FAWLTY TOWERS: THE PSYCHIATRIST
Sybil, Basil, Mr Johnson, Polly, Dr Abbot / Dr Abbot, Cook
S: Dear Oh Dear
B: Hello
S: What a shame.
P: Manuel!
B: Hello operator what is going on?
S: Ooh I know, read more…
IN THE WORLD OF ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions are words such as: at, with, of, from, on, in, about, for etc. On the face of it you should not have difficulty using these once you have learnt that na stole is on the table, w budynku – in a building, rozmawiać o czymś – talk about something. However, it would be a mistake to assume that the English on is always expressed by the Polish na ,and in can always be conveyed as w. The thing is most English prepositions can have several different functions which do not necessarily overlap with their Polish counterparts, read more…
BRITISH VERSUS AMERICAN ENGLISH
When I started studying English at my college, I was positive I spoke American English very well. However, towards the end of the first year of my studies I was advised by my English and American teachers to make up my mind and switch either into British or American English. In fact my pronunciation was half way through British and American. Now I sound rather British, read more…
DO YOU GET IT?
In this edition of my column I would like to deal with one of the most popular English verbs – get. It is used mostly in spoken English as well as in a great number of popular idiomatic expressions. Let us consider some of the most common uses of the verb – get, read more…
CLEFT SENTENCES
Cleft sentences (cleft – divided) are sentences in which special emphasis is given to one part. You can thus emphasise either the subject or the object of a sentence. Cleft sentences can be useful for putting stress in a sentence exactly where you want it, but they should be used sparingly, reserved for special occasions, read more…
PHRASAL VERBS
What are they?
The term phrasal verb refers to all multi-word verbs, consisting of a verb + particle(s) – e.g. off, up, away, in, out etc.
It is quite common in English to find 2 verbs of a similar meaning, one of which is a phrasal verb, while the other one is a one-word verb. The latter one is usually of Latin origin and used in a more formal context (e.g. To accommodate somebody), whereas the multi-word counterpart (here – to put somebody up) would be used in an informal situation, read more…
THE PROBLEM IS…
Both articles a and an are used: before a singular noun when it is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or thing:
I need a passport.
They live in a house.
I have to buy an umbrella.
also before a noun which is used as an example of a class of things.
A child needs love.
A responsible person must be insured, read more…
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE AND CONTINUOUS
In one of my previous articles I wrote about the difference between the Present Perfect and the Past Simple. Today I would like to deal with the Present Perfect Continuous and contrast it with the Present Perfect Simple.
Let us first review the uses of the” Present Perfect Simple, the more common variation of the two Present Perfect tenses, read more…
EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE BUT… RELATIVE CLAUSES!
What are relative clauses and why should we take interest in them? To put simply these are those parts of sentences which:
identify which person or thing is being talked about (defining relative clauses) or simply give us extra information about the person or thing which has already been identified. (non-defining relative clauses) In writing non-defining clauses are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. This is because they are not essential to the overall meaning, read more…