This is a typical example of something that has always confused English students, exemplified by the classic, “Yes, I made my homework.” How many times have you heard or said this? Is there a rule students may apply to use each correctly?

Unfortunately, in this case there are more exceptions than rules, however, there are a couple of general guidelines to follow.

If we talk about jobs, work, or tasks, we use do:

My husband does the laundry, the shopping, the housework, and he does a great job!

So, we also do: the cooking, the cleaning, the ironing (any task in –ing), as well as the dishes and the windows.

I’m sorry, ma’am. I can do the housework, but I don’t do windows.

And we use do with job: You did a fantastic job in your presentation.

There are some common expressions with do:
Do your best, do exercise, do business, do someone a favor, do homework, do a sport, do work, do good, do harm, do well

Finally, we use Do for general ideas when we don’t exactly name an activity. This form is often used with the words something, nothing, anything, everything, etc.
Ann: “What are you doing tonight?”
Tom: “I’m not doing anything special.”

On the other hand, if we talk about creating, building something we use make:

My little girl made something for me for Mother’s Day.

So, we use make:
- for any food: make spaghetti, make a cake
- for something you build or create with your own hands: make a chair, make a toy

But also:
- for feelings that are aroused in you or you arouse in someone; a reaction that is caused: The film made me sad.
I make him happy and I can make him laugh.
The English course in Denver made me feel more confident.

Of course, there are many expressions with make, as well:
Make an appointment, make the bed, make an effort, make a photocopy, make progress, make a promise, make a noise (or just “noise”), make a decision, make an excuse, make friends, make fun of someone, make a fuss, make a mess, make a phone call, make a plan, make a suggestion, make a mistake, make money, make an exception, make arrangements

So, do yourself a big favor. Do something to improve your English today. Sign up for an English course in Denver at LCI! You won’t be making a mistake. You’ll make great progress and make great friends while you’re at it.

Here we give you a helpful guide to understand 10 types of words that exist in English:

1. Acronym

Is an abbreviation pronounced as a word.  

It consists of the initial letters of a multiword name or expression and can have only uppercase letters¾NASA¾, the initial-cap style for longer acronyms¾Nasdaq¾, or only lowercase letters¾radar¾; the latter are also known as anacronyms.

1. Anepronym

Is a trademarked brand name that is used generically, like aspirin or Kleenex.

1. Antonym

Is a word distinguished from another by an opposite meaning, like large as compared to small.

There are also types of words called autoantonyms, contranyms, or contronyms that are single words with contrasting meanings, like oversight, which can mean either “responsibility for” or “failure to be responsible for”.

1. Eponym

Is a proper or common name that derives from another name, like San Francisco¾in honor of St. Francis¾or many scientific terms such as watt¾named after James Watt¾and volt¾named after Allesandro Volta¾.

1. Heteronym

Is a word that is spelled the same for different meanings, like wear¾to clothe oneself¾and to wear¾to atrophy¾.

An heteronym can be pronounced differently depending on its meaning, such as bass, the musical instrument, and bass, the fish.  This type of word is also called an heterophone.

1. Homonym

Is a word pronounced or spelled the same but different in meaning, like hi and high¾also called homophones¾.

The word bass, named above, is both an heteronym and an homonym.

1. Metonym

Is a term that identifies something by its association, for example: articles about Microsoft often referred to the company metonymically as Redmond¾the city in Washington State where its headquarters are located¾just as Washington stands for the U.S. government.

1. Pseudonym

Is a name adopted by an author, like Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.

In a literary context, this is known as a nom de plume¾“name of the pen”¾.

Other pseudonyms are stage names¾performing arts¾, ring names¾professional wrestling¾, and handles¾computer hacking, or CB or ham radio operation¾.

1. Synonym

Is a word with the same meaning as another, like small/little and sick/ill.

1. Toponym

Is a place name or name derived from a place, whether it retains capitalization or is lowercased in generic usage, like burgundy and Chevy Tahoe.

There are many other ‘-nym’ word categories that you should ask about during your ESL classes, we have listed 10 very important ones here, but this is only the beginning!

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These words are called “mass nouns”, this is, nouns that don’t have a plural form in English and can’t be used in plural or with plural verbs. Mass nouns are singular in form.

Mass nouns cannot be counted; thus, they are also called uncountable nouns or non-count nouns, which are common nouns that cannot be modified by a numeral without specifying a unit of measurement and can’t combine with an indefinite article-a or an-.

For example, the words “moose”, “sheep” and “shrimp” do not have a plural form, but they can be used in singular or plural form as they are:

- The moose is/are migrating.
- The sheep is/are ready to be fed.
- The shrimp is/are very well cooked.

Thus, these three are not mass nouns.

Here is a list of words that are “mass nouns”; share it with your ESL class and start a very interesting game to discover more of these words:

Furniture
Information
Knowledge
Jewelry
Homework
Marketing
Livestock
Education
Courage
Bravery
Luck
Cowardice
Greed
Clarity
Honesty
Evidence
Insurance
Butter
Love
News
Curiosity
Satisfaction
Work
Mud
Weather
Racism
Sexism
Patriotism
Chaos
Scenery
Help
Advice
Water
Fun
Wisdom
Silence
Sugar
Coal
Spelling
Money

Try to use these words in the plural form and you will discover it is not possible.

There are many other words that belong to this list… remember in essence, mass nouns DO NOT have a plural form.

Ask your ESL teacher to explain “mass nouns” in detail and you will find an interesting learning challenge!

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Feel free to share these with your ESL class and have some fun practicing them! 

• e.g.

This abbreviation means exempli gratia or ‘for example’ and it should always be used with the periods and followed by a comma to signal sample examples¾e.g.,¾. 

Example: “I like many of the ladies on the Food Network (e.g., Rachael Ray, Giada DeLaurentiis, etc.)” 

• etc.

It means et cetera or ‘and so forth’ and is commonly misspelled ect.  It must be preceded by a comma.  Do not use etc. in an e.g. list, as abbreviations are redundant. 

Example: “The drawer held items like scissors, clips, post-its, pens, markers, etc.” 

• et al.

This means et alia or ‘and others’ and is normally used to substitute the names of all but the primary author in a reference to a multiauthor publication or article.  There is no period after et because this word is not an abbreviation.  Do not precede it with a comma. 

Example: “Possible explanation supplied by Kahneman et al.” 

The second word in this term¾alias¾is used alone to mean ‘otherwise known as’ or ‘an assumed name’. 

• i.e.

This abbreviation means id est or ‘that is’ and, like e.g., is often wrongly used without periods.  Followed by a comma, it precedes a clarification, not examples as e.g. introduces. 

Example: “We are traveling to the state in which Grandma lives, i.e., Florida.” 

• fl.

It means floruit or ‘flourished’ and is used in association with a reference to a person’s heyday, commonly in lieu of a range of years denoting the person’s life span. 

Example: “John Jones (fl. 1197–1229)” 

• N.B.

Meaning nota bene or ‘note well’, it can be easily replaced by the imperative note, and is used in uppercase letters and followed by a colon. 

Example: “We are going to the Himalayas in January – N.B.: it is very cold at that time of year, so make sure to bring warm clothes.” 

• per cent.

This is a British English abbreviation that means per centum or ‘for each one hundred’ and is spelled in U.S. English as percent. 

Example: “Many card issuers now have purchase rates above 20 per cent and cash advance rates above 21 per cent.” 

• re

It is the short for in re or ‘in the matter of’ and is commonly followed by a colon.  It is often believed to be an abbreviation for reply, especially in email communications.

Example: “These are the claims determined re: Klein Company.”

• viz.

This is the abbreviation for videlicet or ‘namely’, and unlike e.g., precedes an appositive list, one lead by a reference to a class that the list totally constitutes.

Example: “Each symbol represents one of the four elements, viz. earth, air, fire, and water.”

Note there is not a comma after it.

• vs.

It means versus or ‘against’, and is abbreviated to v. in legal usage.

The term is usually used on names of boxing or wrestling matches, sports teams encounters or titles of mediocre science fiction movies.

Example: “Lakers tonight vs. Chicago Time: 7:30. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 710, 1330. Where: Staples Center. Records: Lakers 12-2, Bulls 7-4.”

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Get organized, and do it by listing your reader’s questions.

Before you start writing a message you have to think about what you want to communicate in it. This is the time to organize your thoughts; to decide what to include and what to leave out.  

If this sounds difficult, we have a secret to make it easier: forget about what YOU have to say and instead focus on your reader. What does your reader need or wish to know? What are his or her questions?

Imagine a conversation with your reader.

Let’s say you are writing a message to announce a meeting. Imagine telling someone in person about this meeting. The person would probably ask the following questions:

-      Why are we meeting?

-      When is it?

-      Where is it?

-      What’s the agenda?

-      Who else is invited?

-      Do I have to be there? What if I can’t make it?

-      Do I need to prepare? How?

Make a list of all the questions your reader may have and then think about the order in which he or she would ask them. Sort out the questions to meet your reader’s needs and, one by one, write the answers.

For example:

-      Why are we meeting?

We are meeting to brainstorm ideas for the launching of the new product.

-      When is it?

The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

-      Where is it?

We will meet at our headquarters, second floor, room A-2.

Go through each question and answer it as clearly as possible. As soon as you’re done, you will only be more organized, but have also finished writing your message!

The only thing left to do is edit, proofread, and click the send button.    

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).

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Some words in English are confusing because they are written and sound similarly, and this is the case of wether, weather, and whether. These types of words are called homonyms: words that share the same spelling, or punctuation, or both, but have different meanings.

Here we explain the differences among these 3 words, so that you can impress your ESL class with knowledge that even a lot of native English speakers don’t have:

Wether

The spell check in your computer may flag this word as wrongly spelled, normally offering you the options whether or weather to correct it; however, this word does exist, and it has two meanings:

• A male sheep or ram
• A castrated ram or billy goat

Example:

• A wether flock invaded the town unexpectedly, scaring everyone in their path.

Weather

This is the “state of the atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness”, according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

Example:

• The weather is too harsh to go skiing; it looks like a snowstorm is approaching.

Whether

This word is commonly misspelled many write ‘wether’ instead, including many ESL students.

The word whether introduces an indirect question, involving stated or implied alternatives, or presents alternative conditions or possibilities.

Examples:

• Frank ended up seated next to Ellen, whether by accident or on purpose.
• The training is necessary whether you are an owner, an executive, or a manager.

And here is a shot at using the 3 words in one sentence:

• The shepherd doubted whether his wether would be affected by the tough weather.

Can you come up with any of your own?

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).

Tags: advanced esl, esl business english, esl class, ESL Classes, esl lessons, esl practice, esl school

The colon is a very important punctuation mark in the English language, and one that is commonly overlooked. Here we show you everything you need to know about its uses in hopes that you take full advantage of it during your ESL lessons:

 1. The colon (:) is used to indicate a longer pause than the one a semicolon (;) denotes.

 Let us show you some examples:

• The Johnson’s decided to cancel their trip to Orlando: The weather was too awful.
• My son had to rest for a week: His asthma got worse.

2. You also use a colon when you are quoting a famous saying, for example:

• Gandhi once said: “We have to be the change we want to see in the world.”

3. A colon is the right way to present direct speech when introduced by a name, like this:

Sophie: Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for hours!

Jason: I am very sorry. My car broke down.

Sophie: Well, I’m glad you made it anyway; we can catch the next show.

Jason: Good! I promise I’ll make it up to you.

4. A colon is commonly used to present a list, for example:

• These are some of the things we are taking with us to the mountains: Hiking boots, rain jackets, caps or hats, sun block, and several pairs of socks.
• The recipe includes: Artichokes, black olives, red peppers, onions, olive oil, and salt.
• There are three main tenses in the English language: The present tense, the past tense, and the future tense.

5. The colon is used in a title or heading to present the subdivision of a subject. Here’s how:

• Tenses: The past tense
• Ingredients: Types of flour
• Colors: Purple

Note: In American English, a capital letter follows the colon; in British English, this is not the case. An example:

• Electronics: Computers (US)
• Electronics: computers (GB)

In letters, in American English, you put a colon after the salutation, like this:

Dear Ms. Robbins:

I hope you are feeling fine.

In letters, in British English, you put a comma after the salutation:

Dear Ms. Robbins,

I hope you are feeling fine.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).

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One of the main things you have to be careful with when writing business English is the use of pronouns. Many ESL students have problems with pronouns, making their writing look unprofessional and amateur.

Take this test at home or share it with your ESL class as a fun and vital pronoun practice activity:

Choose the correct pronoun for each sentence:

1. After the movie, please give the ticket money to Charlie or I/me/myself.

2. Jason and I/me/myself both bought the same kind of tickets for the concert.

3. I hope Nate will take Molly and I/me/myself to the dance.

4. The offer was prepared by the marketing department with some advice from I/me/myself.

5. Camille will talk to whoever/whomever inquires about the cancellation.

6. Who/whom have you talked to about your business idea?

7. Whoever/whomever Sally chooses, we will support him completely.

8. Mildred and I/me/myself are business partners.

9. Who/whom wrote such an outstanding essay?

10. Peter will inform me about his choice, whoever/whomever it is.

11. Whoever/whomever is in charge of this area should know about this inconsistency.

12. Carrie wrote to the person who’s/whose name appeared in the credits.

13. Felicia and he/him organized the whole party.

These are the correct answers:

1. me 2. I 3. me 4. me 5. whoever 6. Whom 7. whomever 8. I 9. Who 10. whoever 11. Whoever 12. whose 13. he

Discuss the pronoun rules with your ESL teacher. It is a basic and very important aspect of writing good business English. Your professional image will thank you for it!

For additional pronoun tips, see LCI’s video on this topic. 

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our ESL blog as the original source).

Tags: english grammar, english practice