Determiners are small, important words that come before a noun (or at the start of a noun phrase) to give extra information about that noun. They tell us things like:

Primary pronouns are small words that help us avoid repeating nouns or longer noun phrases (don’t worry we will talk about phrases soon in a coming post). Primary pronouns help us to avoid repeating words so our sentences don't sound repetitive or awkward. Also, the simple idea that a pronoun takes the place of a noun is partly true, but pronouns can do more than that – they can replace whole phrases, parts of phrases, or even stand alone.

Adverbs are one of the main parts of speech in English (along with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Remember N.V.A.A from our previous post?).

Adverbs are like ‘extra helpers’ in a sentence — they add more detail, but sentences can usually survive without them.

Adjectives form an important open class in English (distinct from nouns and verbs), though less central to sentence structure. They are traditionally called ‘describing words’, but this definition is imprecise since other word classes can also describe.

What do verbs do?

People sometimes call verbs ‘doing words’, but that's only partly true.

Verbs can describe two main things:

-       Actions / physical processes (called dynamic verbs)

-       States / feelings / situations (called stative verbs)

What is a noun?

A noun is basically a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, animal, or idea.

Many people learn it as ‘a naming word’ – and that's a good simple start! The word ‘noun’ even comes from a Latin word that means ‘name’.

Fun tip: ‘nombre’ means ‘noun’ in Spanish, but it also means ‘name’.

How many words in the English language?

That seems like it should be a relatively easy question to answer – just check a big dictionary, or ask chat GPT, right? Well, The Oxford English Dictionary (a super famous and detailed one, available online) has over 600,000 entries. That includes lots of old words that aren't used anymore. But even that huge number isn't the full story, and we can never get an exact count of every word in English today.

Lexemes. What is a Lexeme?

When you think about what language is made of, most people (including you and me when we're not thinking too hard) say: "Words!".

Let’s take a look at what words are.

Come and find what’s going on with the verbs to have, to be and to do.

In this post, using the regular tense of the verb, I'm going to show you how to form the past simple and how to form the past continuous and when to use them. I will show you the difference between the two.

The present perfect focuses on the result of a completed action, for example (I have finished eating).

The present perfect continuous emphasises the duration or ongoing nature of an action, for example (I have been writing all day).

Let’s take a closer look at the main differences in this lesson.

The present continuous tense (am/is/are + verb-ing)

Is used to describe actions in progress at the moment of speaking (e.g., "I am typing"), temporary situations ("She is studying in London"), planned future arrangements ("We are meeting at 5"), or trends/changing situations ("It is getting colder")

The present simple

Is used to describe habits, routines, general truths, or unchanging situations. It is also employed for scheduled events in the near future e.g., (the train leaves at 5pm) and to give introductions. It commonly uses the root form of the verb, adding ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ for third-person singular subjects (he, she. it).

Learn about the differences between the present simple and the present continuous. It’s easier than you think!

Clearing up common grammar mistakes.