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

Grammar & Usage

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


Non-Action Verbs & Exceptions

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


Plain Language Tips for Teachers

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


English Word Endings: Suffixes That Show the Part of Speech

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


Quotation Marks: Single Vs. Double

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


Make Vs. Do

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


The Passive Voice

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


Whether Vs. Weather

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Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

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


Pokémon GO – Style Decisions

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<p>While writing the latest <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a>&nbsp;lesson&nbsp;on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2241">Adverbs of Frequency</a>, I realized how the adverbial time expression &quot;not very often&quot;&nbsp;is confusing for students in more ways than one. Most adverbs of frequency are only one word and follow two easy patterns, one for the Be verb and one for all other verbs. <em>Not very often</em> has three words that get divided up in a sentence, and it follows more complicated patterns than its fellow frequency adverbs.</p>

<p>As long as we present these differences clearly, our students will be able to use this common adverbial expression&hellip;usually!</p>


<h1>1. Not Very Often</h1>

<p><em>Not very often</em> means <em>seldom</em>, or about 20% (see our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2241" target="_blank">lesson</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2234-adverbs-of-frequency">chart</a>, or <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-frequency/" target="_blank">post</a> on using percentages to teach adverbs of frequency). However, <em>seldom</em> isn&#39;t often used in informal spoken or written English. Most people consider it to be too formal and old-fashioned. That&#39;s why&nbsp;<em>not very often</em> is so important to learn&mdash;it&#39;s the more common choice by&nbsp;far.</p>

<h1>2. Adverb of Frequency Patterns:&nbsp;Verbs</h1>

<h2>A. Adv + V</h2>

<p>With most verbs in the simple present tense, the adverb of frequency is placed&nbsp;before the&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She <strong>always</strong> eats&nbsp;breakfast.</li>
	<li>He <strong>never</strong> sleeps&nbsp;in.</li>
	<li>They <strong>usually</strong> watch TV after&nbsp;dinner.</li>
</ul>

<h2>B. do + not + V (+ O) + very often</h2>

<p>With the expression&nbsp;<em>not very often</em>, the&nbsp;<em>not</em> gets attached to the auxiliary verb&nbsp;<em>do</em> (which is&nbsp;the usual negative simple present sentence pattern). The&nbsp;<em>very often</em> part comes after the main verb and the object (if there is&nbsp;one).</p>

<p>Note that&nbsp;<em>do not&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>does not&nbsp;</em>are usually contracted to&nbsp;<em>don&#39;t</em> and&nbsp;<em>doesn&#39;t</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I do&nbsp;<strong>not</strong>&nbsp;jog&nbsp;<strong>very&nbsp;often</strong>.</li>
	<li>You do<strong>n&#39;t</strong> eat vegetables <strong>very</strong>&nbsp;<strong>often</strong>.</li>
	<li>We do<strong>n&#39;t</strong> talk on the phone <strong>very</strong>&nbsp;<strong>often</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>3. Adverb of Frequency Patterns: BE&nbsp;Verb</h1>

<h2>A. BE + Adv</h2>

<p>With the Be verb&nbsp;in the simple present tense, the adverb of frequency&nbsp;is placed after&nbsp;the&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>We are&nbsp;<strong>almost always</strong>&nbsp;late.</li>
	<li>I&nbsp;am <strong>rarely</strong> hungry for&nbsp;breakfast.</li>
	<li>She&nbsp;is <strong>often</strong>&nbsp;tired.</li>
</ul>

<h2>B. BE + not often + O</h2>

<p>It is more common to hear <em>not often</em> with the Be verb, though&nbsp;<em>not very often&nbsp;</em>is sometimes possible.&nbsp;<em>Not often</em>&nbsp;is placed after the Be verb, followed by the object or&nbsp;adjective.</p>

<ul>
	<li>They are&nbsp;<strong>not often</strong> ready for&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>He is&nbsp;<strong>not often</strong> on time for&nbsp;work.</li>
	<li>You are&nbsp;<strong>not often</strong>&nbsp;sick.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note that there is more than one possibility of a sentence pattern with the Be verb and an adverbial expression meaning 20%. For low-level students, I would just teach the first one. If your students can handle it, show them the less common variants. Note that there is no difference in&nbsp;meaning.</p>

<ul>
	<li>They are&nbsp;<strong>not often&nbsp;</strong>ready for&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>They are&nbsp;<strong>often not</strong> ready for&nbsp;class.</li>
	<li>They are&nbsp;<strong>not</strong> ready for class&nbsp;<strong>very&nbsp;often</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<p>For more advanced learners, you could also elaborate on the <em>not very often </em>verb pattern above by explaining that it is possible to use&nbsp;<em>not often</em> instead.&nbsp;<em>Not often</em> is places between&nbsp;<em>do</em> and the main verb. There is no difference in meaning, but again, the first pattern is more&nbsp;common.</p>

<ul>
	<li>We do<strong>n&#39;t</strong> talk on the phone&nbsp;<strong>very&nbsp;often</strong>.</li>
	<li>We do<strong>n&#39;t often</strong> talk on the&nbsp;phone.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2241" target="_blank">Adverbs of Frequency Grammar&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2240-adverbs-of-frequency-activity-cards" target="_blank">Adverbs of Frequency Activity Cards</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-frequency/" target="_blank">Adverbs of Frequency Teaching&nbsp;Tips</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1648" target="_blank">Adverbs of Time Grammar&nbsp;Stories</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1626" target="_blank">Adverbs of Manner Grammar&nbsp;Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">7 Adverb Patterns</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-with-two-forms/" target="_blank">Adverbs with Two&nbsp;Forms</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2158-adverbs-with-two-forms" target="_blank">Adverbs with Two Forms: Practice</a></li>
</ul>

Tips & Tricks for "Not Very Often"

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<h1>Intro to Adverbs</h1>

<p>Adverbs play a big role in the English language. They can describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or even the whole sentence. (For more general information on adverbs, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">7 Adverb Patterns</a>.) There are many types of adverbs, such as <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-frequency/" target="_blank">adverbs of frequency</a> and viewpoint adverbs, but let&rsquo;s turn our focus to <strong>adverbs of&nbsp;manner</strong>.</p>

<h1>Adverbs of Manner</h1>

<h2>1. Function</h2>

<p>An adverb of manner is a word that <em>describes</em> (gives extra information about) the verb in a sentence. This type of adverb answers the question of <em>how</em> an action is&nbsp;performed.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She sang.</li>
	<li><em>How</em> did she&nbsp;sing?</li>
	<li>She sang <em>beautifully</em> / <em>softly</em> /&nbsp;<em>loudly</em>.</li>
</ul>

<h2>2. Form</h2>

<p>Most adverbs in English are formed by taking an adjective and adding&nbsp;<em class="inlineBlock">-ly</em>.</p>

<h4>Adjective &rarr; Adverb</h4>

<ul>
	<li>beautiful &rarr; beautifully</li>
	<li>careless &rarr; carelessly</li>
	<li>dangerous &rarr; dangerously</li>
	<li>enthusiastic &rarr; enthusiastically</li>
	<li>excited &rarr; excitedly</li>
	<li>independent &rarr; independently</li>
	<li>loud &rarr; loudly</li>
	<li>noisy &rarr; noisily</li>
	<li>soft &rarr; softly</li>
	<li>truthful &rarr; truthfully</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Sentence Patterns</h2>

<p>Adverbs have <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">many possible sentence patterns</a> in English. Here are some common patterns for adverbs of&nbsp;manner:</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Pattern&nbsp;1</th>
			<td>V + Adv</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Note</th>
			<td>This is the most common pattern for adverbs of manner in&nbsp;English.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<td>He spoke <strong>quickly</strong>.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Pattern&nbsp;2</th>
			<td>V + O + Adv</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Note</th>
			<td>When a direct or indirect object follows the main verb, it is possible for the adverb to follow the&nbsp;object.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<td>I drank my tea <strong>slowly</strong>.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Pattern&nbsp;3</th>
			<td>Adv + V</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Note</th>
			<td>Placing the adverb before the verb is very common with adverbs of frequency (e.g., I <em>always</em> eat breakfast), but it is a little less common with adverbs of&nbsp;manner.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Example</th>
			<td>The teacher <strong>quietly</strong> played with the&nbsp;children.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>4. Exceptions</h2>

<h3>Adverbs with Another Form</h3>

<p>Like most &ldquo;rules&rdquo; for the English language, there are exceptions to the <em>Adj + ‑ly</em> rule. Some adverbs keep the same form for both adverbs and adjectives, while others use a different word form altogether. Here are some common adverbs that don&rsquo;t end in&nbsp;<em class="inlineBlock">-ly</em>:</p>

<h4>Adjective &rarr; Adverb</h4>

<ul>
	<li>good &rarr; well</li>
	<li>fast &rarr; fast</li>
	<li>hard &rarr; hard</li>
	<li>late &rarr; late</li>
</ul>

<p>For adverbs with two forms, such as hard/hardly and slow/slowly, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-with-two-forms/" target="_blank">Adverbs with Two&nbsp;Forms</a>.</p>

<h3>-ly Adjectives</h3>

<p>There are also a few adjectives that end in <em class="inlineBlock">-ly</em> in English. Adjectives will follow the pattern <strong>Adj + N </strong> (e.g., <em>weekly class) </em>or <strong>BE + Adj</strong> (e.g., <em>She is friendly</em>). Here are some common <em>‑ly</em> adjectives (note that many have to do with&nbsp;<em>time</em>):</p>

<ul>
	<li>hourly</li>
	<li>daily</li>
	<li>weekly</li>
	<li>monthly</li>
	<li>yearly</li>
	<li>annually</li>
	<li>costly</li>
	<li>friendly</li>
	<li>silly</li>
</ul>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1626" target="_blank">Adverbs of Manner</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-with-two-forms/" target="_blank">Adverbs with Two Forms</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/grammar-usage/resources/2158-adverbs-with-two-forms" target="_blank">Adverbs with Two Forms: Practice</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adverbs-of-frequency/" target="_blank">Adverbs of Frequency</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons/1585" target="_blank">Simple Present: How often do you&hellip;?</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">7 Adverb Patterns</a></li>
</ul>


Adverbs of Manner

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<p>Do you teach sentence patterns to your students outright? Most textbooks don&rsquo;t deal with sentence patterns all at once, but I&rsquo;ve found it really helps my students understand English better when I lay out the patterns for them. When English language learners have a basic understanding of sentence patterns and structures in English, they can recognize parts of speech and correct their mistakes more&nbsp;easily.</p>

<h1>Basic Sentence Patterns</h1>

<p>English uses a <strong>Subject-Verb-Object</strong> (SVO) sentence pattern, but this is only the beginning. Let&rsquo;s take a look at the patterns for the main parts of speech in&nbsp;English.</p>

<h2>1. Nouns (S, O, N):</h2>

<p>Nouns are people, places, or things. Nouns and pronouns can be subjects of a sentence, objects of a sentence, or objects of a preposition. Nouns are often preceded by an article (Art), including <em>a</em>, <em>an</em>, <em>the</em>, a number (<em>one</em>, <em>two</em>), a quantifier (<em>many</em>, <em>a few</em>), or a possessive adjective (<em>my</em>,&nbsp;<em>their</em>).</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>S + V + O</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>People</strong> like&nbsp;<strong>him</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Art + N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>The <strong>girl</strong> ate an&nbsp;<strong>apple</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>2. Verbs (V):</h2>

<p>Verbs are the action or state of being in a sentence. Verbs usually follow a subject and can be followed by an object. With imperative verbs, the subject is&nbsp;dropped.</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>S + V (+ O)</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>My sister&nbsp;<strong>jogs</strong>.</li>
				<li>She <strong>likes</strong>&nbsp;him.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>V (+ O)</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>Begin</strong>.</li>
				<li><strong>Call&nbsp;</strong>me.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>3. Adjectives (Adj):</h2>

<p>Adjectives describe nouns and have two common patterns in&nbsp;English.</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Adj + N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>beautiful</strong>&nbsp;flower</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>BE + Adj</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>The flower is&nbsp;<strong>beautiful</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>4. Adverbs (Adv):</h2>

<p>Adverbs can describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or even the whole sentence. For more details and examples, see <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">7&nbsp;Adverb&nbsp;Patterns</a>.</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Adv + V</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>often</strong>&nbsp;go</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>V + Adv</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>speak&nbsp;<strong>fluently</strong></li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>V + Adv + V</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>is <strong>quickly</strong>&nbsp;preparing</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Adv + Adv</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>really</strong>&nbsp;<strong>well</strong></li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Adv + Adj</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>very</strong>&nbsp;shiny</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Adv + S + V + O</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>Actually</strong>, I like rainy&nbsp;days.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>S + V + O + Adv</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I like rainy days, <strong>actually</strong>.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>5. Prepositions (Prep):</h2>

<p>Prepositions are little words that indicate direction, time, place, etc. They are followed by a&nbsp;noun.</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Prep + N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li><strong>at</strong>&nbsp;school</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Expanding on the Basics</h1>

<p>Intermediate‑level students need to see how the patterns work in conjunction with each other. For example, in the Prep + N pattern, the noun can take an article (Art + N) and/or an&nbsp;adjective (Adj&nbsp;+&nbsp;N).</p>

<h2>Example #1</h2>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Prep + N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>at school</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Prep + Art +&nbsp;N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>at the school</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Prep + Art + Adj +&nbsp;N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>at the elite school</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>Example #2</h2>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Adj + N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>fast car</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Art + Adj + N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>a fast car</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Art + Adv + Adj + N</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>a really fast car</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>Example #3</h2>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>V + Adv</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>writes&nbsp;often</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>V + Adv +&nbsp;V</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>is often&nbsp;writing</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>V + Adv + Adv +&nbsp;V</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>is so often&nbsp;writing</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>Example #4</h2>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>SVO</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Cats chase mice.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>(Art&nbsp;+&nbsp;N) +&nbsp;V +&nbsp;(Art&nbsp;+&nbsp;N)</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>The cats chase the&nbsp;mice.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>(Art&nbsp;+&nbsp;Adj&nbsp;+&nbsp;N) +&nbsp;(Adv&nbsp;+&nbsp;V) +&nbsp;(Art&nbsp;+&nbsp;Adj&nbsp;+&nbsp;N)</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>The hungry cats always chase the scared&nbsp;mice.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>For higher‑level students, you can now show how complex sentences involve multiple clauses and phrases that are joined by conjunctions, transitional words (adverbs), punctuation,&nbsp;etc.</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2229" target="_blank"><img alt="Screenshot of English Sentence Patterns resource" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/221/content_103_English-Sentence-Patterns_US.png" /></a></p>

<p class="caption">Subscribers can access these charts in our <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2229" target="_blank">Resources &ndash; Grammar &amp; Usage</a>&nbsp;section.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1608" target="_blank">Complete&nbsp;Sentences</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2020" target="_blank">How to Write a Simple&nbsp;Sentence</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2035" target="_blank">How to Write a Compound&nbsp;Sentence</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/adjectives" target="_blank">Adjectives</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-adverb-patterns/" target="_blank">7 Adverb&nbsp;Patterns</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sentence-stress" target="_blank">Sentence&nbsp;Stress</a></li>
</ul>


English Sentence Patterns

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<p>After I posted last week&#39;s <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/aw-vs-awe/" target="_blank">Aw Vs. Awe</a> article, our head writer asked me, &quot;What about <em>ah&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>aah</em>?&quot;&nbsp;Good idea for a blog post, Tara!&nbsp;<em>Ah</em> is used in many situations. There is also a dictionary entry for&nbsp;<em>aah</em>. So what are the usage, meaning, and part of speech differences for&nbsp;<em>ah</em> and&nbsp;<em>aah</em>? Scroll down to find out about&nbsp;<em>aha</em>,&nbsp;too.</p>

<h1>Ah</h1>

<p><em>Ah&nbsp;</em>is used for all types of feelings. <em><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ah" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Merriam-Webster</a></em> defines the interjection&nbsp;<em>ah</em>&nbsp;as &quot;used to express&nbsp;pleasure, delight, relief, regret, or contempt.&quot;&nbsp;We also use it to convey that we understand something and as a &quot;thinking word&quot;&nbsp;(a word with no meaning that shows we&#39;re thinking). Notice the different ways to punctuate&nbsp;<em>ah</em> in the examples&nbsp;below.</p>

<h2>Examples:</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Ah!&nbsp;I could stare at this sunset for hours. <em>(pleasure)</em></li>
	<li>Ah! Look at all the baby bunnies! <em>(delight)</em></li>
	<li>Ah! This hot tub is helping my sore back. <em>(relief)</em></li>
	<li>Ah, I&#39;m so sorry to hear that. <em>(regret)</em></li>
	<li>Ah! Look what you&#39;ve done! You&#39;ve ruined it! <em>(contempt)</em></li>
	<li>Ah. I see what you mean. <em>(understanding)</em></li>
	<li>Ah...that&#39;s not exactly what I meant. <em>(thinking sound&mdash;</em>uh<em> and&nbsp;</em>um<em> are possible&nbsp;alternatives)</em></li>
</ul>

<p>Note that for positive meanings (pleasure, delight, and relief),&nbsp;<em>aah</em>&nbsp;is a variant spelling of <em>ah</em>. If students&nbsp;write &quot;Aah,&nbsp;this hot tub is helping my sore back&quot;&nbsp;they would be correct.&nbsp;However, it&#39;s worth pointing out to higher-level students that&nbsp;<em>ah</em>&nbsp;is the most common spelling of&nbsp;the&nbsp;interjection.</p>

<h1>Aah</h1>

<p>Some people might be surprised to learn that&nbsp;<em>aah</em> is a verb. <em><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aah" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Merriam-Webster</a></em> defines&nbsp;<em>aah</em>&nbsp;as &quot;to exclaim in amazement, joy, or&nbsp;surprise.&quot;</p>

<h2>Examples:</h2>

<ul>
	<li>The audience oohed and aahed at the&nbsp;acrobats.</li>
	<li>Most parents spent the night oohing and aahing over the children&#39;s&nbsp;artwork.</li>
</ul>

<p>Students might also be relieved to learn that&nbsp;<em>ah</em> is a variant spelling of&nbsp;<em>aah</em>, so if they write&nbsp;<em>ah</em> instead of&nbsp;<em>aah</em>&nbsp;as a verb, it is still correct. However, it&#39;s worth pointing out to higher-level students that&nbsp;<em>aah</em> is the most common spelling for the verb&nbsp;form.</p>

<h1>What about Aha?</h1>

<p>Another interjection with a similar spelling is&nbsp;<em>aha</em>. <em><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aha" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Merriam-Webster</a></em> defines&nbsp;<em>aha</em>&nbsp;as &quot;used when something is suddenly seen, found, or understood; used to express surprise, triumph, or derision.&quot;&nbsp;<em>Aha</em> is almost always found at the beginning of a sentence and is usually followed by an exclamation&nbsp;point.</p>

<h2>Examples:</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Aha! I finally found my&nbsp;keys!</li>
	<li>Aha! I knew he would call&nbsp;you.</li>
</ul>

<p>Are there any other&nbsp;commonly confused words you&#39;d like to know more about?&nbsp;Let me know in the comments section&nbsp;below.</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Find an exercise on Interjections on page 5 in&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/102/lessons/2058" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 3 &ndash; Lesson&nbsp;14</a>.</p>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/aw-vs-awe/" target="_blank">Aw Vs. Awe</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/lay-vs-lie-lets-lay-this-matter-to-rest/" target="_blank">Lay Vs.&nbsp;Lie</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/everyday-vs-every-day/" target="_blank">Everyday Vs. Every&nbsp;Day</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-theyre-their-and-there/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on They&#39;re, Their, and&nbsp;There</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-youre-and-your/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on You&#39;re and&nbsp;Your</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-to-too-and-two/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on To, Too, and&nbsp;Two</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-tips-on-its-and-its/" target="_blank">Teaching Tips on It&#39;s and&nbsp;Its</a></li>
</ul>
