Last week we looked at how the English language is constantly evolving and new words are added to the dictionary every year.
Here are some more words that have been added in recent years; some of which are frequently used as well as some that you cannot believe have made it into mainstream language! Can you match the words to their meanings?
A while ago I wrote a lesson about the difference between the past simple and present perfect tenses.
Can you remember what you learned in that lesson? Test yourself with this more challenging exercise. Instead of giving you two options, it is your job to work out which tense is needed and then fill in the gaps yourself.
Good luck!
By Caroline Devane
Paloma Faith is one of the few CD's I have in my kitchen and this song goes around and around in my head after I listen to it. It's so catchy! Listen to the song and try and complete the gaps with the vocabulary below. Before you listen, read through and guess which word you think fits in each gap.
Lesson by Caroline Devane
Check your understanding of irregular past participle verbs.
Present Simple: do - "Where do you live?"
Past Simple: did - "Where did you go yesterday?"
Past Participle: done - "Has he done all his homework?"
Choose the correct missing word in each of these ten sentences.
How many did you get correct? Which ones did you get wrong? Tell us in the comments box below
Here are three words that feature in the sentences and may be new to you. Please ask if you have any other questions about vocabulary or the meaning of these sentences.
By Chris
Jessica Ennis is a famous British athlete who came third in this year’s ‘BBC Personality of the Year Award’. This article focuses on her attitude to money. Read the article and then see if you can answer the true or false questions below. Are any of you involved in athletics?
Lesson by Caroline Devane
Ready...
Set...
GO!!!
I've never really understood the expression 'itchy feet'. I know what it means, of course, and for those of you who've never heard it before, itchy feet is what you get when you get the sudden urge to travel; to want to leave where you are because, suddenly, where you are is not where you want to be. I'’ve never felt like that. I've never felt the need to go out and see the world because, the way I see it, doing the job I do, the world tends to drop into my classroom and see me. So, I've never got itchy feet.
Until now.
'How long have you been teaching?'
'What did you do before you were a teacher?'
FAQs that are asked by many students of their teachers.
These idioms could relate to relationships between friends, family members or partners. Can you work out which idiom completes each sentence? When you're finished, why not try and write some of your own sentences using these idioms?
Lesson by Caroline
Language is alive and forever changing. Approximately 25,000 new words are introduced into English on an annual basis, and, in an attempt to keep you with a finger on the linguistic pulse, so to speak, and in the spirit of doing something a little different, here's a list of my five favourite 'new' words to the language. Enjoy!
1. A Nonversation a conversation that seems meaningless or ridiculous.
