Be used to and get used to: familiarity and adjustment
Distinguish being accustomed to something from becoming accustomed to it. Follow be or get used to with a noun, pronoun or -ing form, not an infinitive.
Read and practiseAdventure journal
All English lessons
Choose a topic, read the examples and try the exercises before revealing the answers. Follow a related lesson when you are ready to use the same idea in a new situation.
Adventure journal
Your lesson journal
Choose your level
The lesson search could not load. You can still browse the pages.
No matching lesson. Try a shorter search or another topic.
Determiner order: all my friends and the first two days
Words before a noun follow a useful order: quantity words, articles or possessives, and then position words and numbers.
Read and practiseA few, few, a little and little
A small amount can be welcome or insufficient: choose the phrase that matches the noun and the meaning you want to convey.
Read and practiseBe able to: ability across different verb forms
Express ability with will be able to, have been able to, to be able to and being able to. Learn where can cannot fit and keep to before the main verb.
Read and practiseLess or fewer: amounts and numbers
A smaller number of objects or a smaller amount of something calls for a choice between fewer and less, with useful exceptions for measurements.
Read and practiseHad better: strong advice for a specific situation
Use had better and had better not for advice when an unwanted consequence is possible. Decode ’d as had, keep the base verb and distinguish this form from past time.
Read and practiseMay and might: expressing uncertain possibilities
Describe uncertain present and future situations with may and might. Form negatives and may be doing, and avoid assigning fixed probability percentages to these modals.
Read and practiseA number of and the number of: verb agreement
Several people or a single count? The article before number helps you choose a plural or singular verb in these common phrases.
Read and practisePresent deductions: must, might and can’t
Draw conclusions from clues with must, express an uncertain explanation with might, may or could, and reject an explanation with can’t. Separate inference from obligation.
Read and practiseShould have: looking back on choices and expectations
Reflect on earlier choices with should have and shouldn’t have, ask what was advisable, and recognize an expected completed event. Practise have plus a past participle.
Read and practiseWould rather: preferences, alternatives and another person’s action
State preferences with would rather, compare alternatives with than and place not correctly. Learn why I’d rather you kept uses a past form for a present or future preference.
Read and practiseIndefinite pronouns and singular verbs
Everyone and nobody refer to people without naming them. Match these pronoun subjects with singular verbs in statements about people and things.
Read and practiseSecond conditional: imagining a different present or future
Explore imagined situations with if plus a past form and would in the result. Give advice with if I were you, use could for possibility and distinguish form from past time.
Read and practiseUnless and if not: state an exception clearly
Use unless to name an exception to a plan or rule. Compare it with if not, place the comma, and avoid adding a negative that reverses your meaning.
Read and practiseCollective nouns: the team is or are
A team can act as one unit or as individual members. Agreement also varies between British and American English.
Read and practiseIn case: prepare for a possibility, then distinguish if
Explain precautions with in case and compare a response introduced by if. Practise present and past situations, just in case, and in case of before a noun.
Read and practiseWish and if only: imagine a different present
Express present wishes with past forms after wish and if only. Practise states, habits, ongoing actions and could, then contrast a wish with a realistic hope.
Read and practisePast simple passive: report what was done
Report completed events with was or were plus a past participle. Practise questions, negatives and irregular forms, while choosing whether the agent matters.
Read and practiseCompound subjects: bread and butter is or are?
Two subjects joined by and can name separate things or one unit. Choose the verb by considering what the subject means.
Read and practiseModal passives: can be done, must be done and must not be done
Combine modal verbs with be and a participle to express options, advice and requirements. Distinguish a forbidden action from one that is simply unnecessary.
Read and practiseBy or with in the passive: agent, cause and tool
Name who did an action with by, distinguish a tool introduced by with, and decide when an agent can be omitted. Include nonhuman causes and the phrase by hand.
Read and practiseThe rich and the elderly: groups of people
A simple adjective can name a whole group of people after the. See why the verb is plural and how to refer to one person.
Read and practiseHave something done: arrange repairs, cleaning and translation
Describe a service with have plus object and past participle. Change the tense of have, preserve word order, and recognise an unwanted experience in the same pattern.
Read and practiseReported statements: said, told and context-sensitive backshift
Report statements with say or tell, change pronouns to match the speaker, and practise backshift without assuming every tense and time word must change.
Read and practise