grammar

A Common Grammatical Error in English

Missy — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:41:15 -0500

Do you know the difference between "your" and you're"?

Many times people mix up the two words and use them wrong. Even native English speakers do so. Be careful when writing these words and remember that "your" is a possessive pronoun and "you're" is a contraction of the words -- you are--.

We use "your" in sentences like:
This is your candy.
Is your name Sarah?

We use "you're" when we want to use the contraction of the words "you are" like:
You're going to get in trouble.
Sam, you're a really handsome guy!

Hope this helps you avoid a grammatical error in English.

~Missy

Ready for an English Tongue Twister?

Missy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:13:33 -0500

There are always things that are hard to say in any language. Try saying this three times fast. I bet your tongue won't seem to work right.

Tie twine to three tree twigs.

How to Pronounce the Past Tense using "ed" in English

Missy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:13:53 -0500

There are three sounds that "ed" makes when it is added to a word.
"t" "id" and "d"

The trick is to know when to use each one.

The sound "t" is used when the verb ends in these sounds:
"k" examples: tracked (sounds like track-t) and rocked (sounds like rock-t)
"ch"examples: launched (sounds like launch-t) and fetched (sounds like fetch-t)
"x" examples: waxed (sounds like wax-t) and boxed ( sounds like box-t)
"f" examples: laughed (sounds like laugh-t) and coughed (sounds like cough-t)
"sh"examples: wished (sounds like wish-t) and fished (sounds like fish-t)