English Language Reference-Idioms: Part 1

Native speakers of English often use idioms. What are idioms? An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is difficult or sometimes impossible to guess or understand by looking at the meanings of the individual words it contains. For example, the phrase be in the same boat has a literal meaning that is easy to understand, … Read more

English Language Synonyms. Part 2.

So on the last post we looked at a few synonyms  of words beginning with the letter ‘a’. Part 2 of this post will give examples of words beginning with ‘b’ and their synonyms. basis / foundation / base / bedrock beat / batter / pound / pummel / lash / hammer beautiful / pretty / … Read more

English Language Synonyms. Part 1

This blog shows the differences between groups of words with similar meanings. The words in each group are given order of frequency_ from the most common to the least common. The word in bold shows you the entry in a dictionary where you can find the note. action / move / act / gesture / … Read more

Practise Your English. Read This Article. Why Do We Put The Clocks Forward One Hour For British Summer Time?

Spring Forward: 100 years of British Summer Time British Summer Time Read through this interesting article and see if there is any new vocabulary for you. The Royal Observatory’s public clock, the Shepherd Gate Clock, set permanently to Greenwich Mean Time ©NMM. Repro ID: D56012007 marked 100 years since British Summer Time was first proposed … Read more

English Language Reference Part 1: What’s it like?; nouns & quantity

What’s it like? This question asks about  the characteristics of people or things. You usually answer it with an adjective or adjective phrase. ” What’s London like?” “It’s big and exciting.” “What are the people in your village like?” “They’re very friendly”. Countable nouns These refer to things which can be counted. You use them … Read more