¿Estas preparando un examen? No puedes encontrar la respuesta a tu duda? Tu novio es escocés, y no sabes que decir a su madre? . Preguntame lo que quieres saber….
It’s not very important – generally people say that they are ‘on holiday’ and ‘holidays’ are used for the period of holidays: ‘When are your holidays?’ (Even when you aren’t going anywhere)
Just one note: In the US the word is ‘vacations’. ‘Holidays’ refers to the Christmas period between Thanksgiving and New Year.
It is very difficult for anyone to say ‘Thus is correct’ or not. On whose authority? There is no Royal Academy of English, as there is in Spain, for example.
This is part of a never-ending debate. When you hear something which goes against established rules (Think of ‘I’m loving it!’ – McDonalds – love has always ben a verb which should not be used with present continuous) is it a natural evolution of a language or simply incorrect?
What you have told me was probably taught 60-80 years ago as ‘correct’ English, but has no connection with how the language is used nowadays. To tell you the truth, it’s the first time I’ve heard it.
(..and Shakespeare : “To be or not to be…”?)
Keep those messages coming!
This has an easy answer:
Burnt, Learnt, Dreamt are all past participles used in UK English.
Burned, Learned and Dreamed are all past participles used in US English. They are also the Past Simple forms (UK and US)
You have to give me an example here. The problem with a lot of explanations (mine, for example) is that they are guides, but don’t work 100%. They give you an idea, but no more…
Yes, you’re right – although in the future it would have to be a future perfect:
‘In two years’ time I will have already retired’ for example. I think this is similar to Spanish.
It’s difficult to explain because it depends on the context, but I think it translates well:
‘I already knew that’
‘I had already met him’
‘I’m beginning to understand already’, etc…
Actually, I’ve been meaning (=have the intention) to do a mini-class on this for some time, because it’s a classic problem.
We all know that ‘work’ is a verb. The problem is between ‘work’ and ‘job’ as nouns. These are differences:
- Grammatically, ‘work’ is uncountable and ‘job’ is countable, so : ‘I’m looking for a job’ but ‘I’m looking for (some) work.’
- ‘Job’ is what you are, it’s the name of your profession: He’s a fireman, that’s his job.
- ‘Work’ is what you do (paid or not). Sometimes you have a lot of work, sometimes you have nothing to do at all, but you still have the same job with the same salary. A fireman’s work is to put out fires and rescue cats in trees.
- Just to confuse things, ‘jobs’ are also ‘trabajitos’ that you have to do on Saturday – paint the bedroom, cut the grass, etc. but don’t let that distract you from the main idea.
Good question. It’s very common to study ‘still’, ‘yet’ and ‘already’ as part of the Present Perfect, and it often gives the impression that it is only used in this tense, when in fact this only applies to ‘yet’. (The same thing happens with ‘for’ and ‘since’- since has to be used with present perfect when its meaning is ‘desde’, but not ‘for’.)
I have to say that it’s never a good idea to look for a direct translation with words like ‘ya’ or ‘por’ which can be used in different contexts. I remember my confusion with ‘ya’ when I was first in Spain. I think you have to separate ‘ya’ in at least 3 different meanings:
‘Ya lo he hecho’ : I’ve already done it
‘Ya habeis acabado?’ : Have you finished yet?
‘Hazlo ya!: Do it right now / straight away!
Does that help?
The expression is ‘He has something on his mind’, or ‘He has something in mind’ (not: in HIS mind)
To have something on my mind means that I’m worried about something, or I’m preoccupied (I can’t stop thinking about something )
To have something IN mind (not in MY mind) means that I have a project or an idea.
I’m not sure what your question is, or where you have the doubt, but I’ll explain briefly….
They are all correct, but:
- It’s not so common to hear ‘I know it’. People generally say ‘I know’ or ‘I know that’. In the past tense it is much more common (‘I knew it!’)
- ‘Did you buy some milk? I sent you a message.’ ‘Oh no! I forgot!’ or ‘I forgot (all) about it’
- ‘I forgot it’ is not so common if you’re talking about a physical object. You wouldn’t say, for example, ‘I forgot it (the mobile) at home’. You would say ‘I left it at home.’
- On the other hand you could say ‘I forgot (about) our anniversary’
I hope that helps!
Not a lot…
‘On top of’ is the most common thing to say (or quite simply ‘on’)
‘On the top of’ or ‘on the very top of’ is just a way of emphasising:
“The suitcase is on top of / on the top of the wardrobe”
Remember if it isn’t physical, use ‘at the top of..’
“Arsenal are at the top of the league”
..and ‘at the top of…’ is not exactly the same as ‘on’. An attic is at the top of the house (= the top part), not on (the) top of the house (= on)
Good question, and difficult to explain…
There is a difference, but it’s a difference of tone, more than meaning. ‘Had better’ is more urgent. Look at these examples:
A FRIEND: You should eat more vegetables and do more exercise – you’ll feel better.
THE DOCTOR: You’d better stop smoking now, or you won’t live long!
HAD BETTER often implies a threat or danger:
“You’d better tell me what he said, or I’ll tell them our secret….”
‘Ought to’ is the same as ‘Should’, although it is only used in its affirmative form, as a general rule.
OK… I have the sensation that you are asking me about US English, and I am British, so I’ll tell you about the UK side, and what I think happens in the US.
A faculty in the UK means a department of studies at university. For example, the Faculty of Social Science or the Faculty of Medicine. I think this is the same in the USA.
A college in the USA is another word for university. In the UK it’s a centre of education which is alternative to a university- if you want to study hairdressing or plumbing, for example.
People usually refer to years at secondary school as ‘forms’. So compulsory secondary education is from the first to the fifth forms (11 – 16 years old), and then the ‘lower sixth’ and ‘upper sixth’ forms are for ‘A-levels’ (for University admission).
This is the UK. I’ll ask on Facebook to see if anybody knows about the US.
(grateful)
OK. Let’s first talk about ‘on the weekend’. I was going to tell you ‘That’s wrong’ and then I remembered that Americans say ‘on the weekend’, although that doesn’t mean it’s correct 😉 .
The correct form (or UK form – it’s the same thing 🙂 ) is ‘at the weekend’. No plural form, always singular.
‘During the weekend’ is basically the same thing, but isn’t used as frequently. It is also very commob to hear ‘this weekend’ ‘last weekend’ and ‘next weekend’ depending on the sentence.
‘Over the weekend’ is a way of saying ‘during the whole weekend’ instead of ‘at some point during the weekend’. Look at the example:
I’ll see you at the weekend = At some point during the weekend
Why don’t you stay over the weekend = Stay for the whole weekend
Imagine somebody asks you: ‘How long does it take for light to travel from the sun to the earth?’
If you say: ‘I’d say between 8 – 8 and a half minutes.’ that’s quite ACCURATE.
If you say: ‘Exactly 8 minutes 20 seconds’, that’s EXACT (according to Google. I am not responsible for any scientific statements on this webpage 🙂 )
There are degrees of accuracy, but something is either exact or not.
– Look like = be similar PHYSICALLY
You look like your dad – you are tall and strong, the same as him.
– Be like = be similar IN PERSONALITY
You’re like your dad. He never relaxes, and look at you! Today is Sunday, and you’re working!
– Look + Adjective = Seem to be (for people looking at you)
‘Hi Sarah- You look tired!’ ‘I know. I had to finish a project. I only slept for 3 hours!’
‘Did you see James with his new girlfriend – They looked really happy.’
This only works when you see people. For exanple, if you are on the phobe you would say ‘You sound tired’.
La pregunta seria:
‘¿Con que frecuencia te llama tu mejor amiga?’
Recuerda que la pregunta es Presente Simple (porque esta hablando de algo EN GENERAL) y por lo tanto tienes que que usar el auxiliar ‘DO’, pero que también ‘tu mejor amiga’ (ella) es tercera persona y debe llevar ‘-S’. Finalmente el orden es: Pregunta (Con que Frecuencia) / Auxiliar (Adaptas ‘DO’) / Persona (Tu mejor amiga) / Verbos (Llamar) / Resto de la frase. Entonces:
How often does your best friend call you? (‘phone you’ o ‘ring you’ tambien es posible)