Teachers' Library

The bestselling ESL guide―now with extra review exercises to reinforce lessons learned  Do you tend to repeat the same mistakes when you speak or write in English? This fun and engaging guide will help you communicate like a native English speaker on a consistent basis. Correct Your English Errors, Second Edition is a comprehensive guide to correcting the bad habits that can leave your audience confused. This skill-building book clearly explains all the key elements of English grammar and provides hundreds of examples of errors learners often make―all presented in color to make them stand out and easier to avoid.  Correct Your English Errors, Second Edition:  • Highlights common ESL pitfalls, including mispronunciation, misspelling, verb tense issues, and subject-verb agreement  • Helps you avoid the misapplication of your own native grammar rules to English  • Includes practical review exercises at the end of each chapter  • Includes a new review c...

✅ The term ‘work‘ refers to the activities (physical or mental performed by people, so as to achieve the desired outcome). It includes everything that we do to get the intended result like studying, dancing, cooking, singing, playing... ● Work at/for (a company) - I work at IKEA. ● Working on (a project/task) - I'm working on a story for a big national news magazine. ● Work with (people/objects):  - I work with children all day. - I work with hazardous chemicals at the pharmacy. The word work also refers to the context of your employment. - I start work at 7 am. (not - I start my job at 7 am)  - I finish/leave work at 7pm. (not - I finish my job at 7pm) - I usually go to work by car. (not - I usually go to my job by car)  - Last night I went to the bar with some friends from work.  “Work” is an uncountable noun, so it is not used in the plural:  ⛔ I have three (works) to do this week.  ✔ I have three projects/tasks/assignments to do this week.  Excepti...

Many grammar books will list "Discourse Markers" without truly stating their exact usage especially regarding style and formality. Many students use "moreover" in their spoken English. But did you know....  ... we natives rarely use it in our everyday speech 😨  Yep! Moreover is more common in academic prose, though, but it's quite formal and less frequent than furthermore, as well as, in addition and of course the very common and more informal: on top of that (my favourite one) 👍  But here's the sexy part.... Although the discourse markers moreover, in addition and furthermore seem to be interchangeable in many cases, moreover differs from the other two in that it tends to follow and support a previous negative evaluation:  👉Domestos has been shown to contain harmful chemicals NOT suitable for human consumption. Moreover, Domestos mixed with Kvas and Kompot is known to be fatal.  There is a lot more info regarding these connectors. But you'd have to c...

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen 😊 I am at home a bit ill at the moment. I am bored with watching rubbish on Youtube so why not make a post: WHILE vs WHILST The difference is quite simple really (although they mean exactly the same thing): WHILE = more common and modern used in both AmE and BrE WHILST = old fashioned according to Oxford Dictionary. It's quite formal if still used today. Apparently it's non-existent in AmE. But what's interesting is that I have noticed myself using WHILST in parts of my speech. Not just myself but many other native British speakers even in general conversation. To avoid making any mistake, use WHILE 🤓

1. I feel myself happy - no reflexive here in English. If you feel yourself, then you are performing a self-examination to check all your body parts are still there... in a happy way.  2. Do a mistake - nope, it's - make a mistake.  3. 'What' as a relative pronoun (I know a dog what can fly - which, not what). We only use 'what' to mean "the thing/things which" - I don't like what (the things which) you said to me.  4. Not using question tags... the weather is nice, isn't it? Often I hear - the weather is nice, yessss? (I find this sweet anyway)  5 'Advices' - nooooooooooo! It is advice. The countable form does, in fact, exist in a very specific legal context but for 99.9999999% of the time, it is uncountable. Like knowledge, information, furniture and millions of others.

Don't feel bad my friends, even us natives make basic mistakes. I have come across many lists online that were, well... made up. These are real mistakes natives often make: 1) Should OF done (should have done). We often say rather quickly "should've done" and the "'ve" is confused for OF instead of HAVE. You will also see that mistake in written English 2) I done (I did). For some reason people use the 3rd form of DO instead of the 2nd. Again, i personally believe that because the " 've" is uttered quickly so the present perfect form is dropped and made its way into past simple. 3) Most English people do not know the 2nd and 3rd forms of the verbs: LIE and LAY as irregular verbs: LIE LAY LAIN/ LAY LAID LAID. The problem is that LIE can be a regular verb TO LIE TO SOMEONE. That is: LIE LIED LIED. We often use the regular forms instead of LAY LAIN. Sometimes instead of LAID LAID, people write LAYED. 3) HANG has two forms HANG HUNG HUNG/ HANG ...

I was very shocked the other day that many students (even high level ones) thought the translation of черепаха was just "turtle."... which it is. But, they were referring to the land one. So i said "No, not turtle, it's tortoise!" They said "Blin, we've never heard of that!" I'm sure many of you know the difference but for those who don't, a good rule of thumb: - Drop a turtle and tortoise into a pond. If it swims, it's a turtle. If it continues sinking and you never see it again, it's a tortoise.... and therefore should avoid ponds. 😎 Very rarely do I hear the word TV SERIES among students. I do often hear TV SERIAL but alarm bells ring in my head. So here's why saying TV SERIAL can sometimes be a mistake:😨  A TV SERIES consists of episodes where the stories are not related to each other so much: Sherlock Holmes, Friends, Columbo, The Office etc. And a TV SERIES is usually put into a season.  A SERIAL is a show also consistin...

I hear these mistakes all the time:  - I dress accurately!  - I am an accurate person  But our "accurate" doesn't really correspond to the Russian "аккуратный."  Our "accurate" means that you are or that something is precise, not careful or orderly.  - An accurate machine  - An accurate description  - The figures concerning the low levels of British education are accurate.  - Her novel is an accurate reflection of life spent with sheep in Wales.  - We hope to become more accurate in predicting the emotions of sheep.  So we would say:  - I dress properly, neatly etc  - I am an attentive person / I pay attention to detail etc  We CAN say: I am quite accurate when taking measurements (accurate when DOING smth)

When saying "Good bye," many Russians say "Good Luck!"  We natives never say "Good luck!" when we want to say a simple good bye UNLESS when leaving we might encounter some difficulties:  - "I'm off to the shop" - "Ok, Paul. Good luck!" (wrong)  - "I'm going now. And I have an exam in 5 minutes!!" - Oh, good luck!" (Correct)  In the first example, what difficulties could I face when going to the shop? Get stabbed? Explode? Get raped by a rabid hamster? If the shop is in Afghanistan, then maybe "Good luck!" might be suitable. Otherwise we'd use a simple "Bye!"  In the second example, the listener knows I am to take an exam and therefore wishes me "Good luck!" with the understanding that things could go well or disastrously bad (but I rubbed a dog's nose on a Moscow Metro station so all is fine)

Hi my friends 😊 Loads of students have asked me what the following mean: ❗When I'm out clubbing, I do ask the odd girl for her phone number! ❗Yeah, I like to go to the odd pub!  We know ODD can mean: weird/strange or numbers like: 1,3,5,7 etc, or you can wear odd socks (not the same ones), a person can seem odd (out of character). What are the odds of people understanding this post? (the chances) but...  ...THE ODD...(happening or occurring infrequently and irregularly; occasionally) 👉🏻 She does the odd bit of cleaning around the house but nothing major (Not often therefore does little) 👉🏻 You get the odd person who's rude to you but they're generally quite helpful (It happens sometimes but not often) 👉🏻 I go swimming on the odd weekend if I feel like it. (On some weekends but not many of them) 👉🏻 I like to have the odd beer when I'm out with friends. (So i don't drink much because I rarely drink)

1. I feel myself happy - no reflexive here in English. If you feel yourself, then you are performing a self-examination to check all your body parts are still there... in a happy way.  2. Do a mistake - nope, it's - make a mistake.  3. 'What' as a relative pronoun (I know a dog what can fly - which, not what). We only use 'what' to mean "the thing/things which" - I don't like what (the things which) you said to me.  4. Not using question tags... the weather is nice, isn't it? Often I hear - the weather is nice, yessss? (I find this sweet anyway)  5 'Advices' - nooooooooooo! It is advice. The countable form does, in fact, exist in a very specific legal context but for 99.9999999% of the time, it is uncountable. Like knowledge, information, furniture and millions of others.

✔ SUCH: before (adjective +) noun - We use such before a noun with or without an adjective. Such also comes before a/an. The meaning is like "very."  ● They are such idiots! (not: they are so fools)  ● Watching Titanic was such a waste of time!  ● If you're such a kind person, please give me $500  ✔ SO: before an adjective without a noun and before an adverb. The meaning is also like "very."  ● You are so strange, please stop kissing that hamster!  ● That was so pointless! Why did we sing Abba in science class?  ● You are walking so slowly, hurry up grandma!  It's very easy my friends! )))

"AT the lesson" is the biggest mistake among most learners because this collocation has appeared in Russian textbooks of English. It is a mistake which has turned into a bad habit, unfortunately. The Oxford collocation dictionary, as well as other sources, do not acknowledge "at the lesson" but do recognize "in/during a/the lesson." Be careful when checking "word reference forums" as people there are often not natives and express their opinion by saying "it sounds right/wrong" without having checked properly. Check a recognized source like a collocations dictionary OF NATIVE ENGLISH SOURCE! 🇬🇧 ✅ What we say instead of "at the lesson"  - Where are you?  - I'm in class / I'm having a lesson  - What did you learn in class?  - Well, during the entire lesson we learned absolutely nothing.  - I almost fell asleep in class today and that was because the teacher wasn't present in the lesson.  - I recall many years ago wh...

FEEL ONESELF - LET'S DEBUNK THIS MYTH Russians are often told by us native teachers (many of whom used to be ex-pizza deliverers before getting a CELTA) that FEEL ONESELF is incorrect and means, if used, to touch yourself in an "oh la la way!" Not entirely! My 45 years of research has come to an end and I will show you what's correct. ☝🏻 So here goes: 😇 1)  To feel oneself = to touch yourself in an "Oh la la way" really has to be used in the continuous to have that meaning. BUT, it is almost never used. TOUCH oneself would be the one to use.... if you honestly needed to inform someone you're doing this: 🤔 👉🏻 I'm feeling myself right now because I am bored and the internet is down. (better: touching myself) 2)  Now this is where is gets complicated when used in the Simple and is directly translated from the Russian "чувствовать себя."  a) We don't use the "reflexive" as often as many other languages do like Russian and Ger...

I made these videos based on mistakes that arise again and again. These ones are taken from Russian students (since I teach in Russia) but can apply to anyone around the world. I show the mistakes, explain why they are made and show you correct English. Enjoy! 😉 ✔ Common mistakes №1 ✖pass/take/write/sit exams ✖grow children/raise children up ✖influence on/have an influence on ✖I've been in England/I've been to England ✖I catched the train/I caught the train ✔ Common mistakes №2 ✖went to home/went home ✖advices/advice ✖if + will ✖on the picture/in the picture ✖made homework/did homework ✔ Common mistakes №3 ✖sympathetic/empathetic/nice ✖care about/take care of ✖she has a birthday/it is her birthday ✖feel myself happy/feel happy ✖call to/call ✔ Common mistakes №4 ✖speak on English/speak in English ✖decide a problem/solve a problem ✖cooker/cook ✖this/next/last/on Saturday ✖clothes - pronunciation

Achtung! This word is rude. Be careful how you use it! The basic meaning = to go to the toilet. ✅ To be/get pissed = to be drunk (In US English: to be angry)  - Oh, let's get pissed tonight on vodka. I had a hard week so I want to be so pissed.  ✅ To take A piss = to go to the toilet  - Stop the car for a minute, I need to take a piss.  ✅ To take THE piss a) To take THE piss = to make fun of, to tease  - Stop calling me "lissi gastarbeiter" Why are you always taking the piss out of me?  b) to take THE piss = to show shock, disagreement, joking  - You want me to walk from Moscow to Vladivostok? Are you taking the piss??? (=you must be joking)  - (Also: a piss-take: making us work for 48 hours without a break... what a piss-take that was!)  ✅ To be pissed off = to be angry, frustrated  - My flight was cancelled and I'll miss my holiday in Siberia. I am so pissed off right now.  ✅ To piss someone off = to annoy someone  - I sugges...

POLITE = You ARE well-mannered, civilized COURTEOUS = Displaying good manners/showing thought or regard for others So if I describe someone as polite, it's their trait of character; they're either polite or a primitive monkey. If I describe someone as courteous, it's because of the actions they display like opening a door for someone, paying for someone's mountain of food and booze, or listening before offering an opinion etc.  ❗ However, in everyday English, we often substitute COURTEOUS with POLITE. So with polite, you can't really make a mistake.  There are collocations to learn where the words or not interchangeable: 👉🏻 Common courtesy =the expected thing to do - it's common courtesy for a man to hold the door open for a lady  - In England it's common courtesy not to take your filthy shoes off when entering someone's house 👉🏻 Out of politeness = doing it for the reason of being polite - I decided not to push that man in front of the bus out of po...

✅ Meaning - ‘at a lower level than’. Beneath is most common in formal writing. We don’t use it often in informal . In speaking, under and below are much more common. Beneath as a preposition We use beneath most commonly to describe the position of things which are at a lower level than something else: ● Archaeologists discovered a gold cup just beneath the surface at the site of a Roman villa. ● The metro station is right beneath the airport. Beneath is particularly common when talking about the ground or surface directly under one’s feet: ● She could feel the train coming because the ground beneath her feet was moving. Beneath as an adverb Beneath as an adverb isn’t very common and we mostly use it in formal writing: ● She looked down from the balcony at the two men talking beneath. ● In the kitchen, there was a modern sink with cupboards and drawers beneath. Beneath, under or below? Beneath has a meaning similar to under and below but we do not use it with numbers: ● We bought it for...

COMMON MISTAKES  Many English learners confuse: this Saturday, next Saturday, last Saturday, on Saturday bla bla bla.  ✅ This Saturday = the one closest to you (future): Today is Thursday but this Saturday we're going to play blindfolded curling.  ✅ Next Saturday = in one week (the one after this one): We're not going to feed our hamster this Saturday but next Saturday because he's too fat and needs to starve a bit.  ✅ Last Saturday = the one that has just been (many Russians say this Saturday instead of last Saturday and that is wrong): Last Saturday we PLAYED blindfolded curling.  ✅ On Saturday = depends what tense you use:  - On Saturday we PLAYED underwater curling (= last Saturday)  - What ARE you GOING to do on Saturday? (= this Saturday) 

I hear this mistake all the time in class and now I will set the record straight! Grow = to increase in size or height/plants develop - Puppies grow so fast when they are young - These plants grow better if you don't put Domestos on them. - "Money doesn't grow on trees" You CAN say: I like to grow plants and flowers (as a hobby) You CAN'T say: I grow my children (that means they live in the garden and you pour water on them) Grow can also be passive: These plants were grown outside. Grow up (intransitive verb) = mature in age (a person) - My kids are growing up so fast these days. - Stop being an idiot! Just grow up, grandpa! - I grew up in London Because this verb is intransitive, it CAN'T be passive. You CAN say: I was brought up in London You CAN'T say: I was grown up in London (Horrible English!) And you can only grow up YOURSELF. You CAN say: Joining the army made me really grow up! (correct) You CAN say: My 10 kids grew up in a loving family (correct...