R.3.4 - interpreting complex sentences

Run-on sentences happen when there are two independent clauses not separated by any form of punctuation. The error can sometimes be corrected by adding a period, semicolon, or colon to separate the two sentences.

e.g. Incorrect: My car is expensive I spent a lot of money on it.
Correct: My car is expensive. I spent a lot of money on it.

Here's a quiz to help you practise your English and test your world knowledge at the same time! Below are ten different countries and a clue that describes them. However, all the letters of the country have been mixed up.

Can you unscramble the letters to find the country?

Some adjectives are followed by a preposition. It can be confusing for English learners because there are no rules to help you remember which prepositions are used with which adjectives. The best way to learn is through practice.

The following seven adjectives are all used with the preposition of.

Example: The letter I wrote was full of mistakes.

In English, we divide our lives into stages which relate to our age. For example, my cousin Jake is three years old, so he is a toddler. Below are the stages listed in order, then some sentences in which you need to choose which 'stage' word fits.

What stage of your life are you in? Are you an adult who feels like a teenager?!

In this quiz, I’m going to give you a word and two definitions. Your job is to decide which definition is correct. 

When you are finished try and make your own sentences in using the 10 words. Write your sentences in the comments area.

Lesson by Caroline

In English, words are formed with a stem which is then modified with a variety of prefixes and suffixes. These additions can dramatically change the meaning or grammatical usage of the word.

Here is a revision exercise to see if you can deduce which ‘version’ of the word is needed in each sentence. Let us know how you get on.

Lesson by Caroline

An Upper-Intermediate lesson on mixed conditionals

A conditional consist of two clauses: the condition or if-clause and the main or result clause. Depending on the meaning we try to convey we have many different conditionals at our exposal to express ourselves clearly. We are going to look at two mixed conditionals that express unreal situations.

Read the text below and decide word best fits each space.

When I was younger I had a job working in a factory, it was _1_ after I graduated from university. I worked there for about six months while I did interviews for a 'real' job that would start my career.

How much do you remember about when to use the articles, 'the, an, a'?

Read this letter from me and try and decide which article you need in each gap.

Some of the gaps don't need an article at all; can you work out which ones these are?

Lesson by Caroline

My Many Jobs!

I've had lots of different jobs and careers in my life and I'd like to tell you about some of them.

I got my first job when I was thirteen, as _1_ dog walker.

A conjunction is a linking word such as, and, or, but.

Conjunctions are used to connect words or sentences.

The words before, after, as, when, while, until and since, are also conjunctions.

They tell when something happens, so they are called conjunctions of time.

For example: