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

Grammar & Usage

<h3>Happy National Punctuation Day!</h3>

<p><a href="http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com">National Punctuation Day</a> is celebrated on September&nbsp;24<sup>&nbsp;</sup>in the US, and it is also recognized in other countries such as Canada. In honor of this language-related holiday, I decided to write about&nbsp;punctuation!</p>

<p>The&nbsp;<strong>em dash</strong>&nbsp;is fairly&nbsp;common in printed materials and online, but neither English speakers nor learners are usually taught how to use this&nbsp;symbol. I certainly can&#39;t recall ever teaching it to my students. Only when I was studying to become an editor did I fully learn the correct usage. I&#39;ll share what I&#39;ve learned in the hopes that both teachers and students will benefit!</p>

<h2>What is an em dash?</h2>

<p>An em dash is an elongated hyphen (about the length of three hyphens) that is used for specific purposes. Here&rsquo;s how the dash family looks:</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1812/content_Tanya_Dash-Family_Chart.jpg" /></p>

<h2>What is the em dash used for?</h2>

<p>The em dash is used primarily for joining phrases or clauses together instead of a semicolon, colon, commas, or parentheses. Its purpose is to set some information apart as an explanation or elaboration. It is also used&nbsp;for emphasis.</p>

<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>She was worried about him&mdash;he didn&rsquo;t seem very happy. (<em>explanation, used instead of a semicolon</em>)</li>
	<li>It&rsquo;s that time of year again&mdash;time to cram for final exams. (<em>explanation, used instead of a colon</em>)</li>
	<li>The kiwi bird&mdash;a flightless, nocturnal bird&mdash;is only native to New Zealand. (<em>elaboration, used instead of commas or parentheses</em>)</li>
	<li>Three of my friends&mdash;Sarah, Michelle, and Tracy&mdash;are coming to my party. (<em>elaboration, used instead of commas or parentheses</em>)</li>
	<li>His new car&mdash;and what a car!&mdash;was a Lamborghini. (<em>emphasis, used instead of parentheses</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h2>How did the em dash get its name?</h2>

<p>The em dash got its name from the olden days of typesetting. Back before the computer era, when publishers wanted to use this dash, they would make it the same length as the &ldquo;m&rdquo; character length of the typeset block. In most modern fonts, too, the em dash is the same length as the letter &ldquo;m&rdquo; or &ldquo;M.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>Where can you find it on your computer?</h2>

<p>The em dash is easy to make using keyboard shortcuts. On a Mac, hold down <strong>shift +&nbsp;option +&nbsp;hyphen</strong>. On a PC, hold down the <strong>Alt key and type 0151</strong>.</p>

<h2>Should there be spaces around the em dash?</h2>

<p>Though it is optional, it seems like the slight majority of people choose <strong>not to put spaces</strong> around the em dash. Some style guides, such as <em>the</em> <em>Chicago Manual of Style</em>, agree.</p>

<p><strong>Examples:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>Three of my friends&mdash;Sarah, Michelle, and Tracy&mdash;are coming to my party. (without&nbsp;spaces)</li>
	<li>Three of my friends &mdash; Sarah, Michelle, and Tracy &mdash; are coming to my party. (with spaces)</li>
</ul>

<p>I suggest teaching students not to use spaces since this is a little more common. For more advanced students, you can tell them that it is optional, and challenge them to find examples of both in printed materials or&nbsp;online.</p>

<p>For editors, it depends on the company&#39;s house style. Check the style guide that the company uses to see what&rsquo;s recommended. At ESL Library, for example, we don&rsquo;t use spaces.</p>

<p><strong>Source: </strong><em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16<sup>th</sup> edition, sections 6.82&ndash;6.89.</p>


Using the Em Dash Correctly

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<blockquote>
<p>Students learn more quickly when they can visualize a&nbsp;concept&hellip;</p>
</blockquote>

<p><img alt="Chart comparing the simple future and future progressive" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/30/content_Tanya_Simple-Future-Vs-Future-Progressive_Chart.png" /></p>

<p>The <strong>simple future</strong> can be tricky for English students to learn because there are so many ways to express the future in English. Unlike the simple past, which has one basic form, the simple future can be expressed by using <strong>will + base verb</strong>, <strong>be going to + base verb</strong>, or <strong>be + ‑ing verb</strong>. (See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/simple-future-teaching-the-three-forms/" title="Simple Future: Teaching the Three Forms">Simple Future: Teaching the Three Forms</a> for complete explanations, practice lessons, and fun activities to do with your&nbsp;students.)</p>

<p>Even though it&rsquo;s a bit tricky, all three uses are common, so students quickly become familiar with the simple future as they learn&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>But what about the <strong>future progressive</strong> (also known as the <strong>future continuous</strong>)? This structure is not commonly used in English, so students don&rsquo;t come across it very often. However, higher‑level textbooks deal with this form, as do tests like the TOEIC. It is also used occasionally in English writing and speaking, so high‑intermediate and advanced students need to learn it at some&nbsp;point.</p>

<p>Although it is rarely used and thus harder to grasp, presenting the future progressive using the method outlined below will make it easier for your students. Section&nbsp;6, <strong>Tricks</strong>, could be especially&nbsp;helpful!</p>

<h1>Simple Future</h1>

<p>See detailed explanations of the three future forms, examples, practice lessons, and fun activities in my blog post <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/simple-future-teaching-the-three-forms/" title="Simple Future: Teaching the Three Forms">Simple Future: Teaching the Three&nbsp;Forms</a>.</p>

<h1>Future Progressive</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<h4>will + be + ‑ing verb</h4>

<p>The future progressive is formed by taking the <strong>modal</strong> <strong>will</strong>, the <strong>base form of the verb Be</strong>, and an <strong>action verb + ‑ing</strong>. Luckily, students don&rsquo;t have to worry about subject&ndash;verb agreement because the Be verb doesn&rsquo;t change forms after a&nbsp;modal.</p>

<p>What about the other two future forms? We can never use <strong>be + ‑ing verb</strong> instead of <strong>will</strong> (<em>She is being eating dinner</em> is clearly incorrect), but it is possible to use&nbsp;<strong>be going to</strong> instead of <strong>will</strong> (<em>She is going to be eating dinner</em>). Most people would agree that it&rsquo;s a bit of a mouthful&mdash;sticking to&nbsp;<strong>will</strong> is best (<em>She will be eating&nbsp;dinner</em>).</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>The function of the future progressive is to show <strong>a continuing (long) action getting interrupted by a short future action</strong>. Using the words <em>long</em> and <em>short</em> helps students understand this use better. The reason the future progressive isn&rsquo;t used that often is because it&rsquo;s a little strange to try to predict what will happen exactly at a given moment in the future. Unlike the past, where we know what happened already, we don&rsquo;t usually know for certain what will happen in the&nbsp;future.</p>

<h2>3. Time Marker</h2>

<p>The time marker <strong>when</strong> is common for this&nbsp;case.</p>

<h2>4. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>will be sleeping</strong> when you <strong>arrive</strong> home from work next Friday&nbsp;night.</li>
	<li>They <strong>will be doing</strong> presentations in class when the practice fire alarm <strong>rings</strong> at 2:00&nbsp;pm.</li>
	<li>The mayor <strong>will be finishing up</strong> her work when the power <strong>goes out</strong> at the scheduled time&nbsp;tomorrow.</li>
</ul>

<h2>5. Notes</h2>

<h3>Note #1</h3>

<p>Don&rsquo;t forget to remind students that you can start the sentences with either the <strong>independent clause</strong> (a Subject-Verb[-Object] structure that can stand alone) OR the <strong>dependent clause</strong> (that begins with the adverb &quot;when&quot; and can&rsquo;t stand alone) with <strong>no difference in meaning</strong>. Students shouldn&rsquo;t memorize the future progressive as always occurring first in the sentence because this isn&rsquo;t always the case. Also, remind students that a <strong>comma</strong> must be used when a dependent clause begins a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>When you <strong>arrive</strong> home from work next Friday night, I <strong>will be&nbsp;sleeping</strong>.</li>
	<li>When the power <strong>goes out</strong> at the scheduled time tomorrow, the mayor <strong>will be finishing up</strong> her&nbsp;work.</li>
	<li>They <strong>will be doing</strong> presentations in&nbsp;class when the practice fire alarm <strong>rings</strong> at 2:00&nbsp;pm.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Note #2</h3>

<p>Be sure to include some examples with a <strong>third person singular subject</strong> so that students realize that the regular simple present subject&ndash;verb agreement rules must be followed for the verb in the dependent clause. (I.e., the third person singular pronouns <em>he/she/it</em>, singular count nouns, and non‑count nouns all take <strong class="inlineBlock">-s</strong> on the end of the&nbsp;verb.)</p>

<h3>Note #3</h3>

<p>It&rsquo;s also possible to use the future progressive when a clock time is mentioned instead of a dependent&nbsp;clause.</p>

<ul>
	<li>What <strong>will</strong> you<strong> be doing</strong> at 8:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;tonight? (The meaning is: <em>What will you be doing when it is 8:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;tonight?</em>)</li>
	<li>I <strong>will be studying</strong> at 8:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;tonight. (The meaning is: <em>I will be studying when it is 8:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;tonight.</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Note #4</h3>

<p>Another less common use of the future progressive is to emphasize two long actions. The time marker <strong>while</strong>, followed by a simple present verb, can be used. Likewise, two future progressive verbs can be joined by a conjunction such as &quot;and.&quot; Note that all four sentences below have the same&nbsp;meaning.</p>

<ul>
	<li>He <strong>will be cleaning</strong> while she&nbsp;<strong>cooks</strong>.</li>
	<li>While she <strong>cooks</strong>, he <strong>will be&nbsp;cleaning</strong>.</li>
	<li>He <strong>will be cleaning</strong> and she <strong>will be&nbsp;cooking</strong>.</li>
	<li>She <strong>will be cooking</strong> and he <strong>will be&nbsp;cleaning</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>6. Tricks</h2>

<h3>Trick #1</h3>

<p>Use the expression &ldquo;<strong>NO 2 WILLS</strong>&rdquo; to remind students that they will never see two future forms used in the same sentence (if it contains one independent and one dependent clause). Chant it like a mantra in your class&mdash;it really sticks in students&rsquo; heads and helps them remember to almost always use a <strong>future form in the independent clause</strong> and a <strong>present form in the dependent clause</strong>. (See an exception in Note&nbsp;#4&nbsp;above.)</p>

<p>Remind students that even though the verb in the dependent clause has a simple present structure, <strong>both clauses have a future meaning</strong>. Point to the diagram at the beginning of this blog post as an example. This is true for all future&nbsp;tenses!</p>

<h3>Trick #2</h3>

<p>Have students memorize common &ldquo;short&rdquo; action verbs so they&rsquo;ll easily recognize when the future progressive is needed. Short action verbs include: <em>start</em>, <em>begin</em>, <em>call</em>, <em>arrive</em>, <em>ring</em>, <em>come</em>, <em>land</em>, <em>hit</em>, and <em>go out</em> (as in <em>the power goes out</em> or <em>the lights go&nbsp;out</em>).</p>

<h3>Trick #3</h3>

<p>If students have learned the past progressive before (and they do usually learn the past progressive before the future progressive since it&rsquo;s more common), remind them that the future progressive has the same function as the past progressive. For more information or as a comparison, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/simple-past-vs-past-progressive/" title="Simple Past Vs. Past Progressive">Simple Past Vs. Past&nbsp;Progressive</a>.</p>

<h2>7. Practice Lessons</h2>

<p>Get some simple future practice with our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1596">Simple Future</a> lesson (Grammar Practice Worksheets), our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1638">Simple Future Stories</a> lesson (Grammar Stories), and our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1568" title="Future">Future &ndash; What are you going to do tonight?</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1567">Future - Where are you going to go?</a> lessons (Basic Grammar&nbsp;Sentences).</p>

<p>Practice the future progressive in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2055">Future Progressive</a> lesson (Grammar Practice Worksheets) and compare it with the simple future in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1963">Verb Tense Review 1 &ndash; The Simple Tenses</a>&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<p>How will your students be feeling when they finally understand the future progressive? Pretty darn good, I&rsquo;m&nbsp;guessing!</p>


Simple Future Vs. Future Progressive

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<h2>I&rsquo;m done for now...</h2>

<p>How often do we hear students say &ldquo;I&rsquo;m done&rdquo; to mean <em>I&rsquo;m finished</em>? How often do we say it ourselves? It&rsquo;s so common that I, for one, have never really stopped to think about it. Recently, though, someone mentioned that <em>I&rsquo;m done</em> is incorrect grammar. I decided to look into this expression to see what others thought.</p>

<h2>Is It a Passive Verb or an Adjective?</h2>

<p>When we look closely at the parts, we can see<em> Be</em> with the past participle form of<em> Do</em>. This construction is used for two cases in English: the passive voice and adjectives.</p>

<p>The passive voice occurs when the subject is not the one who is performing the action. In other words, the meaning of &ldquo;by someone&rdquo; is included in the verb. (E.g., <em>The book was checked out of the library [by someone].</em>) Since we can&rsquo;t say<em> I&rsquo;m done (by someone)</em>, we can safely assume that this construction isn&rsquo;t the passive voice.</p>

<p>What about an adjective? In English, participial adjectives are common for feelings (e.g., <em>I&rsquo;m embarrassed, I&rsquo;m frightened,</em> etc.). Usually these adjectives involve feelings, so <em>done</em> doesn&rsquo;t exactly fit into this category. However, as we all know, English has many exceptions, and classifying <em>done</em>&nbsp;as an adjective when the meaning is&nbsp;<em>finished&nbsp;</em>is exactly what most dictionaries and reference guides do. Adjective it is!</p>

<h2>What Do the Reference Guides Say?</h2>

<h3>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage:</h3>

<p dir="ltr"><em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage</em> has a comprehensive entry for <em>done</em> used in this sense. They explain that <em>done</em> is widely criticized for reasons that are not clear. In fact, <em>done</em> as an adjective with the meaning of <em>finished</em>&nbsp;has been in use since the fourteenth&nbsp;century, and <em>be done</em>, specifically, dates back to the eighteen&nbsp;century.&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s</em> stance is clear:</p>

<h3 style="text-align: center;">&ldquo;The&nbsp;construction is standard.&rdquo;</h3>

<p><em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s</em> also mentions that <em>finished</em> has been used with <em>be</em> since the later eighteenth&nbsp;century. So it seems as if both constructions came into being around the same time.</p>

<h3>Google Ngram Viewer:</h3>

<p dir="ltr">When looking up <em>I&rsquo;m done</em> and <em>I&rsquo;m finished</em> in books between 1920&nbsp;and 2000, we can see that<em> I&rsquo;m done</em> has been used more often than <em>I&rsquo;m finished</em> except between 1970 and 1990. After 1990, the popularity of<em> I&rsquo;m done</em> is clear.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1810/content_Screen_Shot_2021-10-19_at_4.39.27_PM.png" style="width: 500px; height: 362px;" /></p>

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>While both&nbsp;<em>I&rsquo;m done</em> and <em>I&rsquo;m finished</em> are correct, common, and generally accepted, <em>I&#39;m done</em> is by far the more popular choice. Some grammar sticklers might argue that the best construction is <em>I have finished</em>, but this sounds a bit formal and stuffy in my opinion. I&#39;m comfortable teaching my students that <em>I&rsquo;m done</em> is correct.</p>


Is It Correct to Say "I'm Done"?

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<h3>How will you teach the future tense to your&nbsp;students?</h3>

<p>The simple future is a bit more complicated than the other simple tenses in English. We have more than one way of making a future sentence. We can use <strong>will</strong> + <strong>base verb</strong>, <strong>be going to</strong> + <strong>base verb</strong>, or <strong>be + <span class="inlineBlock">-ing</span> verb</strong> (the present progressive&nbsp;form).</p>

<p>What&rsquo;s the difference between these forms? How can we teach them to our students? In this post you&rsquo;ll find information on the three future forms, fun activities using the future (for warm‑ups or fillers), and links to related&nbsp;lessons.</p>

<h1>Will + Base&nbsp;Verb</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<p>The future modal <strong>will</strong> is used with the <strong>base form of the&nbsp;verb</strong>.</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>This form is used when you are deciding future plans <em>at the moment</em>. For example, if someone invited you to go to a party next Friday, you could answer, &ldquo;<em>Sure, I&rsquo;ll go.</em>&rdquo; <strong>Will + base verb</strong> is generally considered to be&nbsp;more <em>formal</em> than <strong>be going to + base&nbsp;verb</strong>.</p>

<h2>3. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>A: Do you want to go to the movies later? B: Sure, I<strong>&rsquo;ll&nbsp;go</strong>!</li>
	<li>She <strong>will do</strong> whatever her mother tells her to&nbsp;do.</li>
	<li>When you enter the room on Monday, you<strong>&rsquo;ll see</strong> a sign‑up sheet on the&nbsp;table.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Be Going To + Base&nbsp;Verb</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<p>The modal expression <strong>be going to</strong> is used with the <strong>base form of the verb</strong>. The <strong>be</strong> verb is conjugated according to the subject (<em>am</em>, <em>are</em>,&nbsp;<em>is</em>).</p>

<h3>Pronunciation Note</h3>

<p>It&rsquo;s important to tell students that <strong>going to</strong> is often reduced to <strong>gonna</strong>. Remind them that while the reduced form is very common in speaking, it&rsquo;s not often used in writing (except in casual writing such as a text message to a friend). Most students think it&rsquo;s fun to practice reduced forms, so encourage them to use <strong>gonna</strong> in&nbsp;speech.</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>This form is used when plans have <em>already been made</em> in advance. For example, if you have plans to go camping next weekend and someone asks you what you are going to do, you could answer, &ldquo;<em>I&rsquo;m going to go camping next weekend.</em>&rdquo; <strong>Be going to + base verb</strong> is considered to be more <em>casual</em> than <strong>will + base&nbsp;verb</strong>.</p>

<h2>3. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>He<strong>&rsquo;s going to study</strong> all night for his&nbsp;test.</li>
	<li>They<strong>&rsquo;re going to go</strong> to Disneyland next&nbsp;spring.</li>
	<li>I <strong>am</strong> definitely <strong>going to call</strong> you&nbsp;tomorrow.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Be + -ing Verb (Present&nbsp;Progressive)</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<p>The present progressive (<strong>be</strong> and the <strong>-ing form of the verb</strong>) can also be used to indicate a future time. The <strong>be</strong> verb is conjugated according to the subject (<em>am</em>, <em>are</em>,&nbsp;<em>is</em>).</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>Occasionally, English speakers use the present progressive as a future form. It is used the same way as <strong>be going to</strong>&mdash;when plans are <em>already made</em>. For example, if you have plans to go camping next weekend and someone asks you what you are going to do, you could answer, &ldquo;<em>I&rsquo;m going camping next weekend.</em>&rdquo; The present progressive is a <em>casual</em> way of forming the future (slightly more casual than <strong>be going to + base verb</strong>, in my&nbsp;opinion).</p>

<h2>3. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>My roommate<strong> is going</strong> to Hawaii in&nbsp;November.</li>
	<li>We<strong>&rsquo;re planning</strong> to discuss this in the next&nbsp;meeting.</li>
	<li>I<strong>&rsquo;m starting</strong> a new book&nbsp;tomorrow.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Two Future Verbs</h1>

<p>What happens when we use two future verbs in the same&nbsp;sentence?</p>

<p>Unlike the other simple tenses, English does NOT use a future form twice in most sentences. The <strong>future form</strong> is used in the <em>independent clause</em> and the <strong>simple present</strong> is used in the <em>dependent&nbsp;clause</em>.</p>

<p>Make sure students realize that the order of the clauses can change in a sentence with no difference in meaning, so the best way to know which clause is dependent (and therefore requires a <strong>simple&nbsp;present</strong> verb) is to look for the <strong>adverb of time</strong> (<em>when</em>, <em>while</em>,&nbsp;etc.).</p>

<p>Remind students that because the form in the dependent clause is the <strong>simple present</strong>, third person singular subjects take a verb ending in&nbsp;<strong>‑s</strong>.</p>

<p>You can also remind students to use a <strong>comma</strong> after a dependent clause when it is used to begin a sentence (see the last example&nbsp;below).</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>will call</strong> you when I <strong>arrive</strong> in Las Vegas&nbsp;tomorrow.</li>
	<li>She <strong>is going to apply</strong> to university when she&nbsp;<strong>graduates</strong>.</li>
	<li>When my friend <strong>comes</strong> over next weekend, we<strong>&rsquo;re going to study</strong> for the final&nbsp;exam.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Fun Activities</h1>

<h2>1. Goals</h2>

<p>Goal-setting is a great activity to practice the future. Have students interview each other about their future goals and plans. Make sure they use <strong>be going to + base verb</strong> and/or the <strong>be + <span class="inlineBlock">-ing</span> verb</strong>. Have them practice saying&nbsp;&ldquo;gonna.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>2. Fortunes</h2>

<p>Get students to practice using <strong>will + base verb</strong> by telling each other&rsquo;s fortunes. They can write fortunes on pieces of paper, pass them around, and read out their fortunes to each other. Or you could find a simple palm-reading task online (such as <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Read-Palms" target="_blank" title="Reading Palms">Wiki&rsquo;s guide</a>) and have partners read each other&rsquo;s life lines, head lines, and heart&nbsp;lines.</p>

<h2>3. Travel Plans</h2>

<p>Put students into small groups and have them plan an imaginary trip. They can decide where to go, how long they&rsquo;ll stay, what they&rsquo;ll bring, what they&rsquo;ll do, etc. During their planning as they make decisions, have them use <strong>will + base verb</strong>. Later, when they report their trips to the class, they can use <strong>be going to + base verb</strong> or <strong>be + ‑ing verb</strong> to describe the plans they&rsquo;ve already&nbsp;made.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1596">Simple Future</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2502">Simple Future</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/2810">Simple Future &ndash; Future</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/2811">Simple Future &ndash; Be Going To</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1638">Simple Future Stories</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1568">Future &ndash; What are you going to do tonight?</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1567">Future &ndash; Where are you going to go?</a></li>
</ul>


Simple Future: Teaching the Three Forms

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<blockquote>
<p>Who&rsquo;s going to tell us whose idea this&nbsp;was?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>English has many tricky homophones, like <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">too, to, and two</a>; <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/" target="_blank">they&rsquo;re, there, and their</a>; and <a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">you&rsquo;re and your</a>. Today we&rsquo;ll focus on <strong>who&rsquo;s and whose</strong>, which are particularly confusing when used in adjective clauses. Help your students remember which one to use by presenting these terms using the method&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>Who&rsquo;s</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>Who&#39;s </em>is short for <em>who is</em> (or, more infrequently,<em> who has</em>). It involves a subject pronoun used for one person (usually in a question or adjective clause) and a third person singular&nbsp;verb.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Who&rsquo;s</em> usually comes at the<strong> beginning of a sentence</strong> when it&rsquo;s a question. For adjective clauses, <em>who&rsquo;s</em> comes <strong>after the subject or object noun it&rsquo;s describing</strong>. For noun clauses, <em>who&rsquo;s</em> comes at the <strong>beginning of a sentence</strong> or <strong>after the main subject and&nbsp;verb</strong>.</p>

<h2>Tricks</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Say&nbsp;<em>who is</em>&nbsp;to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s possible to say&nbsp;<em>who is</em>, write&nbsp;<em>who&rsquo;s</em>, not&nbsp;<em>whose</em>.</li>
	<li>Look at the&nbsp;<strong>noun</strong>&nbsp;that follows. If there is an&nbsp;<strong>article</strong>&nbsp;like&nbsp;<em>a</em>,&nbsp;<em>an</em>, or&nbsp;<em>the</em>, use&nbsp;<em>who&rsquo;s</em>. Also, if there is&nbsp;<strong>no noun</strong>, use&nbsp;<em>who&rsquo;s</em>.</li>
</ol>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Who&rsquo;s</strong>&nbsp;coming to the party tonight? (<em>Who is</em>, no noun following)</li>
	<li>My friend&nbsp;<strong>who&rsquo;s</strong>&nbsp;a nurse said that I had the flu. (<em>who is</em>, followed by a noun with article a)</li>
	<li>The lead singer,&nbsp;<strong>who&rsquo;s</strong>&nbsp;famous for his antics onstage, jumped into the crowd. (<em>who is</em>, no noun following)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Whose</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>Whose</em> is a&nbsp;possessive adjective that means &ldquo;belonging to or associated with a person or&nbsp;people.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Whose</em> has the same structure as <em>who&rsquo;s</em>, which is why it can be confusing. Like <em>who&rsquo;s</em>, <em>whose</em> usually comes at the <strong>beginning of a sentence</strong> when it&rsquo;s a question, <strong>after the subject or object noun it&rsquo;s describing</strong> in adjective clauses, and at the <strong>beginning of a sentence</strong> or <strong>after the main subject and verb</strong> for noun&nbsp;clauses.</p>

<h2>Tricks</h2>

<ol>
	<li>Say&nbsp;<em>who is</em>&nbsp;to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s not possible to say&nbsp;<em>who is</em>, write&nbsp;<em>whose</em>, not&nbsp;<em>who&rsquo;s</em>.</li>
	<li>Look at the&nbsp;<strong>noun</strong>&nbsp;that follows the term. If there is&nbsp;<strong>no article</strong>&nbsp;like&nbsp;<em>a</em>,&nbsp;<em>an</em>, or&nbsp;<em>the</em>, use&nbsp;<em>whose</em>. Also,&nbsp;<em>whose</em>&nbsp;<strong>must be followed by a noun</strong>. So if there is no noun, use&nbsp;<em>who&rsquo;s.</em></li>
</ol>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Our mayor, <strong>whose</strong> name I can never remember, set a city-wide curfew. (not <em>who is name</em>, followed by a noun with no&nbsp;article)</li>
	<li>The person <strong>whose</strong> car is parked illegally in front should immediately move it. (not <em>who is car</em>, followed by a noun with no&nbsp;article)</li>
	<li><strong>Whose</strong> shoes are these? (not <em>who is shoes</em>, followed by a noun with no&nbsp;article)</li>
</ul>

<p>Hope this helped everyone whose brains were muddled with these&nbsp;terms,</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Teaching Tips: Who's & Whose

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<blockquote>
<p>Singular or plural&hellip;which is which?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>English plurals are usually easy for students to form&mdash;just add <strong>‑s</strong> to the end of the singular word. But, like almost all of the rules in English grammar, there are exceptions. Often these exceptions come from words that are borrowed from other languages such as Greek or Latin. The head writer at ESL&nbsp;Library recently asked me about <strong>phenomenon</strong> and <strong>phenomena</strong>, and I was surprised that there was more to it than simply singular vs. plural. I thought I&rsquo;d investigate <strong>medium</strong> and <strong>media</strong> while I was at it, too, since <strong>media</strong> is a word frequently used these&nbsp;days.</p>

<h1>Phenomenon Vs. Phenomena</h1>

<p>Borrowed from Greek, the English word <strong>phenomenon</strong> is the most common <strong>singular</strong> form and <strong>phenomena</strong> is the most common <strong>plural</strong> form. In fact, both the <em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary</em> and the <em>Chicago Manual of Style</em> list only these two&nbsp;entries.</p>

<p>However, both <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary</em> and <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage</em> go into greater detail on the usage and history of the word. They list the possible plural forms as <strong>phenomena</strong> (the much more common form) when the meaning is &quot;an observable fact or event&quot; but <strong>phenomenons</strong> when the meaning is &quot;an exceptional, unusual, or abnormal person, things, or&nbsp;occurrence.&quot;</p>

<p>Did you know that <strong>phenomena</strong> has been in use as a singular form, primarily in speech, since 1576? How about <strong>phenomenas</strong> as a plural form since 1635? <em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage</em> suggests that the singular <strong>phenomena</strong> is no more irregular than the words &quot;agenda&quot; and &quot;stamina,&quot; which are clearly accepted as singular. However, they don&rsquo;t recommend using <strong>phenomena</strong> as a singular form until it becomes much more common in speech and print, if it ever does. Let&rsquo;s keep the confusion to a minimum!</p>

<h2>My Conclusion</h2>

<p>Majority rules: Use <strong>phenomenon</strong> <strong>for the singular</strong> and <strong>phenomena for the plural</strong>, at least for&nbsp;now!</p>

<h1>Medium Vs. Media</h1>

<p>Borrowed from Latin, the English words <strong>medium</strong> and <strong>media</strong> are tricky because they have more than one meaning. In most meanings outside of&nbsp;&quot;mass media,&quot; the singular form is <strong>medium</strong> and the plural is <strong>media</strong>. But our students are likely primarily concerned with the &quot;mass media&quot; (TV, radio, social media, etc.) meaning. What are the forms for this case? Here&rsquo;s where there is a bit of disagreement, which mostly stems from whether you look at <strong>media</strong> as a plural count noun (that takes a plural verb form) or a non-count noun (that takes a singular verb&nbsp;form).</p>

<ul>
	<li>The <em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary</em> says that <strong>media</strong> can be treated as <strong>singular or plural</strong> (i.e.,<em> the media is&hellip;</em>, <em>the media&nbsp;are&hellip;</em>).</li>
	<li>The <em>Chicago Manual of Style</em> says that <strong>media</strong> is a <strong>plural</strong> form (i.e., <em>the media are&hellip;</em>).</li>
	<li><em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary</em> says that <strong>media</strong> is<strong> singular or plural</strong> in construction (i.e., <em>the media is&hellip;</em>, <em>the media are&hellip;</em>).</li>
	<li><em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage</em> goes into greater detail, saying that the non-count use (i.e., <strong>singular</strong> verb) of <strong>media</strong> seems to be on the rise, similar to the non-count use of the word&nbsp;<em>data</em>. However, they also note that, for all meanings, <strong>media</strong> as a <strong>plural</strong> count noun or non-count noun with a <strong>plural</strong> verb is still far more common than <strong>media</strong> as a <strong>singular</strong> count noun or non-count noun with a <strong>singular</strong> verb. Who&nbsp;knew?</li>
</ul>

<p>And, as a side note, the plural of <strong>medium</strong> as in &quot;spiritual&quot;&nbsp;(such as a fortune teller) is&nbsp;<strong>mediums</strong>!</p>

<h2>My Conclusion</h2>

<p>Well, <strong>media</strong> has me more confused now than before I looked into it! Personally, I&rsquo;ve mostly heard and used <strong>media</strong> as a non-count noun with a <strong>singular</strong> verb, and will continue to do so (as in &quot;The media is having a field day with this latest&nbsp;scandal.&quot;).</p>

<h1>Sources</h1>

<ul>
	<li><em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th edition, section&nbsp;5.220</li>
	<li><em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current&nbsp;English</em></li>
	<li><em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Collegiate Dictionary</em>, 11th&nbsp;edition</li>
	<li><em>Merriam-Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English&nbsp;Usage</em></li>
</ul>


Confusing Singular & Plural Forms: Phenomenon/Phenomena, Medium/Media

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<blockquote>
<p>Look it up&hellip;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As if there wasn&rsquo;t enough vocabulary for our students to learn, English has certain multi‑word expressions that have a different meaning as a whole than the meaning of the separate parts. The most common types of these expressions are idioms and phrasal verbs, and they can be difficult for students to master. Because phrasal verbs are so prevalent in our culture, they are important to becoming fluent in English. So what exactly are phrasal verbs? What&rsquo;s the best way to teach them? Read on to get some ideas, and feel free to share your favorite method in the comments section&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>What are phrasal verbs?</h1>

<p>A phrasal verb is a phrase with two or more words, usually involving a verb and a preposition. (This is how most grammar books present it, and it is easiest for students to understand if you explain it in this way. Technically speaking, though, some phrasal verbs involve a verb + <em>adverb</em> combination. See my post <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/preposition-or-adverb/" target="_blank">Preposition or Adverb?</a> for more&nbsp;information.)</p>

<p>A regular verb + preposition combination has <strong>two meanings</strong> whereas a phrasal verb has <strong>one meaning</strong>. For example, the verb <em>look</em> means to use your eyes to see something and the preposition <em>up</em> means the direction above, as in <em>look up at the sky</em>. This is very different from the phrasal verb<em> look up</em>, which means to check, as in <em>look up a word in the&nbsp;dictionary</em>.</p>

<p>Make sure your students (and you!) always write phrasal verbs as <strong>two separate words</strong>. Phrasal verbs are never hyphenated or combined into one word, though their noun or adjective forms often&nbsp;are.</p>

<h1>How do you teach phrasal&nbsp;verbs?</h1>

<p>The following methods are some that I&rsquo;ve tried over the years. The third method is my favorite because my students seem to catch on and retain phrasal verbs better with it.</p>

<h2>1. From a list</h2>

<p>A lot of textbooks/classes will have a list of phrasal verbs that are relevant to the course, such as Business English, TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, etc. A long list like this can be overwhelming to students, so consider presenting five phrasal verbs a day or using fun vocabulary activities such as cutting up the phrasal verbs and their definitions and having students match them up. See my posts <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-ways-to-teach-new-vocabulary" target="_blank">4 Ways to Teach New Vocabulary</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-activities-for-reviewing-vocabulary" target="_blank">4 Activities for Reviewing Vocabulary</a> for more&nbsp;ideas.</p>

<h2>2. In context</h2>

<p>A fun way to teach phrasal verbs is in the context of a story. Seeing the phrasal verb in context helps students grasp and retain the meaning. I&rsquo;ve seen some textbooks dedicated to idioms that are grouped into themes, and a lot of them include phrasal verbs. At ESL&nbsp;Library, we have three sections (a detective series, a love story, and a story about college life) that make learning phrasal verbs and idioms fun and relevant. Try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/79/lessons" target="_blank">Detective Series &ndash; The Case of the Missing Ring</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/77/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/78/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms (Part 2)</a> lessons. Everyday Idioms (Part 3) is coming soon, too!</p>

<h2>3. As groupings</h2>

<p>Grouping phrasal verbs into categories based on the same verb is another way to go. This is my preferred method because it presents phrasal verbs in small, logical, and manageable groups. I think students remember the phrasal verbs more easily this way. Here are some common groupings to try with your&nbsp;students:</p>

<h3>Phrasal verbs with &ldquo;look&rdquo;</h3>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>look after</th>
			<td>take care of</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>look down on</th>
			<td>think less of</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>look into</th>
			<td>investigate, find more information</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>look out</th>
			<td>be careful</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>look over</th>
			<td>review, examine</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>look up</th>
			<td>check, find</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>look up to</th>
			<td>admire</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h3>Phrasal verbs with &ldquo;take&rdquo;</h3>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>take after</th>
			<td>resemble</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>take away (from)</th>
			<td>learn</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>take off</th>
			<td>leave</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>take on</th>
			<td>start</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>take out</th>
			<td>take on a date</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>take over</th>
			<td>replace</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h3>Phrasal verbs with &ldquo;get&rdquo;</h3>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>get along (with)</th>
			<td>have a good relationship</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>get away</th>
			<td>go on vacation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>get away with</th>
			<td>not get caught while doing something&nbsp;bad</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>get out of</th>
			<td>no longer have to do&nbsp;something</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>get over</th>
			<td>recover, overcome</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>get through</th>
			<td>suvive, bear</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Separable or Inseparable?</h1>

<p>Which phrasal verbs can have an object between the verb and preposition, and which can&rsquo;t? For example, you can say <em>I called on my cousin yesterday</em> but you can&rsquo;t say <em>I called my cousin on yesterday</em>, so <em>call on</em> is <strong>inseparable</strong>. You can say <em>I picked my cousin up at the airport</em> or <em>I picked up my cousin at the airport</em>, so <em>pick up</em> is <strong>separable</strong>. (Remind students that while noun objects can go between or after the phrasal verb, a <strong>pronoun</strong> object <strong>can only go between</strong> the phrasal verb. E.g.,&nbsp;<em>I picked <strong>her</strong> up</em> is correct. <em>I picked up <strong>her</strong></em> is&nbsp;incorrect.)</p>

<p>Unfortunately, there&rsquo;s no easy way to tell which phrasal verbs are separable and which aren&rsquo;t. Giving students a list can help. Good lists are available at <a href="http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/phrasal-verbs-list.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">English Club</a> and <a href="http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/elc/Sample/Advanced/gs/gs_04.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">the University of&nbsp;Victoria</a>.</p>

<p>Carry on,</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


How Do You Teach Phrasal Verbs?

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<h3>A picture is worth a thousand words&hellip;</h3>

<p><img alt="Diagram of the simple past vs. the past progressive" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/27/content_Tanya_Simple-Past-Vs-Past-Progressive_Chart.png" /></p>

<p>Students are introduced to the simple past tense early on in their English learning. It is commonly used and relatively easy to learn (aside from having to memorize irregular verb forms). However, the past progressive (also known as the past continuous) can be confusing since it&rsquo;s not as commonly used in&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>Try using the method outlined below to introduce the past progressive and compare the two tenses. Once you explain the purpose of the past progressive to your students, show them a diagram like the one above, and give them a few hints (see the &ldquo;time marker&rdquo;&nbsp;and &ldquo;trick&rdquo; sections below), they should be able to grasp this tense and retain it a lot more&nbsp;easily.</p>

<h1>Simple Past</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<h4>Base V&nbsp;+ -ed&nbsp;(and various irregular verb&nbsp;forms)</h4>

<p>The ending <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em> is added to the base form of the verb. The good news is that there are no differences in endings like there are with other verbs tenses (except for the BE verb:&nbsp;we use <em>was</em> for the first and third person singular&mdash;<em>I</em>, <em>he</em>, <em>she</em>, <em>it</em>, singular count nouns, non‑count nouns&mdash; and <em>were</em> for the second person singular&mdash;<em>you</em>&mdash;and the first, second, and third person plural&mdash;<em>we</em>, plural <em>you</em>, <em>they</em>, plural count&nbsp;nouns).</p>

<p>Note that there are a lot of exceptions to forming the plural with <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em>. These verbs are called <em>irregular verbs</em>. Hand our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2161">Irregular Verb List</a> out to your students, and see the <em>Fun Activities</em> section below for ideas on how students can practise irregular&nbsp;verbs.</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>The simple past is used for a <strong>completed past action</strong>. It&rsquo;s important to point out to students that with the simple past, we know when the action took place because of the time marker in the sentence. This is important so that students learn when to use the simple past vs. the present perfect (see the second section of my blog post on&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-easy-steps-for-teaching-the-present-perfect-and-the-present-perfect-progressive/">5 Easy Steps for Teaching the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Progressive</a> to see how I explain this difference to&nbsp;students).</p>

<h2>3. Time Markers</h2>

<ul>
	<li>yesterday</li>
	<li>the day before yesterday</li>
	<li>last (last week/month/year/etc.)</li>
	<li>ago (two days ago, three weeks ago,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>when + another past&nbsp;clause</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>My mother <strong>went</strong> grocery shopping&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	<li>We <strong>played</strong> basketball after school last&nbsp;Thursday.</li>
	<li>I <strong>ate</strong> a lot when I <strong>was</strong> a&nbsp;child.</li>
</ul>

<h2>5. Fun Activities</h2>

<p>Have fun practicing irregular verbs with games like <strong>Tic Tac Toe, Hotseat,</strong> and <strong>Concentration</strong> (find basic instructions by googling the game names; substitute base verbs/irregular verbs for numbers or images). Check out <strong>Irregular Verb Bingo</strong> in our Grammar Practice Worksheets lesson on the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1594">Simple&nbsp;Past</a>.</p>

<p>One of my go‑to activities is <strong>Irregular Verb Ball Toss</strong>. Bring in a small ball (or use an eraser or other small, soft object) and call out a base verb. Toss the ball to a student who then has to say the irregular verb form. Repeat by having that student call out another base verb and tossing the ball to another student. Continue until all students have had one or two turns each, with you making corrections as&nbsp;needed.</p>

<h1>Past Progressive &ndash; Main&nbsp;Use</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<h4>was/were + ‑ing&nbsp;V</h4>

<p>The past progressive is formed by taking the <strong>past BE</strong> verb and an <strong>action verb + ‑ING</strong>. Remind students that we use <em>was</em> for the first and third person singular (<em>I</em>, <em>he</em>, <em>she</em>, <em>it</em>, singular count nouns, non-count nouns) and <em>were</em> for the second person singular (<em>you</em>) and the first, second, and third person plural (<em>we</em>, plural <em>you</em>, <em>they</em>, plural count&nbsp;nouns).</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>The main function of the past progressive is to show <strong>a continuing (long) action getting interrupted by a short past action</strong>. Using the words <em>long</em> and <em>short</em> helps students understand this&nbsp;use.</p>

<h2>3. Time Marker</h2>

<p>The time marker <strong>when</strong> is common for this&nbsp;case.</p>

<h2>4. Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>was studying</strong> when my friend <strong>called</strong>&nbsp;me.</li>
	<li>We <strong>were playing</strong> soccer when it <strong>started</strong> to&nbsp;rain.</li>
	<li>They<strong> were singing</strong> in the auditorium when the alarm&nbsp;<strong>rang</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p>Don&rsquo;t forget to remind students that you can start the sentence with either the independent clause OR the dependent clause with <strong>no difference in meaning</strong>. Also remind students that a <strong>comma</strong> must be used when a dependent clause begins a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She was reading <strong>when</strong> the doorbell rang. <em>(independent clause starts the&nbsp;sentence)</em></li>
	<li><strong>When</strong> the doorbell rang, she was reading. <em>(dependent clause starts the sentence, comma is used, no difference in meaning between the first and second&nbsp;example)</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>5. Trick</h2>

<p>Have students memorize common &ldquo;short&rdquo; action verbs so they&rsquo;ll easily recognize when the past progressive is needed. Short action verbs include: <strong>started, began, called, arrived, rang, came, landed, hit,</strong> and <strong>went out</strong> (as in <em>the power went out</em> or <em>the lights went&nbsp;out</em>).</p>

<h1>Past Progressive &ndash; Secondary&nbsp;Use</h1>

<h2>1. Form</h2>

<h4>was/were + ‑ing&nbsp;V</h4>

<p>(See notes under Main Use &ndash;&nbsp;Form.)</p>

<h2>2. Use</h2>

<p>A less common function of the past progressive is to <strong>emphasize that an action continued for a long time</strong>. It is less common because the simple past is an acceptable, more common&nbsp;substitute.</p>

<h2>3. Time Marker</h2>

<p>The time marker <strong>while</strong> is common for this&nbsp;case.</p>

<h2>4. Examples</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">The children <strong>were watching</strong> TV while their parents <strong>were&nbsp;talking</strong>.</li>
	<li class="correct">The children <strong>watched</strong> TV while their parents&nbsp;<strong>talked</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">He <strong>was doing</strong> his homework while she <strong>was playing</strong> a video&nbsp;game.</li>
	<li class="correct">He <strong>did</strong> his homework while she <strong>played</strong> a video&nbsp;game.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note: Don&rsquo;t forget to remind students that you can start the sentence with either the independent clause OR the dependent clause with <strong>no difference in meaning</strong>. Also remind students that a <strong>comma</strong> must be used when a dependent clause begins a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She was playing the guitar <strong>while</strong> he was playing the drums. <em>(independent clause starts the&nbsp;sentence)</em></li>
	<li><strong>While</strong> he was playing the drums, she was playing the guitar. <em>(dependent clause starts the sentence, comma is used, no difference in meaning between the first and second&nbsp;example)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons">Basic Grammar Sentences</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a> sections for many&nbsp;lessons on the simple past and the past progressive. This <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1595">Past Progressive</a> lesson has exercises that directly contrast the two verb&nbsp;tenses.</p>


Simple Past Vs. Past Progressive

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<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by&nbsp;education&hellip;&quot;</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Charlotte Bront&euml;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The idea for this post came to me when I was editing some materials on likes and dislikes. In those lessons, sentences such as <em>I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes, and I don&rsquo;t like celery, either</em> were used. In this case, <em>and</em> is used, but I remembered how <em>or</em> must often be used in negative sentences such as <em>I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes or&nbsp;celery</em>.</p>

<p>This used to confuse my students so much! They&rsquo;d naturally want to write <em>I don&rsquo;t like tomatoes and celery</em>, because they didn&rsquo;t like <em>both</em> things. This kind of question always appears in tests like the TOEIC as well. So how do we explain it to&nbsp;students?</p>

<h1>Or = not joining independent clauses</h1>

<p>In English, <em>or</em> is used in negative sentences to join two or more nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, dependent clauses, etc. To recognize a negative sentence in English, look for adverbs such as <em>not</em> or&nbsp;<em>never</em>.</p>

<h2>Trick #1</h2>

<p>Tell students that if <em>not</em> is used <strong>once</strong>, they will most likely need <em>or</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>don&rsquo;t</strong> like apples <strong>or</strong>&nbsp;oranges.</li>
	<li>English <strong>isn&rsquo;t</strong> quick <strong>or</strong> easy to&nbsp;learn.</li>
	<li>My friend <strong>doesn&rsquo;t</strong> want pork, beef, <strong>or</strong> fish for&nbsp;dinner.</li>
	<li>He <strong>never</strong> reads books <strong>or</strong> watches TV after&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>I <strong>didn&rsquo;t</strong> say that you could eat my food <strong>or</strong> that your friends could come&nbsp;over.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Trick #2</h2>

<p>It might help to tell students to think of the full conjunction pairs of <em>both&hellip;and</em> and <em>either&hellip;or</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She likes<strong> (both)</strong> apples <strong>and</strong>&nbsp;oranges.</li>
	<li>She doesn&rsquo;t like<strong> (either)</strong> apples <strong>or</strong> oranges. (We would never say <em>She doesn&rsquo;t like either apples <strong>and</strong>&nbsp;oranges.</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>And = joining independent clauses</h1>

<p>In English, <em>and</em> is used in negative sentences to join two independent&nbsp;clauses.</p>

<h2>Trick #3</h2>

<p>Tell students that if <em>not</em> is used <strong>twice</strong>, they will most likely need&nbsp;<em>and</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>don&rsquo;t</strong> like basketball, <strong>and</strong> I <strong>don&rsquo;t</strong> like volleyball,&nbsp;either.</li>
	<li>Mr.&nbsp;Lutz <strong>doesn&rsquo;t</strong> want to meet today <strong>and</strong> he <strong>doesn&rsquo;t</strong> want to meet tomorrow,&nbsp;either.</li>
</ul>

<p>Point out to your students that while these constructions are possible, they&rsquo;re quite long and cumbersome, and native speakers often prefer the shorter versions with <em>or</em> (<em>I don&rsquo;t like basketball or volleyball</em>; <em>Mr. Lutz doesn&rsquo;t want to meet today or&nbsp;tomorrow.</em>)</p>

<h1>Exceptions</h1>

<h2>Exception #1</h2>

<p>We can use <em>and</em> when it&rsquo;s not joining independent clauses to show that the items are joined (act as one unit&mdash;e.g., <em>peanut butter and jelly</em>). To avoid confusion, I recommend only pointing this out to higher-level students. Compare the&nbsp;difference:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter <strong>or</strong> jelly. (<em>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter. I don&rsquo;t like&nbsp;jelly.</em>)</li>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter <strong>and</strong> jelly. (<em>I don&rsquo;t like peanut butter and jelly together, but I might like them&nbsp;separately.)</em></li>
</ul>

<h2>Exception #2</h2>

<p>Don&rsquo;t forget that even though words such as <em>hate</em> or <em>dislike</em> have a negative meaning, <em>not</em> isn&rsquo;t used, so <em>and</em> is used to join two or more parts of&nbsp;speech.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I dislike apples <strong>and</strong> oranges. (<em>I dislike apples or oranges</em> is&nbsp;incorrect.)</li>
	<li>She hates rain <strong>and</strong> snow. (<em>She hates rain or snow</em> is&nbsp;incorrect.)</li>
</ul>

<p>I hope your students aren&rsquo;t confused <strong>or</strong> defeated by these conjunctions&nbsp;anymore!</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Or or And in Negative Sentences?

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<p><em>Updated February 2017</em></p>

<p>There are two present verb tenses in English: the <strong>simple present</strong> and the <strong>present progressive</strong> (also known as the <strong>present continuous</strong>). Students sometimes have trouble figuring out when to use each tense, but I&rsquo;ve found that using a chart such as the one below is a great&nbsp;way to clearly explain the differences between the two&nbsp;tenses.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2372"><img alt="Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive Chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/213/content_Tanya_Simple-Present-Vs-Present-Progressive_Chart.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2372">Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h1>Simple Present</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<blockquote>
<p>Base V (+ <em>-s</em> with third person singular subject)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The simple present looks like the <strong>base form of the verb</strong>. With a <strong>third person singular subject</strong>, add the ending <em>-s</em>. Remind students that subjects that need <em>-s</em> include <em>he</em>, <em>she</em>, <em>it</em>, singular count nouns, or non‑count&nbsp;nouns.</p>

<h2>Time Markers</h2>

<h3>A. Repeated Actions</h3>

<ul>
	<li>every (every day, every week, every month, every year,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>once, twice, three times, etc. (once a week, twice a month, three times a year,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>adverbs of frequency (always, almost always, often, usually, sometimes, almost never, never,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
</ul>

<h3>B. Non-Action Verbs</h3>

<ul>
	<li>be</li>
	<li>have</li>
	<li>feelings (love, like, hate,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>thinking verbs (think, know, believe,&nbsp;etc.)</li>
	<li>five senses (see, hear, taste, touch,&nbsp;smell)</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Note:</em> There are some exceptions to these rules. For example, some of the verbs above use the present progressive when taking on an &ldquo;action&rdquo; role, such as<em> I&rsquo;m thinking of last night</em> (&ldquo;remembering&rdquo;) vs. <em>I think that global warming is a serious problem</em> (&ldquo;opinion&rdquo;). Point this out to students, but remind them that these verbs don&rsquo;t usually use the <em>-ing</em>&nbsp;form.</p>

<h3>C. True Facts</h3>

<ul>
	<li>scientific facts</li>
	<li>historical facts</li>
	<li>unchanging truths</li>
	<li>etc.</li>
</ul>

<h3>D. Schedules</h3>

<ul>
	<li>TV schedules</li>
	<li>transportation timetables</li>
	<li>etc.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>talk</strong> to my best friend every day. (<em>repeated&nbsp;action</em>)</li>
	<li>She never <strong>eats</strong> meat. (<em>repeated action with adverb of&nbsp;frequency</em>)</li>
	<li>He <strong>thinks</strong> that you shouldn&rsquo;t go out tonight. (<em>non-action&nbsp;verb</em>)</li>
	<li>Water <strong>boils</strong> at 100 degrees Celsius. (<em>true&nbsp;fact</em>)</li>
	<li>Our favourite show <strong>starts</strong> at 8:00&nbsp;pm. (<em>schedule</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>Present Progressive</h1>

<h2>Form</h2>

<blockquote>
<p>Be + <em>-ing</em>&nbsp;V</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The present progressive is formed by taking the <strong>Be</strong>&nbsp;verb and an <strong>action verb + <em>-ing</em></strong>. Remind students that forms of the Be verb include <em>am</em>, <em>are</em>, <em>is</em>, and <em>are</em>, depending on the&nbsp;subject.</p>

<h2>Time Markers</h2>

<ul>
	<li>now</li>
	<li>right now</li>
	<li>currently</li>
	<li>nowadays</li>
	<li>these days</li>
	<li>at the moment</li>
	<li>at this time</li>
	<li>presently</li>
</ul>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>am studying</strong> English&nbsp;nowadays.</li>
	<li>At the moment, Jim <strong>is taking</strong> a&nbsp;nap.</li>
	<li>He<strong> is shopping</strong> right now, so he can&rsquo;t meet up with&nbsp;us.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Non-Action Verbs</h2>

<p>Even with the time markers above, non-action verbs almost never take <em>-ing</em>. For&nbsp;example:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">She <strong>is</strong> happy&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">She<strong> is being</strong> happy&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li class="correct">My friend <strong>has</strong> a boyfriend at the&nbsp;moment.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">My friend <strong>is having</strong> a boyfriend at the&nbsp;moment.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p><strong>Time Markers</strong> provide the best clues for students to figure out what verb tense to use. I always suggest that students memorize the time markers that correspond to certain verb&nbsp;tenses.</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Try our <a href="http://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons">Basic Grammar Sentences</a> sections for many lessons on the simple present and the present progressive. The <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1593">Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive</a> lesson has exercises that directly contrast the two verb tenses. We&rsquo;ve also got a new Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive resource <a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2372-simple-present-vs-present-progressive">chart</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources/grammar-usage/2372-simple-present-vs-present-progressive">worksheet</a>.</p>


Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive

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<blockquote>
<p>There&rsquo;s a whole lot of difference between they&rsquo;re, their, and&nbsp;there.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently. <em>They&rsquo;re</em>, <em>their</em>, and <em>there</em> are some of the most troublesome homophones around. If L1 English speakers have trouble remembering when to use these terms, imagine how our students must feel!</p>

<p>Try presenting <em>they&rsquo;re</em>, <em>their</em>, and <em>there</em> to your students using the method outlined below. Consider reviewing this list often so that students are less likely to mix up these&nbsp;terms.</p>

<h1>1. They&rsquo;re</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p>Short for &ldquo;they are,&rdquo;&nbsp;it&rsquo;s the third person plural pronoun and the corresponding form of the Be&nbsp;verb.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>They&rsquo;re</em> is found at the <strong>beginning of a sentence or&nbsp;clause</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Say <em>they are</em> out loud or to yourself as you&rsquo;re writing. If it makes sense, use <em>they&rsquo;re</em>. If not, you&rsquo;ll need <em>there</em> instead, or <em>their</em> if followed by a&nbsp;noun.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>They&rsquo;re</strong> coming to the party tonight. (<em>They&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>I like those shoes. I wonder if <strong>they&rsquo;re</strong> for sale. (<em>they are)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Their</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p>This is the third person plural possessive adjective. It means &ldquo;belonging to&nbsp;them.&rdquo;</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Their</em> always appears<strong> before a&nbsp;noun</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Look for a noun that follows. Also, saying<em> they are</em> out loud shouldn&rsquo;t make&nbsp;sense.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Is that <strong>their</strong> dog? (<em>their</em> + the noun <em>dog</em>; not <em>they are&nbsp;dog</em>)</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;m sure they have <strong>their</strong> reasons. (<em>their</em> + the noun <em>reasons</em>; not <em>they are&nbsp;reasons</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>3. There</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>There</em> has many functions in English. Two of the most common are an indefinite pronoun subject and a&nbsp;location.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>There</em> comes at the <strong>beginning or end of a sentence or clause</strong>. It appears at the <strong>beginning</strong> when it&rsquo;s acting as an indefinite pronoun, and at the <strong>end</strong> when describing a&nbsp;location.</p>

<h2>Tricks</h2>

<p>At the end of a sentence, it will always be <em>there</em>. At the beginning, say <em>they are</em> out loud or to yourself as you&rsquo;re writing. If it works, use <em>they are</em>. If it doesn&rsquo;t, use <em>there</em>. Don&rsquo;t forget that if it&rsquo;s at the beginning or end of a sentence but followed by a noun, you&rsquo;ll need to use&nbsp;<em>their</em>.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li><strong>There</strong> are two versions of this story. (<em>indefinite pronoun</em>; not <em>they&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>You can get your ticket at the table over <strong>there</strong>.&nbsp;(<em>location</em>)</li>
</ul>

<p>There, that wasn&rsquo;t so&nbsp;hard!</p>

<p>Tanya</p>


Teaching Tips: They're, Their & There

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<blockquote>
<p>How do you explain &ldquo;you&rsquo;re&rdquo; and &ldquo;your&rdquo; to your students?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Both L1 speakers and English language learners&nbsp;get these homophones confused. This is probably the most common mistake I see in newspapers, in signs, on social media, etc. Students of all levels could likely use a reminder of when to use <em>you&rsquo;re</em> and <em>your</em>. Try my tricks for remembering which is&nbsp;which!</p>

<h1>1. You&rsquo;re</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>You&rsquo;re</em> is a combination of the second person singular or plural pronoun and the Be verb. It&nbsp;stands for &quot;you are.&quot; It can be used as the subject of a sentence or&nbsp;clause.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>You&rsquo;re</em> comes at the <strong>beginning of a sentence or&nbsp;clause</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Say <em>you are</em> to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s <strong>possible</strong> to say <em>you are</em>, write <em>you&rsquo;re</em>, not&nbsp;<em>your</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>You&rsquo;re</strong> great students. (<em>You&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>If <strong>you&rsquo;re</strong> not going to the party, I&rsquo;m not going, either. (<em>you&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
	<li>You should pay attention in class so that <strong>you&rsquo;re</strong> not missing anything important. (<em>you&nbsp;are</em>)</li>
</ul>

<h1>2. Your</h1>

<h2>Meaning</h2>

<p><em>Your</em> is a second person singular or plural possessive adjective. It indicates possession,&nbsp;ownership, and belonging.</p>

<h2>Structure</h2>

<p><em>Your</em> comes <strong>before a&nbsp;noun</strong>.</p>

<h2>Trick</h2>

<p>Say <em>you are</em> to yourself as you read or write the sentence. If it&rsquo;s <strong>not possible</strong> to say <em>you are</em>, write <em>your</em>, not&nbsp;<em>you&rsquo;re</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Can I borrow <strong>your</strong> pencil? (not <em>you are&nbsp;pencil</em>)</li>
	<li><strong>Your</strong> brother is really cute. (not<em> you are&nbsp;brother</em>)</li>
	<li>I wasn&rsquo;t sure if <strong>your</strong> friend was coming with us or not. (not <em>you are&nbsp;friend</em>)</li>
</ul>

<p>Another trick is to notice if there is <strong>another</strong> <strong>verb</strong> in the sentence. <em>You&rsquo;re</em> already has a verb, so there won&rsquo;t be another main verb in the clause. <em>Your</em> needs a verb, so there will be a main verb in the&nbsp;clause.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>You&rsquo;re</strong> the best soccer player on our team. (<em>no other&nbsp;verb</em>)</li>
	<li>I really like <strong>your</strong> new car. (<em><strong>like</strong> is the&nbsp;verb</em>)</li>
</ul>

<p>Now you&rsquo;re sure your students get it,&nbsp;right?</p>
