Don’t say: “I’m studying every day for improve my English.”

Say: “I’m studying every day to improve my English.”

The prepositions TO and FOR are very easy to confuse! Here are some rules for using these prepositions correctly.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/difference-between-to-and-for/

08 - Difference Between To And For

Basic Difference between DO and MAKE
Use DO for actions, obligations, and repetitive tasks.
Use MAKE for creating or producing something, and for actions you choose to do.
DO generally refers to the action itself, and MAKE usually refers to the result. For example, if you “make breakfast,” the result is an omelet! If you “make a suggestion,” you have created a recommendation.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/difference-between-do-and-make-60-collocations/

10 - Common English Collocations with DO and MAKE

Learn how to use these confusing English words correctly! This is a free sample from the e-book  600+ Confusing English Words Explained. It will help clear up your doubts about how to use English words correctly, so that you can speak and write more confidently.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/difference-between-travel-trip-and-journey/

07 - Travel, Trip, or Journey?

In the active voice, the subject of the sentence DOES the action:

Jake wrote a letter.
subject / verb / object

In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted upon:

A letter was written (by Jake).
subject / verb

Notice that the object of the active sentence (letter) became the subject of the passive sentence. If we want, we can include “by Jake” to say who did the action.

This is a free sample lesson from the Advanced English Grammar Course.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/passive-voice-in-english/

09 - Passive Voice in English

In this lesson you’re going to expand your vocabulary with 37 words to describe a person’s appearance.

Let’s begin with the word beautiful – in English, this word is mostly used for women. We use the word handsome for men. To describe beautiful women, we also have the words pretty, lovely, gorgeous, and stunning – “stunning” means extremely beautiful, like a woman who is so beautiful that she attracts a lot of attention!

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/37-english-words-for-describing-a-persons-appearance/

11 - English Vocabulary Words for Describing a Person's Appearance

Forming questions in English can be confusing.

Don’t worry – I’m going to teach you a simple formula that works for asking questions in almost ALL the verb tenses!

This formula is called QUASM:

QU estion word
A uxiliary verb
S ubject
M ain verb

In this episode, you'll learn how QUASM works for forming questions in various verb tenses.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/an-easy-way-to-form-almost-any-question-in-english/

06 - An Easy Way to Form Questions in English

Do you have difficulty speaking English? Sometimes the hardest part is simply starting a conversation. Learn these expressions for starting a conversation in English in any situation – formal or informal, at work, school, or other contexts! 

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/how-to-start-a-conversation-in-english/

12 - How to Start a Conversation in English

Both present perfect and past perfect talk about something that happened before a point in time (reference point). In the present perfect, our reference point is the present. In the past perfect, our reference point is in the past.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/difference-between-present-perfect-and-past-perfect-in-english/

05 - Present Perfect vs. Past Perfect

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities of something. Some adjectives in English are gradable - that means you can have different degrees or levels of that quality. For example, the weather can be a little cold, rather cold, very cold, or extremely cold.

Extreme adjectives or non-gradable adjectives are words that mean “extremely + adjective” – for example, “freezing” means “extremely cold.” The weather can’t be “a little bit freezing” or “very freezing” – because the word “freezing” itself automatically means “extremely cold.”

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/extreme-adjectives-in-english/

13 - Extreme Adjectives in English

If you frequently confuse the words SAY, TELL, and SPEAK, you’re not alone – these are some of the most commonly confused English words! In this lesson, I’ll teach you the rules for the difference between say, tell, and speak.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/difference-between-say-tell-and-speak/

14 - Difference Between SAY, TELL, and SPEAK

Learn how to use linking words such as but, however, despite, although, whereas, and while.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/linking-words-contrasting-ideas/

15 - Linking Words in English: Contrasting Ideas

Speaking English is difficult for many learners. In this article, I’ll give you 10 ways to speak English better: 5 ways to improve your spoken English at home, and 5 ways to improve your spoken English while in a conversation.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/speaking-english-10-ways-to-improve/

04 - How to Improve Your Spoken English

Should have, could have, and would have are sometimes called “modals of lost opportunity” because they describe situations when we are imagining that the past was different.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/past-modals-should-have-could-have-would-have/

03 - How to use Should Have, Could Have, and Would Have

The difference between should, could, and would is difficult for many English learners – this lesson will help you understand when to use each one! This is a free sample from the e-book  600+ Confusing English Words Explained. It will help clear up your doubts about how to use English words correctly, so that you can speak and write more confidently.

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/difference-between-should-could-and-would/

02 - Difference between Should, Could, and Would

Direct questions are the “normal” questions that we can ask to friends, family members, and people who we know well. You can form direct questions using the QUASM model that we learned last lesson.

Example of a direct question:
“Where’s the bathroom?”

Indirect questions are a little more formal and polite. We use them when talking to a person we don’t know very well, or in professional situations, and their form is a little different.

Example of an indirect question:
“Could you tell me where the bathroom is?

Episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/direct-and-indirect-questions-in-english/

01 - Direct and Indirect Questions

This is a story about the daily life of New York Nate, who lives in the United States; and London Laura, who lives in England. As you can see, they have very similar lives… but the vocabulary words they use are very different!

Click here for the episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/british-english-vs-american-english-vocabulary/

16 - British English vs. American English Vocabulary

There are two ways to talk about the future in English: will/won't and going to.

Use going to for plans/arrangements

Use will for promises, offers, and decisions made in the moment

Use either will or going to for predictions

Click here for the episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/grammar-in-use-willwont-vs-going-to/

17 - Will or Going To?

#1 - “My boss hit the ceiling when I told him I’d lost the documents.”

The idiomatic expression “hit the ceiling” means to get very angry and upset. Other expressions for sudden anger include “go ballistic” and “blow a fuse.”

Listen to the episode to learn more expressions!

Click here for the episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/10-english-phrases-for-extreme-emotion/

18 - English Expressions for Extreme Emotion

Listen to the conversation and learn phrasal verbs naturally, in context! Click here for the episode text - http://www.espressoenglish.net/phrasal-verbs-for-romantic-relationships/

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