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When to use capital letters

Average: 3.9 (30 votes)

I'll ask my dad to take us to the station. Would you mind taking us to the station, Dad?

Why is dad not capitalised in the first sentence but is in the second?

In the first sentence we use the personal pronoun my before dad. This shows we are talking about dads in a general way, and so we don't need to capitalise. In the second sentence Dad is the person's title. It's his name for now.

In the news: UK music award

Average: 4.5 (12 votes)

The Beatles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie and the Sex Pistols - the UK has produced some very influential musicians over the years. Even today British artists like One Direction, Coldplay and Adele sell millions of albums worldwide.

Business English: Apple launch iPhone 6

Average: 4.6 (12 votes)

Yesterday was an exciting day for Apple, tech and gadget lovers. At a keynote event in California, Apple unveiled the latest addition their iPhone series. These unveilings prompt massive world-wide media coverage including minute-by-minute updates.

As well as introducing two iPhones with larger screens, the company also previewed a highly anticipated smartwatch, which combines health and fitness monitoring with mobile computer capabilities like maps.

Parts of the body

Average: 4.3 (11 votes)

 The human body is like a silent machine that carries us through life. Sometimes it does not work as well or look as good as we would like, but each one is unique and yet just like all the rest! It truly is an amazing thing. How well do you know yours? Today's lesson looks at the names of different parts of the human body both inside and out.

Choose which body part is being described in each sentence:

Reading and Vocab: Dinosaur

Average: 4.2 (14 votes)

An enormous species of dinosaur, which weighed more 130,000 pounds, has been _1_ by scientists in Argentina. It is among the largest land animals that ever lived. Over 45% of the _2_, which dates back 77 million years, was found in the Patagonia region of the country.

What are conjunctions?

Average: 4.8 (303 votes)

Conjunctions join words or groups of words together. Some common conjunctions are and, that, because, but, if, or, as, than, and when.

And - He is learning English and French.

That - She said that she was ill.

Because - She doesn't eat meat or fish because she is vegetarian.

English Contractions

Average: 3.7 (26 votes)

A contraction is a short form of a group of words. English has a few contractions, which mostly involve not pronouncing a vowel. In writing the vowel is replaced with an apostrophe in writing.

For example, the contraction of I am is I'm and the contraction of will not is won't.

Vocabulary Review

Average: 4.8 (12 votes)

Today's lesson is a general noun quiz. All you have to do is choose the word that is being described in each sentence.

An important part of learning a language is to review words you have learned in the past. Sometimes we want to learn new words so much that we forget to go back any study the words we have learned before. The problem with this is we can end up forgetting words we thought we knew. How many times have you come across a word you remember seeing but can no longer remember what it means?

Choose the word that is being described in each sentence:

Negative Prefixes

Average: 3.6 (101 votes)

We use the negative prefixes un- / in- /im- /il- /ir-

For example:

John and James are brothers. John is reliable, you can trust him to do anything you ask. James, on the other hand, is unreliable, you cannot rely on him.

By adding un to reliable we change the meaning of the word to not reliable.

Dis gives the adjective the opposite meaning: "I know you all agree with the plan, but I still disagree."

Electronic Cigarettes Reading and Vocab Exercise

Average: 3.4 (18 votes)

The World Health Organization (WHO) called for stiff regulation of electronic cigarettes as well as bans on indoor use, advertising and sales to minors, in the latest bid to control the booming new market.