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- Hi, Tough questions! Hard to tell for certain without more of the original text. But I think.... Razor-close means extremely close. That is the two candidates are almost at the same level in the polls. We use the phrase 'razor' to mean as close as a razor to your skin when you're shaving your beard. The second one I honestly couldn't say. The phrase 'Rinse and repeat' refers to washing your hair. You put in the shampoo, rinse it out and then shampoo again, rinse and repeat. It's possible they mean the Clinton campaign is doing the same action over and over. Refrain in the last one means the refrain of a song. The refrain is the chorus or the line we say over and over. In this case it means Trump is repeating the same thing over and over. 'In private' is not part of the phrase. Here it just means that he is repeating this thing in private to his advisers rather than to the general public.0 votedNovember 3, 20161
- Hi Rayniery, Good question! It depends on what we want to use them for. May: May can be used for permission Example: May I go to the bathroom? It can also be used to talk about something in the future that is not certain. Example: It may rain later. You should bring your umbrella just in case. Might: Might can also be used to talk about the future. Example: I might go to the party tonight. Or I might go to the cinema. Could: Could is used for conditionals when we're talking about ability. Example: If I had more money, I could buy a new car! It's also used to make polite requests. Example: Could you open the window please? These are just some examples but I hope that makes it a little clearer :)0 votedNovember 3, 20160
- Hey Joy, Hope you're enjoying your weekend! Firstly, it would be 'It depends' rather then 'It's depends'. 'It' in this phrase means 'my answer'. 'It depends' means 'my answer will depend on the situation'. For example.... If I asked you, "Joy, do you want some cake?", you could answer, " Yes, please!", "No thanks.", or "It depends. Is it chocolate or strawberry?" Hope that helps a bit!0 votedOctober 30, 20161
- Hey Kailin, A is almost spot on. The only things I'd change is to put a full stop after theories and also after excitedly instead of a comma. Then I'd start a new sentence. It's actually fine to have a sentence by itself that is all quotation. For example... "I knew it!", he screamed enraged. "You stole my yoghurt." B would not be correct. The reason is that the part of the sentence outside the quotation marks, he said excitedly, is not a full sentence. It's just a clause. So we don't need a capital. With regards to C, it's nearly correct. There's just a slight issue with punctuation. For quotations we have first the sentence.... That's not completely true. Then the sentence is enclosed in quotation marks. "That's not completely true." Notice that the full stop is still there within the quotation marks. Then we add a comma after the last quotation mark and our clause. "That's not completely true.", he confessed. This is true for full stops, question marks and exclamation marks. So our sentence in C would be... "I am learning.... rather than just theories!", he said excitedly. It looks like a LOT of punctuation but it is correct :) Hope this helps!0 votedOctober 30, 20161
- Hey Andrey, Surprised is used with BY in this case. We are surprised by something. For example... I was surprised by the news. He crashed the car because he was surprised by a deer. We don't usually use WITH unless it's a surprise that someone organized for us. Example.... His friends surprised him with a birthday party. My parents surprised me with a new puppy. In this case the preposition WITH comes after the object E.g : he surprised ME with..... We surprised HER with... Hope this helps! Lisa0 votedOctober 30, 20160
This is a really interesting question and one that we can all relate to. I remember feeling so depressed as a kid when my German teacher told us take out our grammar books!
I think a lot of people feel stressed about grammar because they might have had a bad experience of it in school or they become afraid when they think about all those rules they have to learn. But it isn't a choice between grammar OR communication. Grammar is the tool that we use to make language do what WE want! We use it to bend sentences into different shapes.
When people talk about grammar being all form, they're missing the point of grammar. I had a student today telling me that she found the 2nd Conditional confusing. When I asked if she had studied it before, she answered "Oh yes, yes, I know it! it's If + past + would + infinitive"
"That's great! So is it real or unreal? Is it dealing with the past, present or future? Is it something that didn't happen, probably won't happen, might happen, will probably happen or always happens?"
"Well, it's If + past + would ............."
You see the problem :)
Grammar form and grammar function are two sides of the same coin. One without the other is pointless.
0 votedOctober 29, 20160- Hi Shaima, Good question! I have difficulty learning one language, I'd have to admit! It has been proven though that once you've learnt one language, it becomes easy to learn more. Basically, the brain remembers how to do it! The key to making it work is being super organised. Do you have a system for recording vocabulary? Are you using a clear, reliable, easy to follow grammar book? Are you regularly accessing material, books, music, movies, etc. in the languages you want to learn. The other thing is to be realistic about your progress. There's absolutely no reason why you can't learn two languages together. But the average length of time to go up one level in a language is four to six months and that's with intensive study of ONE language! If you're splitting your time between two, your rate of progress might increase to eight or ten months but that's the choice you have to make. Good luck with whatever languages you choose :)0 votedOctober 29, 20160
- Hi Sinem, The two are not totally interchangeable, although both are nice things to say to people. To wish someone good health literally means that. You are hoping that they remain safe and healthy in the future. You might drink to someone's health as well. This is when you toast them usually with alcohol. It would be quite common at birthdays, for example. But to wish someone well is usually when they are starting out at something new. If your friend is moving to a new job, you'd wish him well. If a couple has just gotten married and are starting a life together, you'd wish them well. It basically means "I hope this thing you are about to begin is successful in the future." Hope that's useful!0 votedOctober 29, 20160
Encouraging students to plagiarise their essays and risk expulsion from university is certainly a very original idea.
An alternative suggestion (and legal one that won't completely destroy your future academic career) would be to make use of your colleges EAP service! Most colleges and all universities will have one, they are generally free and they are the best people to assist you in actually writing your essay :)
0 votedOctober 29, 20160
