When you want to talk about your first experience to do something, there are a few ways in English you can do that. The easiest and clearest way is to use “for the first time” at the end of your sentence. This pattern works for the present, past, and future, and you don’t need to change the pattern when the tense changes: Present tense: Jack is working here in the USA for the first time. Past tense: I ate pizza in New York today for the first time. Future tense: I am going to Peru next month for the first time. You can also use the following pattern: [subject] + be + the first time + sentence. Usually the [subject] is a time word, like today or now, or a pronoun like this or that. This pattern also works for the present, past, and future, but you do need to change the pattern when the tense changes, so be careful!: Present tense: This is the first time Jack is working here in the USA. Past tense: Today was the first time I ate pizza in New York Future tense: Next month is going to be the first time I am …
Learn English Grammar – Using WISH
I remember when I was in elementary school, I used to sit at the kitchen table and do my homework. My grandmother lived next door and used to come to our house in the late afternoons. “I wish I didn’t have to do this homework,” I would complain to her. But her wise response was always the same, “Don’t wish your life away.” I’ve never forgotten that. Wish can be a tricky word to use in English, so today, I will show you how we use this word in your everyday English Conversation. We use wish + were when we imagine that we want a situation to be different than it is. When we wish for things like this, we are just imagining something we do not think is possible: I wish I were taller. I’m not tall, but want to be taller. I wish it wasn’t raining today. It’s raining, but I want it to not rain. I wish I were a better dancer. I don’t dance well at all. Keep in mind that when we imagine something that is possible to happen, we use hope: I hope Jack enjoys his trip to Tokyo. I worked hard on this …
Learn English Grammar – Using WAIT
I think most people don’t like waiting for things, but if you think about it, we wait all the time. We wait for trains, busses, meetings, and wait for people to do things for us. We wait hours for flights to arrive and concerts to begin. Maybe you have waited to see an English lesson that deals with the verb wait. Well, you don’t need to way any longer. Here it is! There are four basic English grammar patterns when using wait. Today, let’s have a look and practice these. We use wait for + [someone/something] I was waiting for the train in the rain this morning. Can you wait for me? I’ll be ready in five minutes. Jack said he is still waiting for the package from his sister. We also use wait for + [someone/something] + [to verb] I was waiting for the train to arrive. Can you wait for me to go out? I’ll be ready soon. Jack is waiting for the package to be delivered. We use wait + [time] without a preposition after wait. I waited ten minutes for the train. Can you wait five minutes? Jack waited all day, but the package didn’t arrive. …
Learn English Grammar – WHILE vs. DURING
Both during and while indicate a period of time or an even in which something happens. The difference is the way that we use these words, and that usage is why we can’t say during driving. We use during followed by a noun. Usually, that noun is some kind of event that happens over time. For example, you can say during dinner, during work, during the day, during the meeting, during my childhood, etc… I can’t use my cell phone during work, so don’t text me then. We don’t watch TV during dinner. I ate popcorn during the movie On the other hand, we use while followed by a gerund – that’s the ING VERB. I can’t use my cell phone while working. Please don’t watch TV while eating. While giving his speech, the presenter made several interesting points. By the way, you can also use while followed by a subject and verb. I like to listen to music while I do my homework. While I was eating lunch, I read my book. You are not supposed to use your cell phone while you are working. How about you? Why don’t you leave your example sentences using during and while below? …
Learn English Grammar – SO Vs. SUCH
Check out this short paragraph: It’s been raining all week. Everything is so wet. All of this rain every day is such a nuisance. There was such a mess everywhere. I am so tired of this terrible weather. I wish it would stop. Take a look at the opening paragraph above, and you notice I used both so and such. Today we’ll continue talking about English grammar by looking at so and such. We use so followed by an adjective. In this case, the meaning of so is “very.” Here are some examples: I was so tired after working out today I fell asleep at 9PM. That movie was so exciting! Bob is so nice, everyone likes him. We use such followed by a noun or a noun phrase. In this case, the meaning of such is also “very.” Here are some examples: Bob is such a gentleman. Everyone likes him. I had such a tiring workout today I fell asleep at 9PM That was such an exciting move! I’m glad we went. Be careful of these common mistakes Bob is so nice guy….should be Bob is such a nice guy. New York is so exciting city….should be New York …