Replies for you!

Wow! What a lot of comments to reply to! I’ve counted comments from 39 people that have appeared on the website since the last time I replied to these. I’m just going to concentrate on answering these today, I don’t think I’ll have time to write much more :-)

I am going to give you some homework though, Adriana (and our readers) – Myen asked a very nice question when she posted her answers to the present perfect sentences…

“What’s the difference in meaning between the sentences ‘She has gone to France’ and ‘She has been to France’? I know the answer… do you? Have a think about it and let me know… I’ll tell you the answer on Monday.

I’ll post the answers to the noun/verb agreement and plurals homework tomorrow, along with the vocabulary definitions. Meanwhile, here are some replies to our readers’ comments. Thanks to everyone for writing in and, as always, I hope I haven’t left anyone out!

Ana Paula: I’ve found 8 comments from you that I hadn’t been able to read before – thanks! Well done on the homework. Sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your exam results. I think with those two types of questions practice will help but also try to work through an intermediate grammar exercises book (like English in Use or something like that). That should help as well. Good luck! I’m glad you liked the sound of the book I recommended. Yes, ‘whaddya think’ is a short/slang way of saying ‘what do you think?’ – we usually use it only for speaking, not writing but rules are meant to be broken :-)

Yvonne: well done on the present perfect homework, almost all right! I hope you checked your answers with the blog. You did a good job with make and do collocations too :-)

Mauricio: when I wrote ‘many a student and many a teacher’ I was emphasizing the fact that there are lots of students and lots of teachers who find it difficult. You can use the structure in the same way although normally you’d just have one ‘many’. For example, ‘many a child finds reading boring’. Be careful though – it can sound a little bit old-fashioned. I can understand wanting to stay at home when you have a holiday! I do sometimes too. ‘Delhi’ is pronounced ‘DEL-ee’ (stress on the first syllable).

Silwal: almost all right with the present perfect sentences and vocabulary definitions – did you check your answers with the blog? I’m sorry to hear you don’t get many holidays :-( Was your visit to Jagannath the first time you had seen the sea? Don’t work too hard!

Gede: I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog and finding the grammar explanations useful. I’ve never been to Indonesia but I’d love to go. One day!

Myen: Excellent! You figured out which of the present perfect sentences was correct, great. And well done on the other sentences too. You asked an interesting question which as you can see I have given everyone for homework today :-) Watch this space!

Adek: that’s interesting that Polish doesn’t have the present perfect tense. In fact, I think there are quite a lot of languages that don’t have it, which is why so many learners find it difficult. How old are your children? I wonder whether your son will appreciate his sisters more when they are all older?

Pilar: you should definitely try and visit India one day! It is such a beautiful country with so much to offer if you can cope with the pollution and heat (in the summer!). I highly recommend it! I agree that summer holidays are probably the best… that’s a nice thing about being a teacher is that you still can have relatively long holidays, either in the summer or around Christmas.

Manoj: I guess I do have a lot of freedom in India which is one of the reasons I like living here, although it is very difficult to go anywhere without drawing some attention to myself because I can’t avoid standing out as a foreigner! Thanks for your lovely comments. I hope you enjoyed my last post about my wedding.

Heinrich: I think perhaps the Portuguese brought their architectural ideas with them to India (and Brazil?) and then adapted them to a tropical climate… I remember seeing some similar buildings in Portugal when I lived there a few years ago. ‘Alpendre’ are called ‘columns’ in English. I’m very interested in architecture and India boasts a huge variety of it. I know of Diu, which is in a state in Western India called Gujarat and I think there is also a place that is still called Damao but I’m not sure.

Virginia: I’m glad you are enjoying the blog but I’m sorry to hear you couldn’t sleep!

Wisarut: sorry to hear you are so busy at work :-( I’m afraid we don’t have any pets. My husband’s mother has three dogs though so we see them a lot when we are in England. Their names are Bean, Thicket and Shunka. I’m not sure which ‘another’ you mean… can you tell me which post it was in and I’ll try and answer your question.

Paulraj: yes, I’ve heard of ‘fenny’ but I haven’t tried it. My husband has but it said he didn’t like it so much as it was so strong! I haven’t been to Marine Beach but I have been to Varkala in Kerala which has a beautiful beach. I also loved the beaches in Karnataka.

Farzan: thanks for your comments and glad you’r enjoying the blogs. I think ‘package it up’ sounds more complete that just ‘package it’. You could just say ‘pack it’ but if you want to use ‘package’ then I think you need the ‘up’!

Suchitra: my family and I visited Nepal in June and we loved it! We only went to Kathmandu and Bhaktapur but hopefully we will go back one day and see more of the country. Practice is the best way to improve your writing skills so keep writing comments!

Yumi: lovely to hear from you! You’re very welcome for everything. Thanks to you too for being such a great blogger!

Kitty: thanks for your lovely comments, I’m glad you’re enjoying reading our blogs. I know what you mean about languages getting mixed up with each other. I used to speak French and Thai but now whenever I try and remember phrases from those languages they come all out mixed up with Hindi! Perhaps you could put a notice up in a local shop to see if anyone would like to meet for coffee once a week to do some conversation practice in English – it probably wouldn’t be too hard to find someone, and you could help each other! Well done on the homework.

Leung: I think ‘I think him a good teacher’ is an old-fashioned way of saying ‘I think he’s a good teacher’. It sounds strange these days though, unless within literature.

David from Taipei: Well done on the homework! Thanks for writing (and reading!)

Alexey: You’ve also given some nice phrases with ‘make’ and ‘do’ – well done! I’m glad you enjoy doing the homework :-)

Daphne: yes please do tell you friends about the blog! The more readers the better. ‘Do’ and ‘make’ are quite difficult for lots of students because the equivalents are used differently in other languages. You’re not alone!

Naheed: that’s okay, I’ll forgive you for calling me Yumi! :-) You’re lucky to have a sister who is a yoga teacher, that must be very handy. I’ll try and write a post about yoga one day. I hope my baby doesn’t look too much like a potato!

Gaetano: thanks for your comment, I’ll try and keep writing more about living in India. Is there anything specific you’d like to hear about? Glad you’re enjoying reading the blogs.

Marianna: that’s a good idea – I’ll try and do a post about Indian writers. I’ve read a lot of books by different Indian authors but have yet to read one by Tagore. I have a couple of his books on my bookshelf, though! Thanks for your lovely comments.

Oscar: thanks for your comment and the translation of your poem – it’s very nice! Keep writing!

Kevin: welcome to the blogs! Hope to hear more from you soon :-)

Sara: And welcome to you too! Thanks for your answers to the vocabulary – you were right about all of them. Hope to hear from you again!

Jasmina: your vocabulary definitions were spot on – well done!

Liliana: I’m glad you discovered the blogs and that you’re enjoying them. Hope to hear from you again soon!

Lucky: thanks for your comment – it was nice to hear from someone in Afghanistan. I visited Kabul for work two years ago. I was there for two weeks and found it extremely interesting. I hope that things settle down in your country soon.

Sarah: thanks for your comment. Try and use some of the phrases while you are speaking – if you practice them they will become part of your vocabulary too.

Katerina: welcome to the blogs! You can participate by writing comments on both the teacher and student blogs (like you have done) and you can also enter the competition to become a future student blogger. Keep an eye on the main learningenglish website to see when the next deadline for entries is. Your vocabulary definitions are very good – well done!

David from Peru: I’m glad you liked the photo of the Taj Mahal. You asked an interesting question. ‘Heaving’ is often used with ‘a sigh’ but you can also use it with ‘floors’ to describe a large number of people in a room or building. For example, ‘the floors were heaving with people’ or ‘there were so many people that the floors were heaving’. ‘To heave means to move up and down, so when you ‘heave a sigh’ your chest moves up and down, and when ‘the floors are heaving’ they are moving up and down with the weight of all the people!

Flavia: thanks for your comment and no need to apologise for your mistakes! We all make them! Glad you are enjoying the blogs.

Kiljun: thanks for your comment and welcome to the blogs! ‘Common thread’ means something that a lot of people understand, discuss or agree with. For example, ‘the common thread to all of these discussions was that nobody wanted him to leave’. As for your question about ‘money coming out of one’s ear’ I think you mean ‘ears’. If we say someone has money (or anything!) coming out of their ears it means they have lots and lots of it!

Siti: I’m glad you liked the potato salad recipe! Your salad sounds nice too, I”ll try it!

Judit: I’m glad you’re enjoying the blogs and learning a lot! Thanks for your comment!

Tee jay: have a look at the homepage of the learning English website here then try working your way through the different sections – explore! There’s lots to see!

Robert: you’re right – I think more people get to experience having their grandparents these days as people are living longer. Louie is lucky because he has three great-grandparents!

Thanks for all your contributions. This blog has now closed and can no longer accept new comments.