Grammar

Words like "make", "force" and "let" are called "causatives". They show that a person does not choose to do an action themselves. They are asked to do it by another person who has some kind of power.

Auxiliary verbs

Causative verbs

Infinitives

Simple past or present perfect?

Confused about the simple past and present perfect? Don't be! This article reviews the simple past and present perfect and then explains ONE really easy way to choose when to use the simple past.

Simple past vs present perfect

Common Mistakes

Grammar

Ellipsis: a very important difference between Japanese and English

Ellipsis is when you cut words from a sentence. In Japanese, you can do this much more than you can in English.

Differences between English and Japanese

Ellipsis

First language interference

Common Mistakes

Japanese

Speaking Japanese in English words

Pro-drop language

Pronouns

Grammar

ONE and ONES to replace countable nouns

When we are talking about countable things, we can use ONE or ONES if it is clear what we are talking about.

Verbs with different meanings when they are states and actions

Some verbs can talk about a state or describe an action, but the meaning changes.

Talking about one thing: A/AN or ONE

Usually you can use A/AN or ONE if you are talking about one thing, but in some cases we prefer ONE.

9 things about prepositions you need to know

Most people learning English don't understand prepositions and find them very difficult. Prepositions are much easier if you remember these 9 simple things.

Prepositions

Grammar