The -ing form appears throughout English. You see it in is reading, the woman reading by the window, and I heard someone calling my name. The form looks the same, but its role changes with the structure around it. In…
A polite email does not need to sound formal, hesitant, or overly careful. The strongest polite emails are usually clear about what they need while using wording that respects the other person’s time, position, and choices. Compare: Send me the…
Climate change is a broad essay topic. One assignment may ask for a general explanation, while another may focus on causes, global warming, communities, sustainability, adaptation, or possible responses. A strong climate change essay therefore needs a clear angle. Trying…
A compare-and-contrast essay does more than place two subjects side by side. The strongest essays compare them for a reason. You might examine two learning methods, two historical events, two technologies, two literary characters, or two approaches to solving the…
Why can both It may rain tonight and It might rain tonight be correct? The common explanation that may means “more likely” and might means “less likely” sounds simple, but it does not explain how these modal verbs actually work.…
Modal verbs such as can, might, should, and must are easy to recognize, but their meanings are not always as simple as the usual one-word labels suggest. Can does more than show ability, must does more than express obligation, and…
The verb have appears in some of the most common sentence patterns in English. You can have a car, have lunch, have a problem, have your hair cut, or have finished your work. The word looks familiar in each case,…
A conjunction is a word that connects ideas, words, or clauses in a sentence. This page gives you a clear list of conjunctions used in English, along with short meanings and examples to help you see how each one works…
Two things do not have to be different for us to compare them. Sometimes the point is that they are equal, nearly equal, or not equal at all. English commonly uses as…as for this kind of comparison: The second route…