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

Grammar & Usage

<p>Adverbs have more functions in English than any other part of speech. Aside from the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">seven common&nbsp;sentence positions</a>, there are different types (such as adverbs of <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-frequency/" target="_blank">frequency</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-manner/" target="_blank">manner</a>), adverbs with <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-with-two-forms/" target="_blank">two forms</a>, and adverbs that change meaning depending on the tense (such as&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/already-yet-still/" target="_blank"><em>still</em></a>). Finally, once English language learners have practiced all that, they get introduced to adverb clauses and phrases. Let&#39;s look at&nbsp;some teaching tips to make adverb clauses a bit easier to&nbsp;learn!</p>

<h1>Clause Vs. Phrase</h1>

<p>Students should be aware of the difference between&nbsp;<em>adverb clauses</em> and&nbsp;<em>adverb phrases</em>. Point out that a clause is a complete sentence with a subject and verb (and possibly an object), while a phrase isn&#39;t a complete&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<th>Note</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I came across some interesting information&nbsp;<strong>while&nbsp;I was&nbsp;studying</strong>.</td>
			<td>adverb clause: subject <em>I</em>, verb <em>was&nbsp;studying</em></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>I came across some interesting information <strong>while&nbsp;studying</strong>.</td>
			<td>adverb phrase: no subject, incomplete verb&nbsp;<em>studying</em></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Patterns</h1>

<p>An&nbsp;adverb clause is a dependent clause (meaning it cannot stand alone), and it can come&nbsp;<strong>before</strong> or&nbsp;<strong>after</strong> the independent (main)&nbsp;clause. If it comes&nbsp;<strong>before</strong> the main clause, use a&nbsp;<strong>comma</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>When I was young,&nbsp;</strong>I watched a lot of&nbsp;TV.</li>
	<li>I watched a lot of TV&nbsp;<strong>when I was&nbsp;young</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Types</h1>

<p>There are four common types of adverb clauses in English: <em>time</em>, <em>contrast</em>, <em>cause and effect</em>, and&nbsp;<em>conditional</em>.</p>

<h2>1. Time</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of time indicate&nbsp;<em>when&nbsp;</em>something took place. They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>when</em>, <em>until</em>, <em>as soon as</em>, <em>after</em>, <em>before</em>, <em>since</em>, and&nbsp;<em>while</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Before she got the job,</strong> she had already&nbsp;graduated.</li>
	<li>She had already graduated <strong>before she got the&nbsp;job</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Contrast</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of contrast&nbsp;show&nbsp;the opposite of what is expected. They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>though</em>, <em>even though</em>, <em>although</em>, <em>whereas</em>,&nbsp;and <em>while</em>. See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-explain-despite-vs-although" target="_blank">How to Explain Despite Vs. Although</a> for more examples of adverb clauses of&nbsp;contrast.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Although it was raining,</strong> we went to the&nbsp;beach.</li>
	<li>We went to the beach <strong>although it was&nbsp;raining</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Cause &amp; Effect</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of cause and effect indicate <em>why</em> something happens. They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>because</em>, <em>since</em>, <em>as</em>, and <em>so&nbsp;(that)</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Because he asked me first,</strong> he got the extra&nbsp;ticket.</li>
	<li>He got the extra ticket <strong>because he asked me&nbsp;first</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Conditional</h2>

<p>Adverb clauses of time show a hypothetical situation (where something might take&nbsp;place only if a certain thing happens). They start with adverbs such as&nbsp;<em>if</em>, <em>only if</em>, <em>even if</em>, <em>unless</em>,&nbsp;and <em>whether or not</em>. See <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/an-easy-way-to-teach-conditionals" target="_blank">An Easy Way to Teach Conditionals</a> for more examples of clauses with&nbsp;<em>if</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>If I were rich,</strong> I would donate a million dollars to&nbsp;charity.</li>
	<li>I would donate a million dollars to charity <strong>if I were&nbsp;rich</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Tricky Adverb Clauses</h1>

<h2>1. Adverbs Clauses with Two Meanings</h2>

<p>Watch out for adverbs like&nbsp;<em>since</em> and&nbsp;<em>while</em>.&nbsp;Point out that the verb tense of a sentence often indicates&nbsp;what the meaning&nbsp;is.</p>

<table class="has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<th>Note</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>I have been studying English <strong>since</strong> I was 11 years&nbsp;old.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of time / since = past starting point / present progressive, present perfect progressive&nbsp;tenses</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>They remain on strike <strong>since</strong> they haven&#39;t reached a&nbsp;deal.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of cause &amp; effect / since = because / any&nbsp;tense</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>The fire alarm went off <strong>while</strong> he was&nbsp;sleeping.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of time / while&nbsp;= during&nbsp;/ past progressive, future&nbsp;progressive</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>She is a city girl&nbsp;<strong>while</strong> he&nbsp;prefers the country.</td>
			<td>adverb clause of contrast / while = in contrast / any&nbsp;tense</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>2. Since, Because, As, Due To</h2>

<p>Can we begin a sentence with&nbsp;<em>because</em>? Can we replace <em>because</em> with&nbsp;<em>as&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>since</em>? Can we use&nbsp;<em>due to&nbsp;</em>instead of <em>because of</em>? Should we avoid&nbsp;<em>due to the fact that</em> and&nbsp;<em>because of the fact that</em> Get up to speed on the latest in language decisions with this post:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-because-since-as-and-due-to" target="_blank">What&#39;s the Deal with Since, Because, As, and Due&nbsp;To?</a></p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>For more practice with adverb clauses, try our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> lessons.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1616" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of&nbsp;Time</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1619" target="_blank">Adverb Clauses of&nbsp;Contrast</a></li>
</ul>


Adverb Clauses

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<h1>This could take a while&hellip;</h1>

<p>English language learners struggle when commonly confused words pop up in reading and writing. Much like&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/any-time-vs-anytime" target="_blank"><em>any time</em> and <em>anytime</em></a>, <em>a while</em> and <em>awhile</em> have similar meanings and sound the same, but have different parts of speech. So when exactly do we use these&nbsp;terms?</p>

<h1>A While</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>a period of time</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;ˈwɑyl/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>article + noun</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Sentence Positions:</th>
			<td>
			<ol style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>the object of a verb (V&nbsp;+&nbsp;O)</li>
				<li>after a preposition (Prep&nbsp;+&nbsp;N)</li>
			</ol>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>It has been <strong>a while</strong> since I saw&nbsp;that&nbsp;movie.</li>
				<li>Bread&nbsp;will go stale after <strong>a&nbsp;while</strong>.</li>
				<li>We will leave&nbsp;in&nbsp;<strong>a&nbsp;while</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Awhile</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>for a short time; for a while</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Pronunciation:</th>
			<td>/&aelig;ˈwɑyl/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Part of Speech:</th>
			<td>adverb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Sentence Positions:</th>
			<td>
			<ol style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>after a verb (V&nbsp;+&nbsp;Adv)</li>
				<li>at the end of a sentence (SVO&nbsp;+&nbsp;Adv)</li>
			</ol>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul style="margin-bottom: 0;">
				<li>I need to rest&nbsp;<strong>awhile</strong>.</li>
				<li>We waited <strong>awhile</strong>, but she never showed&nbsp;up.</li>
				<li>I&#39;m just going to stand here&nbsp;<strong>awhile</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Tips &amp; Tricks</h1>

<p><strong>If you can replace it&nbsp;with &quot;for a while,&quot;&nbsp;use <em>awhile</em>.</strong> For example,&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Usage/faq0016.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Chicago Manual of Style</a></em>&#39;s FAQ had a great answer to a debate about&nbsp;<em>take a while</em> vs.&nbsp;<em>take awhile&nbsp;</em>(correct answer:&nbsp;<em>take a&nbsp;while</em>).</p>

<blockquote>
<p>It is true that either an adverb or an object can follow a verb. But the adverb <em>awhile&nbsp;</em>means <em>for a while,</em> which clearly should not follow <em>take</em> (compare <em>stay awhile</em>, which survives expansion to <em>stay for a&nbsp;while</em>).</p>
</blockquote>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="incorrect">It took awhile. = It took for a&nbsp;while.</li>
	<li class="correct">We stayed awhile. = We stayed for a&nbsp;while.</li>
</ul>

<p>I also found a great tip on Grammar Girl&#39;s <em><a href="http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/while-versus-awhile" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Quick and Dirty Tips</a></em> blog. If you can replace it&nbsp;with a noun about time, use <em>a while</em>. If you can replace it with an adverb of manner, use&nbsp;<em>awhile</em>.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">It&#39;s been an hour. = It&#39;s been <strong>a&nbsp;while</strong>.</li>
	<li class="correct">Go play quietly. = Go play <strong>awhile</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/awhile" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Oxford Dictionaries</em></a> has a good usage summary to share with your learners if they&#39;re still&nbsp;confused:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>The single word <em>awhile</em> is an adverb meaning &quot;for a short time,&quot;&nbsp;and should not be confused with the noun use of <em>a while</em>, &quot;a period of time&quot;: <em>stand here awhile</em>, but <em>we stood there for a&nbsp;while</em></p>
</blockquote>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">We stood there awhile.</li>
	<li class="correct">We stood there for a&nbsp;while.</li>
</ul>

<h1><em>Awhile</em> or <em>A While</em> After a&nbsp;Preposition?</h1>

<p>Can <em>awhile</em> be used as the object of a preposition? This is something I would only discuss with my higher-level learners.&nbsp;<em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/awhile" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary</a></em> says that&nbsp;<em>awhile</em> is often seen and heard in this position, but warns that grammar sticklers consider it to be&nbsp;incorrect.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">We sat around and talked for <strong>a while</strong>. <em>(correct)</em></li>
	<li class="correct">We sat around and talked for <strong>awhile</strong>. <em>(okay, but considered wrong by&nbsp;some)</em></li>
</ul>

<p>Your higher-level learners should also be aware that if the preposition is part of a phrasal verb or verb + preposition expression, then we need to use the adverb&nbsp;<em>awhile</em>. (This also follows the handy tip about using&nbsp;<em>awhile</em> when we can replace it with&nbsp;<em>for a while</em> mentioned&nbsp;above.)</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">Will you stick around <strong>awhile</strong>? <em>(correct;&nbsp;</em>around<em> is part of the verb expression&nbsp;</em>stick around<em>)</em></li>
	<li class="incorrect">Will you stick around <strong>a while</strong>? <em>(incorrect)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/any-time-vs-anytime" target="_blank">Any Time Vs. Anytime</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-commonly-confused-word-pairs" target="_blank">Commonly Confused Word Pairs</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/commonly-confused-prepositions-above-over-below-under" target="_blank">Commonly Confused Prepositions</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/2401" target="_blank">Great Barrier Reef</a> (see example of&nbsp;<em>a while</em>&nbsp;on page 4)</li>
</ul>


A While Vs. Awhile

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<h1>Is the argument that we can&#39;t use&nbsp;<em>over</em> to mean&nbsp;<em>more than</em> finally over and done&nbsp;with?</h1>

<p>There are some so-called &quot;rules&quot; in the English language that confuse everyone from native speakers to English language learners. Sometimes there isn&#39;t even any grammatical basis for the rules&mdash;some &quot;expert&quot; long ago decided it didn&#39;t sound like proper English, and it stuck. <em>Don&#39;t use &quot;over&quot; in place of &quot;more than&quot;&nbsp;</em>is just such a rule. When even grammarians are arguing over a language rule, what are English language learners and teachers supposed to&nbsp;do?</p>

<h1>The Argument</h1>

<p>In 1877 William Cullen Bryant, the editor of the&nbsp;<em>New York Evening Post,&nbsp;</em>decided that&nbsp;<em>over</em> should never be used in place of&nbsp;<em>more than</em> (and supposedly he never gave a reason for this). Just to put it in context, he also forbade the word&nbsp;<em>pants&nbsp;</em>in place of&nbsp;<em>pantaloons</em>. But for some reason, this <em>over</em> ban stuck. So <em>over</em> with a countable numeral (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>Over 100 people signed up</em>) was considered incorrect;&nbsp;<em>more than</em> was the only acceptable choice, according to many grammarians of the day (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>More than 100 people signed&nbsp;up</em>). Of course, you could always use <em>over</em> as a preposition of place (e.g.,&nbsp;<em>The dog jumped over the fence</em>), but the adverbial sense of&nbsp;<em>over</em> was a big no-no in many circles, especially among journalists. (For more on&nbsp;<em>over</em> as a preposition, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/commonly-confused-prepositions-above-over-below-under/" target="_blank">Commonly Confused Prepositions: Above, Over, Below &amp; Under</a>.) On the other hand, many have argued that there is no basis for this rule and have demonstrated that&nbsp;<em>over</em> (meaning <em>more than</em>) has been in use since the 14th&nbsp;century.</p>

<h1>The Good News</h1>

<p>Most of the major style guides now list <em>over</em> as an acceptable alternative to&nbsp;<em>more than</em>.&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, for instance, has had this entry since 2010: &quot;<strong><em>over</em></strong><em>. </em>As an equivalent of&nbsp;<em>more than</em>, this word is perfectly good idiomatic English.&quot;&nbsp;(5.220) <em>AP Style</em>&nbsp;came around in 2014. Since then they have said that <em>over</em> and <em>more than</em> can be used interchangeably to indicate greater numerical value. Though there are still dissenters out there, it seems as if, finally, the backlash over keeping this pedantic rule is more prevalent than the backlash over getting rid of&nbsp;it.</p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>Feel free to use <em>over</em> instead of&nbsp;<em>more than</em> whenever you wish. As&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary of English Usage</em> states, &quot;There is no reason why you need to avoid this usage.&quot; The major style guides also point out that you can use&nbsp;<em>under</em> instead of&nbsp;<em>less than/fewer than</em>. But what should we teach our students? I tell my students that both <em>over</em> and&nbsp;<em>more than</em> are acceptable to use. I do warn them that they might have teachers or bosses in the future who feel strongly one way or the other, and remind them that&nbsp;<em>more than</em> is the &quot;safe&quot; choice. But I also tell them they will see and hear both&nbsp;<em>over</em> and <em>more than</em>, so they shouldn&#39;t be afraid to use either one. I think this makes a great discussion topic as well. I mention the controversy and ask my students if they have such controversies in their own languages. What do you think? Over to&nbsp;you.</p>


Over Vs. More Than

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<p>There are several <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-commonly-confused-word-pairs/" target="_blank">commonly confused word pairs</a> in English that cause a great deal of angst in everyone from English language learners to native speakers, and the terms <em>affect</em> and <em>effect</em> surely top the list. Time and again, I&#39;ve seen my students&nbsp;struggling to recall when to use these terms. I&#39;ve found that teaching a mini-lesson on the pair, such as the one below, goes a long way to helping students remember which is which.</p>

<h1>Quick Tip</h1>

<p><strong>A is for Action!</strong> The verb <em>affect</em> starts with an A, and a verb is an&nbsp;<em>action</em>, which also starts with an&nbsp;A.</p>

<h1>Comparison</h1>

<p><em>Affect</em> and <em>effect</em> are confusing because they have similar meanings and pronunciation (when speaking quickly and naturally). The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at sentence patterns. Does the word follow a subject and act as the action in the sentence? If yes, use the verb&nbsp;<em>affect</em>. Does the word take a subject or object position before or after a verb&nbsp;(action) in the sentence? If yes, use the noun&nbsp;<em>effect</em>. The following chart shows the similarities and differences between these two terms.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2404-affect-effect" target="_blank"><img alt="Chart comparing affect and effect" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/2161/content_Tanya_Affect-Vs-Effect_Chart.png" /></a></p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons" target="_blank">Historic Events</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2395" target="_blank">The Great Depression</a> has a page of practice on&nbsp;<em>affect</em> and <em>effect</em> (page&nbsp;4). You could also have students find these words in context in the reading on page 2. <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/2401" target="_blank">The Great Barrier Reef</a> (a <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Places</a> lesson) also has <em>affect</em> in context in the reading on page&nbsp;2 (coming soon).</p>

<h1>Other Commonly Confused Words</h1>

<p>This blog post, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-commonly-confused-word-pairs/" target="_blank">6 Commonly Confused Word Pairs</a>, has more word pairs that English learners (and native speakers) often confuse. It includes tips on advice/advise, accept/except, especially/specially, emigrate/immigrate, and custom/customs.</p>


Affect Vs. Effect

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Tour around the ELT conference circuit as our team shares conference highlights and session reviews.

Conferences

<p>The ESL&nbsp;Library team had a <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tesol-17" target="_blank">fantastic time at the TESOL 2017 conference in Seattle</a> last week! We appreciate this yearly opportunity to find out what teachers want and need from our site. We love chatting with the teachers who come to our booth, and we also enjoy attending as many sessions as we can. Last week I had the chance to attend a great grammar discussion led by Charl Norloff from the University of Colorado&nbsp;Boulder. Charl&#39;s started her session (<em>Grammar: Taught Separately or Integrated into Skills Classes?</em>) by asking participants to think about how they usually teach grammar. Do we prefer teaching grammar explicitly (presenting and explaining the grammar point separately before any practice) or implicitly (eliciting the grammar through another lesson, such as a reading passage, with no separate grammar&nbsp;instruction)?</p>

<h1>Explicit Vs. Implicit Grammar&nbsp;Instruction</h1>

<p>When Charl asked participants what their preference was, explicit or implicit grammar instruction, the response was 50/50. Some teachers felt strongly that one method was better than the other, while many others stated that a combination of both styles worked best for their students. (A combination with slightly more emphasis on explicit instruction is my personal preference for teaching&nbsp;grammar.)</p>

<h2>Learning Styles</h2>

<p>Learning styles were brought up several times. Not all students learn the same way, and while explicit instruction may work for some, implicit may work better for others. Some teachers mentioned they have tried both methods in class to see what a particular class responds to best. Other teachers were limited to the curriculum/methods set by the&nbsp;school.</p>

<h2>Difficulty of the Grammar&nbsp;Target</h2>

<p>Some teachers said they choose to teach explicitly or implicitly depending on the difficulty of the grammar point. For example, the simple past is easy enough to teach implicitly by having students find examples in a reading passage, whereas the subjunctive may not be as easy to&nbsp;spot.</p>

<h2>Difficulty Finding Materials for Teaching&nbsp;Implicitly</h2>

<p>Other teachers noted that with implicit teaching, it isn&#39;t always easy to find a passage that has multiple examples or that lists all the exceptions to a rule. Several teachers said they were forced to write passages themselves because they couldn&#39;t readily find a real-life passage with multiple examples of a grammar target, and this is very time-consuming for&nbsp;them.</p>

<h2>Meaningful Input</h2>

<p>Charl also mentioned that regardless of explicit or implicit grammar instruction, teachers need to provide a rich set of opportunities to use the grammar (i.e., meaningful input). No matter how our learners acquire the grammatical knowledge, we must follow up with plenty of speaking and writing exercise to ensure they truly grasp the grammar&nbsp;target.</p>

<h1>Putting Explicit &amp; Implicit Grammar Instruction into Action in Our&nbsp;Materials</h1>

<p>What else could the writers and editors for ESL&nbsp;Library take away from this session in terms of how we can benefit our subscribers through our grammar&nbsp;materials?</p>

<h2>Explicit Grammar&nbsp;Materials</h2>

<p>With the many teaching and learning styles out there, explicit grammar instruction will always have a place in the ELT&nbsp;realm. During this session, I realized that we are on the right track with our&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;(comprehensive grammar lessons) section. For the past two years, we&#39;ve been adding speaking and writing components to all of our new grammar lessons (and many of our older ones). As Charl mentioned, these types of exercises are valuable for knowing if our students can produce the grammar target outside of simple grammatical drill-type exercises. Our newer&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/resources" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Resources</a> (grammar charts, tips, and lists) are also handy for explicit grammar instruction (or to hand out later to&nbsp;those students who aren&#39;t quite getting the implicit&nbsp;instruction).</p>

<h2>Implicit Grammar Materials</h2>

<p>While explicit instruction is still valued, there is also an increasing demand for the implicit, communicative approach to grammar teaching and&nbsp;learning. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Stories</a> section is a great place to find ready-made&nbsp;implicit grammar lessons that present the grammar target in the context of a reading passage.&nbsp;I also realized that we should be adding a grammar component to our other four-skills lessons (such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Dialogues</a>, etc.) more often. At times, we have a short grammar exercise that focuses on something mentioned in the reading or listening passage, such as adjective clauses, tag questions, etc. We could work this type of exercise into these lessons more often so that students learn how to recognize grammar targets independently (or with less guidance, at least) and in context. During the session, many teachers suggested a reading passage followed by an exercise that asks students to find the grammar target in context (by underlining all instances of it, for example), and this is something we can easily add to our&nbsp;materials. Which&nbsp;method works best in your&nbsp;classroom?&nbsp;</p>

TESOL 2017 Session: Should Grammar Be Taught Separately or Integrated into Skills Classes?

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<p>Learning how to express <em>possession</em> in English can be tricky for language learners. From <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/forming-the-possessive-of-words-ending-in-s" target="_blank">confusion over nouns ending in -s</a> to homophones such as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-its-and-its" target="_blank">its/it&rsquo;s</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your" target="_blank">your/you&rsquo;re</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there" target="_blank">their/they&rsquo;re/their</a>, demonstrating ownership often leads to errors in spelling and usage. One way to clear up some of the confusion is to present possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns in a chart, side by side, and teach the different sentence positions. Your learners should make fewer mistakes with words such as <em>your</em> and <em>yours</em> with the following tips and&nbsp;chart!</p>

<h1>Form &amp; Meaning</h1>

<p>Possessive adjectives and pronouns both show&nbsp;<em>who</em> an object belongs&nbsp;to.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2371" target="_blank"><img alt="Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns chart" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/240/content_Tanya_Possessive-Adjectives-and-Pronouns_Chart.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2371" target="_blank">Possessive Adjectives &amp; Prounouns</a> &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage&nbsp;Resources</p>

<h1>Sentence Position</h1>

<h2>Possessive Adjectives</h2>

<p>Possessive adjectives are always&nbsp;<strong>followed by a&nbsp;noun</strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Do you want to borrow <strong>my</strong>&nbsp;pen?</li>
	<li>That&rsquo;s <strong>her</strong>&nbsp;jacket.</li>
	<li><strong>His</strong> car is&nbsp;new.</li>
	<li><strong>Their</strong> children are&nbsp;sleeping.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Possessive Pronouns</h2>

<p>Possessive pronouns are <strong>never followed by a noun</strong>. Instead, they take the place of the noun. They function as the subject or object in a sentence, so they come either before or after a&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>That must be your book because this one is&nbsp;<strong>mine</strong>.</li>
	<li>We&rsquo;re happy that this house is finally&nbsp;<strong>ours</strong>.</li>
	<li><strong>Yours</strong> is the one on the&nbsp;left.</li>
	<li>His presentation wasn&rsquo;t that great, but <strong>hers</strong>&nbsp;was.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Commonly Confused Words</h1>

<h2>Your / You&rsquo;re</h2>

<p><em>Your</em> is a possessive adjective that comes before a noun. <em>You&rsquo;re</em> means <em>you are</em>, which functions as the subject and verb/auxiliary verb of a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Is that <strong>your</strong>&nbsp;dog?</li>
	<li><strong>You&rsquo;re</strong> not listening to&nbsp;me.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Their / They&rsquo;re /&nbsp;There</h2>

<p><em>Their</em> is a possessive adjective that comes before a noun. <em>They&rsquo;re</em> means <em>they are</em> and is the subject and verb/auxiliary verb of a sentence. <em>There</em> has many functions. Two of the most common are an indefinite subject and&nbsp;location.</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Their</strong> bikes are locked in the&nbsp;garage.</li>
	<li><strong>They&rsquo;re</strong> playing in the&nbsp;park.</li>
	<li><strong>There</strong> is milk in the fridge. / It&rsquo;s over&nbsp;<strong>there</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Its / It&rsquo;s</h2>

<p><em>Its</em> is a possessive adjective that comes before a noun. <em>It&rsquo;s</em> means <em>it is</em> and is the subject and verb/auxiliary verb of a&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<ul>
	<li>What&rsquo;s wrong with <strong>its</strong>&nbsp;paw?</li>
	<li><strong>It&rsquo;s </strong>not what it looks&nbsp;like.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note that the possessive adjective <em>its</em> does not have a possessive pronoun&nbsp;counterpart.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">The dog is eating from <strong>its</strong> bowl.&nbsp;<em>(correct)</em></li>
	<li class="incorrect">That bowl is <strong>its</strong>.&nbsp;<em>(incorrect)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>For more practice with possessive adjective and pronouns, as well as subject and object pronouns, try the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1624" target="_blank">Pronouns&nbsp;1</a> lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a> section and the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons/2500" target="_blank">Possessive Adjectives &amp; Pronouns</a> lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons" target="_blank">Fun Grammar Lessons</a>&nbsp;section.</p>


Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns

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<blockquote>
<p><strong>Teacher:</strong> Reported speech is easy to&nbsp;learn!</p>

<p><strong>Student A:</strong> What did our teacher say&nbsp;yesterday?</p>

<p><strong>Student B:</strong> She said that reported speech was easy to&nbsp;learn.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Direct speech (<em>teacher</em>, above) is used for dialogues and quoted speech, while reported speech (<em>student&nbsp;B</em>, above) is used at a later time to report what someone said. In English, we use reported speech (also known as <em>indirect speech</em>) often in speaking and writing to be more polite, to add information, or to form embedded questions. This grammar target can be tricky for students to learn because they have to remember to change the verb tense. Never fear! We&rsquo;ve got common tips and tricks to help your English language learners remember how to use reported speech. Providing them with a reference chart like the one below will also&nbsp;help!</p>

<h1>Tips &amp; Tricks</h1>

<h2>#1</h2>

<p>Remember to back it up! Most of the verb tense changes from direct to reported speech involve a move <em>backward</em> into the&nbsp;past.</p>

<ul>
	<li>simple present becomes simple&nbsp;past</li>
	<li>simple past becomes past&nbsp;perfect</li>
	<li>present progressive becomes past progressive,&nbsp;etc.</li>
</ul>

<h2>#2</h2>

<p>The relative pronoun <em>that</em> used after the reporting verb is optional, but commonly used. There is no difference in&nbsp;meaning.</p>

<ul>
	<li>John&nbsp;said <strong>that</strong>&nbsp;he would help me with my&nbsp;homework.</li>
	<li>John said he&nbsp;would help me with my&nbsp;homework.</li>
</ul>

<h2>#3</h2>

<p>Use <em>said</em> without a direct&nbsp;object.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">My sister said that she was&nbsp;tired.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">My sister said <strong>me</strong> that she was&nbsp;tired.</li>
</ul>

<h2>#4</h2>

<p>Use <em>told</em> with a direct&nbsp;object.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="correct">They told <strong>me</strong> to check in at&nbsp;noon.</li>
	<li class="incorrect">They told to check in at&nbsp;noon.</li>
</ul>

<h2>#5</h2>

<p>A simple present verb can be reported in the simple present instead of the past when the action has just occurred or if the statement is a well-known&nbsp;fact.</p>

<ul>
	<li>He&nbsp;said that he&nbsp;<strong>loves</strong>&nbsp;me.</li>
	<li>He&nbsp;always tells me that he&nbsp;<strong>loves</strong>&nbsp;me.</li>
</ul>

<h2>#6</h2>

<p>Sometimes, when making predictions, the reporting verb is in the simple future and the other clause is in the simple&nbsp;present.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Maybe&nbsp;my roommate&nbsp;<strong>will tell&nbsp;</strong>them&nbsp;that she <strong>is</strong> too sick to go to the party.</li>
</ul>

<h2>#7</h2>

<p>In reporting imperatives (commands), remember to use the correct negative infinitive form (not&nbsp;+&nbsp;infinitive).</p>

<ul>
	<li>My parents&nbsp;told me <strong>not to run</strong>&nbsp;by the&nbsp;pool.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Chart</h1>

<p><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/1282/content_Tanya_Reported-Speech_Tense-Changes.png" /></p>

<p class="caption"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2367" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Resources &ndash; Reported&nbsp;Speech</a></p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1618" target="_blank">Direct &amp; Reported Speech</a> &ndash; Grammar&nbsp;Lesson</li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2367-reported-speech" target="_blank">Reported Speech</a> &ndash; Grammar&nbsp;Resource</li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a and="" href="https://ellii.com/blog/say-vs-tell-and-other-speaking-verbs" other="" say="" speaking="" target="_blank" tell="" verbs="" vs.="">Say Vs. Tell</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Blog Post</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2364" target="_blank">Embedded Questions</a> &ndash; Grammar&nbsp;Lesson</li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2345-embedded-questions" target="_blank">Embedded Questions</a> &ndash; Grammar&nbsp;Resource</li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/embedded-questions" target="_blank">Embedded Questions</a> &ndash; Blog&nbsp;Post</li>
</ul>


Reported Speech

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<p>With the US presidential inauguration taking place this week, words such as&nbsp;<em>inauguration</em> and&nbsp;<em>inaugural</em>&nbsp;are no doubt being seen and heard more frequently. When phrases such as&nbsp;<em>inauguration ceremony </em>and&nbsp;<em>inaugural ball</em> appear in articles, our students might start wondering when to use the different forms of this word family. They might also wonder when to use synonyms such as&nbsp;<em>commence</em> or&nbsp;<em>usher in</em>. Let&#39;s take a closer look at this word family and common&nbsp;synonyms.</p>

<h1>Word Family</h1>

<p>According to <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inaugurate" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary</a></em>, <em>inaugurate</em> means <em>to induct into an office with suitable ceremonies, to dedicate ceremoniously</em>, or <em>to bring about the beginning of</em>. Its use is common in many countries when referring to a government official taking a new office. Here are the parts of speech for the&nbsp;<em>inaugurate</em> word&nbsp;family:</p>

<div class="table-container">
<table class="horizontal has-borders">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Word</th>
			<th>Part of Speech</th>
			<th>Example</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>inaugurate</th>
			<td>verb</td>
			<td>He will be inaugurated into office on January&nbsp;20,&nbsp;2017.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th rowspan="2">inauguration</th>
			<td>noun</td>
			<td>The presidential inauguration will take place in Washington,&nbsp;DC.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>adjective position</td>
			<td>The inauguration chairman spent months planning&nbsp;the&nbsp;event.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th rowspan="2">inaugural</th>
			<td>adjective</td>
			<td>Are any celebrities attending the inaugural&nbsp;ball?</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>noun</td>
			<td>They attended the mayor&#39;s&nbsp;inaugural.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
</div>

<p>Since&nbsp;<em>inauguration</em> and&nbsp;<em>inaugural</em> can act as both nouns and adjectives, what should we teach our students to use? The good news is that the meaning will be clear no matter what they use, but here are a few&nbsp;guidelines:</p>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li><em>Inaugural</em> is not common as a noun. Save it for the adjective position. Use&nbsp;<em>inauguration</em> for&nbsp;the&nbsp;noun.</li>
	<li>For the adjective position, there are some collocations that students can&nbsp;memorize including&nbsp;<em>inauguration ceremony</em>,&nbsp;<em>inaugural speech</em>, and <em>inaugural address</em>, but tell&nbsp;them that&nbsp;<em>inaugural</em> is the more common adjective&nbsp;form.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Synonyms</h1>

<p>What&#39;s the difference between <em>begin</em>,&nbsp;<em>start</em>,&nbsp;<em>commence</em>,&nbsp;<em>initiate</em>,&nbsp;<em>inaugurate</em>, and <em>usher in</em>?&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster</em> has a great <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inaugurate" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">synonym discussion</a>&nbsp;that is very handy for English language learners. Here is a summary of that&nbsp;discussion:</p>

<ul class="spaced-list">
	<li><em>begin</em> is very common and is the most general&nbsp;word</li>
	<li><em>start</em>&nbsp;is also very common and is often used for first actions, steps, or&nbsp;stages</li>
	<li><em>commence</em> is more formal than&nbsp;<em>start</em> or&nbsp;<em>begin</em></li>
	<li><em>initiate</em>&nbsp;is more formal than <em>start</em> and&nbsp;is used for the first step&nbsp;of a continuing&nbsp;process</li>
	<li><em>inaugurate</em>&nbsp;is very formal and is used for the beginning of something&nbsp;official</li>
	<li><em>usher in</em> is less formal than&nbsp;<em>inaugurate</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons/2349" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons" target="_blank">American Presidents</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2262" target="_blank">The 2016 Election</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/when-do-we-capitalize-president/" target="_blank">When Do We Capitalize &#39;President&#39;?</a></li>
</ul>


Inauguration: Word Family & Synonyms

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<p>A dictionary&#39;s Word of the Year reflects&nbsp;the general mood of a nation since it is chosen based on spikes in lookups. After&nbsp;many 2016 events with unexpected outcomes such as <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2251" target="_blank">Brexit</a> and the <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2262" target="_blank">US election</a>, it&#39;s perhaps not surprising that <em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s </em>Word of the Year was &quot;<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/2016-word-of-the-year-behind-the-scenes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">surreal</a>&quot;&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Oxford Dictionaries&#39;</em> was &quot;<a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">post-truth</a>.&quot;&nbsp;<em>Oxford Dictionaries</em> defines <em>post-truth</em> as an adjective that means &quot;relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.&quot; (We recently addressed this phenomenon in our new lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2348" target="_blank">Fake&nbsp;News</a>!)</p>

<p>The word&nbsp;<em>post-truth</em>&nbsp;also got our team here at ESL&nbsp;Library thinking about the hyphenation of words with prefixes. When dictionaries disagree on whether or not to hyphenate such words, what do we use in our materials? What&#39;s best for our&nbsp;students?</p>

<h1>To Hyphenate or&nbsp;Not?</h1>

<p>Since we have subscribers from all over the world, following a certain dictionary has always been problematic. With the majority of our customers being from the United States, our default spelling system is American English and we mostly follow&nbsp;<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>Merriam-Webster</em></a>. We have a Canadian version of most of our lessons, and for that we follow&nbsp;<em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary of Current English</em> (not available online, unfortunately). We also include a spelling note in the answer keys of our US lessons noting the&nbsp;British English differences in each lesson&mdash;for that, we follow <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em>Oxford&nbsp;Dictionaries</em></a>.</p>

<p>We&#39;ve noticed that&nbsp;<em>Merriam-Webster</em>&nbsp;tends to follow the modern&nbsp;trend of dropping hyphens and closing up words. For example, they have entries&nbsp;such as <em>reelection, prebake,&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>nonnegotiable</em>.&nbsp;They don&#39;t have an entry for&nbsp;<em>posttruth</em>, but they have similar entries for&nbsp;<em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/post-" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">-post</a></em> including&nbsp;<em>postdebate, postseason,</em>&nbsp;and <em>posttreatment</em>.&nbsp;<em>Oxford Dictionaries</em>, while dropping the hyphen in more words nowadays than in previous years, still retain the hyphen in many words. They have entries for&nbsp;<em>re-election, pre-baked, non-negotiable,&nbsp;</em>and, of course,&nbsp;<em>post-truth</em>.</p>

<p>What have we chosen to do here at ESL&nbsp;Library? For words with prefixes, we&#39;ve chosen to keep the hyphen. We feel this helps students see and break down the parts of the word easily, which can lead to a better understanding of a word&#39;s meaning. For instance, students might have learned that&nbsp;<em>re-</em> means&nbsp;<em>again</em>, so if they see the word&nbsp;<em>re-elect</em> they would&nbsp;immediately know&nbsp;that the meaning of&nbsp;<em>again</em> is involved. If they see it as&nbsp;<em>reelect</em>&nbsp;it could&nbsp;be harder to catch. In&nbsp;<em>re-elect</em>, with the hyphen, the root word&nbsp;<em>elect</em> is clearly visible as well. They might already know that word or be able to quickly look up or ask about that&nbsp;portion.</p>

<p>The day when most reputable dictionaries no longer keep a hyphen in a particular word is the day that we will also drop it. We don&#39;t want to do students a disservice by presenting words in a form that&#39;s not common. Words such as&nbsp;<em>coworker</em> and&nbsp;<em>redo</em> are no longer seen with the hyphen in major dictionaries, so we&#39;ve also dropped&nbsp;it.</p>

<p>How do you deal with different spelling or punctuation systems in&nbsp;class?</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2348" target="_blank">Fake News Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2262" target="_blank">The 2016 Election Lesson</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&nbsp;Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/creating-our-in-house-style-guide/" target="_blank">Creating Our In-House Style&nbsp;Guide</a></li>
	<li class="external-article"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i8dtuklg5U" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Importance of a Style Guide (Video with Tanya &amp;&nbsp;Tara)</a></li>
</ul>


"Post-Truth" & Hyphenation with Prefixes

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


Embedded Questions

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


Present Perfect Vs. Present Perfect Progressive

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