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

Grammar & Usage

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Teaching with Ellii

<h1>Teaching Grammar Online with ESL Library</h1>

<p>Teaching grammar can be a challenge at the best of times, and having to suddenly manage it digitally can be especially difficult. We hope this series of posts on how to teach grammar online will be helpful!&nbsp;Please feel free to leave comments and questions below.</p>

<p>This three-part grammar series will cover:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-grammar-online-with-esl-library">How to Teach Grammar Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
	<li>How to Assess Grammar Online&nbsp;(this post)</li>
</ul>

<h1>How to Assess Grammar Online</h1>

<p>Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section has 60 lessons available on our online platform. Choose any grammar lesson that has the digital (computer) icon. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our Standard plan subscribers have <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-with-digital-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">free access</a> to all our Premium plan digital tasks, so you will be able to use them all with your students.</p>

<p>As a reminder from our previous post, to assign a task for homework, use&nbsp;the Assign Tasks button from a lesson page or from My Classes under the Class Prep dropdown (see our&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools">Help Docs</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">How-To Videos</a>&nbsp;for help with this).&nbsp;</p>

<p>You will get your students&#39; results in real&nbsp;time for most tasks. For tasks with written (typed) answers, you will be able to score the answers and leave written feedback for your learners.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that you could also assign tasks for your students to complete during an online session. This way&nbsp;they can complete the tasks individually at their own pace (just as they would in class using a paper-based exercise), and you can see the&nbsp;results for all your students while you&#39;re conducting a class using a screensharing platform. After your students complete a task, you could choose to go through it while screensharing to discuss any problems they may have had.</p>

<h1>Quizzes</h1>

<p>More than half of our online <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> lessons have a quiz on the grammar target from the lesson. We are diligently adding quizzes to the rest and hope to have them all ready soon.</p>

<p>Quizzes are a great way to assess your students&#39; comprehension of an individual grammar target. If they do well, you can confidently move on to another target. If they don&#39;t do well, you could reassign some (or all) of the tasks from the lesson to the whole class or just to individual students who need extra practice.</p>

<p>Alternatively, you could assign related online materials for that target.&nbsp;To find related materials, see the Related section on each Lesson Show Page. Click on a lesson or resource and look for the computer icon, or use a screensharing platform to display the PDF&nbsp;version to your students.&nbsp;</p>

<h1>Placement &amp; Final Assessment</h1>

<p>We have four grammar tests available online that can be used as intake/placement tests, review, or exit exams. You can assign all tasks from a test or just the parts that you&#39;ve covered. Most tasks provide instant results with a few open-ended answers where you can leave feedback. Find a lot more useful information on these tests <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests">in this post</a>. You will find these tests in our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources">Assessment Tools</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> sections (or click on the links below).</p>

<p>To preview the tests, click on a link below and click on the computer (digital) icon. Then click on the task title to preview each task.</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2448-grammar-test-1">Grammar Test 1 &ndash; Beginner</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2449-grammar-test-2">Grammar Test 2 &ndash; Low-Intermediate</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2450-grammar-test-3">Grammar Test 3 &ndash; Intermediate</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/assessment-tools/resources/2451-grammar-test-4">Grammar Test 4 &ndash; High-Intermediate&ndash;Advanced</a></li>
</ul>

<p>We hope you found this final post in our three-part series about teaching grammar online useful!</p>

<p>Here are the first two posts in the series:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-grammar-online-with-esl-library">How to Teach Grammar Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
</ul>


How to Assess Grammar Online

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<h1>Teaching Grammar Online with ESL Library</h1>

<p>With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic came many, many changes for people all over the world.&nbsp;We&#39;ve all had to adapt to numerous disruptions to our lives&mdash;socially, physically, emotionally, and financially, to name a few.</p>

<p>For teachers, the abrupt switch (in many cases)&nbsp;to online teaching has been especially challenging. At ESL Library, we&#39;ve been helping our overwhelmed ESL/ELT community as best we can with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-with-digital-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">free upgrades</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-online-webinars">webinars</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/faq-teachers">FAQs</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/69/lessons">new materials</a>.</p>

<p>Teaching grammar can be a challenge at the best of times, and having to suddenly manage it digitally was certainly&nbsp;a frightening prospect for some of us.&nbsp;We hope the following blog post on how to teach grammar online will be helpful!&nbsp;Please feel free to leave comments and questions below. We&#39;re here for you&mdash;you&#39;re not alone.</p>

<p>This three-part grammar series will cover:</p>

<ul>
	<li>How to Teach Grammar Online (this post)</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assess-grammar-online">How to Assess Grammar Online</a></li>
</ul>

<h1>Grammar Notes</h1>

<p>All of our 60 digital&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> lessons have <strong>Grammar Notes</strong> as the first assignable online task. These notes contain helpful explanations, examples, rules, and exceptions for each grammar target. Read on for four different ways to present these notes to your students!</p>

<p>To present these grammar notes using our online platform,&nbsp;click on the Digital tab for any grammar lesson. You can now&nbsp;click on Assign Tasks to share the grammar notes on your students&#39; own devices, or you can click on the first title to launch the task (if using a screensharing&nbsp;program). See our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/110-digital-tools">Help Docs</a> and <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">How-To Videos</a> for step-by-step guidance&nbsp;or attend one of our free&nbsp;<a href="http://ellii.com/blog/teaching-online-webinars">webinars</a>.</p>

<p>Note that some grammar lessons contain more comprehensive grammar notes in the PDF (printable) version, including charts, more examples, and extra exceptions to a rule. Remember that you have the option of&nbsp;using&nbsp;a screensharing platform to display the PDF during your live class. You could also download the PDF and email it to your students.</p>

<h1>How to Teach Grammar Online</h1>

<p>There are different&nbsp;ways to introduce a grammar target to your learners. Choose one of the following methods based on your personal preference. You could also try each method and see which is best for your learners, or you could try different methods for different targets for variety.</p>

<h2>1. Read through the grammar notes together</h2>

<p>If you like explicit grammar instruction, this method is for you.</p>

<p>Before you begin the grammar practice tasks, walk your students through the grammar presentation notes while screensharing the notes or while they follow along on their own devices. There are plenty of ways to make this more interactive!</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have students take turns reading the examples out loud so you can also work on their pronunciation (and so they&#39;re not only listening to your voice&nbsp;the whole time).</li>
	<li>Elicit as you go. For example, before reading about the form or function&nbsp;of a target, ask &quot;Does anyone know the two ways we can contract &#39;He is not&#39;?&quot; or &quot;Does anyone know when&nbsp;we use the present perfect tense?&quot;</li>
	<li>Have students come up with their own example sentences. After reading the examples from the grammar notes, have students think of more and share them.</li>
	<li>Follow up with a discussion. Do your students now understand the form and function of a target? Are they clear on&nbsp;the exceptions to the general rules? Do they need more examples from you? Do they have any further questions about the target?</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Assign the grammar notes for homework</h2>

<p>If you like explicit instruction but want your learners to take charge of their own learning, give this method a try.</p>

<p>The day&nbsp;before you start a new grammar lesson, assign the grammar notes task as homework. Have students read through them and write down any questions they have to ask you the next day.</p>

<ul>
	<li>To make it more interactive, you could tell students to be prepared to answer your questions about the notes the next day.</li>
	<li>You could also ask them comprehension-check questions about the basics of form and function of the target.</li>
	<li>You may want to ask about the exceptions as well since those are trickier to learn and remember.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Assign grammar practice tasks before reviewing the grammar notes</h2>

<p>If you prefer&nbsp;implicit grammar acquisition, give this method a try.</p>

<p>This method involves skipping&nbsp;the grammar notes at first.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Assign one or more of the grammar tasks&nbsp;and see if your students can tell&nbsp;<em>you</em>&nbsp;the grammar rules the next day. By doing a bit of practice, can they figure out the rules and patterns of the target you&#39;re studying?</li>
	<li>Next, go through the grammar notes together or assign them for homework. If you&#39;re doing them together, you can refer to examples from the tasks they&#39;ve already done.</li>
	<li>After covering the notes, assign the rest of the tasks in the lesson.</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Assign a non-grammar lesson that uses the grammar target in context</h2>

<p>If you like the communicative approach to teaching, try this method.</p>

<p>In the top right-hand corner of <a href="https://ellii.com">ESL&nbsp;Library&#39;s website</a>, you&#39;ll find the search icon (the magnifying glass). After clicking on it, type in the grammar target in the search field and choose a non-grammar lesson from the list (if applicable). Students will be able to see the target in context.</p>

<p>For example, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses?query=imperative">search for &quot;imperative.&quot;</a> You will be able to assign a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons">Functional English</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/2119">Following Instructions</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1755">Following Procedures</a>, a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons">Writing in English</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1991">How to Write a Recipe</a>, or a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holiday &amp; Events</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/2199">Earth Day</a>. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons">Grammar Stories</a> section also has plenty of targets in context.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have students underline examples of the target that they see in context.</li>
	<li>From there, you can try to elicit the basic form and function of the target.</li>
	<li>Then you can try the rest of the grammar practice tasks.</li>
	<li>Afterward, you can decide to use the grammar notes to review tricky exceptions to a rule, skip the notes entirely, or assign the notes only to students who are struggling with the target.</li>
	<li>As a follow-up, you can have your intermediate to advanced students find other examples online (news articles, blog posts, etc.) that use the target and share them together the next day.</li>
</ul>

<p>We hope you found this first post in our three-part series about teaching grammar online useful!</p>

<p>Here are the next two posts in the series:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assign-grammar-tasks-online">How to Assign Grammar Tasks Online</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-assess-grammar-online">How to Assess Grammar Online</a></li>
</ul>


How to Teach Grammar Online

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<h1>Language Fossilization and Why It&nbsp;Matters</h1>

<p>The term <em>fossilization</em> in language learning refers to errors that a non-native speaker makes so often in the target language they become ingrained over time. There are many reasons why fossilization occurs, most notably first language interference (which includes the use of false cognates) and the overgeneralization of&nbsp;rules.</p>

<p>Here are some common examples of fossilized&nbsp;speech:</p>

<ul>
	<li>My sister has 15&nbsp;years.</li>
	<li>He study English at&nbsp;school.</li>
	<li>I am work at Walmart.</li>
	<li>The apple are on the table.</li>
	<li>Ben play computer games&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
</ul>

<p>Because the speaker has repeated the same mistakes again and again, the inaccuracies may sound correct to his or her own ears. Furthermore, the speaker often isn&rsquo;t aware that he or she is making the errors since they rarely hinder communication or impede meaning; the speaker&rsquo;s interlocutors aren&rsquo;t inclined to stop a conversation to point out a grammatical blunder or a pronunciation misstep when doing so would risk a break in the flow of the&nbsp;interaction.</p>

<p>Despite the fact that fossilization doesn&rsquo;t prevent learners from being understood, it can have some very real negative consequences. Perhaps most importantly, fossilization can make non-native speakers seem less educated and/or less fluent than they actually are.</p>

<p>Of course, the best way to ensure that fossilization doesn&rsquo;t take hold in your students&rsquo; language use is prevention. If you teach beginners, you can stress accuracy from Day&nbsp;1 and nip any potential problems in the bud. But, as we all know, you aren&rsquo;t always going to be your students&rsquo; first exposure to&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>However, there are strategies that you can use to help your students overcome fossilized speech patterns by raising their awareness of frequent&nbsp;errors.</p>

<h2>Strategy #1</h2>

<p>Record students&rsquo; speech. Have students listen to a short clip of themselves speaking and see if they can detect their errors. If they are unable to hear their errors, ask them to transcribe their speech as they listen and then make corrections. <a href="https://soundcloud.com" target="_blank">SoundCloud</a> and <a href="https://voicethread.com" target="_blank">VoiceThread</a> are excellent online tools for this&nbsp;exercise.</p>

<h2>Strategy #2</h2>

<p>Encourage students to peer edit. Put students into pairs. Give one student in each pair a set of open-ended questions to ask their partner. (Try <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources/3089">Conversation Questions</a> in our Resources section.) As the interviewee answers each question, have the interviewer jot down errors. Before the next question is asked, have the interviewer share what he or she&nbsp;noticed.</p>

<h2>Strategy #3</h2>

<p>Write five correct and five incorrect sentences in random order on the board. Have students divide the sentences into two groups (<em>Correct</em> and&nbsp;<em>Incorrect</em>).</p>

<h2>Strategy #4</h2>

<p>Point out errors that you have noticed students make repeatedly. Then ask them to keep a journal of instances when they notice themselves making those errors that you have&nbsp;identified.</p>

<h2>Strategy #5</h2>

<p>Feign incomprehension. When students make a fossilized error, pretend that you don&rsquo;t understand what they are saying. Ask them to rephrase it using the correct word or&nbsp;structure.</p>

<h2>Strategy #6</h2>

<p>Have students analyze why they are making the mistake. (E.g., can they figure out why they use &ldquo;say&rdquo; in a sentence when &ldquo;tell&rdquo; is called&nbsp;for?)</p>


6 Strategies to Help Students Overcome Fossilized Speech Patterns

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<h1>March Forth on March&nbsp;Fourth!</h1>

<p>March&nbsp;4th is National Grammar Day in the US, so it&rsquo;s a great time to round up the 10 best‑loved grammar posts on ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s&nbsp;blog!</p>

<p>No matter the teaching or learning style, grammar remains essential to good communication. A solid foundation of grammatical knowledge helps learners speak and write&nbsp;effectively.</p>

<p>I happen to love grammar, though I realize I might be in the minority! I&rsquo;ve found that telling my students why grammar is so important, along with <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources">clear charts and examples</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources">a variety of practice activities</a>, helps them <em>want</em> to make the effort to improve their grammar. We also have many <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/grammar-usage">free teaching tips and activities on our blog</a> that will help make grammar much more enjoyable to teach and&nbsp;learn!</p>

<p>Here are our top 10 blog posts that have been referred to hundreds of times over the years. Most posts include teaching tips, charts, examples, and practice&nbsp;activities.</p>

<p>Let the countdown&nbsp;begin!</p>

<h1>Top 10 List</h1>

<ol reversed="reversed">
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/an-easy-way-to-teach-conditionals">An Easy Way to Teach&nbsp;Conditionals</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-the-conditional-should">How to Use the Conditional &quot;Should</a>&quot;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/there-is-there-are">There Is/There Are + Nouns in a&nbsp;Series</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/embedded-questions">Embedded Questions</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sentence-stress">Sentence Stress</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/recommend">Recommend, Suggest, Advise: Verbs That Have Multiple Sentence&nbsp;Patterns</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/commonly-confused-prepositions-above-over-below-under">Commonly Confused Prepositions: Above, Over, Below &amp;&nbsp;Under</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/modals-of-possibility-may-might-could">Modals of Possibility: May, Might,&nbsp;Could</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-passive-causative">The Passive Causative</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-fun-activities-for-irregular-verbs">5 Fun Activities for Irregular&nbsp;Verbs</a></li>
</ol>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Stories</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons" target="_blank">Fun Grammar Lessons</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons" target="_blank">Basic Grammar Sentences</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons" target="_blank">Simple Sentences</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons" target="_blank">Super Simple Grammar</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2565" target="_blank">Grammar Teaching Order</a> &ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets</li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Resources</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests" target="_blank">Grammar Placement/Assessment Tests</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/grammar-usage" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Blog Posts</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Which grammar targets do your students struggle with the most? Which targets do you find tricky to teach? We&rsquo;d love to hear from you in the comment section&nbsp;below!</p>


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<p>Unlike many languages that have a one-to-one sound/spelling correspondence, English pronunciation is notoriously difficult. There aren&rsquo;t a lot of pronunciation rules for language learners to follow, and often it&rsquo;s just a matter of hearing a word and memorizing how it&nbsp;sounds.</p>

<p>Sometimes, however, students can catch a break with certain letters or sounds that actually follow a set of pronunciation rules. Such is the case with the letters G and&nbsp;C!</p>

<p>From <em>great</em> to <em>gym</em> to <em>cake</em> to <em>city</em>, the letters G and C can be pronounced as a &ldquo;hard&rdquo; or &ldquo;soft&rdquo; sound. It often depends on the position of the letter in a word and on the letter that follows&nbsp;it.</p>

<h1>Pronunciation Rules for G &amp;&nbsp;C</h1>

<h2>Rule #1</h2>

<p>When G or C is followed by E, I, or Y, the sound is&nbsp;<strong>soft</strong>.<br class="none md-inline" />
Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>gender</li>
	<li>gym</li>
	<li>cell</li>
	<li>cinnamon</li>
</ul>

<h2>Rule #2</h2>

<p>When G or C is followed by A, O, or U, the sound is&nbsp;<strong>hard</strong>.<br class="none md-inline" />
Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>gate</li>
	<li>go</li>
	<li>cat</li>
	<li>cupboard</li>
</ul>

<h2>Rule #3</h2>

<p>When G or C is followed by a consonant, the sound is&nbsp;<strong>hard</strong>.<br class="none md-inline" />
Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>glass</li>
	<li>program</li>
	<li>fact</li>
	<li>clock</li>
</ul>

<h2>Rule #4</h2>

<p>When G or C is doubled, the sound is&nbsp;<strong>hard</strong>.<br class="none md-inline" />
Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>egg</li>
	<li>foggy</li>
	<li>occur</li>
	<li>broccoli</li>
</ul>

<h2>Rule #5</h2>

<p>When a word ends in G or C (or CK), the sound is&nbsp;<strong>hard</strong>.<br class="none md-inline" />
Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>bag</li>
	<li>pig</li>
	<li>magic</li>
	<li>sick</li>
</ul>

<h2>Rule #6</h2>

<p>When a word ends in G or C + E, the sound is&nbsp;<strong>soft</strong>.<br class="none md-inline" />
Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>age</li>
	<li>ridge</li>
	<li>fence</li>
	<li>office</li>
</ul>

<h1>Exceptions</h1>

<h2>Exception #1</h2>

<p>Some common words do not follow the rules for hard and soft&nbsp;G, such as <em>begin</em>, <em>get</em>, and&nbsp;<em>give</em>.</p>

<h2>Exception #2</h2>

<p>Some words with a double C have a hard sound followed by a soft sound, such as <em>accent</em>, <em>acceptable</em>, and&nbsp;<em>vaccine</em>.</p>

<h2>Exception #3</h2>

<p>When G is followed by H, it is sometimes pronounced as <span class="inlineBlock">/f/,</span> such as <em>cough</em>, <em>laugh</em>, and <em>enough</em>. Other times it is&nbsp;silent, such as <em>high</em>, <em>though</em>, and&nbsp;<em>bought</em>.</p>

<h2>Exception #4</h2>

<p>When C is followed by H, it is pronounced as <span class="inlineBlock">/tʃ/,</span> such as&nbsp;<em>cheese</em>, <em>watch</em>, and&nbsp;<em>church</em>.</p>

<h2>Exception #5</h2>

<p>When a word ends in N + G, it is pronounced <span class="inlineBlock">/ŋ/,</span> such as <em>sing</em>, <em>bring</em>, and&nbsp;<em>running</em>.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3170">Pronunciation Rules: Hard &amp; Soft&nbsp;G</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3173">Pronunciation Rules: Hard &amp; Soft&nbsp;C</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3137">Hard &amp; Soft G Word&nbsp;Cards</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3180">Hard &amp; Soft C Word&nbsp;Cards</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/3171">/g/</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/courses/118/lessons/2944">/s/</a></li>
</ul>


How to Pronounce Hard & Soft G & C

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<blockquote>
<p>Somebody hit my car, and they didn&rsquo;t even leave a&nbsp;note!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In this sentence, we can see what grammarians call the singular&nbsp;&ldquo;they.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Instances of the singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; can be found in literary works dating back to the 14th century. (Literary greats such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, Austen, and Thackeray employed it.) Nonetheless, subsequent generations of grammarians have frowned upon its use, especially in written language. For example, just within the last decade, an article in <em><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/01/singular-their-affront-good-writing/319329/">The Atlantic</a> </em>declared: &quot;The singular &lsquo;they&rsquo; must be&nbsp;stopped.&nbsp;&hellip; It&rsquo;s everywhere, proliferating like fruit flies &rsquo;round a bowl of rotten&nbsp;bananas.&quot;</p>

<p>Putting aside grammatical rights and wrongs for a moment, if the word is &ldquo;everywhere,&rdquo; then surely it will be encountered by English‑language learners. These days, this is even more likely, since the use of singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; is growing in a second sense&mdash;as a way to be more inclusive of individuals who identify as&nbsp;non‑binary.</p>

<p>In this post, I&rsquo;d like briefly to review the singular &ldquo;they&rdquo;&mdash;in both its classic and its contemporary uses&mdash;and provide a few thoughts about presenting it to English‑language learners. In my experience, questions about the singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; arise mostly in high-intermediate and advanced classes. (At lower levels, students are often more focused on what is being said than how it is being said, and the introduction of this grammar oddity may cause&nbsp;confusion.)</p>

<p>Students who learn to recognize and use the singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; will be in good company. A growing number of style authorities are allowing the use of singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; for its non‑assumptive qualities. The <a href="https://www.americandialect.org/2015-word-of-the-year-is-singular-they">American Dialect Society</a> named it the 2015 Word of the Year&mdash;the same year that the <em>Washington Post</em> admitted it to its style guide. The <em>Chicago Manual of Style</em> followed suit in 2017, and the American Psychological Association (APA) endorsed the singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; in&nbsp;2019.</p>

<h1>Use #1</h1>

<h4>For Unspecified, Unknown, or General&nbsp;Antecedents</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>A doctor should always be honest with their&nbsp;patients.</p>

<p>Whoever left their backpack on the bleachers needs to come and get it before the gym is locked up for the&nbsp;night.</p>

<p>If someone wants a ticket, they should get to the game&nbsp;early.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In this use, the gender of the antecedent is unknown. &ldquo;They&rdquo; is used to avoid making assumptions about the antecedent&rsquo;s sex. Hence, it is often referred to as a gender‑neutral pronoun. Most native speakers use the pronoun in this way on a daily basis without giving it much&nbsp;thought.</p>

<p>I have found that the best way to introduce this use of the singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; is first to provide students with examples and then have them come up with their own sentences. Once students catch on to the use of the singular &ldquo;they,&rdquo; I ask them to jot down instances they come across in either spoken or written English in authentic utterances or texts outside of the classroom. This works especially well as a supplemental journaling activity or as a show‑and‑tell for the next class. Once they are introduced to the grammar, students are usually surprised at how frequently they encounter it beyond the&nbsp;classroom.</p>

<h1>Use #2</h1>

<h4>For People Who Use They/Them Pronouns</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Emma takes cream in their&nbsp;coffee.</p>

<p>Madison has finished their essay and would like to read it to the&nbsp;class.</p>

<p>Jack didn&rsquo;t know about the meeting, so they didn&rsquo;t&nbsp;attend.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In this use, the antecedent of the pronoun is known, but the assumption is that the person who is being referred to doesn&rsquo;t identify as male or female and has indicated their preference to use &ldquo;they&rdquo; rather than &ldquo;he&rdquo; or &ldquo;she&rdquo; as their pronoun.</p>

<p>This use of singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; expresses inclusivity. In September 2019, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/nonbinary-they-is-in-the-dictionary"><em>Merriam‑Webster</em></a> enumerated the following criteria for adding this gender-fluid pronoun to its dictionary: &ldquo;meaningful use, sustained use, and widespread&nbsp;use.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Although the entry of &ldquo;they&rdquo; was accompanied by 530 other new entries, for the non-binary community, its significance cannot be overlooked, as members of this community see its addition as validating and liberating. Interestingly, <em>Merriam‑Webster</em> also expanded its definition of the word &ldquo;inclusive&rdquo; to specify &ldquo;allowing and accommodating people who have historically been excluded (as because of their race, gender, sexuality, and&nbsp;ability).&rdquo;</p>

<p>Depending on students&rsquo; backgrounds, this use of the singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; may or may not be the norm (or even acceptable) in their cultures. However, in many social contexts, it is becoming more commonplace to include a pronoun of choice when you introduce yourself, especially on university campuses. I encountered this recently in a local coffeeshop, where I met a server wearing a nametag indicating her name and chosen&nbsp;pronoun.</p>

<p>The singular &ldquo;they&rdquo; is one of several different pronoun options in such introductions. If you are comfortable, demonstrate for your students the various possibilities. Write or say&nbsp;aloud:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Hi, I&rsquo;m Lee. I use she/her/hers pronouns. What&rsquo;s your&nbsp;name?</p>

<p>Hi, I&rsquo;m Lee. I use he/him/his pronouns. What&rsquo;s your&nbsp;name?</p>

<p>Hi, I&rsquo;m Lee. I use they/them/their pronouns. What&rsquo;s your name?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Here, the main goal is to have students understand what the speaker means and enable them to respect this choice. To extend the activity, encourage a class discussion on why or why not it would be appropriate to ask someone about their gender identification. But make sure you know your audience! If your students seem uncomfortable, it may be best to move on to another&nbsp;topic.</p>

<p>Obviously, English usage continues to evolve. The lessons we teach students today may not fully reflect our usage tomorrow. As a teacher, your best bet is always to remain curious and open‑minded, striving to address the language students will encounter beyond the classroom as well as in grammar&nbsp;books.</p>


The Two Uses of the Singular "They"

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<p>Forming questions in English can be tricky for language learners. They need to be aware of subject-verb inversion and the difference between <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2462" target="_blank">Yes/No and Wh- Questions</a>. They must also become familiar with the different auxiliaries used for different tenses. Even in the simple present tense, there are differences in question formation patterns and auxiliary use between the Be verb and other&nbsp;verbs.</p>

<p>Is there an easy way to show these auxiliary differences clearly? I&rsquo;ve found that showing charts with the various subjects in the different tenses, often side by side, is a great way for students to remember which auxiliaries to use in question&nbsp;formation.</p>

<h1>Presentation</h1>

<p>When is the best time to present each chart below? It depends when you&rsquo;ve introduced the various tenses in class. Here is a suggested&nbsp;guideline:</p>

<ul>
	<li>For beginner‑level learners, start with charts&nbsp;A and C (simple&nbsp;present).</li>
	<li>For low‑intermediate students, present charts&nbsp;A through D (simple present/simple&nbsp;past).</li>
	<li>Once your intermediate‑level learners have studied the present perfect, review&nbsp;charts A through D with them and present charts E&nbsp;and&nbsp;F.</li>
	<li>For higher‑level students, present chart G and any others if you feel they&rsquo;ll benefit from a quick&nbsp;review.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Lower Levels: Be&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;Do</h1>

<h2>A. Questions with Be: Simple&nbsp;Present</h2>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Subject</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I</td>
			<td><strong>Am</strong> I late?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>You</td>
			<td><strong>Are</strong> you from&nbsp;Brazil?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>He</td>
			<td><strong>Is</strong> he a good&nbsp;student?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She</td>
			<td><strong>Is</strong> she tired&nbsp;today?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>We</td>
			<td><strong>Are</strong> we on&nbsp;time?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They</td>
			<td><strong>Are</strong> they&nbsp;hungry?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Singular Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Is</strong> that your&nbsp;dog?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plural Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Are</strong> the children&nbsp;tired?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>B. Questions with Be: Simple&nbsp;Past</h2>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Subject</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I</td>
			<td><strong>Was</strong> I late?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>You</td>
			<td><strong>Were</strong> you in Brazil last&nbsp;month?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>He</td>
			<td><strong>Was</strong> he a good&nbsp;student?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She</td>
			<td><strong>Was</strong> she tired&nbsp;yesterday?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>We</td>
			<td><strong>Were</strong> we on&nbsp;time?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They</td>
			<td><strong>Were</strong> they&nbsp;hungry?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Singular Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Was</strong> that your&nbsp;dog?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plural Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Were</strong> the children&nbsp;tired?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>C. Questions with Do: Simple&nbsp;Present</h2>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Subject</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I</td>
			<td><strong>Do</strong> I <strong>have</strong> something stuck in my&nbsp;teeth?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>You</td>
			<td><strong>Do</strong> you <strong>need</strong> any&nbsp;help?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>He</td>
			<td><strong>Does</strong> he <strong>like</strong>&nbsp;vegetables?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She</td>
			<td><strong>Does</strong> she <strong>have</strong> a&nbsp;dog?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>We</td>
			<td><strong>Do</strong> we <strong>know</strong> the room&nbsp;number?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They</td>
			<td><strong>Do</strong> they <strong>play</strong>&nbsp;basketball?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Singular Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Does</strong> your daughter <strong>watch</strong>&nbsp;cartoons?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plural Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Do</strong> your friends <strong>go out</strong> on&nbsp;weeknights?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>D. Questions with Do: Simple&nbsp;Past</h2>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Subject</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> I <strong>have</strong> something stuck in my teeth last&nbsp;night?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>You</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> you <strong>need</strong> any&nbsp;help?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>He</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> he <strong>like</strong> vegetables when he was&nbsp;young?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> she <strong>have</strong> a dog last&nbsp;year?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>We</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> we <strong>know</strong> the room&nbsp;number?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> they <strong>play</strong> basketball in high&nbsp;school?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Singular Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> your daughter <strong>watch</strong> cartoons last&nbsp;weekend?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plural Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Did</strong> your friends <strong>go out</strong> last&nbsp;night?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Higher Levels: Be, Have &amp;&nbsp;Modals</h1>

<h2>E. Questions with Have: Present&nbsp;Perfect</h2>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Subject</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> I <strong>forgotten</strong>&nbsp;something?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>You</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> you <strong>traveled</strong> to&nbsp;Europe?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>He</td>
			<td><strong>Has</strong> he <strong>eaten</strong>&nbsp;dinner?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She</td>
			<td><strong>Has</strong> she <strong>done</strong> her&nbsp;homework?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>We</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> we <strong>come</strong> here&nbsp;before?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> they <strong>lived</strong> here&nbsp;long?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Singular Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Has</strong> your friend <strong>studied</strong> English for a long&nbsp;time?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plural Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> your coworkers <strong>gone</strong> to the meeting&nbsp;yet?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>F. Questions with Have: Present Perfect Progressive</h2>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Subject</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> I <strong>been forgetting</strong> things&nbsp;again?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>You</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> you <strong>been traveling</strong> in&nbsp;Europe?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>He</td>
			<td><strong>Has</strong> he <strong>been eating</strong> dinner for the past&nbsp;hour?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She</td>
			<td><strong>Has</strong> she <strong>been doing</strong> her homework since 5:00&nbsp;pm?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>We</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> we <strong>been coming</strong> here for two years or&nbsp;three?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> they <strong>been living</strong> here&nbsp;long?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Singular Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Has</strong> your friend <strong>been studying</strong> English for a long&nbsp;time?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plural Noun</td>
			<td><strong>Have</strong> your coworkers <strong>been going</strong> to the monthly&nbsp;meetings?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>G. Questions with Other Tenses &amp;&nbsp;Modals</h2>

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Tense</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Present Progressive</td>
			<td><strong>Am</strong> I <strong>going</strong> with&nbsp;you?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Simple Future with &quot;will&quot;</td>
			<td><strong>Will</strong> you <strong>finish</strong> your homework on&nbsp;time?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Simple Future with &quot;be going to&quot;</td>
			<td><strong>Is</strong> he <strong>going to take</strong> next Friday&nbsp;off?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Past Perfect Progressive</td>
			<td><strong>Had</strong> she <strong>been studying</strong> English for a while before she got the&nbsp;job?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Modal of Advice</td>
			<td><strong>Should</strong> we <strong>clean</strong> the apartment before we&nbsp;go?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Modal of Ability</td>
			<td><strong>Can</strong> they <strong>speak</strong>&nbsp;Japanese?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Modal of Possibility</td>
			<td><strong>Could</strong> that <strong>be</strong> her new&nbsp;boyfriend?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Present Passive</td>
			<td><strong>Are</strong> my friends <strong>invited</strong> to your&nbsp;party?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Before presenting the charts in class, you may want to try eliciting the patterns for <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2462" target="_blank">question formation</a> for each subject in the tense(s) you&rsquo;re covering (note: Aux = auxiliary verb or&nbsp;modal):</p>

<ul>
	<li>Be (simple present and simple past): <strong>Be + S +&nbsp;O</strong></li>
	<li>Do (simple present and simple past): <strong>Do + S + V +&nbsp;O</strong></li>
	<li>Have (present perfect): <strong>Have + S + V +&nbsp;O</strong></li>
	<li>Have (present perfect progressive): <strong>Have + S + V + V +&nbsp;O</strong></li>
	<li>Other tenses and modals: <strong>Aux + S + V (+ V) +&nbsp;O</strong></li>
</ul>

<p>For further practice, try some of the following&nbsp;activities:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Interviews:</strong> Have students interview each other. Assign a particular tense or let them ask anything they want. Have lower levels use a mix of questions with <em>be</em>, <em>do</em>, and <em>can</em>. Have higher levels use a mix of questions with <em>be</em>, <em>do</em>, <em>have</em>, and various&nbsp;modals.</li>
	<li><strong>Role‑Play:</strong> Have students do a role‑play using one type of question (e.g., two friends discussing likes and dislikes for practice with <em>do</em> questions, or two coworkers talking about places they&rsquo;ve been for practice with <em>have</em>&nbsp;questions).</li>
	<li><strong>Examples:</strong> Have students come up with their own examples for the tenses in chart G.</li>
	<li><strong>Find Someone Who:</strong> Have students come up with 10 items to include in a Find Someone Who chart. Then have them walk around the class asking their classmates their questions. Make sure you tell them what types of questions (which auxiliaries and which tenses) you want them to include. Use this blank <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources/2194" target="_blank">FSW template</a> or make your&nbsp;own.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2678" target="_blank">Yes/No Questions</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1627" target="_blank">Wh- Questions</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1591" target="_blank">Simple Present &ndash; Be</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2403" target="_blank">Simple Present</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1594" target="_blank">Simple Past</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3128" target="_blank">Questions with Be, Do &amp; Have</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2462" target="_blank">Question Formation</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/question-formation-in-english" target="_blank">Question Formation</a></li>
</ul>


Be, Have & Do in Questions

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<blockquote>
<p>There will never be no love at&nbsp;all.</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Bob Marley</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Double negative sentences are tricky and confusing. Not only do English language learners struggle with their meanings, but L1 speakers do too! Should we even teach this structure to our students? Let&rsquo;s take a closer look at this particular sentence&nbsp;structure.</p>

<h1>To Teach or Not to&nbsp;Teach?</h1>

<p>What exactly is a double negative? A double negative occurs when two negative forms are used in the same sentence. Examples of negative forms include adverbs (<em>not</em>, <em>never</em>, <em>hardly</em>, <em>barely</em>), adjectives (<em>no</em>), prefixes <span class="inlineBlock">(<em>un-</em></span>, <em class="inlineBlock">in-</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">dis-</em>), and suffixes (<em>-</em><em>less</em>), to name a&nbsp;few.</p>

<p>Though double negatives once were common in Old and Middle English, they are not very common at all anymore. In fact, grammarians have frowned upon their usage <a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/double_negative">since the 17th century</a>, which is why we need to be careful when teaching them to our&nbsp;students.</p>

<p>Double negatives can create confusion and ambiguity, so the best advice is to avoid using them. However, our students may come across them from time to time, so I believe we need to teach them to higher‑level students at some&nbsp;point.</p>

<h1>How Can We Use Double&nbsp;Negatives?</h1>

<p>We&rsquo;ve all heard that two negatives make a positive. This is indeed the main interpretation of a double negative sentence, but&nbsp;it isn&rsquo;t the only reason to double negatives. English, in all its glorious complexity and nuances, has other reasons and interpretations of this&nbsp;structure.</p>

<p>If we are going to teach our students about double negatives (and I think we should when they&rsquo;re at a high‑intermediate level and above or if it comes up in class), we should cover three possible scenarios of&nbsp;usage.</p>

<h2>Use #1</h2>

<h4>A double negative can have a positive&nbsp;meaning.</h4>

<ul>
	<li>I don&#39;t know nothing about it!&nbsp;= I know a lot about&nbsp;it.</li>
	<li>You&nbsp;should never not go. = You should always go.</li>
	<li>It&rsquo;s not unusual. = It&rsquo;s usual/common.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Use #2</h2>

<h4>A double negative can show a slight difference in&nbsp;meaning.*</h4>

<ul>
	<li>I don&#39;t know <em>nothing</em> about it. = I know a little about&nbsp;it.</li>
	<li>You can&rsquo;t <em>not</em> go. = You have to&nbsp;go.</li>
	<li>It&rsquo;s not <em>un</em>usual. = It&rsquo;s not common, but it happens&nbsp;sometimes.</li>
</ul>

<p><i>*Note: Italics indicate where a speaker would normally place the emphasis.</i></p>

<h2>Use #3</h2>

<h4>A double negative can emphasize a negative meaning (especially in certain&nbsp;dialects).**</h4>

<ul>
	<li>I don&rsquo;t know nothing about it. = I don&rsquo;t know anything about&nbsp;it.</li>
	<li>You can&rsquo;t never go. = You can never&nbsp;go.</li>
	<li>She ain&rsquo;t got no money. = She doesn&rsquo;t have any&nbsp;money.</li>
</ul>

<p><i>**Note: Sentences for this case are often considered to be grammatically incorrect.</i></p>

<h1>Which Meaning Is&nbsp;Intended?</h1>

<p>How can we tell which meaning is intended by the speaker/writer? It usually depends on the context of the conversation, which isn&rsquo;t always apparent (and which is why double negatives are best&nbsp;avoided).</p>

<p>Sometimes intonation also helps us decipher the correct interpretation (e.g., emphasizing <em>not</em> in &ldquo;you can&rsquo;t <em>not</em> go&rdquo; helps us determine that the meaning is &ldquo;you have to&nbsp;go&rdquo;). If you&rsquo;re an Ellii subscriber, you can play the audio for our Grammar &amp; Usage Resource on Double Negatives to hear the intonation difference intonation for each&nbsp;use.</p>

<p>Some dialects are often apparent throughout the speech or text and are not only noticeable when a double negative is used. Though dialects make a language rich and varied, we might do well to remind our students that some usage is not considered &ldquo;correct&rdquo; by all speakers&mdash;while students might hear double negatives on TV, they should probably avoid using them during a job interview or in an academic essay, for&nbsp;example.</p>

<h1>Further Practice</h1>

<p>We recently had a request from an <a href="https://ellii.com" target="_blank">Ellii</a>&nbsp;subscriber for teaching tips and practice on double negatives in English after they came up in her classroom. We developed a <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources">Grammar &amp; Usage Resource</a> on <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3081">Double Negatives</a> that includes a reference chart and a practice exercise. If you&rsquo;re not a subscriber, you can try some of the following&nbsp;activities:</p>

<h2>Activity #1</h2>

<p>For practice with use&nbsp;#1 above (two negatives equals a positive), put your students into pairs and have them write some double negative sentences (or write a list yourself to hand out to the class). Students can then pass their sentences to another pair. They should try to write the positive meaning. For&nbsp;example:</p>

<ul>
	<li>This place is not unfamiliar to me. &rarr; <em>This place is familiar to&nbsp;me</em>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Activity #2</h2>

<p>For higher‑level students, put them into pairs or groups and have them find instances of double negatives online, on TV, in the newspaper, etc. Have them decide what the&nbsp;use is (#1, 2, or 3 above) and get them to express what the meaning&nbsp;is.</p>

<h2>Activity #3</h2>

<p>Discuss the use (#1, 2, or 3 above) and meaning of famous song titles that use double negatives. Why would the artists choose a double negative? Examples of such song titles&nbsp;include:</p>

<ul>
	<li>&ldquo;(I Can&rsquo;t Get No) Satisfaction&rdquo; by the Rolling&nbsp;Stones</li>
	<li>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Not Unusual&rdquo; by Tom Jones</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Ain&rsquo;t No Mountain High Enough&rdquo; by Marvin Gaye &amp; Tammi&nbsp;Terrell</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Ask Me No Questions&rdquo; by Lynyrd&nbsp;Skynyrd</li>
	<li>&ldquo;We Don&rsquo;t Need No Education&rdquo; by Pink&nbsp;Floyd</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Ain&rsquo;t No Sunshine When She&rsquo;s Gone&rdquo; by Bill&nbsp;Withers</li>
	<li>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t Come Around Here No More&rdquo; by Tom Petty and the&nbsp;Heartbreakers</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3081">Double Negatives</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/negative-forms">Negative Forms</a></li>
</ul>


Double Negatives

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<h1>Overview</h1>

<p>How do you teach the negative form to your students? The negative form of English verbs is usually presented tense by tense in most textbooks. At some point, however, it might be useful for your students to see&nbsp;the negative form for different tenses at the same time so they can truly grasp the similarities and differences in patterns and sentence&nbsp;positions.</p>

<p>Before you present the three common negative verb patterns in class, try eliciting them from your students by&nbsp;asking&nbsp;the following question:</p>

<p><em>How would you make these&nbsp;sentences negative?</em></p>

<ul>
	<li>I am happy today.</li>
	<li>She was on time.</li>
	<li>You like coffee.</li>
	<li>He wanted some breakfast.</li>
	<li>They have been to&nbsp;Europe.</li>
	<li>We will be going overseas this&nbsp;year.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Patterns</h1>

<p>Go over the negative sentence patterns for the Be verb (pattern A below) and other verbs (pattern B) in the simple present and simple past. If your students are ready for more complex verb tenses (simple future, present perfect, etc.), introduce the pattern for verbs with two or more parts (pattern C).</p>

<p>Can your students think of more examples for each pattern?</p>

<h2>1. be + not</h2>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>am not</strong> happy&nbsp;today.</li>
	<li>She <strong>was not</strong> on time.</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. do + not + verb</h2>

<ul>
	<li>You <strong>do not like</strong> coffee.</li>
	<li>He <strong>did not want</strong> any&nbsp;breakfast.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. aux* + not + verb (+ verb)</h2>

<ul>
	<li>They&nbsp;<strong>have not been</strong> to&nbsp;Europe.</li>
	<li>We <strong>will not be going</strong> overseas this&nbsp;year.</li>
</ul>

<p>*aux = an auxiliary verb (e.g., <em>be</em>, <em>have</em>) or modal (e.g., <em>will</em>, <em>should</em>)</p>

<h1>Positions</h1>

<p>Did your students notice the placement of <em>not</em> in each of the patterns above? Ask if anyone can explain the position of the adverb in each case. If no one can explain it easily, or to reiterate, tell them the&nbsp;following:</p>

<ul>
	<li>For the simple present and past tenses, <em>not</em> follows the Be&nbsp;verb.</li>
	<li>For other verbs, start with the auxiliary <em>do</em> (present) or <em>did</em> (past), followed by <em>not</em> and the base verb.</li>
	<li>For tenses or modals with two or more parts to the verb phrase, the adverb <em>not</em> almost always goes in the second position following the auxiliary (<em>be</em>, <em>have</em>, or a modal) and preceding the rest of the verb form (present participle, past participle, or base&nbsp;form).</li>
</ul>

<h1>Examples</h1>

<p>After teaching the basic patterns&nbsp;and positions for negative sentences in English, go into more detail with the following examples. The&nbsp;examples in the charts below include different subjects (pronouns and nouns) and various tenses and&nbsp;modals.</p>

<h2>A. Negatives with Be:&nbsp;Simple Present &amp;&nbsp;Simple&nbsp;Past</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3043"><img alt="Negative Forms chart 1" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/16/content_113_Negative-Forms_Chart-1.jpg" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3043">Negative Forms</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h3>Contracted Forms</h3>

<p>We often contract <em>not</em> in informal spoken and written English, so it&rsquo;s very important to teach negative verb contractions. Try having your students guess at the contracted forms for each sentence in the chart.</p>

<p>Do your students realize that there are two ways (for most subjects) to form contractions in negative simple present sentences with the Be verb? Both forms are very common and equally acceptable. Negative simple past contractions only have two forms (<em>wasn&rsquo;t</em> and <em>weren&rsquo;t</em>), depending on the&nbsp;subject.</p>

<h4>Simple Present Contractions with&nbsp;Be</h4>

<ol>
	<li>I<strong>&rsquo;m not</strong> tired&nbsp;today.</li>
	<li>You<strong>&rsquo;re not</strong> in this class. / You <strong>aren&rsquo;t</strong> in this&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>He<strong>&rsquo;s not</strong> at school. / He <strong>isn&rsquo;t</strong> at&nbsp;school.</li>
	<li>She<strong>&rsquo;s not</strong> lazy. / She <strong>isn&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;lazy.</li>
	<li>It<strong>&rsquo;s not</strong> a nice day. / It <strong>isn&rsquo;t</strong> a nice&nbsp;day.</li>
	<li>We<strong>&rsquo;re not</strong> his students. / We <strong>aren&rsquo;t</strong> his&nbsp;students.</li>
	<li>They<strong>&rsquo;re not</strong> cold. / They <strong>aren&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;cold.</li>
	<li>Her brother<strong>&rsquo;s not</strong> hungry. / Her brother <strong>isn&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;hungry.</li>
	<li>My sisters <strong>aren&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;here.</li>
</ol>

<h4>Simple Past Contractions with Be</h4>

<ol>
	<li>I <strong>wasn&rsquo;t</strong> tired&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	<li>You <strong>weren&rsquo;t</strong> in this&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>He <strong>wasn&rsquo;t</strong> at&nbsp;school.</li>
	<li>She <strong>wasn&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;lazy.</li>
	<li>It <strong>wasn&rsquo;t</strong> a nice&nbsp;day.</li>
	<li>We <strong>weren&rsquo;t</strong> his&nbsp;students.</li>
	<li>They <strong>weren&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;cold.</li>
	<li>Her brother <strong>wasn&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;hungry.</li>
	<li>My sisters <strong>weren&rsquo;t</strong>&nbsp;there.</li>
</ol>

<h2>B. Negatives with Other Verbs: Simple Present &amp; Simple&nbsp;Past</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3043"><img alt="Negative Forms chart 2" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/20/content_113_Negative-Forms_Chart-2.jpg" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3043">Negative Forms</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h3>Contracted Forms</h3>

<p>Contractions with verbs other than the Be verb are pretty simple. Tell your students that negative simple present sentences take <em>don&rsquo;t</em> or <em>doesn&rsquo;t</em>, depending on the subject. Negative simple past contractions all take <em>didn&rsquo;t</em>, which makes things easier on our learners!</p>

<p>Can your students tell you the contracted forms for all the sentences in the chart&nbsp;above?</p>

<h4>Simple Present Contractions with&nbsp;Do</h4>

<ol>
	<li>I <strong>don&rsquo;t have</strong> a&nbsp;dog.</li>
	<li>You <strong>don&rsquo;t like</strong>&nbsp;vegetables.</li>
	<li>He <strong>doesn&rsquo;t own</strong> a&nbsp;car.</li>
	<li>She <strong>doesn&rsquo;t enjoy</strong>&nbsp;shopping.</li>
	<li>It <strong>doesn&rsquo;t&nbsp;matter</strong>.</li>
	<li>We <strong>don&rsquo;t want</strong> to move to another&nbsp;country.</li>
	<li>They <strong>don&rsquo;t need</strong> any&nbsp;help.</li>
	<li>Our teacher <strong>doesn&rsquo;t give</strong> us any&nbsp;homework.</li>
	<li>My friends <strong>don&rsquo;t go out</strong> on school&nbsp;nights.</li>
</ol>

<h4>Simple Past Contractions with&nbsp;Did</h4>

<ol>
	<li>I <strong>didn&rsquo;t have</strong> a dog when I was a&nbsp;child.</li>
	<li>You <strong>didn&rsquo;t like</strong> vegetables when you were&nbsp;young.</li>
	<li>He <strong>didn&rsquo;t own</strong> a car last&nbsp;month.</li>
	<li>She <strong>didn&rsquo;t enjoy</strong> shopping last year, but she does&nbsp;now.</li>
	<li>It <strong>didn&rsquo;t&nbsp;matter</strong>.</li>
	<li>We <strong>didn&rsquo;t want</strong> to move to another&nbsp;country.</li>
	<li>They <strong>didn&rsquo;t need</strong> any&nbsp;help.</li>
	<li>Our teacher <strong>didn&rsquo;t give</strong> us any homework&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
	<li>My friends <strong>didn&rsquo;t go out</strong> last&nbsp;night.</li>
</ol>

<h2>C. Negatives with Other Tenses &amp;&nbsp;Modals</h2>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3043"><img alt="Negative Forms chart 3" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/18/content_113_Negative-Forms_Chart-3.jpg" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3043">Negative Forms</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h3>Contracted Forms</h3>

<p>What about contractions for tenses other than the simple present and simple past? The contraction takes place between the auxiliary verb or modal (e.g., <em>be</em>, <em>have</em>, <em>will</em>, <em>should</em>, <em>must</em>, <em>would</em>, <em>can</em>, <em>could</em>) and the adverb&nbsp;<em>not</em>.</p>

<p>Ask your students to tell you the contracted forms of the examples in the previous chart. Examples&nbsp;7 and 8 provide good teaching points&mdash;in North American English, <em>mustn&rsquo;t</em> is possible but not very common and <em>mightn&rsquo;t</em> is&nbsp;impossible.</p>

<h4>Contractions with Other Tenses &amp;&nbsp;Modals</h4>

<ol>
	<li>I<strong>&rsquo;m not going</strong> to the&nbsp;party.</li>
	<li>You <strong>won&rsquo;t pass</strong> this test unless you&nbsp;study.</li>
	<li>He <strong>hasn&rsquo;t given</strong> me an answer&nbsp;yet.</li>
	<li>She <strong>shouldn&rsquo;t apply</strong> for a job until she&nbsp;graduates.</li>
	<li>It <strong>wasn&rsquo;t working like</strong> it was supposed&nbsp;to.</li>
	<li>We <strong>haven&rsquo;t been living</strong> in this city for very&nbsp;long.</li>
	<li>They <strong>mustn&rsquo;t arrive</strong>&nbsp;late.</li>
	<li>(No contracted form. It is incorrect to say&nbsp;<em>mightn&rsquo;t </em>in American and Canadian English.)</li>
	<li>Those cookies <strong>weren&rsquo;t eaten</strong> by our&nbsp;children.</li>
</ol>

<h2>D. Never</h2>

<p>There are other ways to express negativity in English besides using the adverb <em>not</em>. <em>Never</em> is an adverb of frequency that means &ldquo;not ever.&rdquo; The patterns and positions for <em>never</em> are similar to <em>not</em> with one important difference: The auxiliary verb <em>do</em> is not needed with <em>never</em>.</p>

<p>Try to elicit this difference before or after presenting the following examples to your&nbsp;students.</p>

<ol>
	<li>I <strong>am never</strong>&nbsp;late.</li>
	<li>You <strong>never call</strong>&nbsp;me.</li>
	<li>He <strong>never completed</strong> the&nbsp;assignment.</li>
	<li>She <strong>will never eat</strong>&nbsp;meat.</li>
	<li>It <strong>would never snow</strong> in summer in my&nbsp;hometown.</li>
	<li>We <strong>have never been</strong> to&nbsp;Australia.</li>
	<li>They&nbsp;<strong>must never enter</strong> this room without&nbsp;permission.</li>
</ol>

<h2>E. Negative Questions</h2>

<p>What about using &ldquo;not&rdquo; in questions? Negative questions are possible, but they aren&rsquo;t commonly used. Tell your students that they might hear or use negative questions&nbsp;to show surprise or to get confirmation.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Are you <strong>not</strong> feeling well today?<br />
	(e.g., ask this if your friend is quieter than usual)</li>
	<li>Do you <strong>not</strong> like pizza?<br />
	(e.g., ask this if your friend isn&rsquo;t eating pizza when everyone else is)</li>
	<li>Have you <strong>not</strong> seen this movie?<br />
	(e.g., ask this if your friend isn&rsquo;t joining in a discussion about a popular film)</li>
</ul>

<p>Your students will undoubtedly ask you about the correct way to answer negative questions. This can be a bit tricky! When using &ldquo;not&rdquo; in a question, a &ldquo;no&rdquo; answer shows agreement with the question and a &ldquo;yes&rdquo; answer shows disagreement. Give your students the following examples.</p>

<h4>Example 1</h4>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Question:</th>
			<td>Are you <strong>not</strong> feeling well today?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Answer&nbsp;(agree):</th>
			<td><strong>No</strong>, I&rsquo;m <strong>not</strong>. I woke up with a headache.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Answer&nbsp;(disagree):</th>
			<td>I&rsquo;m feeling fine. Why do you ask?</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h4>Example 2</h4>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Question:</th>
			<td>Do you <strong>not</strong> like pizza?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Answer&nbsp;(agree):</th>
			<td><strong>No</strong>, I <strong>don&rsquo;t</strong>, actually.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Answer&nbsp;(disagree):</th>
			<td>I love pizza! I&rsquo;m just too full to eat any.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h4>Example 3</h4>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Question:</th>
			<td>Have you <strong>not</strong> seen this film?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Answer&nbsp;(agree):</th>
			<td><strong>No</strong>, I <strong>haven&rsquo;t</strong> seen it yet.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Answer&nbsp;(disagree):</th>
			<td>Yeah, I&rsquo;ve seen it. I just didn&rsquo;t think it was very good.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>For examples of negative forms in tag questions, see <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2376">this lesson</a>.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3043">Negative Forms</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1591">Simple Present &ndash; Be</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2403">Simple Present</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1594">Simple Past</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1963">Verb Tense Review 1</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1997">Verb Tense Review 2</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2241">Adverbs of Frequency</a></li>
</ul>


Negative Forms

https://esllibrary-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/post/title_image/1628/Tanya_Negative-Forms_Banner.png

<h1>Inclusive&nbsp;Language</h1>

<p>Inclusive language (i.e., language that includes everyone regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.) is an important subject in the publishing world today. It is also something that everyday speakers are taking into consideration. Many people are careful to make sure terms that exclude or demean certain groups of people (e.g., using <em>mankind</em> instead of <em>humankind</em>) are becoming less common&nbsp;in&nbsp;everyday language. How does inclusive language play out in the classroom for English language learners and&nbsp;teachers?</p>

<h1>To Teach or Not to&nbsp;Teach?</h1>

<p>As language teachers, should we teach students both&nbsp;inclusive and controversial terms and expressions since they&#39;re likely to come across instances of both? Should we teach them when to avoid using certain words or phrases that are now considered&nbsp;hurtful?</p>

<p>In my opinion, the answer to both of these questions is yes. I believe we should teach our students as many words and phrases they will commonly hear and see as often as possible, even if they&rsquo;re controversial. But, since English is not their first language, we also have a responsibility to warn them when a term or saying may be considered offensive and hurtful by&nbsp;some.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Long time no see&rdquo; (also sometimes written with a comma after &ldquo;time&rdquo;) is a fairly common expression used when greeting someone we haven&rsquo;t seen for a while. This past week, a long‑term subscriber wrote in to say she is no longer comfortable teaching this phrase after learning the origin of it. She mentioned that this phrase appears in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1749">Making Small Talk</a> lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons">Functional English</a> section, and she was wondering if we were aware of its potential to offend people of Asian descent. We began our research&nbsp;immediately.</p>

<h1>Origins &amp; Usage</h1>

<p>While most of the sources we looked at agree that the expression &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; comes from pidgin American English, many aren&#39;t sure whether it originated from a Native&nbsp;American&nbsp;or a Chinese expression originally. For example, articles on the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/03/09/288300303/who-first-said-long-time-no-see-and-in-which-language">NPR</a> site and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_time_no_see">Wikipedia</a> discuss the two conflicting origins. <a href="https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/06/18/9-words-with-offensive-origins/">Oxford Dictionary</a>, on the other hand, says this expression originated as &ldquo;a humorous interpretation of a Native American&nbsp;greeting.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The two main dictionaries I consult on a daily basis list &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; as entries without any usage notes (though <em>Oxford Dictionary</em> discusses it in a blog post&mdash;see&nbsp;below).</p>

<p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/long%20time%20no%20see"><em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary</em></a> lists &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; as an&nbsp;idiom:</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>IDIOM</p>

<p>informal</p>

<p>&mdash;used as a greeting for someone one has not seen for a long&nbsp;time</p>
</div>

<p><a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/long_time_no_see"><em>Oxford Dictionary</em></a> lists it as a&nbsp;phrase:</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<p>PHRASE</p>

<p>informal</p>

<p>It is a long time since we last met (used as a&nbsp;greeting).</p>
</div>

<h1>Decisions &amp; Conclusion</h1>

<p>So is it offensive? If you do a search for this phrase, you will find many conflicting opinions. For example, Katrina Leibee, in her post in <a href="https://collegian.com/2018/11/leibee-csu-has-gone-too-far-with-inclusive-language/"><em>The Rocky Mountain Collegian</em></a>, says this: &ldquo;There must be a great deal of projection going on if you find &lsquo;long time no see&rsquo; racist to Asians. It&rsquo;s literally a direct translation of Mandarin syntax (好久不见) and has become a common turn of phrase.&rdquo; However, Oxford Dictionary lists &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; in their post called <a href="https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/06/18/9-words-with-offensive-origins/">9 Words with Offensive&nbsp;Origins</a>.</p>

<p>While the Ellii team strives to use inclusive language as often as possible (and we take customer feedback very seriously), after much discussion and research into this phrase we&rsquo;ve decided not to remove it from the lesson. We feel it is such a common a phrase in many parts of the world that English language learners will undoubtedly come across it in conversation, on TV, in movies, etc., and they will wonder about the ungrammatical syntax of this phrase. By all means, we encourage teachers who feel it is an offensive phrase to teach their students that though they may hear it, they shouldn&rsquo;t use it&nbsp;themselves.</p>

<p>I myself would likely use it as a teaching point. It would be great way to open a discussion on inclusive language with my students and point out words or phrases that are considered highly offensive with ones that are still being debated. I would also ask if any of my students think the phrase &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; is offensive and for what reasons. If any of my students felt it was hurtful or degrading, I would then tell my students that we shouldn&rsquo;t use it in&nbsp;class.</p>

<p>I tend to agree with Stavros Macrakis when he summed up usage of &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; on <a href="https://www.quora.com/Is-it-racist-to-say-long-time-no-see">Quora&rsquo;s</a> site: &ldquo;As for the use of the phrase today, I suspect most people are unaware of its origins, and using it completely innocently. Then again, a lot of people are sensitive, and a lot of rumors go around&hellip;If enough people start believing that &lsquo;long time no see&rsquo; is offensive, it will be best to avoid&nbsp;it.&rdquo;</p>

<p>It&rsquo;s really up to the individual teacher how they wish to proceed in terms of teaching and using inclusive&nbsp;language in their classrooms. I believe that it&rsquo;s important to tell students when a term is considered derogatory (like we do in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1906">National Indigenous Peoples Day</a> lesson). I think it&rsquo;s also worthwhile to point out cases where a term or phrase may become offensive to all one day. To me, &ldquo;long time no see&rdquo; is such a case. I would make my students aware that some people might find it offensive, but that it is still common to hear and use in English conversation at this point in&nbsp;time.</p>

<p>What would you do in your&nbsp;classroom?</p>


Is "Long Time No See" Offensive?

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<p><strong>Adjectives</strong> are words that are used to describe <strong>nouns</strong>. They are also known as <em>modifiers</em>. These common words follow two basic patterns in English. Students often ask which pattern is better or more common to use, and the answer is that they&rsquo;re equally&nbsp;common!</p>

<h1>Purpose</h1>

<p>Adjectives are used to describe <em>nouns</em> (people, places, or&nbsp;things).</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>green</strong> coat</li>
	<li><strong>beautiful</strong> sunset</li>
	<li><strong>cute</strong> puppies</li>
	<li><strong>interesting</strong> lesson</li>
</ul>

<p>Adjectives are also used to describe how someone is&nbsp;<em>feeling</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>happy</strong></li>
	<li><strong>sad</strong></li>
	<li><strong>hot</strong></li>
	<li><strong>cold</strong></li>
</ul>

<h1>Patterns</h1>

<p>There are two basic adjective patterns in&nbsp;English.</p>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Pattern 1: Adjective + Noun</h2>

<p>An adjective often comes right before a noun. It stays right before the noun even when there are other parts of speech that are part of the pattern, such as an article, an adverb, or a preposition. This pattern is common for adjectives that describe people, places, or&nbsp;things.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Adj + N)</span></li>
	<li>a <strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Art + Adj + N)</span></li>
	<li>a really <strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Art + Adv + Adj + N)</span></li>
	<li>on a really <strong>soft</strong> pillow <span class="inlineBlock">(Prep + Art + Adv + Adj + N)</span></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Pattern 2: Be + Adjective</h2>

<p>An adjective can also follow the Be verb. This pattern is common for adjectives that describe feelings as well as people, places, or&nbsp;things.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She is <strong>happy</strong>.</li>
	<li>I am <strong>tired</strong>.</li>
	<li>Your brother is <strong>nice</strong>.</li>
	<li>This pillow is <strong>soft</strong>.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>To form an adjective, a suffix is often added to the end of a noun. Some common adjective suffixes in English include <em class="inlineBlock">-able</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-al</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ant</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ed</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ent</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ful</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ible</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ic</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ing</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ive</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-less</em>, <em class="inlineBlock">-ous</em>, and&nbsp;<em class="inlineBlock">-y</em>. For more examples, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-word-endings-suffixes-that-show-the-part-of-speech/">English Word Endings: Suffixes That Show the Part of Speech</a>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>logic<strong>al</strong></li>
	<li>import<strong>ant</strong></li>
	<li>care<strong>ful</strong></li>
	<li>danger<strong>ous</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>Some adjectives don&rsquo;t come from a noun. These adjectives don&rsquo;t have&nbsp;suffixes.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>big</strong></li>
	<li><strong>small</strong></li>
	<li><strong>good</strong></li>
	<li><strong>bad</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>

<h1>Summary</h1>

<p>It&rsquo;s a good idea to give students similar examples of the two patterns so they can see that there is no difference in meaning. Both patterns are common for describing nouns. It&rsquo;s their choice which pattern they want to&nbsp;use!</p>

<ul>
	<li>This is <strong>delicious</strong>&nbsp;pizza.</li>
	<li>This pizza is&nbsp;<strong>delicious</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p>  You may also want to remind students that for feelings, Be + Adjective is the more common&nbsp;pattern.</p>

<ul>
	<li>He is <strong>happy</strong>.</li>
	<li>I am <strong>sick</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<p>For more materials on adjectives as well as more advanced adjective tips, see the related resources&nbsp;below!</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2093" target="_blank">Adjectives</a> &ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2496" target="_blank">Adjectives</a> &ndash; Fun Grammar Lessons</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/2414" target="_blank">Feelings</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2812-adjectives" target="_blank">Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2316-suffixes" target="_blank">Suffixes</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjective-order-and-punctuation" target="_blank">Adjective Order and Punctuation</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/when-to-use-hyphens-rules-for-multiple-word-adjectives" target="_blank">When to Use Hyphens: Rules for Multiple-Word Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-teach-ed-ing-adjectives-9-simple-steps" target="_blank">How to Teach -ED/-ING Adjectives: 9 Simple Steps</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/look-appear-feel-adjective-or-adverb" target="_blank">Look, Appear, Feel + Adjective or&nbsp;Adverb?</a></li>
</ul>


Adjectives

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<p>Collocations are words that <em>naturally go together</em> in a language. While native English speakers instinctively know that &ldquo;fast food&rdquo;&nbsp;sounds right but &ldquo;quick food&rdquo;&nbsp;does not, English learners may not be able to recognize why some words work well together while others with a similar meaning do&nbsp;not.</p>

<p>Learning common collocations is similar to learning phrasal verbs. The more exposure, the better! So how do we teach collocations? We don&rsquo;t want students to simply have to memorize huge lists of them. It may help to break down collocations into manageable, related sets of 10, as we did below. Also, be sure to provide plenty of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">practice and&nbsp;review</a>.</p>

<p>Let&rsquo;s start by looking at&nbsp;lists and examples of <strong>verb collocations</strong> for these common verbs: <em>have</em>, <em>get</em>, <em>take</em>, <em>come</em>, and&nbsp;<em>go</em>.</p>

<h1>Collocations with Have</h1>

<ul>
	<li>have breakfast/lunch/dinner/a&nbsp;snack</li>
	<li>have a cup of coffee/tea</li>
	<li>have an idea</li>
	<li>have a party</li>
	<li>have a good time</li>
	<li>have a baby</li>
	<li>have a headache</li>
	<li>have a fight/argument</li>
	<li>have a problem</li>
	<li>have an accident</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Get</h1>

<ul>
	<li>get a job</li>
	<li>get married</li>
	<li>get divorced</li>
	<li>get together</li>
	<li>get drunk</li>
	<li>get home</li>
	<li>get in trouble</li>
	<li>get dressed</li>
	<li>get lost</li>
	<li>get ready</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Take</h1>

<ul>
	<li>take a seat</li>
	<li>take a while</li>
	<li>take a photo</li>
	<li>take a rain check</li>
	<li>take a taxi</li>
	<li>take a shower/bath</li>
	<li>take a chance</li>
	<li>take a break</li>
	<li>take a look</li>
	<li>take care</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Come</h1>

<ul>
	<li>come close</li>
	<li>come first</li>
	<li>come on time</li>
	<li>come prepared</li>
	<li>come to a conclusion</li>
	<li>come to a decision</li>
	<li>come to an agreement</li>
	<li>come to an end</li>
	<li>come up with something</li>
	<li>come back</li>
</ul>

<h1>Collocations with Go</h1>

<ul>
	<li>go home</li>
	<li>go downtown</li>
	<li>go to bed</li>
	<li>go to school</li>
	<li>go to work</li>
	<li>go to a meeting</li>
	<li>go on a trip</li>
	<li>go for a run</li>
	<li>go for a coffee</li>
	<li>go back</li>
</ul>

<h1>Examples</h1>

<p>Here are a few examples from the list above. For more examples, meanings, and practice with all of the previous collocations, see our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">Verb&nbsp;Collocations</a>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>It&rsquo;s been a long day. I can&rsquo;t wait to <strong>go home</strong>, <strong>take a shower</strong>, and <strong>go to&nbsp;bed</strong>.</li>
	<li>We&rsquo;ve just <strong>come to a decision</strong> about our next trip. Both of us are <strong>having a good time</strong> here in Mexico, so we&rsquo;ll <strong>come back</strong> to this resort again next&nbsp;year.</li>
	<li>I <strong>have a problem</strong> with my computer. Can you <strong>take a look</strong> at it&nbsp;today?</li>
	<li>They <strong>had another big fight</strong>. I&rsquo;m worried they&rsquo;ll <strong>get divorced</strong>. I&rsquo;d hate to see their marriage <strong>come to an&nbsp;end</strong>.</li>
	<li>I <strong>had a cup of coffee</strong> with an old friend yesterday. Since I last saw her, she <strong>got married</strong>, <strong>got a new job</strong>, and <strong>had a baby</strong>, so we had a lot to catch up&nbsp;on!</li>
</ul>

<h1>Notes</h1>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #1</h2>

<p>The following sets are common collocations that are often&nbsp;interchangeable:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>have a shower/bath</strong> and <strong>take a shower/bath</strong></li>
	<li><strong>have a look</strong> and <strong>take a&nbsp;look</strong></li>
	<li><strong>have a break</strong> and <strong>take a&nbsp;break</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="white-box">
<h2>Note #2</h2>

<p>There is a difference in usage between <em>come back</em> and <em>go back</em>. We use <em>come back</em> when we&rsquo;re <strong>at the place</strong> we&rsquo;re talking about. We use <em>go back</em> when we&rsquo;re <strong>not at the place</strong> we&rsquo;re talking&nbsp;about.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I can&rsquo;t believe it&rsquo;s your last day here in Toronto! I hope you can <strong>come back</strong>&nbsp;soon.</li>
	<li>We loved our trip to Hawaii last month. We plan to <strong>go back</strong> next&nbsp;spring.</li>
</ul>
</div>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">Verb Collocations</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2310-make-vs-do" target="_blank">Make Vs. Do</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/make-vs-do/" target="_blank">Make Vs. Do</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2742" target="_blank">Phrasal Verbs</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2740-phrasal-verb-list" target="_blank">Phrasal Verb List</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-do-you-teach-phrasal-verbs/" target="_blank">How Do You Teach Phrasal Verbs?</a></li>
</ul>
