Vocabulary

If I told you my brother eats like a horse, what would you think?

Would you think that he ate horse food, that he had a big appetite or that he was a horse?

Eats like a horse is an idiom. When someone eats like a horse, they always eat a lot of food.

"Although he eats like a horse, he never gets fat."

Another look at a couple of words that English learners often confuse. Do you know the difference in use between dead and died?

Dead

Dead is an adjective. It means no longer alive. For example:

There's a dead mouse in the garden.

My grandfather has been dead for ten years.

The pet fish I bought my daughter last week is already dead.

We see these two words misspelled ALL the time especially on Twitter and Facebook.

Let's take a look at the correct use of these words.

Lose

Lose: is a present tense verb. It has two meanings:

i) To have lost something. You no longer know where it is:

"Don't lose your bag. Be careful where you put it."

ii) To be defeated:

"I always lose when I play tennis against my brother."

Lost

The past form of both meanings is lost.

"I lost my bag!"

Being able to understand long written texts is an important skill if you want to take an IELTS course or any type of English language proficiency test. Carefully read through this article and answer the 8 related questions. Let us know if you have any questions about what you read.

What's the difference between have to, supposed to and ought to?

Have to

When you must do something, you have to do it. It is used for a situation that has no choice. Have to is used for obligations.

"Students must wear their uniforms to school or they will be sent home."

"In England, you have to drive on the left."

When we hear the word like we think about things we enjoy, "I like English." There are other uses of the word. How familiar are you with these?

"What's she like?" - 'What...like?' is used when asking about someone's personality or character. You could answer with:
She is funny/patient/outgoing.

Have you ever felt that someone is telling you something that is not true? Perhaps they are trying to lie to you. In that case, you smell a rat!

When we feel that something someone or something is not honest, we smell a rat.

"I smell a rat. If John was off from work all week because he was sick, why has he got a suntan?"

We use use much and many in questions and negative sentences. They both show an amount of something.

Use 'Much' with uncountable nouns

We use much with singular nouns.

Question: "How much petrol is in the car?"
Negative clause: "We don't have much time left."

What's wrong with this sentence.

"Boy played in the park."

The problem is that the noun 'boy' (the subjects) cannot be used without an article. We could say, for example, 'The boy', 'A boy' or 'My neighbour's boy'. Generally, the articles a and the are used with nouns.

When to use The

Use the before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific.