Vocabulary & Idioms

Get 9 achievement verbs to talk about your successes in English.

Most people try to avoid phrasal verbs. They can be difficult to learn or understand, and there are so many of them! But phrasal verbs really improve your English, and when you use them, you’ll automatically sound more natural and more advanced. Here are three reasons why they’re so important for you to understand and… Read More

You can use the word actually in many ways in English, but you can’t use it to mean “now”. The word actually doesn’t mean “currently” or “at present”. Instead, it’s used when we give information. Here are the five uses of actually, along with synonyms. How to use ‘actually’ 1. To talk about things which… Read More

There are some types of food that we traditionally eat at Christmas in the UK. For example, roast turkey, chestnut stuffing, Christmas pudding, and so on. We also have a tradition of pulling a “cracker” after the meal (a paper tube that two people pull, so that one end breaks) to find a small present… Read More

The way we pronounce English words is often different from how words are spelt. A good example is the -ough ending, pronounced differently in the words “though”, “thought” and “tough”. But there are also some common word patterns in English. When you know these patterns, you can expand your vocabulary and also improve your spelling… Read More

There are many ways to speak English. You can speak “professional” English and use words and phrases which are suitable for work. You can also speak “cute” English, and use words and phrases which show affection and familiarity. When we want to be cute in English, we often use “diminutives”: a form of the word… Read More

There are many situations when you can use “fast” in English. Which of these collocations and expressions with “fast” do you use? Learning tip: Try to use some new collocations with “fast” in your own sentences so that you can remember them more easily. Common Collocations With ‘Fast’ Here are some typical collocations with fast:… Read More

Here are more than thirty common English idioms with numbers. You’ll hear these idioms in conversations, and also see them in newspapers, blog posts and advertising. Make a note of any idioms that you have never seen before (or for which there isn’t a translation in your language). English idioms – One be one step… Read More

We use many different “collective nouns” to talk about groups of animals, birds or insects. Here’s a list of ten common collective nouns. You can often use these with more than one animal, but often the animals share certain characteristics. Collective Nouns – Animals, Birds & Insects herdUse this with many animals that eat grass.A… Read More

One of the best ways to become more fluent in English is to learn “collocations”. Collocations are words which naturally go together, such as “pass an exam”, or “sports car”. When you know a collocation, you can speak more fluently, because you remember words in phrases. There are different types of collocations. For example: adjective… Read More