There are many idioms based on parts of body. Below you can find the most common ones:   HEAD To fall head over heels in love - To start to love someone passionately To bite someone's head off - To speak to someone angrily To keep your head above the water - To have just enough money to live on To bang your head against a brick wall - To keep trying to achieve or communicate something, but with no success   EYE To keep an eye on - To look after something or someone To catch someone's eye - to be noticed by someone To see eye to eye - To have the same opinion To cast your eye over something - To have a quick look at something   EAR To turn a deaf ear - To pretend not to hear To

Certain adverbs and adverbial phrases can be put at the beginning of a sentence or clause with an inversion of the following verb, for emphasis. The position of the subject and verb is the same as in question forms. These structures are often in formal and literary contexts.  STRUCTURES: 1) Adverbial + auxiliary + subject + (other auxiliaries) + main verb e.g. Hardly had I started writing when she interrupted me.  e.g. Never have I been introduced to so many people in a single night.  2) Adverbial + do / did + subject + main verb (with present / past) e.g. Never did he consider he might be discovered.  3) Adverbial + to be + subject (with the verb to be) e.g. Rarely was she at home. COMMON

Yes, yes... Jam is a sweet soft food made by cooking fruit with sugar to preserve it and it is eaten on bread or cakes.  But, in English there are several expressions using this word not connected with food:   1. BLOCKED ROAD e.g. We were stuck in a (traffic) jam for two hours or The motorway was jammed solid all morning.    2. DIFFICULT SITUATION (informal) e.g. I'm in a bit of a jam - could you lend me some money till next week? or How are we going to get ourselves out of this jam?    3. NO SPACE e.g. It's a real jam inside - it took me ten minutes to get to the bar.   4. JAM TOMORROW (something good that is promised but never happens) e.g. As children we were always being

Hello students, Let's clear up the difference between TRAVEL, TRIP and JOURNEY and start using it correctly when speaking about your plans for holidays. Below you can find short explanation and some exercises to practise. As always, feel free to write me if you have any further doubts.    TRIP It is a noun and we use it for short holidays. e.g. I took a three-day trip to Seville or I go on a trip next weekend.  We use the verbs “take” and “go on” with trip.   TRAVEL  It is a verb or a general noun to describe the act of travelling. We do not use it for personal experiences.  e.g.I really like to travel or World travel gives you a new perspective    JOURNEY It

Hello guys,  Below you can find useful expressions of Relationships. I recommend you to practise them by writing your own sentences (you can send me your phrases by a private message).      To get on like a house on fire - If two people get on like a house on fire, they like each other very much and become friends very quickly: I was worried that they wouldn't like each other but in fact they're getting on like a house on fire.   To get on someone's nerves - to annoy someone a lot: Stop singing. You’re getting on my nerves.   To put a strain on - to burden or overload someone or something.: The epidemic put a strain on the resources

For those who would like to practise English online, there are several useful websites for adults with various interactive activities. Below you can find my top 3: 1. BBC Learning English - http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/ The website is designed for intermediate and advanced students and focus on topics like English at University, English at Work, News Report, 6 Minute English, Pronounciation, Drama, Words in the News and The English We Speak. Overall, this is a great resource for practicing listening skills.    2. British Council Learn English - http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ The British Council has three separate sections on their website for

Hello English students, Do you know when we should use gerunds and infinitives? Well, let's have a look at some main rules:   We use the gerund (verb+ing):   - after certain verbs and expressions, especially those expressing liking or disliking e.g. I don't mind getting up early in the morning.  Common examples of verbs: like, love, enjoy, adore, fancy, feel, don't mind, detest, hate, loathe, can't stand, dislike, finish, avoid, give up, keep, miss, suggest, consider, imagine Common examples of expressions: it's not worth, it's / there's no use, there's no point (in)   - after all prepositions expect to e.g On hearing the news, she burst into tears. EXCEPTIONS: to look forward

Hello students, Today, you can practise the difference between another, other and others. The rule is very simple: another + singular countable noun / pronounother + plural countable or uncountable noun / pronounothers = a pronoun to replace other + plural noun (it is not followed by a noun!)  Let's have a look at simple examples: I need another book. (book is singular so we use another) I need other books. (books is plural so we use other) I need others. (refers to other books)   Let's review what are countable and uncountable nouns.  Countable nouns are those that refer to something that can be counted. They

Hello everyone, I have noticed that many students have problems with the use of adverbs of degree, that is why you can find below the short explanation and some useful exercises to practise:   There are two groups of adjectives such as gradable and ungradable ones. What does it mean?  Ungradable adjectives already contains the meaning of "very", for example the word enormous means very, very big and to emphasize it we can use such adverbs as: absolutely, completely, totally or really (possible for both). Gradable adjectives show that something can have different degrees and we can use them with the averbs a bit, very, extremely and really (possible for both).  There is one

LIKE   = similar to / the same as The house it’s like a palace.   Like in this sentence is a preposition that is why it can be followed by: a noun, a pronoun, a gerund or a clause.   = for example (such as) I enjoy sports like scuba diving and water skiing.   We commonly use like in the following expressions: look like, sound like, feel like etc. The structure has the same meaning as: as if or as though (however, these two forms are more formal).   It looks like it’s going to rain. It looks as if it’s going to rain. It looked as though it was going to rain.   AS   = in the same way / in the same condition as I left everything as it was. (like it was)   After

Why do we say Americans, but we say Portuguese, not Portugueses? It is mostly phonetic and it depends on the final sound of the word.    Words ending in: -an, -ian, -er, -i require "s" in the plural:  The Russians, The Koreans, The Americans, The Italians, The New Zealanders.   Words ending in: -ese, -ish, -iss, -ch do not change in the plural: The Japanese, The Chinese, The British, The Swiss, The French, The Portuguese.   If you are talking about a specific group, the article the must be used. Most of the Russians in this class are female. Most of the Japanese in the restaurant are from Kyoto.   If you are

The pronunciation of words ending in 'ED' depends on the final consonant sound. There are three ways to pronounce 'ED' at the end of a word in English: /id/          /t/         /d/ If the word ends on T or D, we pronounce the 'ED' ending as /id/.  For example: WANTED, NEEDED.  If the word ends on voiced sound, which uses the vocal cords and produces a vibration or humming sound in the throat (touch your throat to feel it), we pronounce the 'ED' ending as /d/. If you cannot recognise the voiced sound from vibration in the throat, you can simply remember that they are the following letters which produce this sound such as: L, N, R, G, V, S, Z, B, M and all the words

I have noticed that many of my students wrongly use the term 'English people' in reference to the British nationality. It is not only incorrect but can cause offence to people from other parts of the UK. This is the reason why I have decided to share with you what it is the difference between England, Britain and the United Kingdom.  The name United Kingdom refers to the union of what were once four separate countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (though most of Ireland is now independent and only its north part belongs to the UK).      As you can see on the picture above, the United Kingdom is made up of: - England (the capital is London) - Scotland (the