| | | CONFUSING WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS |  Situation / Position / Condition Animal idioms no = not / not any seem, appear and look Learning and using synonyms Mother tongue, honeymoon and a small amount of gold Colour idioms afraid/scared/terrifying take care / take a look: verb + noun collocations with take faults, flaws, weaknesses and drawbacks Idiomatic pairs Teacher/trainer/instructor/lecturer Discourse markers British measures: feet, inches, kinds / types / sorts / varieties (of music) See and Watch Numbers 'well off' and 'better off'? 'lend' or 'borrow'? 'say' or 'tell'? 'make' or 'do'? 'approve' or 'approve of'? 'hire' or 'rent'? 'rise' or 'raise'?'drive' or 'ride'? 'efficient'or'effective'? 'lie' or 'lay'? 'lack' as a verb and a noun 'house' or 'home'? 'sport' or 'game'? 'partner' or 'boyfriend'? 'effect' or 'affect'? 'say' or 'tell'? 'hope' and 'wish' 'equipment', 'utensil', 'tool'and 'apparatus' 'solicitor', 'lawyer', 'attorney','barrister', 'counsellor' 'nail bombs' judging something 'on its merits' greetings and farewells 'get' and 'become' same or different? 'used to/get used to'? 'adjective-noun collocations' rather and better? wedding or marriage? 'either', 'neither' and 'too' head,feet,legs,brain,mind health and illness idioms 'skin' and 'bones' idioms '-ed' and '-ing' adjectives confusing pairs 'come' or 'go'? 'bring' or 'take'? confusing road signs 'hot dog' and 'hat trick' idioms involving 'clouds' or 'sky' verbs + adverbial particles 'let' or 'leave' do/did/done suppose / supposed to horrible / horrific entertainment idioms melt, thaw and antonyms synonyms for 'I (don't) understand slang, idiomatic expressions and euphemisms 'switch' and 'change' job applications and 'cover' job title suffixes neck and nose idioms miss, missing, missed /wound/hurt/harm/damage as verbs/adjectives/nouns countable or uncountable? parts of the body 'Meetings'/etc... remind-remember/recall/recollect 'travel/trips/journeys/etc' Idioms based on food and drink Kinship Idioms ensure, assure, insure emotions idioms - anger 'dress, wear, put on' relations and relationships rise, arise and raise Told or asked? last/take 'take' - expressions look forward to / agree to / object to expressing views and opinions 'calling' and 'kidding' 'hold or keep' | | | | | PREFIXES, SUFFIXES, SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION | possessives or compound nouns? Colons and semi-colons, dashes and brackets Flammable/inflammable & prefixes -ive, -ous, -ful, -ic, -able, -al, -y, -ible suffixes: -less, -free possessive apostrophes apostrophe 's with plural nouns 'its' and 'it's' hyphenated nouns; adjectives and prefixes hyphenated adjectives; '-ise' and '-ize' using commas, semi-colons and colons spelling quiz: 'aging' or 'ageing'? spelling and pronunciation negative auxilliary verbs: contracted forms; pronunciation parts of the body a/an and the: pronunciation spelling and pronunciation / silent letters tag questions punctuation and pausing | | | | | DETERMINERS, NOUNS AND PRONOUNS | noun-verb agreement no = not a / not any article or no article? this/that - these/those - here/there different uses of 'any' 'the', 'a' and 'an' indefinite and zero articles using articles with geographical names articles, possessives and demonstratives apostrophes: 'its' and 'it's';'ones' and 'one's' 'so do I.'/ 'me too' 'such' and 'so' 'much', 'many', 'lots of' and subject-verb agreement subject-verb agreement with countable nouns double negatives relative pronouns: 'who' or 'whom'? using 'the' correctly reflexive pronouns 'each' and 'every' 'either'/'neither'/'too' 'any' and 'no' subject/verb agreement 'amount', 'quantity', 'number' it/this/that it to identify people compound nouns plural nouns 'what or which' job title suffixes 'there' and 'is' as preparatory subjects 'the' or zero article? a/an and the: pronunciation too much/many, fewer/less, little, as much as nouns+prepositions what or that? and noun-verb collocations noun + to- infinitive clause noun suffixes possessive 's or of + noun? 'that' and 'then' the definite article: context-specific and with abstract nouns uncountable nouns fewer or less you and me / you and I every/all countable and uncountable nouns with different meanings 'The' with place names: rules and exceptions | | | | | ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS | 'Before' and 'ago' Participles as adjectives enough / sufficient / adequate Adverb and adjective collocations 'incredible' and 'unbelievable' 'efficient' or 'effective' 'busy with' or 'busy about'? adjectival prefixes: un-, in- or im-? adjectival suffixes: -ive, -ous or -ful? adjectival suffixes: -less or -free? 'good' or 'well'? using 'as well' using 'besides' 'for example' and 'for instance' using 'so' inversion after negative expressions and 'only' 'how long?', 'how often?' and 'how many times?' using 'ever' 'formation and use of adjectives' just or only adjectives: appropriate/suitable and adequate/sufficient/enough 'hardly', 'hardly ever', hardly any' 'even if', 'even though' 'ed' and '-ing' as adjectives time expressions with 'next', 'last' and 'on' adjectives: position 'yet': adverb or conjunction though / as though / like comparative and superlative forms emphasizing adverbs as....as expressing possibility: maybe, perhaps, may and might plural nouns hardly/scarcely, neither/nor, so/too quite concern/concerned/concerning on / off future forms: comparatives and superlatives being position of adverbs too much/many, fewer/less, little, as much as however/nevertheless/moreover irregular adjectives and adverbs -ed adjectives compound adjectives time expressions, adjectives and adverbs 'Always' and 'ever' -ed and -ing adjectives actually/in fact/well yet/still/already especially/specially & continuously/continually adjectives with -er/-est, more/most, less/least in comparative/superlative so, such and so on 'worth/worthwhile' likely to adverbials inversion | | | | | VERBS AND TENSES | unreal uses of past forms 'say' and 'tell' in reported speech have had / had had wouldn't/would & won't/will for refusals and insistence planned future actions the passive with modals, future and infinitive forms short answers and question tags doubling final consonants we are to / we are not to have / have got present perfect with 'for' and 'since' forming questions with do/does and is/are see / feel / like & love in progressive form Choosing the right tense in indirect speech Phrasal verbs: five different structures do as auxiliary verb primary auxiliary verbs: 'do' and 'have' 'up' and 'down' in phrasal verbs 'to do' and 'to have done' lots to do with 'do' 'happen' and 'happen to' tenses of 'lie' or 'lay' past simple and past perfect: 'have' and 'had' past tense endings 'used to' or past simple? present perfect simple and continuous will/shall/would/should 'been' or 'gone'? inverted word order in questions and statements reported/indirect speech 'must', 'need' and 'used to' in reported speech the passive prepositional and phrasal verbs 'to' or '-ing'? contractions: 'aren't', 'haven't', 'isn't' 'will', 'shall', 'would' and 'should' 'don't' and 'do not' 'present perfect and past simple' reporting verbs be able + infinitive be to + infinitive the subjunctive participial or relative clause verb + two objects have+object+infinitive/-ing question tags+imperative the passive stative verbs American/British verbs subject/verb agreement 'would' in conversation 'get, plus past verbs + adverbial particles 'let' or 'leave' 'like' as verb and preposition reporting questions, suggestions, advice and instructions expressing possibility: perhaps, maybe, may and might 'gonna', 'wanna', 'gotta' and 'dunno' present perfect change of time/tense in reported speech concern/concerned/concerning auxiliary verbs; contracted forms: pronunciation past tenses future forms: comparatives and superlatives could, was able to and managed to being suggest, recommend, insist, demand subject-verb inversion in questions past simple and past perfect The future Hear, see, make, let, allow + object + verb form present perfect with just, already, ever and yet what or that? and noun-verb collocations Bare infinitive Verbs and tenses past simple and present perfect intransitive and transitive verbs have to do and to have done reporting the future get (for transport) + preposition or adverb particle get + preposition or adverb particle ever and in time expressions time expressions and tenses dare and need - auxiliary verbs 'be to' for + verb-ing' 'used to' or 'would' expressing wishes in the past, present and future | | | | | MODALS AND CONDITIONALS | Third conditional Mixed conditionals Inversion in conditional sentences 'Needn't have' and 'didn't need to' 'if-clauses' and containing 'will', 'will' 'must' as deduction and obligation 'must', 'need' and 'used to' in reported speech 'first and second conditionals; 'should' instead of 'if' 'using 'as long as' 'will', 'shall', 'would' and 'should' 'could have', 'would have' and 'should have' 'if I was' and 'if I were' 'hope' and 'wish' 'must', 'have to', 'have got to' 'would' in conversation general and future condition and 'have got to' should , would and could What if / suppose / supposing when and if & in case and if | | | | | CONJUNCTIONS AND CLAUSES | though, even though and even so Omitting that Using 'What...like?' and 'How...?' Affirmative word order in questions Which or that 'Since' as preposition, conjunction and adverb as / while / as long as 'preposition + relative pronoun' 'unless' and 'otherwise' 'whenever', 'wherever and etc' 'though' and 'although'; 'despite' and 'in spite of' 'while' and 'whereas' 'because', 'as', 'since' and 'for' 'yet' and 'but', 'so' and 'hence' 'as well as' and 'as long as' 'as' and 'like' inversion after negative expressions participial or relative clause 'even if', 'even though' 'yet': adverb or conjunction though / as though / like 'by' and 'from' 'in order to' and 'so that' 'wh'-questions cleft sentences as... as but as conjunction and preposition 'for' and 'during' when or if? if or whether? being what or that? and noun-verb collocations What if / suppose / supposing subordinating and coordinating conjunctions when/while/meanwhile when and if & in case and if Linking adverbs alternatives to 'if' participle clauses | | | | | PREPOSITIONS AND PHRASES | 'at', 'on' and 'in' 'good at' or 'good in'? 'beside'/'besides' and 'toward'/'towards' 'since' and 'for' 'despite' and 'in spite of' 'with regard to' and 'regarding' 'due to', 'owing to', 'on account of' and 'because of' 'as' and 'like' 'busy with' or 'busy about' prepositional and phrasal verbs 'on', 'in', or 'at' midnight? time expressions with 'next', 'last' and 'on' though / as though / like 'like' as verb and preposition as... as but as conjunction and preposition 'for' and 'during' prepositions in time expressions concern/concerned/concerning on / off in front of / before/ across prepositions for common nouns without articles time and place phrases with at, in and on during, for, by, until with time phrases with at, in and on for/to | | | | | LEARNING AND EXAM SKILLS | choosing a dictionary extending your vocabulary improving your skills by reading vocabulary and reading skills classroom activity: activating vocabulary how can listening skills be improved? learning styles and preferences how can I improve my accent? how will I pass my English exam? CAE, CPE and FCE exams IELTS English tests the IELTS writing test answering long essay questions business letters job applications and 'cover' future forms: comparatives and superlatives; interlinked learning activities however/nevertheless/moreover spelling errors and typos netiquette reading comprehension preparing for a speaking test at an advanced level problems and troubles | | |
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