Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

<p>Great news, teachers!</p>

<p>As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Here&#39;s how it works:</strong></h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

<p>Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!</p>

<p>All the best,<br />
Ben :)</p>

<p>Founder, CEO at Ellii</p>


Introducing Individual Student Assignments

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

Grammar & Usage

<h1>Historically speaking&hellip;</h1>

<p>When even L1s get a certain aspect of English mixed up, you can bet it&rsquo;s tricky for English language learners to master. This is the case with writing and saying years. Why do we have more than one word to represent an era? Why don&rsquo;t they have the same position in a sentence? How do we punctuate and capitalize these abbreviations? Let&rsquo;s clear things up for our students (and possibly for&nbsp;ourselves).</p>

<h1>1. Meaning</h1>

<ul>
	<li>BC stands for &ldquo;Before Christ&rdquo; and represents the years before Christ was&nbsp;born.</li>
	<li>AD stands for &ldquo;Anno Domini,&rdquo; which is Latin for &ldquo;the year of our Lord,&rdquo; and represents the years after Christ was&nbsp;born.</li>
	<li>BCE stands for &ldquo;Before Common Era,&rdquo; &ldquo;Before Christian Era,&rdquo; or &ldquo;Before Current Era&rdquo; and represents the time before the last 2015 years (at the time this was&nbsp;written).</li>
	<li>CE stands for &ldquo;Common Era,&rdquo; &ldquo;Christian Era,&rdquo; or &ldquo;Current Era&rdquo; and represents years 1&ndash;2015 (at the time this was&nbsp;written).</li>
</ul>

<p>BC and BCE represent the same time frame, but with BCE, the religious aspect is removed. The same goes for AD and CE (the religious aspect is removed with&nbsp;CE).</p>

<h1>2. Position</h1>

<ul>
	<li>300 BC</li>
	<li>AD 2015</li>
	<li>300 BCE</li>
	<li>2015 CE</li>
</ul>

<p>BC, BCE, and CE come <strong>after</strong> the year. Write or say <em>300&nbsp;BC</em> or <em>300 before Christ</em>, <em>300&nbsp;BCE</em> or <em>300 before common era</em>, and <em>2015&nbsp;CE</em> or <em>2015 common era</em>. However, AD comes <strong>before</strong> the year, so write or say <em>AD&nbsp;2015</em> or <em>anno Domini 2015</em>. This is because <em>anno Domini</em> is Latin for <em>the year of our Lord</em>, and we always say <em>the year of our Lord</em> before the year (so <em>the year of our Lord&nbsp;2015</em>).</p>

<p>Is <em>2015&nbsp;AD</em> ever correct? Many people (myself included) were taught that AD stood for <em>after death</em> (after the death of Christ). Some people do write or say AD after the year, but as this is technically incorrect, it is far better to write or say <em>AD&nbsp;2015</em>.</p>

<h1>3. Punctuation &amp; Capitalization</h1>

<p>Is it BC or B.C.? BCE or B.C.E.? Well, it depends on which style guide or dictionary you follow. <em>Merriam‑Webster Dictionary</em> (American English) lists these entries with capital letters and no periods/full stops&nbsp;(e.g.,&nbsp;BC), but notes that they are often punctuated and/or written in small capitals (e.g.,&nbsp;B.C.). <em>Oxford Dictionary</em> (British English) and <em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary</em> (Canadian English) also list these entries with capital letters and no periods/full stops (e.g.,&nbsp;BC) and notes they are often written in small capitals, but they don&rsquo;t list periods/full stops as common&nbsp;usage.</p>

<p>A popular American style guide, <em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, has these entries in capital letters with no periods/full stops&nbsp;(e.g.,&nbsp;BC). This is consistent with many other types of abbreviations that they list (e.g.,&nbsp;US, UK, WA, etc.). In my role as an editor, I&rsquo;ve noticed that there is definitely a movement away from unnecessary&nbsp;punctuation.</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Show your students examples of these dates in a lesson and then go over the explanation above. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons">Famous Places</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/1470">Nazca Lines</a> includes BC and AD in the first paragraph of the reading.&nbsp;</p>


Abbreviations for Years: How to Use BC, AD, BCE & CE Correctly

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<p>In Canada, Monday&#39;s elections had the whole country buzzing. The Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, swept through the nation and won the day with a majority government. Our new prime minister elect follows in the footsteps of his father, the late Pierre Trudeau, who was Canada&#39;s 15th prime minister (Justin will be the&nbsp;23rd).</p>

<p>Whether you&#39;re thrilled by, saddened by, or indifferent to Trudeau&#39;s victory, it&#39;s a good bet that the election will come up in many classrooms in Canada, as well as in other countries. It&#39;s a good time to get the&nbsp;capitalization rules of political titles straight before our students ask about&nbsp;them!</p>

<h1>When do we capitalize &quot;Prime Minister&quot;?</h1>

<p>According to many style guides, such as&nbsp;<em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, titles such as this are not capitalized unless they directly precede the name of an individual. Otherwise, use initial lowercase&nbsp;letters.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is Canada&#39;s newest&nbsp;leader.</li>
	<li>The prime minister addressed the&nbsp;Senate.</li>
	<li>Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, was Justin&#39;s&nbsp;father.</li>
</ul>

<p>Note that different style guides have different opinions on this, so if you&#39;re teaching at the university level, tell students they should refer to their department&#39;s style guide and follow those&nbsp;suggestions.</p>

<h1>What about &quot;Sir&quot;?</h1>

<p>Many of Canada&#39;s earliest prime ministers&nbsp;had the title&nbsp;<em>sir</em>&nbsp;before their name, including our first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.&nbsp;The capitalization rules for&nbsp;<em>sir</em> follow the same rules as those for&nbsp;<em>prime&nbsp;minister</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Sir John A. Macdonald was Canada&#39;s first prime&nbsp;minister.</li>
	<li>What can I get you,&nbsp;sir?</li>
	<li>Excuse me, sir. Can you please tell me what time it&nbsp;is?</li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>See the capitalization rules for <em>prime minister </em>and&nbsp;<em>sir</em>&nbsp;in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a> lessons on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2031" target="_blank">Pierre Trudeau</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1971" target="_blank">Sir John A. Macdonald</a>. To see <em>president</em> in context, try any lesson from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/84/lessons" target="_blank">American Presidents</a>&nbsp;section.</p>

<p>For a discussion of <em>president</em>, see our blog post <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/when-do-we-capitalize-president/" target="_blank">When Do We Capitalize &quot;President&quot;?</a>&nbsp;Scroll down through the comments for answers to many other titles such as <em>First Lady</em>, <em>governor general</em>, <em>the Queen</em>,&nbsp;etc.</p>


When Do We Capitalize "Prime Minister"?

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<p>October 16 is Dictionary Day! Today we celebrate the birthday of Noah Webster (b.&nbsp;1758), the father of the modern dictionary. In fact, we use&nbsp;<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/info/faq.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster</a><em>&nbsp;</em>as our main dictionary at ESL&nbsp;Library! See the post on our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/creating-our-in-house-style-guide/" target="_blank">in-house style guide</a> for more&nbsp;information.</p>

<p>Halloween is just around the corner, and in the past we&#39;ve shared activities, lessons, flashcards, and a list of tricky spellings like &quot;jack-o&#39;-lantern&quot;&nbsp;(see <strong>Related Resources</strong> below). This year, in honor of Dictionary Day, we thought we&#39;d share a list of words with rather disturbing&nbsp;origins! Did you know that many English words stem from the Latin root for &quot;death&quot;? Present this list in class before Halloween, and see if your students can come up with more morbid&nbsp;terms!</p>

<p>Note: All definitions and etymologies taken from <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster&nbsp;Online</a>.</p>

<h1>Words</h1>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Murder</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>the crime of deliberately killing a&nbsp;person</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td>partly from Middle English&nbsp;<em>murther,</em>&nbsp;from Old English&nbsp;<em>morthor;</em>&nbsp;partly from Middle English&nbsp;<em>murdre,&nbsp;</em>from Anglo-French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English&nbsp;<em>morthor;</em>&nbsp;akin to Old High German&nbsp;<em>mord&nbsp;</em>murder, Latin&nbsp;<em>mort-, mors</em>&nbsp;death,&nbsp;<em>mori</em>&nbsp;to die,&nbsp;<em>mortuus</em>&nbsp;dead, Greek&nbsp;<em>brotos</em>&nbsp;mortal</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>before 12th century</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Mortal</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>certain to die; causing&nbsp;death</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td>Middle English, from Anglo-French&nbsp;<em>mortel, mortal,</em>&nbsp;from Latin&nbsp;<em>mortalis,</em>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<em>mort-, mors</em>&nbsp;death</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>14th century</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Mortality</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>the quality or state of being a person or thing that is alive and therefore certain to die;&nbsp;the death of a person, animal,&nbsp;etc.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td>Middle English, from Anglo-French&nbsp;<em>mortel, mortal,</em>&nbsp;from Latin&nbsp;<em>mortalis,</em>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<em>mort-, mors</em>&nbsp;death</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>14th century</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Mortuary</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>of or relating to death or&nbsp;burial</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td>Latin&nbsp;<em>mortuarius</em>&nbsp;of the dead, from&nbsp;<em>mortuus</em>&nbsp;dead</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>1514</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Mortgage</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>a legal agreement in which a person borrows money to buy property (such as a house) and pays back the money over a period of&nbsp;years</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td>Middle English&nbsp;<em>morgage,</em>&nbsp;from Anglo-French&nbsp;<em>mortgage,</em>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<em>mort</em>&nbsp;dead (from Latin&nbsp;<em>mortuus</em>) +&nbsp;<em>gage&nbsp;</em>gage&nbsp;(pledge)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>15th century</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Note:</th>
			<td>This one is my favorite! Pay until you die&mdash;sounds about&nbsp;right!</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Morbid</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>relating to unpleasant subjects (such as&nbsp;death)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td>from Latin&nbsp;<em>morbidus&nbsp;</em>diseased</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>1656</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Decapitate</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to cut off the head of (a person or&nbsp;animal)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td>Late Latin&nbsp;<em>decapitatus,</em>&nbsp;past participle of&nbsp;<em>decapitare,</em>&nbsp;from Latin&nbsp;<em>de-</em>&nbsp;+&nbsp;<em>capit-, caput</em>&nbsp;head</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>around&nbsp;1611</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th colspan="2">Defenestrate</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Meaning:</th>
			<td>to&nbsp;throw a person or thing out of a&nbsp;window</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Origin:</th>
			<td><em>de-</em>&nbsp;+ Latin&nbsp;<em>fenestra</em>&nbsp;window</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>First known use:</th>
			<td>1620</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Related Resources</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1861" target="_blank">Halloween Lesson - Beginne</a>r</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/1860" target="_blank">Halloween Lesson - Intermediate</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/94/lessons/2068" target="_blank">Day of the Dead Lesson</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://ellii.com/flashcard_genres/21/flashcard_categories/46" target="_blank">Halloween Flashcards</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/tricky-halloween-vocab-to-teach-your-students/">Tricky Halloween Vocab to Teach Your&nbsp;Students</a></li>
</ul>


Morbid Words to Learn for Halloween

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

Articles

<p>Canadian Thanksgiving is just around the corner, with American Thanksgiving not far behind. At this time of year, many of us think about what we&#39;re grateful for in our lives. This is also when I often see the misspelling of&nbsp;<em>grateful</em> as <i>greatful</i>. It&#39;s an understandable error, given that the words contain the same letters, and that the word&nbsp;<em>great</em> is a common term that means good or wonderful&mdash;which does describe the things we&#39;re grateful for! In honor of Thanksgiving, let&#39;s discuss the term&nbsp;<em>grateful&nbsp;</em>and look at some activities and lessons on gratitude.</p>

<h3>Grateful or Greatful?</h3>

<p>There are several ways to express gratitude in English, but <em>greatful</em> is <strong>incorrect</strong>. The correct spelling of this&nbsp;term is&nbsp;<strong><em>grateful</em></strong>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I&#39;m grateful for my health.</li>
	<li>I&#39;m thankful for my health.</li>
	<li>My health is a blessing.</li>
	<li>I&#39;m happy that I&#39;m in good health.</li>
	<li>I&#39;m lucky that I have my health.</li>
	<li>I want to express my gratitude.</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>TIP: The adjective&nbsp;<em>grateful</em> comes from the noun&nbsp;<em>gratitude</em>. It has nothing to do with the adjective&nbsp;<em>great</em>&nbsp;(except that&nbsp;they sound the same).&nbsp;</strong><em>Grateful</em> comes from Latin&nbsp;<em>gratus</em>, while <i>great&nbsp;</i>comes from Old English&nbsp;<em>grēat</em>.</p>

<h3>Activities &amp; Lessons on Gratitude / Thanksgiving</h3>

<p>Last year, our head writer, Tara Benwell, wrote a fun activity called Thanksgiving Activity: <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/count-your-blessings-a-thanksgiving-activity" target="_blank">Count Your Blessings</a>. Another activity to try is a pair/group/class discussion where students talk about of five or more things they are grateful for. This also makes a great writing or blogging assignment. We also have an Ellii Poll on <a href="https://app.ellii.com/gather/ellii-polls/gratitude" target="_blank">Gratitude</a>. Our post on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/20-web-tools-apps-and-activities-for-celebrating-the-holidays/" target="_blank">20+ Web Tools, Apps, and Activities for Celebrating the Holidays</a> has some suggestions for using technology in class for Thanksgiving activities. ESL Library has comprehensive low-intermediate and intermediate lessons on <a href="https://ellii.com/collections/holidays-events/fall-into-autumn/holidays-events/thanksgiving" target="_blank">Thanksgiving</a>.</p>

<p>What are your favorite activities or lessons on gratitude or Thanksgiving? Share them with us in the comments section below. I think all teachers are grateful for new ideas and materials!</p>

<h3>What I&#39;m Grateful For</h3>

<p>I&#39;m so grateful to work for a great company like <a href="http://ellii.com" target="_blank">Ellii</a> (formerly&nbsp;ESL Library). I&#39;m thankful for my supportive and talented coworkers: Tara Benwell, Robyn Shesterniak, Gannon McGibbon, and CEO Ben Buckwold. I know I speak for all of us when I say how grateful we are to our wonderful subscribers and other teachers in the ELT community for supporting and sharing what we do. I&#39;m also grateful that we were able to complete some long-term projects in time for the 2015 school year, including a new idioms series for ESL Library called <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/102/lessons" target="_blank">Everyday Idioms 3</a>. Students love learning idioms, so they&#39;ll be grateful to you for teaching this exciting new series!&nbsp;</p>


What Are You Grateful For This Thanksgiving?

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<h1>Which Do You Prefer?</h1>

<p>Talking about likes and dislikes is a popular conversation activity to do in class, and English language learners&nbsp;can use a variety of verbs such as&nbsp;<em>like, dislike, love, hate, enjoy,&nbsp;</em>etc. But when it comes to describing what they like better out of two or more options, learners should&nbsp;know how to use&nbsp;<em>prefer</em> and&nbsp;<em>rather&nbsp;</em>correctly.&nbsp;Read on for some teaching tips on these two common&nbsp;terms.</p>

<h1>Prefer</h1>

<p><em>Prefer</em> is a verb that means &quot;to like better.&quot;&nbsp;Note the use of <em>to&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>or&nbsp;</em>in some of the&nbsp;following&nbsp;patterns.</p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Form:</th>
			<td>Wh- word + prefer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Which one do you&nbsp;prefer?</li>
				<li>What does he prefer to do&nbsp;tonight?</li>
				<li>Where would you prefer to go this&nbsp;weekend?</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Form:</th>
			<td>prefer + gerund/infinitive</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>They prefer eating out <strong>to</strong> cooking at&nbsp;home.</li>
				<li>Do you prefer playing <strong>or</strong> watching&nbsp;sports?</li>
				<li>Because I&#39;m a bit shy, I prefer to listen during&nbsp;meetings.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Form:</th>
			<td>prefer + noun</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>I prefer the red&nbsp;dress.</li>
				<li>She prefers apples <strong>to</strong>&nbsp;oranges.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p><em>Prefer</em> also has a noun form,&nbsp;<em>preference</em>.</p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Form:</th>
			<td>preference</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Do you have a&nbsp;preference?</li>
				<li>She made her preference&nbsp;clear.</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Rather</h1>

<p><em>Rather</em> is an adverb that has <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rather">several uses</a>, but it is commonly used to express a preference. Note that it is usually preceded by the modal <em>would</em> and&nbsp;followed by a verb. The use of&nbsp;<em>than</em> and&nbsp;<em>or</em> is also common in some patterns with&nbsp;<em>rather.</em></p>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Form:</th>
			<td>Wh- word + would + rather +&nbsp;verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Which would&nbsp;you rather wear, the black shirt or the white&nbsp;one?</li>
				<li>What would they rather&nbsp;discuss?</li>
				<li>When would she rather&nbsp;meet?</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<table class="horizontal">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Form:</th>
			<td>would + rather +&nbsp;verb</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<th>Examples:</th>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>She would rather stay home <strong>than</strong> go&nbsp;out.</li>
				<li>I&#39;d rather call you&nbsp;tomorrow.</li>
				<li>Would you rather read a book <strong>or</strong> watch&nbsp;TV?</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h1>Other Options</h1>

<p>Some other ways to express preferences in English include the verb&nbsp;<em>like&nbsp;</em>with&nbsp;<em>better</em> or&nbsp;<em>more</em>. Negative preferences&nbsp;can be expressed with&nbsp;<em>like less&nbsp;</em>or&nbsp;<em>dislike&nbsp;more</em>.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She likes the color blue better than&nbsp;green.</li>
	<li>He likes playing the guitar more than&nbsp;studying.</li>
	<li>I like Chinese food less than Japanese&nbsp;food.</li>
	<li>They dislike cold weather more than&nbsp;rain.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>In the following lessons,&nbsp;your students can see&nbsp;<em>prefer&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>rather&nbsp;</em>in context and practice the different sentence&nbsp;patterns.</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1756">Stating Preferences</a> - Functional English Lesson</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1716">Making Weekend Plans</a> - Everyday Dialogues Lesson</li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/1962">J-Pop Vs. K-Pop</a> - Famous Things Lesson</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Prefer Vs. Rather

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<p>The first day, week, and month of school can be challenging for both students and teachers. Some schools might only have a change of classes once a year, while others may have a new mix of students each month.</p>

<p>Here are five ways to make students of any age and level feel at ease in your classroom:</p>

<h3>1. Introductions</h3>

<p>Students will feel more comfortable when they know each other&#39;s names. But going around the class introducing themselves one by one can be uncomfortable and tedious. Here are some popular ways of mixing it up:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Have&nbsp;students introduce themselves to a partner, and then have each student introduce their partner to the class. This method helps take the pressure/spotlight off the speaker.</li>
	<li>Get students to make their own name tags that will be on display on their desk/table for the first month. Make it more interesting by having them draw an image under their name that represents them, which they can explain to a small group or the whole class.</li>
	<li>Have students introduce themselves to the class, but instead of the usual spiel, have students say their name and say one thing such as&nbsp;an embarrassing moment, their biggest dream for the future, their happiest memory, the most interesting place they&#39;ve visited, etc.</li>
	<li>For lower-level students, role-play an example introduction in English, and try a lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1717" target="_blank">making introductions</a>. Students can then introduce themselves to a partner following a&nbsp;template.</li>
</ul>

<h3>2. Getting to know you</h3>

<p>Icebreaker activities, especially ones that get your students talking and laughing, can really help everyone feel comfortable as they get to know you and each other. During the icebreaker activity, make sure you get involved, too!</p>

<p>Here are a few of my faves:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/my-favorite-icebreaker-activity/" target="_blank">My Favorite Icebreaker Activity</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/my-favourite-warm-up-activity/" target="_blank">My Favorite Warm-Up Activity</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>3. Pairing them up</h3>

<p>Getting to know one other person in the class a bit better helps everyone feel at ease. Shyer students often have an easier time talking to one person rather than the whole group. Pair students up for icebreaker activities, introductions, and textbook activities.</p>

<h3>4. Outlining the curriculum</h3>

<p>Students may be apprehensive when they don&#39;t know what they will be doing in your class every day. By clearly outlining the curriculum and your expectations during the first week of classes, you&#39;ll be letting your learners know&nbsp;what a typical day/week/month/year with you looks like, which should&nbsp;make them feel more comfortable.</p>

<p>It&#39;s also a good idea to go over major dates for tests and presentations. Don&#39;t forget to&nbsp;include dates for some fun activities, such as field trips or dress-up days, that students can look forward to!</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-make-a-lesson-plan/" target="_blank">How to Make a Lesson Plan</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/106/resources/2169" target="_blank">Weekly Planner Template</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>5. Setting class goals</h3>

<p>Goal-setting can be very motivating at the beginning of a new school year. Language-learning goals are something all students have in common, so they are easy to discuss. Setting goals also gets students to realize what they want to focus on during the year.</p>

<p>For teachers, goal-setting can be a gold mine!</p>

<p>Goal-setting&nbsp;helps you figure out what your students want from your class.&nbsp;It might give you some good ideas for lessons, and it will help you tailor the syllabus to meet their specific needs. It will also help you with student evaluations when you can point out that they&rsquo;ve accomplished their goals or need to do more work in certain areas in order to do so.</p>

<p>Try these resources:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-ways-to-set-goals-with-students/" target="_blank">6 Ways to Set Goals with Students</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-tips-and-resources-for-motivating-language-learners-to-set-and-achieve-goals/" target="_blank">Tips &amp; Resources for Motivating Language Learners to Set &amp; Achieve Goals</a></li>
</ul>

<p>If you have any other ideas for making students feel comfortable in class, please share them in the comments section below!</p>

<h3>Related materials</h3>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="collection"><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/everyday-topics/back-to-school" target="_blank">Back-to-School Collection</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-activities-for-engaging-students-this-school-year/" target="_blank">7 Activities for Engaging&nbsp;Students This School Year</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/a-beautiful-beginning-10-tips-resources-for-creating-a-safe-classroom-environment/" target="_blank">A Beautiful Beginning: Tips &amp; Resources for Creating a Safe Classroom Environment</a></li>
</ul>


5 Ways to Make Students Feel Comfortable in Your Class

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<blockquote>&ldquo;Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club&mdash;the community of speakers of that language.&rdquo;<br />
&mdash;Frank Smith</blockquote>

<p>Learning a language takes practice, practice, practice! Our students become more fluent the more they speak, listen, read and write in English outside our classes.</p>

<p>Below, you&#39;ll find&nbsp;a list of web tools and apps that are useful for helping students to improve their English.</p>

<p>Feel free to share these resources with your learners so they are encouraged to practice English continuously throughout the day.</p>

<h2>Web Tools and Apps</h2>

<h3>1. Games</h3>

<p>Learners can play various games to improve their English. <a href="http://www.kindersite.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kindersite</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is full of games for learning English. One of my favorite apps and sites with language games is </span><a href="http://www.tinytap.it/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tiny Tap</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Adults can learn vocabulary with the popular vocabulary app,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://zynga.com/games/words-friends"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Words With Friends</span></a>.</p>

<h3>2. Podcasts</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Students can listen<span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span>to almost any English podcast&nbsp;and learn grammar and vocabulary about various topics. Your learners might enjoy&nbsp;</span><a href="http://elllo.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ELLO</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;and </span><a href="http://www.poetry4kids.com/modules.php?name=Podcast"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Poetry 4 Kids</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.&nbsp;</span></p>

<h3>3. Videos</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your students can learn English by watching videos. </span><a href="https://www.englishcentral.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">English Central</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has various videos to help students practice their pronunciation. </span><a href="https://www.blubbr.tv/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">BlubbrTV</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="http://www.eslvideo.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ESL Video</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are full of quizzes. Steve Ford, of </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UA8eOwj0WQild7-asffqw"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Peppy English</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, has various videos teaching idioms, phrases, and more. He will even answer questions from the audience in upcoming videos. </span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For younger learners, videos become an even more essential tool, and one that their parents can continue to use to reinforce learning at home. Kids love <a alt="" href="https://youtube.com/channel/UCcOj1rEHLhu3QDHP_gGgVkg" title="">singing along to videos</a>, and it can be a great reward for the end of the lesson, or used at the beginning to get rid of some of their bouncy energy.</span></p>

<h3>4. Apps</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Encourage your students to learn language with their mobile devices! </span><a href="https://quizlet.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quizlet</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is an app with vocabulary flashcards and games. </span><a href="http://www.hellotalk.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">HelloTalk</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> allows you to chat with other language learners. </span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/apps"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dictionary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> app works offline to help you define and pronounce thousands of words. </span><a href="https://www.duolingo.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duolingo</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.busuu.com/enc/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Busuu</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> have vocabulary quizzes and learning games for language learners.</span></p>

<h3>5. Music</h3>

<p><a href="http://lyricstraining.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lyrics Training</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is a site for learning English through song lyrics. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/collolearn"><span style="font-weight: 400;">FluencyMC</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has created many rap songs to help you learn grammar and more! </span><a href="http://eslhiphop.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ESL Hip Hop</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has videos, grammar exercises and more featuring famous musicians.&nbsp;</span></p>

<h3>6. Social Networks&nbsp;</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your students can join sites like </span><a href="http://www.myenglishclub.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">My English Club</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="http://www.voxopop.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Voxopop</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to learn English with language learners around the world.</span></p>

<h3>7. Comics</h3>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Students can have fun learning English with these free comic sites:</span></p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.comicsenglish.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Comics English</span></a></li>
	<li><a href="http://ntic.educacion.es/w3/eos/MaterialesEducativos/mem2009/playcomic/english/accesible/instrucciones_a.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">PlayComic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</span></li>
	<li><a href="http://zenpencils.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zen Pencils</span></a></li>
	<li><a href="http://learnwithcomics.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Learn English with Comic Strips</span></a></li>
	<li><a href="http://teachingenglishthroughcomics.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Teach English with Comics</span></a></li>
</ul>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do you inspire students to learn English at home? </span></p>


7 Ways Learners Can Improve Their English with Technology

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<h1>Is It Ever All Right to Use &ldquo;Alright&rdquo;?</h1>

<p>When even native speakers can&rsquo;t agree on the usage of a word in English, what in the world do we teach our students? When I was young, my teachers taught me that it was fine to use <em>alright</em>. I&rsquo;ve seen it in print over the years and used it myself countless times. I&rsquo;ve also used it with my students when I was an English teacher.</p>

<p>Imagine my surprise, while studying to become an editor, when I learned that <em>alright</em> is a term best avoided! According to many grammar sticklers, the &ldquo;correct&rdquo; spelling is always <em>all right</em>. Is this what we should be teaching English language learners? Let&rsquo;s take a deeper look into this&nbsp;debate.</p>

<h1>History &amp; Similar Cases</h1>

<p>Both <em>all right</em> and <em>alright</em> have been in use for over a century, but that&rsquo;s also almost as long as there has been a controversy, too. <em>All right</em> first appeared as a two‑word spelling, much like <em>all together</em>, <em>all ready</em>, etc. But over time, many such words assumed a logical, practical one‑word form. In fact, the two-word versions even have different meanings nowadays. Consider the&nbsp;following:</p>

<ul>
	<li>We&rsquo;ve <strong>already</strong> studied that. <em>(previously&nbsp;done)</em></li>
	<li>Are we <strong>all ready</strong> to go? <em>(all of us&nbsp;prepared)</em></li>
	<li>Let&rsquo;s avoid the situation&nbsp;<strong>altogether</strong>.&nbsp;<em>(completely)</em></li>
	<li>Let&rsquo;s sing <strong>all together</strong>. <em>(all of us at the same&nbsp;time)</em></li>
</ul>

<p>It follows that <em>alright</em> and <em>all right</em> should follow a similar&nbsp;pattern:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Is it <strong>alright</strong> if I bring a friend? <em>(okay,&nbsp;acceptable)</em></li>
	<li>The answers were <strong>all right</strong>. <em>(all&nbsp;correct)</em></li>
</ul>

<p>However, &ldquo;<em>Is it <strong>all right</strong> if I bring a friend?</em>&rdquo; is not only correct as well, but more accepted. <em>All right</em> is far more common in literature and formal writing. <em>Alright</em> can sometimes be used in newspapers, magazines, and other types of informal&nbsp;writing.</p>

<h1>Reference Sources</h1>

<h3>What do dictionaries and style guides have to&nbsp;say?</h3>

<p><em>Merriam-Webster Online</em> has an entry for <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alright" target="_blank">alright</a>, and explains that it is common, especially in informal writing and fictional dialogue. <em>Oxford Dictionaries Online</em> lists <a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/all-right?q=alright" target="_blank">alright</a> as a variant for <em>all right</em>. My copy of the <em>Oxford Canadian Dictionary</em> has no entry for&nbsp;<em>alright</em>.</p>

<p><em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em>, 16th edition (section 5.220), says to avoid <em>alright</em> and always use the two-word form, <em>all&nbsp;right</em>.</p>

<p>A <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=alright%2Call+right&amp;year_start=1800&amp;year_end=2015&amp;corpus=15&amp;smoothing=3&amp;share=&amp;direct_url=t1%3B%2Calright%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Call%20right%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank">Google Ngram viewer of alright vs. all right</a> shows that <em>all right</em> appears much more frequently in books than&nbsp;<em>alright</em>.</p>

<p>In researching these two forms, I read over and over that though <em>all right</em> is the more acceptable form, there is no logical reason not to use <em>alright</em>, and its use is on the&nbsp;rise.</p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>So what should we teach our students? For lower‑level students, my advice is to teach them the two‑word form since it&rsquo;s always considered correct. For higher-level students, teach them both forms and explain that <em>alright</em> is informal and <em>all right</em> is more formal. For formal, academic writing, it is probably best to stick to <em>all right</em>, but when they&rsquo;re emailing or texting their friends, <em>alright</em> is just&nbsp;fine.</p>


All Right Vs. Alright

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<blockquote>
<p>There is a method to this&nbsp;madness!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The English articles <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2028"><em>a</em>, <em>an</em>, and <em>the</em></a> can be tricky for students to learn. Teachers can spend quite a bit of time teaching lower-level students when to use these articles, only to have the &ldquo;rules&rdquo; thrown back in their faces when a sentence begins with &ldquo;there&rdquo; and the Be verb. When do we say <em>There is a +&nbsp;noun</em>, and is <em>There is the +&nbsp;noun</em> ever&nbsp;correct?</p>

<h1>There Is A +&nbsp;Noun</h1>

<p>This is a common English sentence pattern that is used to describe things (especially when followed with a location). For example, think of this sentence: <em>There is a cat on the sofa</em>. If a speaker says this, both the speaker and listener are probably looking at the sofa or a picture of it. The tricky thing for students is that this situation (where we can see the noun and/or we know which noun we&rsquo;re talking about) usually calls for the definite article <em>the</em>. The noun following the preposition even takes <em>the (the sofa)</em>, so why is it <em>a&nbsp;cat</em>?</p>

<p>For one thing, <em>there</em> in this case is an indefinite (or &ldquo;empty&rdquo;) subject, so an indefinite article (<em>a</em> or <em>an</em>) following it does make sense. It is also one of those sentence patterns that has been around for ages and is unlikely to change. I always make a point of teaching this pattern to my students since it doesn&rsquo;t follow the normal article rules. It&rsquo;s one of those exceptions that students should memorize to make their lives&nbsp;easier.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>There is a school on the corner of 5th and&nbsp;Main.</li>
	<li>There is an orange on my&nbsp;desk.</li>
	<li>There are books on the&nbsp;shelf.</li>
</ul>

<h1>There Is The +&nbsp;Noun</h1>

<p>Is <em>there is</em> ever possible with <em>the</em>? While I was writing our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2028">Articles - Beginner</a> lesson, my coworker, Tara, pointed out that <em>the</em> was possible in some of my examples. We then had a long and interesting discussion on whe <em>there is the</em> could be used. (If you can think of any other instances, please add them in the Comments section&nbsp;below!)</p>

<p>If you are answering the question &ldquo;Where is the (noun)?&rdquo;, then &ldquo;There&rsquo;s the (noun)&rdquo; is natural. We can also use it for&nbsp;emphasis.</p>

<h2>Examples</h2>

<ul>
	<li>A: Where&rsquo;s the red pen?<br />
	B: There&rsquo;s the red pen. <em>(pointing to&nbsp;it)</em></li>
	<li>Oh, there are the books I was looking&nbsp;for!</li>
	<li>There&rsquo;s the bus! We&rsquo;ve been waiting&nbsp;forever.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>So what should we teach our students? For lower-level students, I&rsquo;d recommend teaching the <em>There is a + noun</em> pattern. Point out that it is almost always followed by a preposition phrase with <em>the</em>. Teaching <em>There is the +&nbsp;noun</em> to lower-level students might result in confusion and mistakes, so I wouldn&rsquo;t do that unless a student specifically asks about that case. But for higher-level students, teaching exceptions to rules is helpful and can lead to interesting grammar discussions. I wouldn&rsquo;t hesitate to bring up <em>There is the +&nbsp;noun</em> to my advanced&nbsp;students.</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>Try our NEW Grammar Practice Worksheets lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons">Articles - Beginner</a>! We also have an <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1606">Articles - Intermediate</a> lesson in that&nbsp;section.</p>


"There Is A" Vs. "There Is The"

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<p>Unclear English language&nbsp;rules are enough to make me nauseous! Or is it nauseated?</p>

<p>Recently, the ESL Library team has been hard at work revamping our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons">Everyday Dialogues</a> section. We&#39;re reformatting all of our lessons, and we&#39;re eventually adding audio, too! While I was editing two of the lessons, <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons">Going to the Doctor</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1707">Going to the Pharmacy</a>, I came across differing vocabulary terms.</p>

<p>The first lesson used <em>nauseous</em>&nbsp;while&nbsp;the second used <em>nauseated</em>. I grew up (on the West Coast of Canada) saying <em>nauseous</em>, but I know from experience that it&#39;s a good idea to check on the rules and usage in&nbsp;other English-speaking areas. What did I discover about&nbsp;<em>nauseous</em> and&nbsp;<em>nauseated</em>? </p>

<h1>Controversy &amp; Evidence</h1>

<p>In the 20th century, some people started insisting&nbsp;that <i>nauseous</i> meant &quot;to cause nausea&quot;&nbsp;while&nbsp;<em>nauseated</em> meant &quot;to feel/be affected by nausea.&quot;&nbsp;(E.g., we should say &quot;The nauseous odor made me feel nauseated.&quot;) However, the&nbsp;<em>Oxford English Dictionary</em> has listed three definitions of&nbsp;<em>nauseous</em>&nbsp;since the 17th century, and one of those meanings is &quot;to feel/be affected by&nbsp;nausea.&quot;&nbsp;Nowadays, when using linking verbs like&nbsp;<em>be</em>, <em>feel</em>, <em>seem</em>,&nbsp;and <em>appear</em>, most dictionaries agree that&nbsp;both&nbsp;<em>nauseous</em> and&nbsp;<em>nauseated</em> can be used to describe that queasy-stomach&nbsp;feeling.</p>

<ul>
	<li>A day later I became <strong>nauseous</strong>, was vomiting, and I started bumping into the wall&mdash;I couldn&#39;t walk straight. &mdash;<em>Oxford&nbsp;Dictionaries&nbsp;(online)</em></li>
	<li>We had headaches from the smell, and I was so <strong>nauseated</strong> the last night that I couldn&#39;t even eat my dinner. &mdash;<em>Oxford&nbsp;Dictionaries&nbsp;(online)</em></li>
	<li>I began to feel <strong>nauseous</strong>. &mdash;<em>Merriam-Webster&nbsp;(online)</em></li>
	<li>He was feeling weak and <strong>nauseated</strong>.&nbsp;&mdash;<em>Merriam-Webster Learner&#39;s&nbsp;Dictionary&nbsp;(online)</em></li>
</ul>

<p><em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary of English Usage</em>&nbsp;takes a strong stance for the use of <em>nauseous</em> to mean feeling sick to your stomach: &quot;Any handbook that tells you that&nbsp;<em>nauseous</em> cannot mean &#39;nauseated&#39; is out of touch with the contemporary language. In current use it seldom means anything&nbsp;else.&quot;</p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>Tell your students that both&nbsp;<em>nauseous&nbsp;</em>and <i>nauseated&nbsp;</i>can be used to describe when a person&nbsp;feels like vomiting. The good news is they can&#39;t go wrong! That should make them feel&nbsp;better&hellip;</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>To see&nbsp;<em>nauseous&nbsp;</em>in context, try the&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1708">Going to the Doctor</a>&nbsp;lesson in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons">Everyday Dialogues</a>&nbsp;section. In a few weeks,&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1707">Going to the Pharmacy</a>&nbsp;will include this term as&nbsp;well.</p>

<h1>Sources</h1>

<ul>
	<li><em>Merriam-Webster&#39;s Dictionary of English Usage: </em>nauseous, nauseating,&nbsp;nauseated</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/nauseous" target="_blank">http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/nauseous</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/nauseate?q=nauseated" target="_blank">http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/nauseate?q=nauseated</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nauseous" target="_blank">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nauseous</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/nauseate" target="_blank">http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/nauseate</a></li>
</ul>

Nauseous Vs. Nauseated

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<p>When I was editing a new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Discussion Starters</a> lesson on <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Solitary Confinement</a>&nbsp;the other day, I came across a note from our creative director, Robyn: <em>hanged or hung</em>? Her friends had recently had an argument about hanged vs. hung, and she was curious if we had chosen the correct word.</p>

<p>As I have heard both past forms used often, I assumed it was one of those irregular verbs where both choices were acceptable, like <em>dreamed/dreamt</em>. However, I discovered that the issue of <em>hanged</em> and <em>hung</em> has been hotly debated since the 17th century!</p>

<p>Which is the correct simple past/past participle form? What&rsquo;s the difference between the two words?&nbsp;What is the safest choice, and what should we teach our&nbsp;students?</p>

<h1>Hanged</h1>

<p>Use the verb forms <em>hang &ndash; hanged &ndash; hanged</em> when the meaning is to die by hanging (usually from a rope around one&rsquo;s neck with no support under one&rsquo;s&nbsp;feet).</p>

<ul>
	<li>The murderer was sentenced to be <strong>hanged</strong> next&nbsp;Thursday.</li>
	<li>The gang leader <strong>hanged</strong> for his&nbsp;crimes.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Hung</h1>

<p>Use the verb forms <em>hang &ndash; hung &ndash; hung</em> for all other meanings of <em>hang</em>, such as&nbsp;to put or attach something somewhere, or in other idioms and&nbsp;expressions.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I <strong>hung</strong> the dres back in my&nbsp;closet.</li>
	<li>The artwork was <strong>hung</strong> in the gallery by the artist&nbsp;himself.</li>
	<li>Her new diamond necklace <strong>hung</strong> around her&nbsp;neck.</li>
	<li>She <strong>hung</strong> her head in&nbsp;shame.</li>
	<li>He really <strong>hung</strong> her out to dry when he left her and the&nbsp;baby.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Etymology</h1>

<p><em>Hanged</em> and <em>hung</em> come by their different past forms honestly&mdash;they stem from two different Old English verbs! Over time, they became interchangeable. Eventually, though, <em>hung</em> became the more popular choice in all instances except for the meaning of &ldquo;execute by&nbsp;hanging.&rdquo;</p>

<h1>Conclusion</h1>

<p>It is important to note that, according to <em>Merriam‑Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary of English Usage</em>, both <em>hanged</em> and <em>hung</em> can be used to describe the action of death by hanging. Using <em>hung</em> in this instance is not a mistake, and <em>Merriam‑Webster</em> cites many examples from literature to prove it. However, <em>Merriam‑Webster</em> does note that <em>hanged</em> is much more commonly used (and is also the common legal term) for this&nbsp;meaning.</p>

<p>My advice is to teach our students to use <em>hanged</em> for the death by hanging meaning and <em>hung</em> for all other instances. It&rsquo;s an easy rule to remember, and this is the most commonly accepted usage for these two&nbsp;words.</p>

<h1>Practice</h1>

<p>See these words in context in our new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons">Solitary Confinement</a> Discussion Starters&nbsp;lesson.</p>


Hanged Vs. Hung

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<p>There are many ways to quantify a noun in English, and the words <em>some</em>, <em>any</em>, <em>every</em>, <em>each</em>, and <em>no</em> are among the most common. Part of the difficulty students have in learning these terms is that they are used in more than one way. For example, <em>some</em> can be a quantifier (a word that tells us how much/many) that precedes a noun (e.g., <em>I want some pizza</em>), but it can also be an indefinite pronoun that takes the place of a noun (e.g., <em>I want some; Some of the people want pizza</em>). It can also be attached to the suffix <em>‑body</em> or <em>‑one</em> to form other indefinite pronouns (<em>somebody</em> and&nbsp;<em>someone</em>).</p>

<p>In my experience, it helps to break down the functions of such terms. Focusing a lesson on one function, and then comparing the different words within that function, helps students keep the uses straight. Let&rsquo;s focus on quantifiers today, and save the pronoun function for another blog&nbsp;post.</p>

<h1>Some</h1>

<p>Think of <em>some</em> as an indefinite number that&rsquo;s around 50% (I&rsquo;ve found it really helps my students when I give them percentages to compare). We mainly use <em>some</em> in affirmative sentences. <em>Some</em> can be used with count and non‑count nouns. When it precedes a subject noun, the noun is plural and it takes a plural&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>She asked for some&nbsp;money.</li>
	<li>Some people like the&nbsp;movie.</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Some</em> can also be used in certain types of questions, such as offers and&nbsp;requests.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Do you want some more coffee?&nbsp;<em>(offer)</em></li>
	<li>Can I get&nbsp;some chairs delivered tomorrow?&nbsp;<em>(request)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Any</h1>

<p>We mainly use <em>any</em> in negative sentences and questions. <em>Any</em> can be used with count&nbsp;and non-count&nbsp;nouns. When it precedes a subject noun, the noun is plural and it takes a plural&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>He doesn&rsquo;t want any&nbsp;help.</li>
	<li>Do any blankets we collect go to&nbsp;charity?</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Any</em> can also be used in affirmative sentences when we want to emphasize that we don&rsquo;t have a specific item in&nbsp;mind.</p>

<ul>
	<li>I need a pen. Any pen will do. <em>(I don&rsquo;t care which pen it&nbsp;is.)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>Every</h1>

<p>Think of <em>every</em> as 100%. We can use <em>every</em> in affirmative sentences, negative sentences, and questions. <em>Every</em> can only be used with count nouns. When it precedes a subject noun, the noun is singular and it takes a singular verb. This is very confusing to students because the meaning is always plural (<em>every</em> always means more than&nbsp;one).</p>

<ul>
	<li>Every person here is going to vote&nbsp;&ldquo;yes.&rdquo;</li>
	<li>I haven&rsquo;t counted every ballot&nbsp;yet.</li>
	<li>Do you want to keep every piece of furniture in this&nbsp;room?</li>
</ul>

<p>What about <em>every time</em>? &ldquo;Time&rdquo; in this case is actually a count noun. When we say <em>every time</em>, we&rsquo;re thinking of each individual instance that something&nbsp;occurred.</p>

<h1>Each</h1>

<p><em>Each</em> and <em>every</em> are commonly confused. <em>Each</em> is a way to emphasize the individual people or things in a pair or group.&nbsp;We can use <em>each</em> in affirmative sentences, negative sentences, and questions. <em>Each</em> can only be used with count nouns. When it precedes a subject noun, the noun is singular and it takes a singular&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Each student needs&nbsp;the permission slip&nbsp;signed.</li>
	<li>I&rsquo;ll make an announcement because I don&rsquo;t want to talk to each person&nbsp;individually.</li>
	<li>Will you please check each piece of paper&nbsp;carefully?</li>
</ul>

<p>Are <em>each</em> and <em>every</em> interchangeable? They can be, but with <em>each</em>, the emphasis is more on the individual&nbsp;nouns.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Each person must respond. <em>(person&nbsp;A, person&nbsp;B,&nbsp;etc.)</em></li>
	<li>Every person must respond. <em>(all of the&nbsp;people)</em></li>
</ul>

<h1>No</h1>

<p>Think of <em>no</em> as 0%. We use <em>no</em> in affirmative sentences, but note that the meaning is negative (i.e., we don&rsquo;t use <em>no</em> and <em>not</em> in the same sentence). <em>No</em> can be used with both count and non‑count nouns. When it precedes a subject noun, the noun is usually plural and it takes a plural&nbsp;verb.</p>

<ul>
	<li>No animals are sold at this&nbsp;zoo.</li>
	<li>We have no time to finish this&nbsp;project.</li>
</ul>

<p>Can <em>no</em> be used with a singular noun? It&rsquo;s possible, especially in more formal&nbsp;language.</p>

<ul>
	<li>No person can enter the premises after&nbsp;hours.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Any time or anytime?</h1>

<p>As a teacher and an editor, one of the most common mistakes I see students and native speakers make is with <em>any time</em> and <em>anytime</em>. They can both appear at the end of a sentence, which makes them difficult to distinguish. To be able to tell them apart, think of the different&nbsp;meanings:</p>

<p><em>Any time</em> functions as a quantifier + noun and refers to &ldquo;an amount of&nbsp;time.&rdquo;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Do you have any time to help&nbsp;me?</li>
	<li>I can&rsquo;t call you tonight. I don&rsquo;t have any&nbsp;time.</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Anytime</em> functions as an indefinite pronoun and means&nbsp;&ldquo;whenever.&rdquo;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Anytime you call me, I&rsquo;ll come&nbsp;running.</li>
	<li>His favorite sport is soccer. He&rsquo;ll play&nbsp;anytime.</li>
</ul>

<p>Stay tuned for a blog post on common indefinite&nbsp;pronouns!</p>


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