By Prepositions, Inflections

Hi everyoneI just wondered if anyone could help - I have to write a profile of a chinese learner of English (completely made up). In it I must put any difficulties that the learner has in learning English as an L2. I have got so far:Intonation transfer from L1 may cause them to be perceived as...

The list isn't meant to be exhaustive or carefully arranged. Any additions, corrections or further examples would be welcomed. 1 main verbs; lexical verbs (all verbs which are not auxiliaries or modals) 2 action verbs; event verbs; dynamic verbs (a verb which can be used in...

Jackson6612 wrote:Need sometimes behaves like a modal, for example 'She need know', 'She needn't know', or, in more formal English, 'She need not know'. Examples: 1: You needn't worry 2: Buying budget-priced furniture needn't mean compromising on quality or style... 3: Loneliness can be...

Hi ForbesThank you for your long reply. I do appreciate it. I would just like to say that I my opinion is based on the knowledge I have of the Germanic and Romance languages and it is of course very subjective. I fully understand that not everyone agrees with me and what I consider easy may be...

Hi KFEWelcome to EF. You have already learned about the continuous tenses (I am reading, he is coming etc.) and no doubt you'll learn about other ways to use the ing-ending in due course.Because there are only a handful of inflections in English, the same verb forms must be used in many functions...

Owing to the fact that there are so few inflections in English, the few inflected forms that there are are used in a number of ways. An ing-form, for example, can be1. a present participle: a walking man2. a noun: the beginning as easy3. an adjective: I was willing to learn it4. a preposition:...

Swiss Jake wrote: Do you actually say whom when you speak/talk? Your is it just a formal thing which is used in writing? Another opinion, to add to your collection: I never use "whom" in speech, except in parody; in written English, I use it after prepositions (by whom, for whom). I live...

Phrasal Verbs, A New Approach To Learning “I don’t understand” he said, “I just don’t understand”. These words from a student in early 2003 set me off on a quest to resolve a problem that has for centuries defeated teacher and student alike. My student, José García Bes, like millions before...

Good day, all! Read through....the question is at the end. English cases, though no longer taught as such, are still somewhat present and remnants of the cases in Old English. During the time between say, 1300 and the present, we lost most of the inflections that were present before...

Pemmican wrote:The "-s" is the most common suffix left in English by now, it took over several functions: a) plural indicator: one apple - two apples b) 3rd ps sg inflection indicator: sing - he sings c) genitive ending: Jon's house In my opinion, the -s in b) will certainly disappear sometime,...