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Do Phrasal Verbs

Average: 3.6 (36 votes)

Do away with

Get rid of; remove; put an end to

I wish we could do away with poverty.

Do over

To do something again from the beginning.

I need to do over the bedroom. My wife doesn't like the colour of the walls I just painted.

Do up

To fasten something (usually clothes)

Do up your shoelaces or you might fall.

Do without

To succeed in living or working without someone or something.

Confusing Words: Felt and Fell

Average: 4.4 (44 votes)

Let's take a look at a pair of words that are commonly confused by English learners: felt and fell.

Felt

Felt is the past tense and past participle of the verb 'feel'.

She felt better after a good sleep.
I haven't felt this sick for a long time.

Fell

Fell is the past tense of the verb 'fall'.

I broke my arm when I fell off the horse.
She tripped and fell down the stairs.

Dis- Prefix

Average: 3.4 (93 votes)

Adding a prefix to the start of a word changes the meaning.

Dis- is a negative prefix. It means not or none. When we add dis- to the beginning of a word, we give it the opposite meaning.

Take a look at these example sentences.

Appear and Disappear

The sun appears over the sea in the morning and disappears behind the mountains in the evening.

Honest and Dishonest

Stealing is dishonest. Now be honest with me, did you take the CD?

Idiom of the Day: From Scratch

Average: 3.5 (158 votes)

scratch idiom

This month's cartoon is based on the word scratch.

Scratch

Scratch (verb)

to rub your skin with your fingernails, often when your skin is itching. In the picture, the scientist is scratching his neck.

"She scratched her nose."

"My back is itching. Can you scratch it for me?"

Be Verbs

Average: 3.9 (315 votes)

Be verbs are am, are, is, was, were, been and being. We only only use be as to be.

"Be" verbs indicate a state of being.

Subject verb agreement

I am British.
He is lonely.
We are waiting.

Verb+not in negative sentences

I am not happy.
He is not a student.
We are not sleeping.

Be in questions

Use be at the start of questions.

Am I late?
Is he your brother?
Are we going?

In the news: Metallica

Average: 3.4 (29 votes)

The organisers of Glastonbury festival have ended months of _1_ over who will headline the Pyramid Stage on Saturday, by announcing that Metallica are to fill the spot. _2_ began circulating the other week when Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis said the final headliners were "one of the biggest-selling bands in the world".

Causative Verbs: Have, Let, Make

Average: 4 (84 votes)

What's the difference in meaning between these sentence? Pay particular attention to the bold verbs:

She's going to clean her room.

She's going to have her room cleaned.

I let her clean her room.

I made her clean her room.

Have, Let and Make

These three words are causative verbs. They show us that some person or thing helps to make something happen; they express what causes an action to happen.

Family members

Average: 4 (24 votes)

Do you have any brothers or sisters? If so, how old are they? Do you get along well with your family? Are friends more important than family? What do you think?

Let's review the names we give family members. These are the ten words you will need to use. Read them through carefully before you

Husband

Aunt

Cousin

Sister

Niece

Be, Do and Have Auxiliary Verbs

Average: 3.9 (56 votes)

Use auxiliary verbs before other verbs to form questions, passives and negative sentences, a compound tense or the passive. Auxiliary verbs are also known as helping verbs. These verbs give us more information about the main verb in a sentence often to give us more detail about time. That is why they are used in progressive and perfect tense sentences.

Although there are 23 'helping verbs' in English, which include modal verbs (will, can, should etc.), the three basic auxiliary verbs are:

May Day

Average: 4.4 (35 votes)

Read through this text and choose the correct missing words:

May Day on May 1 is a traditional spring festival and public holiday in many parts of the _1_ Hemisphere. On this day _2_ people would celebrate the end of winter and the return of spring. During the 20th century, traditional May Day celebrations _3_ in many countries as May 1 became associated with Iternational Workers' Day.