Grammar and New Years Resolutions The New Year comes on different dates for different cultures. And most of the Western world celebrates it on January 1st. One thing many cultures have in common is the idea of New Year's resolutions. A New Year's res...
Grammar, Language in 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' Many Americans will travel over the winter holidays, often to return to the homes and towns of their childhood. For people from the state of West Virginia, and wider Appalachia, one song comes to min...
Grammar for a Gift-giving Season We are entering a major gift-giving season in the United States. People purchase goods and services for their loved ones, friends, coworkers, and others. But how do we talk about giving gifts? How do we use subjects,...
Reviewing Pet Descriptions A few weeks ago, we asked our readers and listeners to describe their pets. We asked them to practice using multiple adjectives in a certain order. One reader, Maria from Argentina, wrote to us about her dog, Ceferina. In t...
Grammar for Giving Gifts We are now in between two major American holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is the most important time of the year for giving gifts. So, in the holiday spirit, we will explore some common questions that connect to gif...
'Happy Thanksgiving' Americans will soon celebrate Thanksgiving. The holiday involves family, friends and food. A common expression Americans say to each other at this time of year is Happy Thanksgiving. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we will pay car...
Grammar and Optimism How do we talk about events or actions that make us happy or hopeful about the present and future? In other words, how do we talk about optimism? In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore a point of connection between grammar...
Grammar and Halloween An interesting holiday in the United States is coming up soon. Halloween happens on the last day of October. If you have lived in the U.S., you have probably noticed many changes in the month or so before Halloween. Let's hear a...
Grammar and Disagreements Consider almost any social or political issue. It could be local or international. Some people have one idea about the issue, and other people have other ideas about the issue. In other words, people disagree with each other...
The Language of International Conflicts The war between Israel and Hamas has drawn a lot of international attention this week. News reports, videos, and social media posts have informed people about the latest events in the conflict. What kinds of la...
Grammar and Uncertainty Consider an unusual time in your life. Perhaps your country was having a financial crisis or a political crisis. Perhaps one of your family members became sick. In other words, you were facing an uncertain situation. How do yo...
Discussing Alien Life Over the last several months, there have been many news reports about possible alien life and strange objects in the skies, sometimes called UFOs. The stories have led to public discussion in the United States. Today, we have so...
Offering Coffee and Tea Consider a time you asked someone to drink tea, coffee, or soda. What kinds of terms and structures did you use? In this week's Everyday Grammar, we will explore a point of connection between grammar and social situations. We...
Three Phrasal Verbs with 'Along' Sometimes, the Learning English program Ask A Teacher receives questions from learners that we are not able to answer on that program. The question might be more advanced, and the answer longer, than we have time for...
Discussing Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the subject of many news reports this year. It has also been part of many everyday discussions. It will likely continue to be a popular subject of discussion in the coming years...
