Distinguishing between Short-i and Long-E is difficult for many students (the difference is explained in “This or These?”), but it’s a good idea to be extra careful with this vowel distinction — there are several frequently used words of English with the Short-i sound that could be confused with similar sounding words with Long-E. The words below are from… Read More Short-i in Frequent Words
The pronunciation pattern of phrasal verbs is less complicated than the grammar. Phrasal verbs have a stable, predictable stress pattern, which is: the 2nd word gets the stress. That means that the 2nd part is said more strongly (or, it sounds louder, longer and higher). Some examples: call OFF pass aWAY run INto make UP… Read More Phrasal Verbs — The Good News (The Pronunciation)
The topic of phrasal verbs includes a little grammar and a little pronunciation. Since the grammar part is more complicated than the pronunciation part, this introduction to phrasal verbs covers the “bad news”. First, what is a phrasal verb? In order to speak in English, it is important to know about phrasal verbs. They are… Read More Phrasal Verbs — The Bad News (The Grammar)
That sentence uses the words “where”, “were”, and “we’re” which sometimes get confused by learners of English. Those words are all pronounced differently, and it is important to say them correctly because they are frequently used words. Some students are not sure how to pronounce them, and perhaps some of the confusion comes from the… Read More We’re where we were.
The most frequently used words of English have the highest percentage of irregular spelling patterns, so if you learned to say them by looking at the letters, you may be saying some of them wrong! Get a pdf of the 150 most frequent words, then listen to check yourself. Words 1-50 Words 51-100 Words 101-150
