The main mistake English learners make when using the present continuous

The main problem that students have with the present tenses is that they use the present simple too much, but some learners do the opposite. Basically, the present simple tense is used to talk about long-term situations, or situations that are always true.  The present continuous tense is used to talk about temporary situations. For…

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For all the bosses out there – How to give very polite instructions in English

Politeness in English is something that many learners have problems with.  When giving in instructions to new members of staff, or people you don’t know very well, it can be very important to know how to ask politely   Luckily, this can be reduced to a few small phrases in English.  Here is a list of…

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2 Mistakes English Learners always make with ‘will’

One of the main mistakes English learners make with will is that they use it too often.  To find out more about how future tenses work, check out my diagram! Here are 2 main mistakes learners make with will and why you should avoid them! Mistake #1. Using will to talk about your future plans…

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Sound Professional in your Next Meeting with these Passive Phrases!

Many of my students have problems with using the passive, and grammar books often make this feel more complicated whenever they use long grammatical terms to describe these phrases. I have put together the most common situations when you can use passive sentences in meetings, and I promise there will be no complicated grammar terms!…

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My ultimate guide to giving advice, all the possible phrases you need

Modal verbs are very difficult to get right. The best way to learn modal verbs is to look at which modal verbs need to be used for which topic.  This week we will look at giving advice.  Giving advice is actually quite simple in English, it is possible to simply use should for everything.  However, as this is advanced English…

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The top 5 phrases with modal verbs you never knew existed

Modal verbs like could, should, might, may, must can be a real nightmare, and to many it can be very confusing to decide which one you need to use.  Here are some phrases you can learn straight from this article.  Below are the top 5 idiomatic phrases used with modal verbs that you may not…

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The Dark Side of Conditionals: How to offer to do something when you don’t really want to do it…

Sometimes in conversation with a friend or a customer/client it is clear that someone wants you to help them with something, and it is usually then polite to offer to help them with it.  However, sometimes this  maybe something which would take too much time or it would be too difficult, and no-one wants to…

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One use of ‘should’ that you never knew about… This can make you sound very professional!

As you may know, we can use should for giving, or asking advice: ‘You should see a doctor’ / ‘Should I see a doctor?’ We can also use it to talk about the possibility of something happening, when there is a good chance something will happen: ‘It should be sunny later so we can have a…

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My 6 favourite business English phrases from football..

Football is the national sport in England.  You may be quite surprised how many phrases we take from football which can be used in business.  Here are my top 6 favourite ones. Enjoy! To be on the ball I’m going to start with my favourite phrase here. It means to be quick to understand and…

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One thing you should NEVER forget if you want to sound entertaining in English

A lot of students don’t like using the past perfect tense, because it is complicated and they don’t know when to use it. However, if you want to make your story sound more interesting, it is definitely something you should use. Usually when we tell a story, we talk about events in the order that…

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