Learn English | A new lesson every week
Book your course now

Fill in the blanks

Average: 3.7 (28 votes)

Read through the following text and decide which words are missing:

I’ve always been interested _1_ learning to play the guitar. When I mentioned this to my friend she said she felt the same. We decided that we would buy a couple of cheap guitars and take some lessons.

Who, which and that

Average: 4.1 (48 votes)

Who

Who is used for people. In casual English that can be used.

The boy who sang.
Only men who are wearing neckties are allowed to enter.
She's the one who won the prize.

Which and that

Which and that are used for things and groups.

The Passive Voice

Average: 3.9 (38 votes)

When we want to focus on the object of a sentence instead of the subject, we use the passive voice.

Compare these two sentences:

John painted the picture. - The focus here is on John, he is the subject of the sentence.

The picture was painted by John. - The focus is on the picture, it is the object of the sentence.

If I were / If I was

Average: 3.6 (222 votes)

Take a look at the two following sentences. Why do we use were in the first sentence and was in the second.

If I were rich, I would buy you a car.

If she was feeling sick, it's good that she went home.

Explanation

If I were rich...<-- I am not rich, but I imagining what I would do if I were.

Word of the day: Click

Average: 2.8 (129 votes)

click idiom

This cartoon is based on the double meaning of click.

A click is a short, sharp sound.

"The door closed with a click."

"Turn the handle until you hear a click."

Using Do and Does

Average: 3.3 (260 votes)

Do

Use do with the subjects I, we, you and they. Do is usually used to make questions and it comes at the start of a sentence. Do is not used with the verbs be, can, might, ought, shall and will.

Do I have to speak too?
Do we have any milk left?
Do you remember her?
Do they always stay up so late?

I'm Not Lazy, I'm...

Average: 4.4 (26 votes)

A lazy (adjective) person is someone who doesn't like to work and use energy. It’s not good to work with a lazy person and you will never see a lazy person going for a run in the park!

Laziness (noun) has a negative meaning. Let's take a look at some other words that show low-energy that are not negative.

April Fool's Day

Average: 3.9 (37 votes)

April 1st in many countries is commonly known as April Fool's Day. Are you familiar with the tradition? As you read through the text pay attention to the bold words. Do you know what they mean?

In the news: Oscar Pistorius

Average: 4.4 (21 votes)

Read through this text about South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who is currently on trial in Cape Town.

_1_ for the South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius will open the case for the defence in Pretoria on Friday.

Vocabulary: At the Hairdresser's

Average: 3.8 (18 votes)

The orange words in this text have had their letters scrambled. Can you rearrange the letters to form the correct spelling of each word. Type the words into the spaces below the text.

My Haircut

I went for a ahicrtu this morning. I didn’t make an ntaontimppe in advance; I just went and waited until it was my turn. After waiting around ten minutes the hairdresser asked me to take a seat next to the sink.