most special one amongest. It
is on 21st Fabruary. On that day, we wake up very early in the morning and go to the Martyrs
Monument and lay flowers there in remembrance of the Martyrs. Later on various cultural programs are
followed by all day long.

Nuala says:
Hi katya,
I did a bit of research on Language Day and found out it's a day to commemorate and celebrate the
Bangla language. That's sounds like a really interesting day. We don't have anything like that in Britain.

You used the time preposition 'on 21st Fabruary' correctly but the month is spelled February. 'On that
day' and 'in the morning' were also correct. Well done!

In your first sentence, you need to add a pronoun 'them' to make 'amongst them' (and watch your
spelling of the word 'amongst').

And in your final sentence, there's no need to use a passive form. It would probably sound more natural
as 'Then for the rest of the day, there are lots of cultural activities.'

Thanks for telling us about Language Day!

Nuala

Katya, India
india's calendar is strewn with dates announcing holidays almost every month. my favourite is
Deepawali. the celebrations start in the evening with a prayer, the houses are lit up with decorative lights
followed by firing of crackers which continues late into the midnight.

Nuala says:
Hi katya,
Prayers, lights and fireworks. Who could ask for anything more?

You used the time preposition 'in the evening' correctly and also remembered that there's no time
preposition with an expression like 'every month', but the expression 'into the midnight ' isn't quite
right. You can either say 'continues late into the night' or 'continues until midnight'. 'Continues' is
actually a bit formal. I'd be more likely to say 'goes on'.

And don't forget to use capital letters with names of countries and at the beginning of sentences.

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Bedia, Turkey
In Turkey, we have two traditional festival. One of these is named Ramazan Festival. In the festival
morning, we have a big breakfast with all the member of family. And at noon, we start visiting our
relatives and our neighbours. If the festival isn't in winter, we have dinner at seven o'clock in the
garden.
Nuala says:
Hi Bedia,
It's always nice to visit friends and relatives on special occasions, isn't it? The Ramazan Festival sounds
great – especially eating dinner in the garden in the evening.

You used lots of prepositions of time correctly 'at noon', 'in winter ' and ' at seven o'clock'. The first
one you used 'In the festival morning' is a bit tricky. We use 'in' with 'morning' but with a day or date
like 'Ramazan' we use 'on', so it should be 'on Ramazan morning'.

Don't forget to put an 's' on the end of plural nouns, like 'two traditional festivals', 'all the members of
{our} families'

Hope you enjoy the next Ramazan Festival!

Nuala

Milka, Serbia
I may consider myself a happy woman because every year on my birthday, my husband surprises me
with a present in the evening at dinner. To surprise him pleasently in return, I prepare a delicious meal
which we eat together at breakfast on the weekends.

Nuala says:
Hi Milka,
You sound like an ideal couple to me, taking it in turns to give each other fabulous treats!

You used three prepositions of time 'on my birthday', 'in the evening' and 'on the weekends'. The
first two are perfect and the third one is correct in American English but in British English we say 'at the
weekends'.

Here are a couple of small suggestions to make your piece flow more smoothly:

'Surprise' means 'something pleasant' so there's no need to have to 'pleasantly' in your sentence (but
if you do keep it in, check your spelling of it).

'Prepare' is a bit formal here, I think 'make' sounds better.

'Meal' and breakfast' are a bit repetitive so I'd probably drop one of them.

So, if you want you could change the last sentence to 'To surprise him in return, I make a delicious
breakfast which we eat together at the weekend' or 'In return, I surprise him by making a
delicious breakfast which we eat together at the weekend'.

Hope you both enjoy your next birthday, when it comes around again!

Nuala

Continuous Passives
This week, we're continuing our discussion of passives with a look at continuous passives. We challenge
Guy from Martinique to come up with correct sentences using this very tricky grammar. How will he do?

Listen to the programme!

Continuous Passives

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)

There are four main elements to a continuous passive sentence: the 'passive subject', the verb 'to be',
the word 'being', and the past participle of the verb.

Present continuous passive

passive subject 'to be' being past participle

The bridge is being painted this year

The interviews are being held in the office

Past continuous passive

passive subject 'to be' being past participle

The bridge was being painted last year

The interviews were being held in the office

Download more tables on this topic (pdf - 37k)

Download Catherine's grammar explanation (pdf - 37k)

Tell us about a place you have visited where there was a lot of activity and things were changing. It could
be a country, town or village, or a building like a school, hospital or office. Where did you go? What was
being done? Try to use the past continuous passive to tell us about it.

We'll publish our favourite five entries.

Thank you for sending your comments. This topic has now closed.

Myanmar
My house was being redecorated since last year. While my house was being decorated, we went to
Myanmar and stayed there until the whole decoration was done.

Nuala says:
Hi,
I hope your house looks great now. I've just painted our sitting room and I'm very happy with our new
green walls!

This is a lovely use of the continuous passive here – 'While my house was being decorated'.

You say at the end of your piece that you 'stayed there until the whole decoration was done' so I'd just
change the first sentence a little bit and take out the word since, to show that the decorating was
completed last year.

Enjoy your redecorated house!

Nuala
Poliana, Brazil
Last year I visited my hometown Zoo. When I arrived the animals were being fed and they looked
really beautiful. After a long walk I could see an elephant being taken for a vaccine. I asked to the
veterinary why the elephant was being taken away to get that medication, and he told me the animal
was very ill and needed special treatments. After that I could notice that one particular lion was being
movedfor another cage because he had fought with his "cagemate". It as a funny day

Nuala says:
Hi Poliana,
That sounds like a really interesting visit to the zoo.

You use the continuous passive very well here to draw our attention to what was happening to the
animals rather than focusing in on who was doing the actions. And all your subjects and verbs agreed -
'the animals were', 'the elephant was' and 'one particular lion was'. Well done!

I'm not sure I would have described your visit to the zoo as a 'funny day'. I think it seems more like an
interesting or fascinating day.

Thanks for your contribution!

Nuala

Sonia, Argentina
I visited my Secondary School, there a lot of students and their parents were working to repair the
school. The windows and doors were being painted, the walls were being repaired , all the build
was being decorated to celebrate its birthday 25.

Nuala says:
Hi Sonia, Did you enjoy going back to your old high school or did you find it a bit strange seeing all those
old faces from the past?

Your piece was short and sweet and gave a very clear picture of the how busy everyone was in the run-up
to your school's 25th birthday.

There were some good continuous passive examples in your piece: The windows and doors were
being painted and the walls were being repaired

Like Amy, you just need to make sure that the subject and the part of the verb 'to be' you use both agree
with each other. So, all the build was being decorated should be 'all the buildings were being
decorated'

Thanks for writing to us!

Nuala

India
I have just been to a new school. There was a lot of activity in the school. Teachers were busy teaching
the students. There were a group of students in arts class. There was a section of students working on the
computer. I felt happy seeing students as young as age five being taught about computers and that
too in not so very cosmopolitian place.

Nuala says:
Hi, you didn't mention your name – unless of course it IS India!
This is a lovely piece that describes very well how busy and well used the new school is.

You only used one continuous passive but I think your choice of using more active sentences than passive
ones was absolutely right. You wanted to emphasise what the teachers were doing so an active, rather
than a passive, sentence is perfect here: 'Teachers were busy teaching the students' sounds much
better than 'Students were busily being taught'.

Similarly the active sentence 'students working on the computer' highlights how hardworking the
students were, rather than saying 'the computer was being worked on by the students', which only
draws our attention to the inactive computer. The real action is about what the students are doing and
your active sentence draws our attention to that.

The one example of the continuous passive is just right because this time you want to draw our attention
to how young the students are. As an active sentence it would be: 'Teachers teaching students as
young as age five about computers' which puts the emphasise on the teachers but actually the key
information here is about the students. So 'students as young as age five being taught about
computers' sounds much better.

Finally, you might like to change the ending a little bit – from "and that to in not so very cosmopolitian
place' to 'even though the school wasn't in a very cosmopolitan area'.

Thanks for writing!

Nuala

Amy, China
i went to Qingdao last month,i found a lot of nice new buildings was being built in Qingdao, lots of
flowers were being showed in a park,when i got to to the walking street in Qingdao,i saw a super
market was being renovated, i felt a bit hungry,so i planned to go to a restaurant to get some food to
eat,when i came into a restaurant,i saw a lot of delicious food were being served to those customer.a
baby was being feeded by his mother,i sat down and ordered some food to eat.it was a nice trip.

Nuala says:
Hi Amy, Qingdao sounds really interesting. I visited China in March but only managed to see Beijing and
Nanjing. You've made me wish I'd gone to Qingdao too now!

You used lots of correct continuous passives here and lots of other structures too, which is good.
Sometimes it's tempting to overuse a new form when you've just learned it.

Just be careful that your subject agrees with the part of the verb 'to be' you use, so 'new buildings was
being built' should be 'new buildings were being built' and 'a lot of delicious food were being
served' should be ' a lot of delicious food was being served'.

Well done on getting most of your past participles right. There were just a few slips there - 'built',
'renovated' and 'served' were all correct but 'showed' should have been 'shown' and 'feeded' should
have been 'fed'

Thanks for writing in!

Nuala

Past Perfect pronunciation

In the last programme, we found out how to use 'wish' with the past perfect to talk about things in
the past that we would like to change now. Today, we're focussing on two different forms of this
grammar... Will Mika from Japan be able to hear the difference?
Listen to the programme!

Past Perfect Pronunciation

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)

To express regrets about past events, we use the subject, followed by wish/wishes, followed by the past
perfect (subject + had/hadn't + past participle).

There is a long form and a short form of pronunciation.

Positive
Long form: I wish I had bought a new coat

Short form: I wish I'd bought a new coat

Negative
Long form: She wishes she had not bought a new coat

Short form: She wishes she hadn't bought a new coat

Question
Long form: Do you wish you had bought a new coat?

Short form: Do you wish you'd bought a new coat?

This week's programme focussed on short forms of the past perfect, e.g. 'she'd gone' instead of 'she had
gone'.

Do you sometimes find it hard to hear short forms? Do you use short forms much when you are speaking?
Do you have any advice for other students about how to hear or use these forms?

We'll publish our favourite five entries.

This area has now closed. Please note that we only publish five comments. If you wrote in but
we didn't publish your comment, then do try again another time.

Alex Wang, Canada

I wish it wasn't so hard to hear those short forms. I wish I could try my best to use short forms as much
as I can from now on. As to how to hear the short forms, we can always judge if the verb is in its past
participle form. If it is, then the the part of the sentence is in the form of the past perfect. I hope you
guys and I myself will be very good at written and oral English one day.

Catherine says:
Thanks for your comment, Alex!

Your tip about listening for the past participle form is a good one, Alex. For a verb like 'speak', this is
relatively easy, because the past participle form - 'spoken' is different from the past simple form -
'spoke'. But if the past simple and past participle forms are the same - for example with the verb 'say' -
where the past simple and past participle forms are both 'said' - you have to listen carefully for 'had' or
'hadn't', and listen to the rest of the context too, to work out if the speaker's regret is concerned with the
past or the present.

Thanks again, Alex, and keep practising your English!

Catherine

Arshad Ali Sakhi, Hunza, Pakistan

As English is my 3rd language... its very hard to learn when you did't get the enviroment to speak ..so
improving listening skills is very important. As far as short forms of past perfect are concerned from now
on I will strive to use and practice short forms. Tell us how difficult an English speaker finds, when a
foreigner speaks it in its own accent.

Catherine says:
Hi Arshad! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Most non-native speakers of English have a foreign
accent - it's completely normal, and something to be quite proud of, in my opinion!

Remember that most English speakers are used to hearing English being spoken with a foreign accent, so
they don't usually have problems coping with accents and even a few pronunciation errors. If your
grammar and vocabulary are fairly accurate, and your basic pronunciation is ok, and you don't speak too
quickly, you shouldn't have too many problems being understood.

One way to work on your accent is to listen to a short recording of a native speaker, and then record
yourself saying the same words. You can then compare the native speaker's pronunciation with your own.
If you focus on one or two specific sounds, for example /e/ and /i/, you can re-record yourself until you
sound more like the native speaker. Most of the programmes in our Watch and Listen area have
downloadable audio and transcripts, so you can read and listen to the audio very easily.

So speak clearly, not too quickly, and don't worry about your accent, Arshad!
Catherine

Oki Nandoko, Indonesia

For me as many Indonesian people, listening to English short form is very very hard. To understand what
it is saying, we have to understand also the context. It will give us the meaning when we are lost in
hearing.

Catherine says:
Your advice is similar to Vinicus's suggestion, Oki Nandoko, and you are both absolutely right: context is
really important to understanding, both of individual sounds and of a speakers overall meaning.

Sometimes it is possible to improve your contextual knowledge by preparing for listening. For example, if
you are going to see an English movie you can read about its story and characters before you go. If you
are a student, you can prepare for a lecture by reading about the topic beforehand, and if you want to
listen to the news on the radio, try reading a newspaper first. Some people might say this is 'cheating' -
but the smart student knows the value of preparation!

Keep practising your listening, Oki Nandoko!

Catherine

Vinicius, Brazil
I don`t use the short form of past perfect very often, and to hear that take sometimes more practice. My
advice is to pay attention at the context of the chat...The real dificulty on this is that the big part of the
English students don`t use the past perfect and even the present perfect in the major circunstances.

Catherine says:
You have made some very interesting points here, Vinicus.

Your advice about listening to context is very helpful. It's much easier to work out what tense is being
used when you have an idea of the situation that surrounds what is being said.
It's also true to say that the past perfect is probably less frequently used than some other tenses, but it
really does depend on the situation - in some contexts it may be used a great deal, and it is important to
be able to hear it!

On the other hand, the present perfect is very common in English, and while English students
sometimes try to avoid using it, it's important to build up your confidence so you can use it when you
need to. Lots of listening practice can help here, and you can also try looking at our Learn It section for
more advice.

Thanks again for your comment, Vinicus!

Catherine

Raju, Bangladesh
phonics related, Is English completely phonetical?

Catherine says:
That's an interesting question, Raju, and the short answer is no, English isn't completely phonetical.
Sometimes we pronounce words exactly as they are written, for example, 'w' - 'e' - 't' gives us 'wet', but
some letters can be prounced in more than one way, such as the 'c' in 'piece' and 'cake'. This can be true
of combinations of letters too. For example, the 'ough' in 'rough', 'cough' and 'dough' are all pronounced
differently.

These features of sounds and spellings in English can cause difficulties in listening, speaking and spelling,
so it's important to spend some time exploring spelling and pronunciation. Have a look at our
pronunciation area to help you get started. A few minutes practice every day can make a big difference!

Thanks again, Raju!

Catherine
Uncountable nouns
English learners of all levels sometimes struggle with countable and uncountable nouns. Although most
people understand that 'water' and 'bread' are uncountable, how about 'advice', 'equipment', 'luggage'...?
We challenge Edward from France to play teacher and spot William's mistakes!

Listen to the programme!

Uncountable nouns

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)

Nouns are usually countable or uncountable. Numbers, plurals and the articles 'a' and 'an' are NOT
normally used with uncountable nouns.

accommodation equipment information patience rubbish

advice furniture luggage pollution weather

Use the following uncountable nouns to make up a story. You can use the nouns in any order you like (you
don't have to use all of them). Start your story like this:

'One day, Catherine and William were walking along the street when suddenly...'

The nouns are: accommodation, information, equipment, furniture, pollution, patience, luggage,
weather, rubbish, advice.

We'll publish our favourite five entries.

This area has now closed. Please note that we only publish five comments. If you wrote in but
we didn't publish your comment, then do try again another time.

Cathy Leung, Hong Kong

After 16 hours long flight, Catherine and William both felt exhausted while queueing at the information
counter outside the airport. It was a small booth with simple furniture, luckily it had a few equipment,
including a computer. However, there was a big sign hanging - no accommodation, no advice available
for computer, telephone broke down. A man lost his patience, throwing his two pieces luggage to the
ground, shouting "rubbish, rubbish" even though the weather was fine, clear blue sky , soft bleeze,
fresh air and no air pollution in the island.

Catherine says:
Hi Cathy! Thanks for your story! You have used many of the uncountable nouns very skilfully - with
adjectives: 'simple furniture' and with other nouns: 'the information counter'.

I'd like to look more closely a couple of things. Let's look at this phrase: 'it had a few equipment'. Now,
'equipment' is uncountable, so we need to say 'a little', not 'a few'. So you could say 'it had a little
equipment'. If you really want to use 'a few', you have to add a countable noun such as 'pieces'. Then
you can say 'it had a few pieces of equipment'.

Secondly, this phrase: 'two pieces luggage' needs 'of', like this: 'two pieces of luggage'.

That's all from me, Cathy!

Catherine

Nastu, Spain
One day, Catherine and William were walking along the street in a city full of pollution, when suddenly
they saw an abandoned luggage. We look all around looking for some information but we didn`t find
anything. With pacience and hot, because the weather was very sunny, we were waiting one hour
when, suddenly, a person, who took one small furniture asked us about the luggage. He told us that
he was looking for accomodation and that was because he had left his luggage there. He had found the
furniture near the rubbish. We gave him an advice, he shouldn't leave his luggage in the middle of
the street.

Catherine says:
What a nice story, Nastu! You have used plenty of uncountable nouns, too!

There are a couple of places where you have used 'a', 'an' or 'one' with uncountable nouns. If you want to
do this, you also need to add a countable noun to the uncountable noun. So, the phrase 'they saw an
abandoned luggage' would become 'they saw an abandoned piece of luggage', and 'one small
furniture' would become 'one small piece of furniture'.

You need to brush up your spelling too, Nastu! 'pacience' should be spelt 'patience', and
'accomodation' has a double 'm' like this: 'accommodation'.

Thanks again for your comment, Nastu!

Catherine

Ruby, India
One night, Catherine and William were walking along the street when suddenly it started raining heavily.
They both rushed towards the nearby house and knocked the door. An old lady came out and asked "how I
can help you?" William asked her for the shelter till the rain stops. Lady said “Come in please. Make
yourself comfortable”. Catherine said “William isn’t nice furniture”. But he didn’t respond he looked
worried. Catherine asked “what’s the matter with you”. William said “I forgot to tell you I have a flight to
U.S at 1 am. I think I’ll miss my flight”. Catherine gave him an advice to call at 0800 727 8** to get the
latest information about the flight. William called up and was happy to find that the flight had been
delayed due to bad weather. He thanked Catherine for help. After an hour, it stopped raining. Both of
them thanked the old lady and hurried for the airport. Well they were on time but it was not the end of
William’s problem. At the check in counter he was told that he could carry only one piece of luggage.
“Ah!!” spoke William

Catherine says:
Thanks for sending us your story, Ruby! Poor William doesn't have much luck, does he?

You have used these uncountable nouns very well. I am not too sure what you mean when you write
'William isn’t nice furniture' - but it is grammatically correct!

However, we need to look at this sentence: 'Catherine gave him an advice'. Now, 'advice' is
uncountable, so you have to say 'some advice' or, add a second, countable noun, such as piece, so
that you could say 'Catherine gave him a piece of advice.'

Thanks again for your story, and keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Ruby!

Catherine

Alex Wang
One night, William was working in his rented accommodation in Bangalore, India. He was assigned by
BBC Learning English to do a research project. Catherine had to take his share of the work as well as that
of herself for the period. And occasionally Catherine found it hard to accomplish that. "Patience,
patience, Will," he kept telling himself. The project had been going on for six weeks and a seemingly
good ending was still not on the horizon. In Bangalore, it was humid, hot, dizzying, especially at noon.
"The weather is killing me," William thought. "And another extremely humid night." During the day,
sometimes William had to walk through some lanes scattered with or full of rubbish and fortune tellers'
free advice. "That kind of visible pollution is less tolerable even than industrial pollution," William wrote
into his diary. During these weeks William, Catherine and the patrons of BBC Learning English are
suffering. When can William come back to Britain and the suffering be ended?

Catherine says:
Hi Alex! Thanks for this most entertaining story - William and I enjoyed it very much. William is an
experienced traveller but it's true that he doesn't do too well in the heat. He's lucky to have me to help
him out!

;-)

You've used the uncountable nouns very well too, Alex!

Catherine

Kirsti, France
One day, Catherine and William were walking along the street when suddenly William lost a folding stool.
You see, they were in a new town where they were investigating into a murder case and William was
carrying a lot of luggage, including this piece of furniture Why? Because Catherine said she couldn't
work if she couldn't sit down. If you ask me some information about Catherine I can tell you that she is
rather demanding, accepting only at least three starred hotels as accommodation and having all
equipment for IT. Anyhow, William caught up the stool and they went on in the fine weather admiring
the blue sky. That's why William didn't see the pollution of the town and so when he stumbled over
some rubbish lost not only the stool - again - but his patience. A piece of advice: Don't look for stool
pigeons in the sky.

Catherine says:
Thanks for sending us your story, Kirsti! You have used all these uncountable nouns very well. I would
 suggest that you add 'the necessary' to this sentence, like this: '...she is rather demanding, accepting
only at least three starred hotels as accommodation and having all the necessary equipment for IT.'

It's true that I can be very demanding, Kirsti, especially when I'm investigating murder cases ;-), but
William is a very kind and generous colleague who is especially good at carrying lots of luggage, furniture
and equipment.

;-)

Thanks again for your story, Kirsti!

Catherine
Wish + Past Perfect
In a previous programme, we found out how to use the word 'regret' to talk about things in the past
that we wish we could change now. Today, we're challenging Daewon from South Korea to talk about his
past regrets, but using different grammar: wish + past perfect...

Listen to the programme!

Wish + Past Perfect

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)

To express regrets about past events, we use the subject, followed by wish/wishes, followed by the past
perfect (subject + had/hadn't + past participle).

Positive
subject wish(es) past perfect

I wish I had bought a new coat

Negative
subject wish(es) past perfect

she wishes she hadn't bought a new coat

Question
Do/does subject wish past perfect

Does she wish she hadn't bought a new coat?

Download these grammar tables (pdf - 28k)

Download Catherine's full grammar explanation (pdf - 36k)

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar! Tell us about something in the past that you wish you
had done differently. We'll publish our five favourite comments.

This area has now closed. Please note that we only publish five comments. If you wrote in but
we didn't publish your comment, then do try again another time.
Andy F, China
I saw my ex-girlfriend in the street few months ago, and I wish I had spoken to her and asked her give
me one more chance. This morning I get a call from her, and she tell me she is going to get married next
month. I really wish I didn't pick up the phone, because I can not face the truth because I still love
her. I wish I had not did the wrong thing to hurt her before. I am so regretful.

Catherine says:
Thanks for sharing your sad story, Andy...

You need to check your grammar in a couple of your 'wish' sentences. All three of them refer to regrets
about the past.

The first one - 'I wish I had spoken to her' - is excellent. You have used 'wish' with past perfect to talk
about a past regret.

In the second one - 'I really wish I didn't pick up the phone' - you have used past simple - 'didn't
pick' - when you should have used past perfect, like this: 'I really wish I hadn't picked up the phone'.
But I love your use of the adverb 'really' - well done!

In the third one - 'I wish I had not did the wrong thing' - you need to change 'did' to the past
participle 'done', like this: 'I wish I had not done the wrong thing.'

Thanks again, Andy: keep logging on to Grammar Challenge!

Catherine

Jacqueline, China
2 years ago, my best male friend proposed to me but I said no to him. Now I realize how much I love him,
but he has already got a girlfriend. I really wish he hadn't got a girlfriend and more importantly, I
wish I had realized my feeling in the past.

Catherine says:
A sad story, Jacqueline...

But you have used 'I wish' beautifully in your comment! Firstly, in this sentence: 'I really wish he
hadn't got a girlfriend'

Secondly, in this sentence: 'I wish I had realized my feeling in the past.'

Well done Jacqueline, keep logging on to Grammar Challenge!

Catherine

Thuytrang, Vietnam
I just came in the USA 14 months ago. I know the USA is good. But I'm very miss my family, I wish I
hadn't come here. I feel bad, my English is very bad, I want to improve it but it is hard for me. Now, I
need to go to work and I need to learn English more. I don't know what I can do, I wish I had time to do
everything which I want. I wish I had learn English well.

Catherine says:
Thanks for your comment, Thuytrang! It sometimes takes a long time to get used to living in a new
country...

I'd like to comment on 3 of the regrets you mention. The first is lovely: you are expressing a past regret
when you say: 'I wish I hadn't come here'.

The second is very good too. In this sentence, 'I wish I had time to do everything' you are using 'wish'
with simple past to express a regret about the present.

However, in this last regret: 'I wish I had learn English well', you need to check your verb form,
Thuytrang. This is a regret about the past, so you need to use past perfect, using the past participle - the
third form - of the verb. In this case, it's learn, learned/learnt, learned/learnt, so you should have written
'I wish I had learnt English well', OR 'I wish I had learned English well'.
 Thanks again, Thuytrang, and keep practising your English!
Catherine

Daniel, Brazil
I woke up so early to watch the World Cup final match in 1998. I wish I hadn´t wake up in that terrible
morning...

Catherine says:
Thanks for your comment, Daniel! Brazil has won the football world cup more times than any other nation
if I am not mistaken, despite what happened in 1998...

You need to check your verb form here, Daniel. When you make past perfect, you need to use the past
participle - the third form - of the verb. In this case, it's wake, woke, woken, so you should have written
'I wish I hadn't woken up...'

Thanks again, Daniel, and good luck for 2010!

Catherine

Duncika, Croatia
I have difficulty with quiting smoking. I wish I hadn't started smoking in the first place. Flowers in my
garden don't blossom as mush as I'd like them to. I wish I had watered them regularly. I wish I had
bought a cheaper bike. Now I'm dead worried that someone might steal it.

Catherine says:
Gosh, Duncika, that's a lot of regrets! You have used wish + past perfect very nicely in all these
regrets, Duncika. You need to check your spelling in a couple of places: you have written 'mush', but you
should have written much, and 'quiting' should spelt with a double 't', like this: quitting.

Thanks Duncika!
Catherine
Regret
How can we use the word regret as a verb? In this week's grammar challenge, we asked Mariela to form
correct sentences about things that happened in the past, that she wishes she could change now...

Listen to the programme!

Regret

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)

To express regrets about past events, you can use the verb regret with an -ing verb, or with not and an
-ing verb, or with a noun.

subject regret(s) verb-ing OR noun

taking my umbrella

I regret not taking my umbrella

it

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar! Tell us about something in the past that you regret. We'll
publish our five favourite comments.
This area has now closed. Please note that we only publish five comments. If you wrote in but
we didn't publish your comment, then do try again another time.

Basak Bilgin, Turkey

I regret not going shopping enough. I regret still thinking about my ex-boyfriend. I regret not
spending enough time with my dad. I regret not studying enough. I'm sure I'll regret not spending
enough time with him, when he comes to Turkey.

Catherine says:
My goodness, Basak, that's a lot of regrets! I hope you have a few things that you don't regret doing,
too!

You have used the grammar correctly in all these regrets, Basak. I especially like the way you have used
adverbs and modal verbs correctly when you said 'I regret still thinking about my ex-boyfriend.' and
'I'll regret not spending enough time with him...'

So you shouldn't regret sending us your comment! Thanks Basak!

Catherine

Jimmy, Vietnam
I had a girlfriend when I was young, about ten years ago. At that time, I was so shy that I couldn't show
my feelings. You know I have been loving her up to now. Ten years past by, I didn't keep in touch with her,
but I always dream of her all the time, I really want to know how she is doing and what her marriage
status is. I have been thinking about the destiny, there is something people only feel the preciousness
when lost it. I regret not telling her about my feeling at that time, if I have one more chance I'll tell her
that I love her so much.

Catherine says:
What a sad story, Jimmy. Maybe you will get to see her one more time...

You have used regret + not + verb-ing correctly to talk about your regret. However, when you wrote:
Ten years past by, you used the preposition past. You should have used the past simple verb passed.

Thanks again, Jimmy!

Catherine

David Juan Carlos, Colombia

I regret not enrol on a university degree while I was living in England.

Catherine says:
It's a good idea to make the most of every opportunity for study, David, so I can understand your regret.

You have made a mistake with your grammar here, David. Don't forget that you should use a verb-ing
with this structure. You wrote: 'I regret not enrol'... but you should have written 'I regret not enrolling'

Listen to the programme again and try quiz 2 - you won't regret it!

Thanks for your comment, David!

Catherine

Win, Myanmar
I regret not to get married!

Catherine says:
Hi Win! I'm sure the right person is waiting just around the corner for you...

We need to check the grammar of your comment, Win. You wrote 'I regret not to get married', but don't
forget, after 'regret' you need to use a verb-ing, not an infinitive form. So a correct version of your
comment would be: 'I regret not getting married'

Practice makes perfect! Thanks for commenting, Win!

Juan Luis, Spain

I regret not spending much time with my father in his last years when he was alive. I regret not studying
English harder when I was younger but I don't regret studying English nowadays with BBC Learning
English because I'm improving my English skills. I regret not finding out this site before. Thank you very
much to the whole team of BBC Learning English.

Catherine says:
Thank you very much for your kind comments, Juan Luis!

You have used regret + verb-ing correctly in positive and negative forms - well done.

You need to check your prepostitions in this sentence: 'I regret not finding out this site before.' You
should have written 'I regret not finding out about this site before.'

Thanks for your comment, Juan Luis!

Catherine
'-ed' and '-ing' adjectives
Do you sometimes get confused about whether to use an adjective ending in '-ing' or '-ed'? Don't worry,
lots of people have trouble with these words. Today we're challenging Deniz from Turkey to make correct
sentences using this grammar. Listen to the programme, then do the fun activities on the next few pages.

Listen to the programme!

-ed and -ing adjectives

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)

-ing adjectives are used to describe things: 'The lecture was boring.'
-ed adjectives are used to describe our feelings: 'I felt very bored.'

-ed form -ing form

annoyed annoying

bored boring

confused confusing

embarrassed embarrassing

surprised surprising

worried worrying

interested interesting

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar! Describe an experience you've had using a mixture of
'-ed' and '-ing' adjectives. We'll publish our five favourite entries.

This area has now closed. Please note that we only publish five comments. If you wrote in but
we didn't publish your comment, then do try again another time.
Cesar, Colombia
I just have visited your home page, It was my first time here and I was annoyed because all web sites
that I had visited before were boring and confusing. But here you have very interesting things that
help me to improve my English. I am surprised to find a place like this and finish step by step my
confusing english questions.

Catherine says:
I'm delighted to hear that you like our website, Cesar! Keep logging on to BBC Learning English to find
more and more useful and interesting programmes. You've certainly learnt how to use '-ed' and '-ing'
adjectives correctly - well done!

Thanks, Cesar!
Catherine

Adek, Poland
'Oh no! You silly girl. You are so annoying. I'm annoyed by you.' I snatched my book out of her hand.'
I'm not annoying, it's you who is annoying!' answered my little sister. 'And all the pictures in your book
are annoying, too, if you want to know.' I had a look at the book. 'Girl, what have you done?' Nothing.'
'Nothing? Really?' It wasn't amusing. I was becoming more and more excited. 'Don't get excited: the
book isn't exciting, it's just boring, no interesting pictures...,' she gave a handful of pictures she had
cut out of my book - my school book!. 'You make me enraged. If I didn't love you, I would surely kill
you.'

Catherine says:
What an entertaining story, Adek! It has a lovely range of '-ed' and '-ing' adjectives; you have used all
of them correctly, too!

Well done, Adek!

Catherine

Kluska, Poland
Last night I went to a birthday party friend of mine. I was very excieted about it because I knew that it
would be a very interesting evening and it was. After the tiring party I was very exhausted. It was an
amazing evening with lots of fun!

Catherine says:
Very nice, Kluska! You have used all of these adjectives beautifully! But do check your spelling: you wrote
'excieted', but the correct spelling is excited.

Thanks again, Kluska!

Catherine

Swe Swe Nwe, Myanmar

I was confused with the usage of '-ed' and '-ing' adjectives previously, but now I can use them correctly
because of the enlightening lecture of this week's Grammar Challenge.

Catherine says:
Glad we could help, Swe Swe Nwe! Nice vocabulary too: 'enlightening' is a lovely word. Just one point -
after 'confused', the preposition is usually 'by' or 'about', not 'with'.

Thanks for your comment, Swe Swe Nwe!

Colombia
Last week I had a lot of work, some things I did was exciting and others was boring, but some things I
did made me feel really bored and tired. I hope some day this year I can do those things really
interesting and any more I'll feel exhausted after a work day. Some people say, if you do those things
that really make sense for you, you'll never feel tired and boring never because of doing that.
Catherine says:
Thanks for your comments! You have tried hard to use a range of -ed and -ing adjectives, and you have
done really well! Let's look at one or two ways we can improve your grammar:

In this sentence:
'I hope some day this year I can do those things really interesting.'
- you need to think about adjective position. Don't forget that adjectives usually go before the nouns they
describe, so a better way to write this sentence would be:
'I hope some day this year I can do those really interesting things.'

Now let's look at this sentence:

'...and any more I'll feel exhausted after a work day.'
When you use 'any more', it goes with a negative verb form to show that something has stopped (or will
stop). So this sentence could be rewritten to say:
'...and I won't feel exhausted after a work day any more.'

Finally, you wrote:

'...you'll never feel tired and boring never because of doing that.'
Now both of these adjectives describe your feelings, so both of them should be '-ed' adjectives, like
this:
'...you'll never feel tired and bored never because of doing that.'

Thanks again for your comments!

Catherine
Question Tags
Last week, we looked at the grammar of question tags (also called tag questions). In this episode, we
find out about two different intonation patterns you can use with this structure. Our challenger Giovanni
can hear the difference - but can you?

Listen to the programme!

Question Tags pronunciation

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)

We vary the intonation of a question tag depending on whether we are asking a real question, or just
using the question tag to keep the conversation flowing. See below:

Real question - rising intonation

You will do it quickly, won't you?

John and Mark aren't English, are they?

Checking information or making conversation - falling intonation

We've seen that film, haven't we?

Paul doesn't like mushrooms, does he?

How do you feel about using question tags? Are they useful? Important? Easy? Difficult?

Have you ever had any problems with the form or pronunciation of question tags?

Can you give any advice on how to use question tags successfully?

We'll publish our favourite five entries.

This area has now closed. Please note that we only publish five comments. If you wrote in but
we didn't publish your comment, then do try again another time.

Xabik, Russia
Well, the biggest problem for me is to pick the correct tag question quickly. I'm always puzzled for a few
seconds at the end of the sentence desperately trying to find what tense/verb/pronoun to use. :)

Catherine says:
Hi Xabik! You're not alone: many people find that thinking about grammar while they are talking means
that they lose a bit of fluency. On the other hand, if they try to keep speaking fluently, they may lose a bit
of accuracy.

One thing you can do to help improve both fluency and accuracy is controlled practice: do the
grammatical exercises from Grammar Challenge: Question Tags - Form, and then practice reading
them out loud. Of course it is much more difficult to think of the correct question tag when you are
speaking naturally, but by practicing grammar in a controlled way, your accuracy in everyday speaking
will slowly improve.

Practice makes perfect! Thanks for commenting, Xabik!

Thukitha, UK
It is better to introduce tag questions in conversation rather than in single sentences. When we use tag in
conversation it will be more effective and it draws the full attention of the speaker as well as the listener.

Catherine says:
Thanks for your comments, Thukitha! You're absolutely right when you say that question tags are
effective conversation tools. Asking and answering questions helps the speaker and listener to build a
relationship, even if both of them already know the answer.

But when you are speaking, it's perfectly acceptable to use a question tag in a short sentence, even if it
isn't part of a long conversation. For example, William walked past my desk this morning, pointed to a
pen and simply said 'That's my pen, isn't it?' It wasn't his pen, so I simply replied 'No, William, it isn't.'
Short and simple!

Keep logging on to Grammar Challenge, Thukitha!

Catherine

Javier, Spain
I realised that many people use the expression init? or right? instead of questions tags. My question is: Is
this a kind of wildcard?

Catherine says:
Thanks for your question, Javier! Some British people, especially people from the London area, pronounce
'isn't it?' as 'innit?' So they might say something like

'It's expensive, 'innit?''

So 'innit' means 'isn't it?' But 'innit?'' can also be used to replace all kinds of question tags: doesn't it,
hasn't she, won't we etc.

Examples:
Sorry we're late. We missed the train, innit? (instead of 'didn't we?)
You have to buy a ticket before you go, innit? (instead of 'don't you?)

This use of 'innit?' is very informal, and it is extremely unusual to see it written down.

'Innit?' is used mostly in British English. The American equivalent is 'right?'. It has the same function as
a question tag, but can be used at the end of almost any sentence, instead of a question tag. It's fairly
informal and is used mostly in speaking.

Examples:
This bus goes to the city centre, right? (instead of 'doesn't it?)
I can get a student discount, right? (instead of 'can't I?)

Thanks again for your question, Javier!

Catherine

Kirsti, France
Tag questions are used when people speak with each others, aren't they? The people I met in my 6 month
job in the UK were mostly no native speakers, or patients that couldn't speak. So the big problem was the
lack of people with whom I could train tag questions or English in any other form for that sake.

Reading grammar books I was surprised to learn that you don't say 'amn't I?' - though I've read they do
say so in some dialects - but 'aren't I?' - By the way, what do you say if you say all the words in full? Am I
not? Surely it's never said fully, is it?

Catherine says:
Interesting comments, Kirsti! You're correct to point out that English speakers don't usually say 'amn't I?'
Ususally they say 'aren't I' (but in some parts of Scotland, for example, 'amn't I?' is also used).

You are also correct to say that the full form of 'aren't I?' (or 'amn't I?') is 'am I not?' for 'wouldn't I? ' it
is 'would I not?' and for 'don't they' - 'do they not?' etc. English speakers DO use these longer forms of
negative question tags, either for emphasis or when they want to be more formal. For example, William
walked past my desk this afternoon, pointed to a book and said to me 'That's my book, is it not?' It wasn't
his book, so I simply replied 'No, William, it is not.' Short and simple!

Thanks again, Kirsti!

Catherine

Angelo, Italy
Yes, I DID have problems with question tags, even if I've learnt a lot today.

I would suggest paying attention in their use as they could be sometimes misunderstood creating
embarrassment, usually the "real question intonation" is less dangerous. Let's use the other form with
People that already know us and know our linguistic weaknesses! ;-)

Catherine says:
Thanks, Angelo! A lot of people find the 'real question' intonation easier. I like your advice about
practicing things which you find difficult with friends or people who already know you. Doing this can help
you build your confidence and skill so that in time you will be able to use the 'difficult' language with
everybody.

Thanks again for your comments, Angelo!

Catherine
Question Tags
In this week's programme, we challenged Juliana to form correct question tags (also called tag
questions). Will she succeed? And what on earth is a question tag anyway? Find out by listening to the
show!
Listen to the programme!
Question tags

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.5mb)

A question tag is a short question at the end of a sentence, which we use to find out information or check
information that we already have. This is how you form question tags:

Positive sentence - negative tag You will do it quickly, won't you?

Negative sentence - positive tag She isn't happy, is she?

Main verb - use 'do' We went to the party, didn't we?

Pronouns Yuki and Tomo are Japanese, aren't they?

Now is your chance to use this week's grammar! Try continuing the following dialogue using question tags.
We'll publish our favourite five entries.

Mary: Hey John, how are you? I haven't seen you for ages!
John: I know. Time just flies, doesn't it?
Mary: You've got a new job, haven't you?

This area has now closed. If you wrote in but we didn't publish your comment, then do try
again another time. Please note that we only publish five comments.

Jorge, Chile
John: Yes I have a new one, at last I have found what I have been expecting for so long.

Mary: Good, now you feel very happy, dont' you?

John: Of course I do. I'd like you to come to know my new work place. I'm sure you would love to come,
wouldn't you?

Mary: Yeah, but surely you're not allowed to receive guests, are you?

John: don't worry, my boss is a nice guy, isn't he?

Mary: I guess

Catherine says:
Thanks for your dialogue, Jorge! All your question tags are grammatically correct, but we need to check
apostrophe position in this one:

Mary: Good, now you feel very happy, dont' you?

An apostrophe is used to show a missing letter. 'don't' means 'do not' - but the 2 words are put together
- donot - and the 'o' of 'not' is replaced with an apostrophe to make 'don't'. So your sentence should
read:

Mary: Good, now you feel very happy, don't you?

Well done, Jorge!

Catherine
Ya, Taiwan
John: Mmmh… I have, haven’t I?

Mary: What do you mean? (A kid standing behind John is pulling his hand.) Is he your son, isn’t he? I
have no idea that you have such a cute boy.

John: Yes, he is my son. I am a stay-home dad now. Perhaps, it is more correct to introduce him as my
boss, isn’t it?

Mary: Your new job sounds lovely, doesn’t it? I believe you and your son must have a lot of fun time
together.

Son: We should get going now, shouldn’t we?

John: Well, I love to tell you more about the fun part but I have to take this little soccer player to the field
now. Being a stay-home dad is a full-time job, isn’t it?

Catherine says:
What an entertaining dialogue, Ya! There is only one question tag we need to look at again:

Mary: ...Is he your son, isn’t he?

The sentence 'Is he your son' is a question - and we don't usually add question tags to questions! If you
change this question to a positive (or negative) statement, you can use a question tag, like this:

Mary: ...He is your son, isn’t he?

Or this:

Mary: ...He isn't your son, is he?

Thanks again, Ya!

Catherine

Gabriella, Switzerland
John: Yes, I'm really lucky after searching for such a long time, aren't I?

Mary: What about the girl living above my flat, who works in your office too ? She certainly would help
you if you face some problems, wouldn't she?

John: Yes, for sure. She's really nice isn't she? Well, let's talk about your holiday plans for this year, shall
we? (shan't we?)

Catherine says:
Thanks for your dialogue, Gabriella, it's lovely! The question tag for let's is shall we? so you can delete
(shan't we) - your first attempt was correct! Well done Gabriella!
Catherine

Juthaporn, Thailand
John: Yes, I have got a job after having been unemployed for a year. It is not easy to get a job these
days, isn't it?

Mary: Yes, I think so. Anyway, it's worth to wait for a year to get such a great job, isn't it?

John: Well, If I was single that wouldn't be much trouble, would it?

Mary: You are right. Well, shall we celebrate your good news at my place? Please bring your family too,
won't you?

John: Yes, I will. My kids must be excited to see you and your family again, don't they?
Catherine says:
Hi Juthaporn! You have written a very nice dialogue here, with lots of question tags! Most of them are
correct, but let's have a closer look at one or two of them:

John: Yes, I have got a job after having been unemployed for a year. It is not easy to get a job these
days, isn't it?

The mistake in this sentence is very similar to one of Adek's (in the comment below). The verb 'is' is
positive, but the phrase 'It is not easy', has a negative aspect - so the question tag should be positive. A
correct version would be:

John: Yes, I have got a job after having been unemployed for a year. It is not easy to get a job these
days, is it?

Now let's look at this sentence:

John: Yes, I will. My kids must be excited to see you and your family again, don't they?

'excited' is an adjective, not a verb. There are 2 verbs in this sentence: the modal 'must' and the verb
'be'. It is the modal that needs a question tag, so a correct sentence would be:

John: Yes, I will. My kids must be excited to see you and your family again, must't they?

That's all from me, Jutaporn, make sure you log on to Grammar Challenge next week!
Catherine

Adek, Poland
John: Yes, and that changed all my life, didn't it?

Mary: I think you're happy with your new job, aren't you?

John: Yes, I am. But when you work all day long you have no time for anything else, don't you?

Mary: You don't want to tell me that you won't have time to go on a date with me, do you? I hope, you
invite me to a cinema, do you?

John: Yes, I do. And I think you won't refuse my invitation, will you?

Mary: No, I won't. I hope I choose the film, don't I?

Catherine says:
Well done, Adek, this is a lovely dialogue and you have used a lot of question tags! Most of them are
correct, but we need to look at one or two of them again:

John: Yes, I am. But when you work all day long you have no time for anything else, don't you?

This is a very interesting sentence. The verb 'have' is positive, but the phrase 'you have no time', has a
negative aspect - so the question tag should be positive. A correct version would be:

John: Yes, I am. But when you work all day long you have no time for anything else, do you?

A second sentence we need to look at is this one:

Mary: I hope, you invite me to a cinema, do you?

A better way to write the sentence would be with the modal verb 'will':

Mary: I hope, you will invite me to a cinema, won't you?

John's answer would be: Yes, I will.

You have used 'will' very well in the next part of the dialogue, Adek:
John: And I think you won't refuse my invitation, will you?

... but you need to look again at Mary's last sentence:

Mary: No, I won't. I hope I choose the film, don't I?

Mary could improve her English by saying 'I can choose the film, can't I?

Thanks again for your lovely dialogue, Adek!

And thanks to everybody else who sent dialogues with question tags: sorry we are unable to publish them
all. Don't forget to come back for the next episode of Grammar Challenge! Catherine