The English Phrasal Verb English has one of the coolest and at the same time most mysterious of verbs. Verbs to me are the motors that drive phrases and sentences. Normally, as in most languages, these verbs are one word. But in English, we have the special and totally cool phrasal verb. Sometimes now called…
There is nothing like a terrific death in a work of fiction. But 74 great ways is better. Of course there are always a plethora of shootings and bomb blasts in fiction that bring about the final demise of both the good and bad guys, but thanks to an article I stumbled upon in The…
I avoid the Evil Empire of McDonald’s and the Big Mac. Here’s why? Because here where I live, there is an even better reason to give the Golden Arches a big miss. No, it’s not that a Big Mac is chemical warfare against my internal digestive organs or that one bite can deliver inches on my…
European English in everyday use “I am called Sylvie, and we are three in our family, and during two weeks we have been in Spain taking a wonderful holiday. We were very interested to see the bull fighting and we had a lovely weather all the time we were there. I am the only child…
I thought I might share one of my favourite poems with you today. If you’ve ever heard Rod McKuen recite this, you’ll know how wonderfully touching it is. He is truly one of my all-time favourite poets, and was so lucky to have met him once briefly when I was young. Enjoy. A Cat Named…
What do you know about the perfect tense? While all languages have their positive attributes, be it structure, rhythm, sound or lexis, English has one of the most unique tenses. It is one that we tend to forget all about when we are writing. In some manner it does exist in some other languages, but…
