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Category Archives: Uncategorized
How to use hyphens and dashes
A hyphen is a short line used in compound words and double-barrelled names. There’s one there in “double-barrelled”, which is a compound word. Hyphens don’t usually have spaces before or after them. A dash is a long line used as a punctuation symbol. … Continue reading
The difference between countable and uncountable nouns (unit and mass nouns)
Distinguishing between countable nouns (unit nouns) and uncountable nouns (mass nouns) can be very difficult. This area is the source of many mistakes. Unit nouns have two forms, singular and plural: e.g. a chair, chairs. You can say 1 chair, … Continue reading
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Tagged Articles, Countable and uncountable nouns, Nouns, Quantifiers, Singular or plural
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“Prepare for” or “prepare to”?
WRONG She spent three hours preparing to the court hearing. RIGHT She spent three hours preparing for the court hearing. This is a very common mistake. But “prepare” is not always followed by “for”. Sometimes “to” is correct. The rule … Continue reading
The “family is” or the “family are”?
Collective nouns are words that describe groups of people or things, e.g. “family” or “team”. Grammatically they are singular, but as they describe more than one individual, they may also take the plural form of a verb or use a … Continue reading
Communication fail :)
Conversation overheard in a lift: English businessman – So, what does your company do? Polish businessman – Boring. E – Excuse me?… P – Boring. E – [blank stare] P – It is mine company. E – Oh, I see … Continue reading
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Order of adjectives
Remember the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”? I didn’t see it either. But it doesn’t matter. The point I’m going to discuss here is why we can’t say “My Greek Fat Big Wedding”. In English there are rules about … Continue reading
How to use “all”, “whole” and “entire”
The words “all”, “whole” and “entire” are quantifiers. This means they indicate aspects of quantity. Their usage depends on the type of noun they describe, i.e. singular or plural, countable or uncountable. ALL “All (of the)” can generally be used … Continue reading
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Tagged Countable and uncountable nouns, Nouns, Quantifiers, Singular or plural
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Phrasal verbs for business: Z
to zero in to focus attention: We need to zero in on the client’s exact expectations for this software. Don’t bother with any additional functionality at this stage. to zip up to keep something quiet: Keep this matter zipped up … Continue reading
Phrasal verbs for business: U, V and W
to use (something) up to finish or consume all of something: The training budget for this year has been used up, so the company cannot pay for your attendance at the conference. to usher (something) in to begin something significant: … Continue reading
Phrasal verbs for business: T
to take (something) down to write / make a note of: This is important – make sure you take it down. to take in to hear and understand information: You remember what he said about our marketing strategy? It took … Continue reading
Common Mistakes in Business English 