By Verbs, Literature

1) skilled vs skillful The word skilled is related to specialized training / education, while skillful is used to indicate proficiency. 2) what's the difference between a northern wind and a northerly wind? From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, northern means "in or...

1) skilled vs skillful 2) what's the difference between a northern wind and a northerly wind? 3) blanket vs quilt 4) I'm looking for a verb that describe actions such as: Change from Celcius degree to Farenheit degree or from meters to foot... 5) I'm looking for a noun: Vietnamese...

Dear Marina, I am glad you care a lot for English plural forms of nouns. You are probably learning English as a Second Language.The noun police is followed by a plural verb because it is a very big group of people. For one Individual, we talk of a Policeman or a policewoman. For the word Family,...

From OALD:awake / awaken / wake up / wakenWake (up) is the most common of these verbs. It can mean somebody has finished sleeping:What time do you usually wake up?or that somebody or something has disturbed your sleep:The children woke me up. I was woken (up) by the telephone.The verb awake is...

Thanks Clive,This is my first foray into grammar with my adult students (I usually teach conversation, literature, news English and the like). So this question really threw me for a loop. I was teaching adverbs at the time (using "soon" in " I will visit Europe soon") so this is how the...

These have overlapping meanings. I'd say that "affect" is the most general: causing a change or result in something. "The nearby ocean often affects our weather." "The recent tragedy really affected her."I tend to use "influence" when there is a sense of control being exerted, especially when...

All of your examples are gerunds if we stick to modern terminology. Forget about the terminology verbal noun. It's total garbage! It has many different definitions, depending on the author and when the grammar book was written. _____________ The modern definition is given at...

I belong to a country where English is used as a second language, so it is not my first language. A few days ago I appeared in an interview for the post of English Teacher. I want to share a few points of that interview for your worthy comments. I use A for interviewer and B for myself. ...

Thanks, John. Your question is not easy to answer definitively, but some comments:1-- The text is informal, a replica of spoken English, so the grammar is loose.2-- You'll notice that the writer uses both forms you mention ('To be asking them to go home' and 'to ask them after supper'), and...

---------- After a past indicative tense form the distinction of meaning between present and past tense forms usually disappears entirely: She desired that he might come at once. We demanded that the burden should be removed. In recent literature and present colloquial usage,...