Confusing words and expressions

choose a topicIdiomatic pairsTeacher, trainer, instructor, lecturer etc.Discourse markersBritish measures: feet, inches, etc.kinds / types / sorts / varieties (of music)See and WatchEveryday idiomsNumbers'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'?'effect' or 'affect'? '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 farewellsbeginning/ending letters '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,mindhealth and illness idioms'skin' and 'bones' idioms'-ed' and '-ing' adjectivesconfusing 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/donesuppose / supposed tohorrible / horrificentertainment idiomsmelt, thaw and antonymssynonyms for 'I (don't) understandslang, idiomatic expressions and euphemisms'switch' and 'change'job applications and 'cover'job title suffixesneck and nose idiomsmiss, missing, missedinjure/wound/hurt/harm/damage as verbs/adjectives/nounscountable or uncountable?parts of the body'Meetings'/etc...remind-remember/recall/recollect'travel/trips/journeys/etc'Idioms based on food and drinkKinship Idiomsensure, assure, insureemotions idioms - anger'dress, wear, put on' relations and relationshipsrise, arise and raiseTold or asked?last/take'take' - expressionslook forward to / agree to / object toexpressing views and opinions'calling' and 'kidding''hold or keep'

Prefixes, suffixes, spelling and pronunciation

choose a topicpunctuation: colons and semi-colons, dashes and bracketsprefixes: un-, in-, im-, il-,dis-, ir-suffixes: -ive, -ous, -ful, -ic,-able, -al, -y, -iblesuffixes: -less, -freepossessive apostrophes apostrophe 's with plural nouns 'its' and 'it's'hyphenated nouns; adjectives and prefixeshyphenated adjectives; '-ise' and '-ize'using commas, semi-colons and colonsspelling quiz: 'aging' or 'ageing'?'-ise' or '-ize'?spelling and pronunciationnegative auxilliary verbs: contracted forms; pronunciationparts of the bodya/an and the: pronunciationspelling and pronunciation / silent letterstag questionspunctuation and pausing

Determiners, nouns and pronouns

choose a topicpossessives or compound nouns?this/that - these/those - here/theredifferent uses of 'any''the', 'a' and 'an'indefinite and zero articlesusing articles with geographical namesarticles, possessives and demonstrativespossessive apostrophes 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'?partitive structuresusing 'the' correctlyreflexive pronouns'each' and 'every''either'/'neither'/'too''any' and 'no'subject/verb agreement'amount', 'quantity', 'number'it/this/thatit to identify peoplecompound nouns plural nouns'what or which'job title suffixes'there' and 'is' as preparatory subjects'the' or zero article?a/an and the: pronunciationtoo much/many, fewer/less, little, as much asnouns+prepositionswhat or that? and noun-verb collocationsnoun + to- infinitive clausenoun suffixespossessive 's or of + noun?'They' with singular reference'that' and 'then' the definite article: context-specific and with abstract nounsuncountable nounsfewer or lessyou and me / you and Ievery/allcountable and uncountable nouns with different meanings'The' with place names: rules and exceptions

Adjectives and adverbs

choose a topicParticiples as adjectivesenough / sufficient / adequateAdverb 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' 'adjectives and adverbs' just or only'formation and use of adjectives' just or onlyadjectives: appropriate/suitable and adequate/sufficient/enough'hardly', 'hardly ever', hardly any''even if', 'even though''ed' and '-ing' as adjectivestime expressions with 'next', 'last' and 'on'adjectives: position'yet': adverb or conjunctionthough / as though / likecomparative and superlative formsemphasizing adverbsas....asexpressing possibility: maybe, perhaps, may and mightplural nounshardly/scarcely, neither/nor, so/tooquiteconcern/concerned/concerningon / offfuture forms: comparatives and superlativesbeingposition of adverbstoo much/many, fewer/less, little, as much ashowever/nevertheless/moreoverirregular adjectives and adverbs-ed adjectivescompouind adjectivestime expressions, adjectives and adverbs-ed and -ing adjectivesactually/in fact/wellyet/still/alreadyespecially/specially & continuously/continuallyadjectives with -er/-est, more/most, less/least in comparative/superlativeso, such and so on'worth/worthwhile'likely toadverbialsinversion

Verbs and tenses

choose a topicshort answers and question tagsdoubling final consonantswe are to / we are not tohave / have gotpresent perfect with 'for' and 'since'forming questions with do/does and is/aresee / feel / like & love in progressive formChoosing the right tense in indirect speechPhrasal verbs: five different structuresdo 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 continuouswill/shall/would/should 'been' or 'gone'?inverted word order in questions and statementsreported/indirect speech'must', 'need' and 'used to' in reported speechthe passiveprepositional 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 verbsbe able + infinitivebe to + infinitivethe subjunctiveparticipial or relative clauseverb + two objectshave+object+infinitive/-ingquestion tags+imperativethe passivestative verbsamerican/british verbssubject/verb agreement'would' in conversation'get, plus pastverbs + adverbial particles'let' or 'leave''like' as verb and prepositionreporting questions, suggestions, advice and instructionsexpressing possibility: perhaps, maybe, may and might'gonna', 'wanna', 'gotta' and 'dunno'present perfect change of time/tense in reported speechconcern/concerned/concerningnegative auxilliary verbs; contracted forms: pronunciationpast tensesfuture forms: comparatives and superlativescould, was able to and managed tobeingsuggest, recommend, insist, demandsubject-verb inversion in questionspast simple and past perfectThe futureHear, see, make, let, allow + object + verb formpresent perfect with just, already, ever and yetwhat or that? and noun-verb collocationsBare infinitiveVerbs and tensespast simple and present perfectintransitive and transitive verbshave to do and to have donereporting the futureget (for transport) + preposition or adverb particleget + preposition or adverb particleever and in time expressionstime expressions and tensesdare and need - auxiliary verbs'be to'for + verb-ing''used to' or 'would'expressing wishes in the past, present and future

Modals and conditionals

choose a topic'Needn't have' and 'didn't need to''if-clauses' and containing 'will', 'will''can' and 'would', 'will' and 'would'''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 conversationgeneral and future condition and 'have got to'should , would and couldWhat if / suppose / supposingwhen and if & in case and if

Conjunctions and clauses

choose a topicWhich or that?'Since' as preposition, conjunction and adverbas / 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 expressionsparticipial or relative clause'even if', 'even though''yet': adverb or conjunctionthough / as though / like'by' and 'from''in order to' and 'so that''wh'-questionscleft sentencesas... asbut as conjunction and preposition'for' and 'during'when or if? if or whether?beingwhat or that? and noun-verb collocationsWhat if / suppose / supposingsubordinating and coordinating conjunctionswhen/while/meanwhilewhen and if & in case and ifLinking adverbsalternatives to 'if'participle clauses

Prepositions and phrases

choose a topic'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 prepositionas... asbut as conjunction and preposition'for' and 'during'prepositions in time expressionsconcern/concerned/concerningon / offin front of / before/ acrossprepositions for common nouns without articlestime and place phrases with at, in and onduring, for, by, until with time phrases with at, in and onfor / to

Learning and exam skills

choose a topicchoosing a dictionaryextending your vocabularyimproving your skills by readingvocabulary and reading skills classroom activity: activating vocabularyhow can listening skills be improved?learning styles and preferenceshow can I improve my accent?how will I pass my English exam? CAE, CPE and FCE examsIELTS English teststhe IELTS writing testanswering long essay questionsbusiness lettersjob applications and 'cover'future forms: comparatives and superlatives; interlinked learning activitieshowever/nevertheless/moreoverspelling errors and typosnetiqettereading comprehensionpreparing for a speaking test at an advanced levelproblems and troubles