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Articles

<p>Back in January 2012, our team had a big discussion about where to place the main vocabulary task in a lesson. Some of our lesson sections had the reading before the vocabulary task, with the idea that vocabulary could be learned/confirmed after seeing it in context. However, our team and many of our subscribers felt that previewing the vocabulary before seeing it in the reading was easier on students.</p>

<p>We then changed most of our sections that include a reading (e.g., <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons">Famous People</a>, etc.) to include a vocabulary preview task. Most of the textbooks I had used during my teaching years also presented the vocabulary first, so I was fully on board with this&nbsp;approach.</p>

<p>At the recent 2016 TESL Ontario conference in Toronto, head writer Tara Benwell had a discussion with a teacher whose students found it difficult to match up vocabulary words and definitions before they had seen them in the reading. The teacher pointed out that words used in the definitions can sometimes present more challenges than the actual key words.</p>

<p>This led to another team discussion about where and when to present a vocabulary task within a lesson. What is best for our students? Let&rsquo;s take&nbsp;a look at the benefits to different&nbsp;approaches.</p>

<h1>Approach #1</h1>

<h4>Vocabulary Before</h4>

<p>ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s preference is to introduce vocabulary before presenting the reading or listening task. Some benefits to a vocabulary preview task&nbsp;are:</p>

<ul>
	<li>students can focus on vocabulary alone and then focus on&nbsp;reading</li>
	<li>the reading is easier to&nbsp;understand</li>
	<li>there is less of a need to stop and look up words (stopping makes it harder to get the gist of a&nbsp;reading)</li>
	<li>students have a handy list for later&nbsp;review</li>
	<li>there is more exposure to new&nbsp;words</li>
</ul>

<p>Having a vocabulary preview task before the reading means that students will get the maximum exposure to the words. If a lesson has a preview task, the words highlighted in context, and a review task, then students are seeing and digesting new words at least three times. Repetition is key where vocabulary retention is&nbsp;concerned.</p>

<h1>Approach #2</h1>

<h4>Vocabulary During</h4>

<p>Benefits to learning vocabulary during a lesson could&nbsp;include:</p>

<ul>
	<li>students may be able to infer the meaning of new words from&nbsp;context</li>
	<li>students learn a keyword as a specific part of speech in a&nbsp;sentence</li>
	<li>students realize they don&rsquo;t need to know every word to understand the gist of a&nbsp;eading</li>
	<li>they can apply this to reading material outside of the classroom (where there won&rsquo;t be a list of vocabulary&nbsp;words)</li>
</ul>

<p>It&rsquo;s up to the teacher to decide whether students can use their dictionaries or ask the teacher vocabulary questions during the reading, or just try to infer meaning from context. In my experience, students often feel pressured or frustrated when they have to rely on inferring meaning from context alone. Letting them use dictionaries in their own languages also discourages an English‑thinking mentality and may not be the best&nbsp;approach.</p>

<p>I&rsquo;ve had some success with answering vocabulary questions during or just after the reading, but if there are too many, then those students that already know most of the words can feel like their time is being wasted. However, context learning is a valuable skill, and it&rsquo;s good to try this approach at least once in a while. Remind students that in the real world, they won&rsquo;t see a vocabulary list along with what they&rsquo;re reading (nor will they always be able to consult their&nbsp;dictionaries).</p>

<h1>Approach #3</h1>

<h4>Vocabulary After</h4>

<p>Reviewing vocabulary after learning it before or during the reading is very beneficial. But what about saving all vocabulary discussion and tasks until after the reading? Some benefits to having the vocabulary task after the reading might&nbsp;include:</p>

<ul>
	<li>the vocabulary task might make more sense because students have seen it in&nbsp;context</li>
	<li>students can see how well they inferred the meaning of new words from context by completing a task and getting a&nbsp;score</li>
	<li>they will see which words they know well and which need more&nbsp;practice</li>
	<li>they can go back and see the word in context to help them if they still can&rsquo;t work out the&nbsp;meaning</li>
</ul>

<h1>Our Conclusion</h1>

<p>Why not have the best of all three worlds? A vocabulary preview task, highlighted vocabulary in context, and a vocabulary review task allow students to reap the benefits of all three approaches. Most of our lessons follow this&nbsp;format.</p>

<p>At this point, we are sticking with our vocabulary preview matchup task, but we have changed the instructions&nbsp;from:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Match the words on the left to the correct meanings on the&nbsp;right.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>to:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Match up as many words and meanings as you can. Check this exercise again after seeing the words in context on page&nbsp;2.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>We hope that this will give students a chance to learn some new words without feeling the pressure to get a perfect score. Students may find the following reading task easier with some background vocabulary knowledge. Teachers can also use this task to assess how many words students already&nbsp;know.</p>

<p>We always encourage teachers to try different approaches to see what works best for their students. For example, try one lesson as is, but try the next doing the reading first and introducing the vocabulary after (i.e., do the warm‑up, but then do the page&nbsp;2 reading before the page&nbsp;1 vocabulary preview task). Or present the vocabulary preview in a more interactive way&mdash;for example, try cutting up the words and definitions and having groups of students match them up. Find more ideas in this post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-ways-to-teach-new-vocabulary">4 Ways to Teach New&nbsp;Vocabulary</a>.</p>

<p>We will also continue to have a vocabulary review task or two after the reading part of our lessons. For other ideas on reviewing vocabulary, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-activities-for-reviewing-vocabulary">4 Activities for Reviewing&nbsp;Vocabulary</a>.</p>

<p>How and when do you teach vocabulary in class? Do you prefer previewing vocabulary or having students see the words in context for the first time? We&rsquo;d love to hear from you in the comments section&nbsp;below!</p>


When Should You Teach Vocabulary?

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

<p>An embedded question is a question that is <em>inside</em> another question or statement. This grammar point is sometimes explained on its own or in a lesson on noun clauses or reported speech (more on this&nbsp;below).</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Tip</h5>

<p>To help students remember what an embedded question is, think of &ldquo;embed&rdquo; as &ldquo;in bed.&rdquo; When you&rsquo;re in bed, you&rsquo;re tucked in between the sheets. An embedded question is simply a question tucked inside another&nbsp;one!</p>
</div>

<p>Embedded questions can cause confusion for English language learners because they follow a normal Subject-Verb-Object pattern instead of a typical inverted question pattern. Let&rsquo;s take a closer&nbsp;look!</p>

<h1>Two Types</h1>

<h2>1. Embedded Questions within&nbsp;Questions</h2>

<p>Here are some examples of an embedded question within another question. For patterns and uses, see the notes below the&nbsp;charts.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2345"><img alt="Embedded Questions within Questions chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/241/content_Tanya_Embedded-Questions-within-Questions.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2345">Embedded Questions</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h2>2. Embedded Questions within&nbsp;Statements</h2>

<p>Here are some examples of an embedded question within an affirmative or negative sentence. Note that we do&nbsp;<em>not</em> use a question mark for these statements even though they contain a&nbsp;question.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2345"><img alt="Embedded Questions within Statements chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/242/content_Tanya_Embedded-Questions-within-Statements.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2345">Embedded Questions</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h1>Patterns</h1>

<h2>1. Sentence Pattern</h2>

<p>A normal English sentence follows this pattern: Subject + Verb (+ Object) or&nbsp;<strong>SVO</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She (S) sang&nbsp;(V).</li>
	<li>The girl (S) walked (V) her&nbsp;dog&nbsp;(O).</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Question Pattern</h2>

<p>A normal question has an inversion of the sentence pattern, and looks like this: (Question Word) + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb (+ Object) or <strong>VSVO</strong>. For the Be verb, it looks like this:&nbsp;<strong>VSO</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>What (Question Word) did (Aux V) he (S) say&nbsp;(V)?</li>
	<li>Do (Aux V) you (S) like (V) pizza&nbsp;(O)?</li>
	<li>Is&nbsp;(Be) he (S)&nbsp;sleepy?</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Embedded Question Pattern</h2>

<p>In an embedded question, the question inside the statement or other question follows a <strong>sentence pattern</strong> instead of a question pattern: <strong>SVO</strong>. The introductory phrases follow the normal sentence (SV) or question (VS)&nbsp;patterns.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I (S) don&rsquo;t know (V) [what (question word) I (S) should do&nbsp;(V)].</li>
	<li>Do (Aux V) you (S) think (V) [we (S) need (V) more time&nbsp;(O)]?</li>
</ul>

<h1>Uses</h1>

<p>When and why do we use embedded questions in&nbsp;English?</p>

<h2>1. To be more polite</h2>

<ul>
	<li>What time is it? <em>(normal&nbsp;question)</em></li>
	<li>Could you (please) tell me what time it is? <em>(embedded question = more&nbsp;polite)</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>2. To give more information</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I wonder if she&rsquo;ll call me. <em>(expresses&nbsp;curiosity)</em></li>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t know where my bag is. <em>(expresses lack of&nbsp;knowledge)</em></li>
	<li>I want to know when this meeting will start.<em> (expresses desire for&nbsp;knowledge)</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>3. To change direct speech to reported&nbsp;(indirect)&nbsp;speech</h2>

<ul>
	<li>&ldquo;What do you want to know?&rdquo; <em>(direct&nbsp;speech)</em></li>
	<li>He asked me what I wanted to know. <em>(reported&nbsp;speech)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>Embedded questions are a type of <strong>noun clause</strong>. A noun clause is a complete sentence (SVO) that serves as a subject or object of another&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>What do you mean?&nbsp;<em>(SV)</em></li>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t know <em>(SV)</em> [what you mean&nbsp;<em>(SV)</em>]. (<em>What you mean&nbsp;</em>serves as the object of the sentence <em>I don&rsquo;t&nbsp;know</em>.)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>Don&rsquo;t use contractions at the end of an embedded clause. (Tell students this follows the same rule as short answers in English&mdash;we can say <em>Yes, he is</em> but we can never say&nbsp;<em>Yes,&nbsp;he&rsquo;s</em>.)</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">Do you know what time it&nbsp;is?</li>
	<li class="incorrect">Do you know what time&nbsp;it&rsquo;s?</li>
</ul>

<h2>Note #3</h2>

<p><em>Who knows</em> is used for questions, but it can also be used for statements. English speakers often use this phrase as a statement when they are surprised or&nbsp;frustrated.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">Who knows the answer to&nbsp;#2?</li>
	<li class="correct">Who knows what she meant by&nbsp;that.</li>
	<li class="correct">Who knows when this week will start getting&nbsp;better!</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2364">Embedded Questions</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2345-embedded-questions">Embedded Questions</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1618">Direct and Reported Speech</a></li>
</ul>


Embedded Questions

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<h1>How long have you been studying English&nbsp;grammar?</h1>

<p>Last week on the blog, we highlighted the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/present-perfect-two-uses/">two uses of the present perfect</a> tense. This week we&rsquo;ll continue focusing on this common verb tense by comparing it with the present perfect&nbsp;progressive.</p>

<p>It&rsquo;s important that English language learners realize that there are two distinct uses of the present perfect (finished past action vs. continuing action). For continuing actions, both the present perfect and present perfect progressive are common, and this can be confusing for students. To clear up this confusion, try presenting these two tenses using the method below, which focuses on shorter time frames (within one day) and longer time frames (days, weeks, months, or&nbsp;years).</p>

<h1>Use #1</h1>

<h4>Finished Vs. Continuing Actions &ndash; Shorter Time&nbsp;Frames</h4>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2332"><img alt="Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive Use #1" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/243/content_Tanya_PP-Vs-PPP_1.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2332">Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h1>Use #2</h1>

<h4>Continuing Actions &ndash; Longer Time&nbsp;Frames</h4>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2332"><img alt="Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive Use #2" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/244/content_Tanya_PP-Vs-PPP_2.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2332">Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<p>For a comparison of the present perfect and the simple past, see our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/present-perfect-two-uses/">Present Perfect: Two Uses</a>&nbsp;post.</p>

<h1>Conclusion &amp; Exceptions</h1>

<p>For short-term continuing actions (in the first chart), the <em class="inlineBlock">‑ing</em> form is a lot more common. For example, it sounds much better to say <em>He has been waiting for them for two hours</em> than <em>He has waited for them&nbsp;for two&nbsp;hours.</em></p>

<p>For longer time frames, the present perfect and present perfect progressive can be confusing because they are so similar. But in most cases, there is <em>no difference</em> in meaning between a long, continuing action using the present perfect and one using the present perfect progressive, so students can use whichever tense they want&mdash;both are likely&nbsp;correct.</p>

<p>Students will undoubtedly ask you which tense is the better one to use for longer time frames. Point out that native speakers usually prefer the present perfect because it is shorter, but they will use the present perfect progressive when they really want to emphasize that an action will continue into the&nbsp;future.</p>

<p>For instance, native speakers would more likely say <em>I have lived in Vancouver for five years</em> than <em>I have been living in Vancouver for five years</em>, though both are correct. In a job interview, though, when discussing their work experience, native speakers would likely say <em>I have been working with children for eight years</em> to emphasize that they will continue to do so (though, again, <em>I have worked with children for eight years</em> is also&nbsp;correct).</p>

<p>Most importantly, make sure you reinforce that the present perfect (have + p.p.) can be used for a continuing action, not just a completed past action. Students often have trouble remembering this since all other continuous tenses in English use an <em class="inlineBlock">‑ing</em> verb. Also, some textbooks only focus on the finished action use and don&rsquo;t mention the continuing action use of the present perfect, but it is very common and should be&nbsp;taught.</p>

<p>Like almost all grammar rules in English, there are other cases and exceptions to the basic rules mentioned in this post. For example, <em>It has been raining</em> can indicate that the rain recently stopped, which is technically a finished past action. Going over every exception would likely overwhelm your students, though, so I suggest dealing with exceptions on a case‑by‑case basis if they come up in a&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1598">Present Perfect Progressive</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1597">Present Perfect</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/present-perfect-two-uses/">Present Perfect: Two Uses</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2331-present-perfect-two-uses">Present Perfect: Two Uses</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2332-present-perfect-vs-present-perfect-progressive">Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive</a></li>
</ul>


Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive

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<blockquote>
<p>Have you ever tried to explain the present perfect&nbsp;tense?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The present perfect is a common tense in English, but it is one of the tougher ones to learn. First of all, there are two distinct uses. Second of all, one use is similar to the simple past, and the other is very similar to the present perfect progressive (also known as the present perfect&nbsp;continuous).</p>

<p>What&rsquo;s the best way to present and explain all this to your students? For lower‑level learners, present the two uses on different days. For higher‑level learners, present the two uses at the same time so that they realize why they hear the present perfect used in different contexts. And, of course, give them plenty of examples and&nbsp;practice!</p>

<h1>Use #1</h1>

<h3>Finished Actions</h3>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2331"><img alt="Chart of present perfect use #1" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/225/content_Tanya_Present-Perfect_Use-1.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2331">Present Perfect: Two Uses</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h1>Use #2</h1>

<h3>Continuing Actions</h3>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2331"><img alt="Chart of present perfect use #2" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/226/content_Tanya_Present-Perfect_Use-2.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2331">Present Perfect: Two Uses</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<p>For a direct comparison of these two tenses, see the chart and examples in this post: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/present-perfect-vs-present-perfect-progressive/">Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect&nbsp;Progressive</a></p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>Overall, your students should be able to easily remember Use&nbsp;#1 by thinking of the &ldquo;when/no when&rdquo; rule (when = simple past, no when = present perfect). Use&nbsp;#2 is easy when you teach the present perfect alone, but trickier when you compare it with the present perfect progressive. This post, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/present-perfect-vs-present-perfect-progressive/">Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive</a>, has charts and tips comparing these two&nbsp;tenses.</p>

<p>Make sure you reinforce that the present perfect (have + p.p.) can be used for a continuing action, not just a completed past action. Students often have trouble remembering this since all other continuous tenses in English use an <em class="inlineBlock">‑ing</em> verb. Also, some textbooks only focus on Use&nbsp;#1 and don&rsquo;t mention the continuing meaning of the present perfect, but it is very common and should be&nbsp;taught.</p>

<p>Note that as a time marker, <em>still</em> has two meanings and uses, so be careful that your students don&rsquo;t get confused. <em>Still</em> can be used with the <strong>present perfect</strong> for a finished past action (as in Use&nbsp;#1, above), but it can also be used with the <strong>present progressive</strong> to emphasize an ongoing action, as in <em>I am still waiting for your call.</em> Students can easily keep these tenses straight by noticing the different sentence patterns (<em><strong>still</strong> + have + not + p.p.</em> for the present perfect and <em>be + <strong>still</strong> + <span class="inlineBlock">‑ing</span> verb</em> for the present&nbsp;progressive).</p>

<p>Recently, a subscriber asked about the time marker&nbsp;<em>in&nbsp;</em>and its use with the present perfect tense. <em>In</em> isn&rsquo;t all that common with this tense (it&rsquo;s far more common as a simple future time marker), but it <em>is</em> possible, especially with negative sentences. (E.g., <em>I haven&rsquo;t studied English in two years. / They haven&rsquo;t heard from her in ages.</em>) If it comes up in your teaching materials or a students asks about it, I would recommend including <em>in</em> in your grammar presentation on the present perfect, but otherwise I would avoid teaching&nbsp;it.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1597">Present Perfect</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1640">Present Perfect Stories</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2331-present-perfect-two-uses">Present Perfect: Two&nbsp;Uses </a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2332-present-perfect-vs-present-perfect-progressive">Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/present-perfect-vs-present-perfect-progressive/">Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1997">Verb Tense Review 2: The Perfect&nbsp;Tenses</a></li>
</ul>


Present Perfect: Two Uses

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<p>When learning the <em>present progressive</em> (or <em>present continuous</em>) tense, my students would often get confused by certain verbs that remain in the simple present even with a present progressive time marker like &ldquo;now&rdquo; or &ldquo;right now.&rdquo; These <em>non‑action verbs</em> (or <em>stative verbs</em>) also have many exceptions to the general&nbsp;rule.</p>

<p>Help is here! Try teaching your English language learners about non‑action verbs and exceptions using the tried-and-tested method&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>Categories of Non-Action Verbs</h1>

<p>Non-action verbs are verbs that involve no movement or action. Students will remember common non‑action verbs more easily if you teach them the five main types of verbs. These categories include <em>state</em>, <em>possession</em>, <em>feelings and needs</em>, <em>thought</em>, and <em>the senses</em>. See examples in the chart&nbsp;below.</p>

<p>Remind students that progressive tenses (<em>be + ‑ing verb</em>) usually can&rsquo;t be used with non‑action verbs (but see <strong>Exceptions</strong> below). This rule is especially important when students are learning the present&nbsp;progressive.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2329"><img alt="Non-Action Verbs and Exceptions Resource" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/224/content_103_Non-Action-Verbs-and-Exceptions_US.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2329">Non-Action Verbs &amp; Exceptions</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage Resources</p>

<h1>Exceptions</h1>

<p>For intermediate‑level learners and above, it is important to learn that there are many exceptions to the &ldquo;non‑action verb = no progressive tense&rdquo; rule because these exceptions are quite&nbsp;common.</p>

<h2>A. Non-Action Verbs with Action&nbsp;Meanings</h2>

<p>Many non‐action verbs have another meaning. If this second meaning is an action meaning, a progressive tense can be&nbsp;used.</p>

<ul>
	<li>My child<strong> is being</strong> a brat at the moment. <em>(=&nbsp;misbehaving)</em></li>
	<li>We <strong>are having</strong> dinner.<em> (=&nbsp;eating)</em></li>
	<li>She <strong>is having</strong> a baby. <em>(= giving birth,&nbsp;delivering)</em></li>
	<li>He <strong>is having</strong> fun. / He<strong> is having</strong> a good time. <em>(=&nbsp;enjoying)</em></li>
	<li>I <strong>am thinking</strong> of buying a new car. <em>(=&nbsp;planning,&nbsp;deciding)</em></li>
	<li>They <strong>are seeing</strong> a movie. <em>(=&nbsp;watching)</em></li>
</ul>

<p>Some non‑action verbs don&rsquo;t have a change in meaning, but a progressive tense can be used to emphasize a longer, continuing&nbsp;action.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">My son <strong>feels</strong>&nbsp;sick.</li>
	<li class="correct">My son <strong>is feeling</strong>&nbsp;sick.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">She <strong>has wanted</strong> a new dress for&nbsp;ages.</li>
	<li class="correct">She <strong>has been wanting</strong> a new dress for&nbsp;ages.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">I <strong>love</strong>&nbsp;Netflix.</li>
	<li class="correct">I<strong>&rsquo;m loving</strong>&nbsp;Netflix.</li>
</ul>

<h2>B. Action Verbs with Non‑Action&nbsp;Meanings</h2>

<p>Some verbs that are usually action verbs can also change meaning. With the non‑action meaning, a progressive tense should not be&nbsp;used.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">You <strong>are looking</strong> out the window. <em>(action)</em></li>
	<li class="correct">You <strong>look</strong> nervous. <em>(non‑action)</em></li>
	<li class="incorrect">You <strong>are looking</strong> nervous. <em>(non‑action)</em></li>
</ul>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">The children <strong>appeared</strong> at the window. <em>(action)</em></li>
	<li class="correct">They <strong>appear calm</strong>. <em>(non‑action)</em></li>
	<li class="incorrect">They <strong>are appearing</strong> calm. <em>(non‑action)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Try our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1593">Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive</a> lesson in the Grammar Practice Worksheets section for more practice with non‑action verbs. Note that this lesson will be updated in the next few months and will soon include grammar notes and charts. Subscribers can also download and print the <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2329-non-action-verbs-exceptions">Non‑Action Verbs &amp; Exceptions</a> PDF, which includes a second page of&nbsp;exceptions.</p>


Non-Action Verbs & Exceptions

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<p>Happy International Plain Language&nbsp;Day!</p>

<p>Plain language awareness is on the rise. People want clarity in all areas of communication, from legal documents to health care information to education. In honour of Plain Language Day,&nbsp;Canadians across the country met up for a Twitter chat this morning using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/plainshare2016?src=hash" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">#plainshare2016</a> to share <a href="http://www.keyadvice.net/key-blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">tips and&nbsp;ideas</a>.</p>

<h1>What is plain&nbsp;language?</h1>

<p>Plain language is a process. Start by focusing on your&nbsp;readers. Keep your audience in mind at all times as you develop materials. Is your message&nbsp;clear and simple? Will your readers understand what you are trying to&nbsp;say?</p>

<p>After you have written with your readers in mind, it&#39;s time for user testing. If possible, you want typical readers and your peers to go through your message and&nbsp;give you feedback. Even editors have trouble editing their own writing&mdash;what is crystal clear in your mind might not be logical to someone&nbsp;else.</p>

<p>The final step is to apply plain language principles to the writing. Avoid jargon and the passive voice. Use clear language, such as&nbsp;<em>use</em> instead of&nbsp;<em>utilize</em> and&nbsp;<em>since/because&nbsp;</em>instead of&nbsp;<em>owing to the fact that</em>. Find other plain language tips on the <a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/index.cfm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Canadian government&#39;s site</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://getitwrite.ca/2016/10/13/plain-language-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Sue Horner&#39;s blog&nbsp;post</a>.</p>

<h1>How does plain language benefit English language&nbsp;learners?</h1>

<p>English teachers are probably already applying plain language principles to their lessons without even realizing it. We constantly have our audience&mdash;our English language learners&mdash;in mind, and we adjust our speaking and writing to their level by simplifying as much as&nbsp;possible.</p>

<p>However, all teachers and material writers know that it&#39;s not always easy to make things simple and clear! <a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/guidelines/FederalPLGuidelines/TOC.cfm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Plain language principles and guidelines</a> help us deliver a message that our students can&nbsp;understand.</p>

<p>See the Reading and Grammar sections of my post,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-from-the-plain-language-conference/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips from the Plain Language Conference</a>, for some tips specific to English learners and&nbsp;teachers.</p>

<h1>What are some tips from the&nbsp;experts?</h1>

<p>During the Twitter chat, tips came up that could be applied to the ELT classroom. Several tweeters&nbsp;suggested using Twitter to help get people comfortable with plain language&mdash;the limited 140-character window forces&nbsp;people say things simply. Turn tweeting into a fun classroom exercise that will naturally involve plain language. Try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank">How to Tweet</a> lesson for more ideas and&nbsp;examples!</p>

<p>Other people suggested reading what you&#39;ve written out loud because this helps people catch when their sentences are too long.&nbsp;Encourage your students to do this after completing a piece of&nbsp;writing.</p>

<p>Not only should teachers keep their students in mind when developing&nbsp;materials, but students should also keep their readers in mind as they write in English! As&nbsp;they work on&nbsp;their writing, make sure they think about clarity for their readers. When they get a corrected essay&nbsp;back from you, remind them to look over revisions carefully&mdash;review and revisions are all part of the plain language process. Tell them to ask you to explain any revisions that they don&#39;t&nbsp;understand.</p>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Tips for teachers:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-from-the-plain-language-conference/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips from the Plain Language&nbsp;Conference</a></li>
	<li>Plain Language guidelines:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/index.cfm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">plainlanguage.gov</a></li>
	<li>Courses: <a href="http://plainlanguageacademy.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">plainlanguageacademy.com</a></li>
	<li>Twitter: Follow plain language experts&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/keykate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@keykate</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/CherylStephens" target="_blank">@cherylstephens</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/deborahbosley" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@deborahbosley</a></li>
	<li>Writing Lesson: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2053" target="_blank">How to&nbsp;Tweet</a></li>
</ul>


Plain Language Tips for Teachers

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<p>Are you teaching or studying English? As you know, vocabulary can be tricky because of the difficult spelling that isn&rsquo;t always related to the pronunciation of words. Grammar can also be tough to learn. Teaching language learners about <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2316-suffixes" target="_blank">word endings</a> can help them grasp the function of a word in a sentence. Understanding suffixes helps students with spelling (one suffix can be used in many words) and grammar (one suffix has a distinct <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1605" target="_blank">part of speech</a> such as noun, verb, adjective, or&nbsp;adverb).</p>

<p>When you combine <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2316-suffixes" target="_blank">word endings</a> with <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2229-english-sentence-patterns" target="_blank">sentence patterns</a>, the English language makes sense in a whole new way. Students can guess at a word&rsquo;s function, and therefore sentence position, even if they don&rsquo;t yet know the meaning of the word. I&rsquo;ve had success teaching word endings and sentence patterns to students in low-intermediate classes all the way to advanced. It&rsquo;s especially useful for students who take&nbsp;tests like the TOEIC. Try presenting word endings and sentence patterns to your language learners, and expect to see some <em>Aha!</em>&nbsp;moments.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2316" target="_blank"><img alt="Suffixes resource" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/223/content_103_Suffixes_US.png" width="400" /></a></p>

<p class="caption">Grammar &amp; Usage Resources &ndash; <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2316" target="_blank">Suffixes</a></p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<h3>Word Endings (Suffixes)</h3>

<p>Review the suffixes in the chart above. Reassure students that there are not that many common endings to remember for each part of speech (adjectives is the biggest&nbsp;category).</p>

<p>You could practice by writing the endings on the board and having students brainstorm other words with those endings (as a class or in groups). You could also cut up the words in the examples column, shuffle them up, and then have students quiz each other or work together to group them back into the four parts of&nbsp;speech.</p>

<p>Try introducing some <strong>word families</strong> so students can see how useful suffixes really are! Show the examples below and see if your students can come up with&nbsp;others.</p>

<ul>
	<li>import (V), importance (N), important (Adj), importantly (Adv)</li>
	<li>succeed (V), success (N), successful (Adj), successfully (Adv)</li>
	<li>organize (V), organization (N), organized (Adj)</li>
	<li>act (V), actor/actress/action (N), active (Adj), actively (Adv)</li>
</ul>

<p>For more fun practice activities, see our post on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/prefixes/" target="_blank">Prefixes</a> and adapt those activities to&nbsp;suffixes.</p>

<h1>Note on&nbsp;<em>-ly</em></h1>

<p>Make sure you remind students that while <em class="inlineBlock">-ly</em> is usually an adverb ending, there are a few <em class="inlineBlock">-ly</em> adjectives (<em>friendly</em>, <em>costly</em>, <em>daily</em>, <em>weekly</em>, <em>monthly</em>, <em>yearly</em>, <em>hourly</em>, <em>early</em>). They can either memorize these exceptions or learn the adjective and adverb <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-sentence-patterns/">sentence patterns</a> so that they know the part of speech for any <em class="inlineBlock">-ly</em>&nbsp;word.</p>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2316-suffixes" target="_blank">Suffixes Chart &amp; Worksheet</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2523-suffix-flashcards" target="_blank">Suffixes Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1605" target="_blank">Parts of Speech</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2020" target="_blank">How to Write a Simple&nbsp;Sentence</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-sentence-patterns/" target="_blank">English Sentence Patterns</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/common-words-ending-in-ance-ence/" target="_blank">Common Words Ending in -ance &amp;&nbsp;-ence</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/prefixes/" target="_blank">Prefixes</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2521-prefixes" target="_blank">Prefixes Chart &amp; Worksheet</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2522-prefix-flashcards" target="_blank">Prefixes Flashcards</a></li>
</ul>


English Word Endings: Suffixes That Show the Part of Speech

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<h1>On Your Mark</h1>

<p>In honor of National Punctuation Day on Saturday, September 24, today&#39;s blog post will be dedicated to&nbsp;quotation marks. Most people know that double quotation marks are used to quote direct speech, but are there any other common uses? When are&nbsp;single quotation marks&nbsp;used?</p>

<h1>Mark My Words</h1>

<p>In general, double quotations marks are used far more often than single quotation marks. In fact, some people use single marks when they should be using double marks. When in doubt, double&nbsp;up!</p>

<h1>Double Quotation Marks</h1>

<h2>1. Quoted Speech</h2>

<p>This use is a no-brainer. When quoting direct speech in English, use double quotation&nbsp;marks.</p>

<ul>
	<li>My mother said, &quot;Don&#39;t forget to wear a&nbsp;sweater!&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;We can&#39;t be late,&quot;&nbsp;he&nbsp;said.</li>
	<li>&quot;If you don&#39;t mind,&quot;&nbsp;she answered, &quot;I&#39;d rather not&nbsp;say.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<p>Notice that direct speech is usually introduced with a comma.&nbsp;If your students need practice with comma usage, try our writing lesson: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2315">How to Use a&nbsp;Comma</a>.</p>

<h2>2. Emphasis</h2>

<p>Double quotation marks are commonly used&nbsp;for emphasis or to highlight any words or phrases of text.&nbsp;Some people were taught to use single quotation marks for this case, but most publishers and style guides agree that single quotation marks aren&#39;t a great choice. Acceptable alternatives to double quotation marks include putting the word&nbsp;<strong>in bold</strong> or <em>in italics</em>. Be careful not to underline a word you want to emphasize (underlining is reserved for links to URLs&nbsp;nowadays).</p>

<ul>
	<li>We learned the definition of&nbsp;&ldquo;verbing.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>Look up &ldquo;under the&nbsp;gun.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>The US and Canada call it &ldquo;soccer,&rdquo; but the rest of the world calls it&nbsp;&ldquo;football.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Titles</h2>

<p>Many style guides (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>) suggest using double quotation marks for song titles, titles of TV episodes, titles of poems, and titles of&nbsp;sections, features, or pages of a&nbsp;website.</p>

<ul>
	<li>They played &quot;Yellow Submarine&quot;&nbsp;by the&nbsp;Beatles.</li>
	<li>&quot;Blood Money&quot;&nbsp;is his favorite episode of&nbsp;<em>Breaking&nbsp;Bad</em>.</li>
	<li>This website&nbsp;has a great section called &ldquo;Help&nbsp;Center.&rdquo;</li>
</ul>

<p>Notice that these are titles that exist within another container, such as a song on an album, an episode in a series, or a section of a website.&nbsp;Try our writing lesson: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2230">How to Cite a Source</a> for&nbsp;practice (from our&nbsp;<a class="button" href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons">Writing in English</a>&nbsp;section).</p>

<h1>Single Quotation Marks</h1>

<h2>Quotes within Quotes</h2>

<p>Single quotation marks aren&#39;t used very often. In fact, their only common language use is to quote direct speech or emphasize a word(s) within quoted speech (to visually differentiate between the&nbsp;two).</p>

<ul>
	<li>Our teacher&nbsp;said, &ldquo;We will be learning the word &lsquo;application&rsquo;&nbsp;today.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>&quot;Do you know the meaning of the phrase &#39;sleep on it&#39;?&quot;&nbsp;my classmate&nbsp;asked.</li>
	<li>Terry Pratchett said, &ldquo;In the words of the philosopher Sceptum, the founder of my profession: &#39;Am I going to get paid for&nbsp;this?&#39;&rdquo;</li>
</ul>

<h1>In or Out?</h1>

<p>In American and Canadian English, it is common to have end punctuation (periods and commas) for words and phrases&nbsp;<em>inside</em> the end quotation mark. British English prefers it on the outside. However, everyone agrees that complete sentences should have the end punctuation inside the closing quotation&nbsp;mark.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Describe &quot;cognition.&quot;&nbsp;(American and&nbsp;Canadian English)</li>
	<li>Describe &#39;cognition&#39;. (British&nbsp;English)</li>
	<li>She said, &quot;I can&#39;t go out tonight.&quot;&nbsp;(American, Canadian, and&nbsp;British&nbsp;English)</li>
</ul>

<p>American, Canadian, and British English all place other end punctuation (question marks, exclamation marks, colons, and semicolons) inside the quoted speech if it&#39;s part of the quote, and outside if it&#39;s&nbsp;not.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She&nbsp;asked, &quot;Are you coming&nbsp;tonight?&quot;</li>
	<li>Who said &quot;All the world&#39;s a&nbsp;stage&quot;?</li>
</ul>

<h1>Curly or Straight?</h1>

<p>Quotation marks can be straight or curved depending on the font or application&nbsp;you&#39;re typing with. The general consensus is that curly quotes are preferred over straight quotes, but the main thing is not to combine the two types in the same document. There are some good examples of each on the <a href="http://smartquotesforsmartpeople.com">Smart Quotes for Smart People</a>&nbsp;website.</p>


Quotation Marks: Single Vs. Double

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<blockquote>
<p>Make a point of reviewing these common&nbsp;expressions!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Expressions that use the verbs <em>make</em> and <em>do</em> are quite common in English. In many of these expressions, <em>make</em> and <em>do</em> take on a generic action meaning that is tricky to differentiate. English language learners sometimes have great difficulty deciding which verb to use! Luckily, we can divide these expressions into categories such as <em>business</em>, <em>speaking</em>, <em>cooking</em>, <em>work</em>, and <em>housework</em> that makes it much easier to learn which verb to use in which&nbsp;expression.</p>

<h1>Make Vs. Do</h1>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2310" target="_blank"><img alt="Make Vs Do expressions info sheet" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2160/content_Tanya_Make-Vs-Do_Expressions.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2310" target="_blank">Make Vs. Do</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>We&rsquo;ve added a practice exercise to our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Resource</a> on <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2310" target="_blank">Make Vs. Do</a>. Test your students&rsquo; knowledge after reviewing the list of&nbsp;expressions!</p>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>There are more expressions with <em>make</em> than with <em>do</em> in English. When in doubt, <em>make</em> is the best&nbsp;choice!</p>

<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>What verb should we use for a speech or a presentation? <em>Give</em> is the most common choice, followed by <em>make</em>, but <em>do</em> is possible in some cases (when referring to the topic of the&nbsp;speech).</p>

<ul>
	<li>She <strong>gave</strong> a speech on pollution. (best&nbsp;choice)</li>
	<li>She <strong>made</strong> a speech about pollution. (common&nbsp;choice)</li>
	<li>She <strong>did</strong> her speech on pollution. (less common choice,&nbsp;informal)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Bonus</h1>

<p>Ask your students if they know what the expression <strong>make do</strong> means! To <em>make do</em> is to get by or use what you have even if it&rsquo;s not really enough or is barely&nbsp;satisfactory.</p>

<ul>
	<li>We didn&rsquo;t expect to be caught camping in a storm, but we <strong>made do</strong> with the one tarp we&nbsp;had.</li>
</ul>


Make Vs. Do

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<p>Sentences in English follow the pattern <strong>subject - verb - object</strong>. The subject does the action (verb) to the object. But what happens when we don&rsquo;t know who or what did the action? Or what do we do when we want to emphasize the object (recipient of the action) because the subject (doer of the action) isn&rsquo;t important? Situations like these are when the passive voice comes into&nbsp;play.</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Active voice sentence pattern</h5>

<h6>S&nbsp;+&nbsp;V&nbsp;+&nbsp;O</h6>

<p style="text-align: center !important;">The teacher handed out the&nbsp;tests.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Passive voice sentence pattern</h5>

<h6>O&nbsp;+&nbsp;be&nbsp;+&nbsp;p.p.&nbsp;(+&nbsp;by&nbsp;+&nbsp;S)</h6>

<p style="text-align: center !important;">The tests were handed out (by the&nbsp;teacher).</p>
</div>

<p>Is the passive voice common and useful in English? Many grammarians think that the passive is becoming obsolete, and proponents of plain language think it can cause unnecessary confusion. Many editors will change passive sentences back into the active voice. Personally, I believe there is a time and place for the passive voice, and as teachers, we need to introduce it to our students because it is still quite common&nbsp;in English speaking and&nbsp;writing.</p>

<h1>Usage</h1>

<p>The passive is used to place emphasis on the object (recipient) of the verb (action), not the subject (doer) of the&nbsp;verb.</p>

<h1>Pattern</h1>

<h4>be + p.p. / get + p.p.</h4>

<p>The passive is formed from the Be verb (in most tenses&mdash;see examples in the chart below) and the past participle of the main verb. The doer of the verb is usually dropped from the sentence. To include it, use the phrase <em>by + person/thing</em> after the&nbsp;verb.</p>

<p>The passive with the <em>be + p.p.</em> pattern can be formal or informal. For an even more casual, informal style, use <em>get + p.p.</em> We often hear <em>get + p.p.</em> in spoken English. Be careful that your learners don&rsquo;t confuse it with the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-passive-causative">passive causative</a> (<em>have/get + O [thing] +&nbsp;p.p.</em>).</p>

<p>For regular verbs, the past participle is formed by adding <em>-ed</em> to the base verb (e.g., walk &gt; walked). There are also many irregular verbs in English that have past participles that don&#39;t end in <em>-ed</em>&nbsp;(e.g., eat &gt; eaten, go &gt; gone, run &gt; run).&nbsp;For a list of common irregular past participles, see our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2275-irregular-verb-list-present-past-past-participle" target="_blank">Irregular Verb List: Present, Past &amp; Past Participle</a> in our <a href="https://ellii.com/resources">Grammar &amp; Usage</a> resources&nbsp;section.</p>

<h1>Examples</h1>

<ul>
	<li>The dog chased the cat.&nbsp;(active)</li>
	<li>The cat was chased by the dog. / The cat was chased. / The cat got chased.&nbsp;(passive)</li>
	<li>Was the cat chased by the dog? / Was the cat chased? / Did the cat get chased? (passive&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;question)</li>
	<li>The cat wasn&rsquo;t chased by the dog. / The cat wasn&rsquo;t chased. / The cat didn&rsquo;t get chased. (passive &ndash;&nbsp;negative)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Active to Passive Chart</h1>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2276-the-passive-voice"><img alt="Passive voice chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/222/content_Tanya_Passive-Voice_Chart.png" /></a></p>

<p>See this <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2276-the-passive-voice">Passive Voice</a> chart in the <a href="https://ellii.com/resources">Grammar &amp; Usage</a> resources section of the ESL&nbsp;Library.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1635">Passive &ndash; Grammar Stories</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1549">Passive &ndash; When was it&nbsp;sent?</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1550">Passive &ndash; Who was it produced&nbsp;by?</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1601">Passive Voice &ndash; Grammar Practice&nbsp;Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2276-the-passive-voice">Passive Voice &ndash; Active to Passive&nbsp;Chart</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2275-irregular-verb-list-present-past-past-participle">Irregular Verb List: Present, Past &amp; Past&nbsp;Participle</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2247-verb-cards-present-past-past-participle">Verb Cards &ndash; Present, Past &amp; Past&nbsp;Participle</a></li>
</ul>


The Passive Voice

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<h1>Whether or not we go depends on the&nbsp;weather&hellip;</h1>

<p>There are many commonly confused words in English. Words that sound the same, have the same spelling, or have the same meaning can drive our students to distraction. Homophones such as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-its-and-its/" target="_blank">it&#39;s/its</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">too/to/two</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/" target="_blank">they&#39;re/there/their</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">your/you&#39;re</a> are well-known examples of tricky terms.</p>

<p>Today&#39;s words, <em>whether</em> and <em>weather</em>, aren&#39;t used quite as often, but I&#39;ve seen countless students mix them up over the years. The next time one of your students makes an error with&nbsp;<em>whether</em> or <em>weather</em>, present the information below&mdash;your students will thank&nbsp;you!</p>

<h1>Quick Tip</h1>

<p>Get your students to memorize this sentence:&nbsp;<em>You need a sweater in cool weather</em>. Both&nbsp;<em>sweater</em> and&nbsp;<em>weather</em> are spelled with an &quot;a.&quot;</p>

<h1>Whether</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td><em>Whether</em> is used to mean&nbsp;<em>if&nbsp;</em>or to&nbsp;show possibilities or&nbsp;choices.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Structure:</th>
			<td><em>Whether</em> is found at the beginning of a sentence or clause. It is often followed by the phrase&nbsp;<em>or&nbsp;not</em>.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Do you know whether he&#39;s coming&nbsp;tonight?</li>
				<li>Whether or not it rains, we&#39;re playing softball this&nbsp;weekend.</li>
				<li>They won&#39;t go whether or not they&#39;re&nbsp;invited.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Weather</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td><em>Weather</em> is a very common word in English. It represents the conditions outdoors such as sun, rain, snow,&nbsp;etc.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Structure:</th>
			<td><em>Weather&nbsp;</em>is a noun, so it takes a subject or object position in the sentence (before or after the verb). It usually follows the article&nbsp;<em>the</em>.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>How&#39;s the weather where you&nbsp;live?</li>
				<li>If the weather is nice, we will go to the beach on&nbsp;Saturday.</li>
				<li>I don&#39;t like cold&nbsp;weather.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Did You Know?</h1>

<p>The phrase&nbsp;<em>or not</em> can follow&nbsp;<em>whether</em> directly, but it can also follow <i>whether + clause</i>&nbsp;with no change in meaning. It can also be dropped.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I&#39;m not sure <strong>whether or not</strong> I&#39;ll apply for the&nbsp;job.</li>
	<li>I&#39;m not sure <strong>whether</strong> I&#39;ll apply for the job <strong>or&nbsp;not</strong>.</li>
	<li>I&#39;m not sure <strong>whether</strong> I&#39;ll apply for the&nbsp;job.</li>
</ul>


Whether Vs. Weather

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<p>Are your English language learners playing Pok&eacute;mon GO, the craze&nbsp;that&#39;s distracting students worldwide? At ESL&nbsp;Library, we&#39;re working hard to adapt the game into educational activities to maximize your students&#39;&nbsp;interest.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2252" target="_blank">The &quot;Pok&eacute;mon GO&quot;&nbsp;Phenomenon</a> &ndash; Discussion Starters&nbsp;lesson</li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/learn-english-with-pokemon-go/" target="_blank">9 Fun Ways to Practice English with Pok&eacute;mon GO!</a> &ndash; Blog&nbsp;post</li>
</ul>

<p>With all these new materials came many editing questions. How should we style the terms of this game? Where should we capitalize? Should we use accents? Are terms like Pok&eacute; Ball and Pok&eacute;Stop one word or two? Here&#39;s a look at our behind-the-scenes style&nbsp;decisions.</p>

<h1>Stylin&#39;</h1>

<p>When it comes to matters of style, I often consult trusted&nbsp;style guides and dictionaries to make my decisions. At ESL&nbsp;Library, we rely on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em></a>,&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Merriam-Webster</a>, </em>and <a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>Oxford Dictionaries</em></a>. The problem with a new trend is that there aren&#39;t any entries about it&nbsp;yet! The <a href="https://www.apstylebook.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">AP&nbsp;Stylebook</a> has already made a decision about the game title (Pokemon Go, without the accent and with a lowercase &quot;o&quot;), but clearly <a href="http://mashable.com/2016/07/12/pokemon-spelling-ap-style/#xJlI1Gff9ZqF" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">not everyone&nbsp;agrees</a>.</p>

<p>Shouldn&#39;t we follow how <a href="http://pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Niantic</a>, the makers of Pok&eacute;mon GO, style the game title? Following how companies choose to style terms is a good rule of thumb (e.g., <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tim-hortons-hortons-or-hortons-donut-or-doughnut/" target="_blank">Tim Hortons, not Horton&#39;s</a>, for the restaurant name). However, this&nbsp;isn&#39;t always guaranteed to give you the best style. For example, a government site might choose to capitalize &quot;president&quot;&nbsp;in every instance, whereas most style guides agree that it should only be capitalized directly before a name and not elsewhere (e.g.,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/when-do-we-capitalize-president/" target="_blank">&quot;President Lincoln&quot;&nbsp;vs. &quot;The president&nbsp;said&hellip;&quot;</a>).</p>

<p>Our house style is to follow what&nbsp;<em>Chicago</em> stipulates. Failing that, we often go with what the company itself has chosen. In the case of Pok&eacute;mon GO, the following rules are based on Niantic&#39;s style&nbsp;choices.</p>

<h1>Accents</h1>

<p>Pok&eacute;mon or Pokemon? While AP may have chosen to forego the accent because people using computers may not always bother to type it in while searching, we agree with the dissenters and choose to follow Nintendo&#39;s and Niantic&#39;s spelling with the accent. This applies to both the game title and the characters themselves.&nbsp;As many have pointed out, the game and the characters have been around for years now and have traditionally been spelled with the&nbsp;accent.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Many people are playing Pok&eacute;mon&nbsp;GO.</li>
	<li>I caught three Pok&eacute;mon&nbsp;today.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Decision: Pok&eacute;mon</strong></p>

<h1>Capitalization</h1>

<ol class="spaced-list">
	<li>GO or Go? In our materials, we&#39;ve chosen to follow Niantic&#39;s style decision of capitalizing both letters in the game name: Pok&eacute;mon&nbsp;GO.</li>
	<li>Pok&eacute;mon or pok&eacute;mon? The game name was an easy choice. Titles are traditionally capitalized, so an uppercase &quot;P&quot;&nbsp;makes perfect sense: Pok&eacute;mon GO. But what about for the characters? Should we capitalize when referring to a specific Pok&eacute;mon (e.g., <em>The strange-looking Pok&eacute;mon stared&nbsp;at me</em>) but not when referring to them in general (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>I caught several pok&eacute;mon yesterday</em>).&nbsp;This was a&nbsp;tougher decision because the previous examples make sense (to use an initial capital letter for a name but a lowercase letter for a category in general), but again, we ultimately followed the company&#39;s decision to use an initial capital&nbsp;letter for every&nbsp;instance.
	<ul class="spaced-list">
		<li>The strange-looking Pok&eacute;mon stared&nbsp;at&nbsp;me.</li>
		<li>I caught several Pok&eacute;mon&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	<li>Egg&nbsp;or eggs? For other common terms in the Pok&eacute;mon GO world, we&#39;ve also followed Niantic&#39;s decisions to use an initial uppercase letter (Gym, Egg, Trainer, etc.). See the end of this post for a longer&nbsp;list.</li>
</ol>

<p><strong>Decisions: Pok&eacute;mon GO / Pok&eacute;mon / Egg</strong></p>

<h1>Singular or Plural</h1>

<p>Two Pok&eacute;mon or two Pok&eacute;mons? This decision was also tough because I&#39;ve seen many instances of both online. Again, Niantic chose the singular Pok&eacute;mon even for plural instances. This decision sits well with me, because it&#39;s also what we&#39;ve chosen to do for &quot;emoji&quot;&nbsp;(<em>one emoji, two emoji</em>). Japanese words that are borrowed into English often follow this&nbsp;rule.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Did you see that Pok&eacute;mon by the bus&nbsp;stop?</li>
	<li>Did you see those Pok&eacute;mon by the bus&nbsp;stop?</li>
	<li>That Pok&eacute;mon is so&nbsp;cute!</li>
	<li>Those Pok&eacute;mon are so&nbsp;cute!</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Decisions: Pok&eacute;mon for singular and&nbsp;plural</strong></p>

<h1>One Word or Two</h1>

<p>Pok&eacute; Ball, Pok&eacute;Ball, or Pok&eacute;ball? Pok&eacute; Stop, Pok&eacute;Stop, or Pok&eacute;stop? Though slightly counter-intuitive, we&#39;re choosing to follow&nbsp;Niantic&#39;s style decisions. They have Pok&eacute; Ball as two words and Pok&eacute;Stop as one word with a capital &quot;S&quot;&nbsp;in the middle of the&nbsp;word.</p>

<p><strong>Decisions: Pok&eacute;&nbsp;Ball/ Pok&eacute;Stop</strong></p>

<h1>List</h1>

<p>The following terms are words we&#39;ve used in our lesson and blog posts, and they are capitalized and accented according to the style decisions mentioned&nbsp;above.</p>

<p>For definitions of the following terms, see our Discussion Starters lesson: <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2252" target="_blank">The &quot;Pok&eacute;mon&nbsp;GO&quot;&nbsp;Phenomenon</a></p>

<ul>
	<li>Pok&eacute;mon GO</li>
	<li>Pok&eacute;mon</li>
	<li>Pok&eacute; Ball</li>
	<li>Pok&eacute;Stop</li>
	<li>Egg</li>
	<li>Trainer</li>
	<li>Gym</li>
	<li>Type</li>
	<li>Evolution</li>
	<li>Incense</li>
	<li>Level Up</li>
	<li>CP</li>
	<li>Gotta catch &#39;em&nbsp;all!</li>
</ul>

<p>Do you agree with our style decisions? Let us know your opinion in the comments section&nbsp;below!</p>


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Tanya Trusler