Here’s a new video by Weird Al Yankovic, and it’s all about common mistakes people make with their English:
Category: Grammar
In, At & On
We use “in” for cities. states, countries, and rooms:
I live in New York City.
I live in New York State.
I live in the United States.
I’m in the bathroom.
We use “at” for places like work, home, school, or stores – and also for addresses.
I’m at work.
I’m at home.
I study English at University Settlement.
University Settlement is at 184 Eldridge Street.
I’m at Macy’s.
We use on for floors, islands, and streets:
I live on the second floor.
The Statue of Liberty is on Liberty Island.
University Settlement is on Eldridge Street.
I live on 12th Avenue.
Watch this video to learn more, and afterwards take the quiz to test your understanding:
Grammatically Speaking
Grammar is one of the main parts of languages (some others might be phonology, morphology and syntax). Click on the picture below to test your knowledge of some grammar points. The test will provide the correct answer as well as an explanation as to why it is the correct answer. Feel free to ask questions about grammar and let us know your (perfect?) score in the comments section.
Subject Pronouns
Want vs. Would Like
Much / Many / A Lot Of
Time for more grammar. This time we’re going to look at the words much, many, and a lot of.
The key to knowing when to use these words is remembering your count and non-count nouns. To review count and noun-count nouns, click here.
Basically, you use “many” with plural count nouns. For example: many people, many apples, many problems, many friends. You can use “many” in statements and questions, affirmative or negative.
“Much,” on the other hand, is used with non-count nouns. For example: much money, much homework, much coffee, much trouble. But we only use “much” in questions and negative statements. For example: “I don’t have much money. How much money do you have?” We do not say “I have much money.”
In this case, we say “I have a lot of money.” “A lot of” can be used with count or non-count nouns – it doesn’t matter! It can also be used in questions and statements, negative or affirmative. But if we begin the question with “how,” then we have to use either “much” or “many.” We can’t say “How a lot of money do you have?’
Watch this video for some extra practice, then take the quiz to test your knowledge:
Count and Non-Count Nouns
Ready for some more grammar? Good.
This time we’re going to look at count and non-count nouns. Remember that nouns are people, places, or things.
Count nouns can be counted, which means you can also make them plural. Remember that plural means more than one. For example, the word “teacher.” Can you count teachers? Of course – one teacher, two teachers, three teachers, four teachers. The noun “teacher,” then, is a count noun.
Non-count nouns can’t be counted, and they’re almost always singular. Remember that singular means one. For example, the word “air.” Can you count air? Of course not – we never say one air, two airs, three airs, etc. So “air” is a non-count noun.
To learn more, watch the following two videos, then take the quiz to test your knowledge: