Comma, as defined by the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary, is the mark (,) used in writing to separate parts of a sentence showing a slight pause, or to separate the various single items in a list. Although we have been seeing this mark forever, it is sometimes confusing whether to use a comma or not. Generally, you might not care about this and handle it with a who-cares attitude, but if you are getting prepared for an IELTS or a TOEFL test, or regularly write formal emails at work, you had better start caring. Anyway, the good news is that to better understand the use of the comma, you can begin by learning the following eight basic uses:
Sentence stress is where we pronounce some words more strongly than others when we want to emphasize a particular point. We do this by either pausing before the word we want to emphasize or we say it louder or at a different pitch. Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or beat. Pay attention that sentence stress is different from word stress which is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is, in fact, accent on certain words within a sentence. Now, let’s figure out how it works.
A phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of a main verb together with an adverb or a preposition, or both. Typically, their meaning is not obvious from the meanings of the individual words themselves. Using these verbs naturally makes your speech or writing native-like. Today, we're looking at some phrasal verbs related to dating:
The film The Last Tourist is about problems with the tourism industry. Watch this video, the trailer, and improve your English through the lesson around it.
Learn how to write about your New Year's resolutions. This lesson includes improving your vocabulary on the topic, a sample article, and some helpful tips.
These two simple words are commonly used in English and have THREE main functions. Do you know one, two, or all the functions? Do you know how they work? Let’s see together.
In fluent speech, when one word ends in a vowel sound followed by a /t/ and the next word begins with a /k/, for example 'don't let it get cold!', something changes in the way we pronounce these sounds. But how? It's an example of assimilation, and you'll learn in no time through this lesson.
The Godfather, Goodfellas, Scarface, or The Sopranos? Which one is your favorite gangster story? If you watch any of them, you'd notice these gangsters have their own version of the language English. Today, you're getting connected too.
What's it like to live in a place where people speak two languages? Watch this video to learn what some people in one town in Finland think.
Compound sentences can make your writing rich and colorful. While beginner writers learn to put together simple sentences first, they will soon find that compound sentences provide added detail and tend to make paragraphs more engaging. Anyhow, what is a compound sentence and how do we make such a sentence? The answer is right in the today's lesson.
