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Vocabulary

“without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” -David Wilkins And without a doubt, vocabulary stands as one of the most important parts of learning a language; not only words, but variations of the same words. This means synonyms, antonyms, synonyms, word forms, word lists, word families, and so on. Let's look at some these words. Synonyms Webster's Dictionary : one of two or more words or expressions of the same language that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses. Synonyms are important when you speak or write because it adds variation and melody to language. Sure, you can use the same word again and again, but how boring is that? For example: The puppy had filthy paws and a dirty coat. In this sentence, filthy and dirty are synonyms; the use of these words adds variations to the sentence and makes it more interesting. As a side note (for you more advanced people), a synonym can also be a word...
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Those Darn Phrasal Verbs

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Just a second, let me extinguish my cigarette. Now, doesn't that just sound weird? Besides the fact that smoking is bad for you, isn't it nicer to say Just a second, let me put out my cigarette . Phrasal verbs form a large group, consisting of verb + preposition . Put out , bring up , and work on are all part of this group. They are used to replace other, more formal words or phrases. As noted, put out is to extinguish , bring up is to raise (as in a child or a topic), and give back is to return (as in a library book or some money).  So, how do we utilize these in the language? Well, let's divide the phrasal verbs into two sub-groups. Separable Phrasal Verbs. The first sub-group is the separable phrasal verb. This means the particle (the preposition) can be placed before or after the object. Look up the word in the dictionary. / Look the word up in the dictionary. Write down the word. / Write the word down. See how it can move? Ho...
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Compound Sentences

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What's a sentence made of? At a minimum, sentences consist of a subject and a verb : George sang. The sun rose. Sentences can get quite long, but they always have a subject and a verb. The sun rose in the east. The yellow sun rose slowly in the east. the large, yellow sun of our planet rose slowly over the blue hills in the east, shining into my tired eyes. Well, what's a simple sentence? A simple sentence is also called an independent clause . An independent clause can stand alone. It contains a subject and a verb and a complete thought. For example: Some students like to study in the morning. She plucked another flower. (Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie)* Joe plays cards with his friends every Saturday evening. Compound Sentences. Compound sentences are made up of at least two independent clauses and are connected together with a coordinating conjunction, typically preceded by a comma**: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.  She pluck...
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