- abbreviations
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Articles
- British/US English
- bullet points
- Clear and concise writing
- Commas
- Compound nouns
- Conditionals
- Conjunctions
- Countable and uncountable nouns
- Gerunds
- Idioms
- Modal verbs
- Negation
- Noun groups
- noun phrases
- Nouns
- Numbers
- Participle clauses
- Passive voice
- Phrasal verbs
- polite expressions
- Possession
- Prepositions
- Punctuation
- Quantifiers
- Relative clauses
- Singular or plural
- Time expressions
- Useful everyday phrases
- verb phrases
- Verbs
- Verb tenses
- Weights and measures
- Word order
- writing lists
-
Recent Posts
Links
Tag Archives: Articles
The difference between “in possession of” and “in the possession of”
Somebody is in possession of something. Something is in the possession of somebody. So for example: The passenger was in possession of a very large dog. A very large dog was in the possession of the passenger. Mistakes can sound … Continue reading
When to use “a” and when to use “an”
We say “an old man” but “a young child”. What is the rule for using “a” and “an”? The rule is that we use “a” before a consonant sound and “an” before a vowel sound. Note that it’s the sound … 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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Articles, Countable and uncountable nouns, Nouns, Quantifiers, Singular or plural
Leave a comment
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
How to use initials and acronyms
Non-native English speakers often find it difficult to know when to use “a”, “the” or no article with initials and acronyms. The key is to know what the initials mean. If the initials are a proper noun (name), then you … Continue reading
The difference between “in future” and “in the future”
Consider these examples: You should be more careful in future. In the future we plan to make significant investments in Romania and Bulgaria. In the first example “in future” means “from now on and always”. It is often used in … Continue reading
A brief note on how to use “a/an” and “the”: General and specific references in English
This area causes various problems for Polish people writing in English. The main problem is the correct use of articles (“a” and “the”), but another problem arises from the fact that in Polish you can use the singular to make … Continue reading
Giving notice
There are two ways of expressing a notice period, as follows: Under Clause 4.2 one month’s notice is required in order to terminate the agreement. Under Clause 4.2 a one-month notice period is required in order to terminate the agreement. … Continue reading
“Few” and “a few”; “little” and “a little”
There’s a big difference between “few” and “a few”. In fact they have opposite meanings. If you say, for example, “I have few friends”, it means you do not have many friends. However, if you say, “I have a few … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Articles, Countable and uncountable nouns, Quantifiers
Leave a comment
Common Mistakes in Business English 