Learn American English Online Blog

When someone bothers you, or when a thing causes you trouble, you can use the word "bug." This was the word of the day a few days ago, and it suddenly occurred to be me that it might be a good topic for a video.

I hated to do it, but there’s no sense in leaving a dead tree standing in my backyard.

 

Students who completed the Red Level may move on to the Yellow Level today.

The focus of the Yellow Level is on perfect tenses and modifiers. But if you have not yet mastered the Blue and Red Levels, I recommend you return to those levels and complete all of those lessons before moving forward.

Click on the link for the Yellow Level Checklist to monitor your progress.

Here’s a link to the first Yellow Level reading assignment: Christine is a photographer.

The word of the day is "among."

Students studying in the Red Level have a test today:

Red Level Test #1

Last weekend there was a gruesome attack on people peacefully gathering at their house of worship. It sickens me to think that there exists in this country people who are so mean and so vile. The word of the day is "gruesome."

Students who are studying in the Red Level can review what they have learned in the Red Level Review before they take the tests that come at the end of the level.

In Red Level Lesson Twenty-six, students learn how to use the verb "go" followed by a verb. This is very common in American English, but there are some people who don’t like it. It really isn’t necessary to put "go" before a verb in most cases, but this is the way many Americans speak.

  • Let’s go eat. / Let’s eat.
  • He’s going to go take a test. He’s going to take a test.
  • We should go play soccer. / We should play soccer.

As you can see, there’s a difference in the sentences above, but the meanings are about the same. One thing worth mentioning: You can’t do this with all verbs. Only some of them.

When studying adjectives, it’s helpful to know what their opposites are. Click here to practice.

Click here for an exercise.

It’s important to understand the differences between "used to" and "be used to."

Use "used to" when talking about things that you no longer do, or not likely to do again:

  • Carolyn used to smoke. Now she doesn’t.
  • Thomas used to be fat. Now he’s thin.
  • This computer used to work really well. Now it’s slow.

Use "be used to" when talking about things that you have adapted to or now feel comfortable with over time. Notice the verb "be" changes according to the subject.

  • Jose is used to living in a cold city. He used to live in a warm city.
  • Cindy isn’t used to driving every day. Just a few years ago, she always took the bus.
  • I’m used to waking up early. When I was a young man, I woke up late almost every day.

Here’s a new addition to the Word of the Day section: spill.

Here are two Red Level lessons that are very important if you work with numbers or money and need to talk about them in English.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a sentence or question.

  • Jim cut himself while he was shaving.

The word "himself" is a reflexive pronoun. It refers back to the subject of the sentence, "Jim." Jim is a man.

  • Rachel taught herself how to cook.

The word "herself" is a reflexive pronoun. It refers back to the subject of the sentence, "Rachel." Rachel is a woman.

To learn more about reflexive pronouns, click here.

Possessive pronouns show ownership:

  • Whose phone is this?
  • It’s mine.

The word "mine" is a possessive pronoun. Learn more by clicking here.

The word of the day is "tall."

This new video is for the phrasal verb "run into."

Red Level students are studying infinitives and gerunds this week. It’s very important to know what they are and how they are different.

Here’s a link to the What’s the Question section. Lately, I’ve been revising these exercises and realized there wasn’t a good way to get to it from the home page. I’ll have to change that and put a link there.

In Red Level Lesson Fifteen, students learn about conjunctions. Conjunctions join together words, phrases, and sentences:

  • Joshua and Isabel are married.

The conjunction "and" joins together two proper nouns, Joshua and Isabel, which is the subject of the sentence. The subject is plural thanks to the conjunction.

  • Joshua works as a chef, and Isabel works as an accountant.

The conjunction "and" joins together two independent clauses to form a compound sentence.

The word of the day is "sugar."

I sent out an email to subscribers today. Did you get it? If not, make sure you sign up for free emailed lessons and exercises.

I’m sorry I didn’t have time to post anything to the blog yesterday. Busy busy. Yesterday’s word of the day was "catastrophe." Today’s word of the day is "personal."

Students following the Red Level lessons this month are currently studying the future tense. You can talk about the future many different ways. Here are some examples:

  • I’ll see you tomorrow. (simple future tense)
  • Where are you going to be tomorrow? (going to be + main verb)
  • What will they be doing next week? (the future continuous tense)
  • Henry is leaving early tomorrow morning. (the present continuous tense)
  • We have to be at an important meeting next week. (have to + main verb)

This new video provides some more examples of ways to ask and answer questions for future situations:

 

When talking about amounts, you can use the words some, any, and a lot for just about anything.

  • I have some money in my pocket.
  • I don’t have any money in the bank. (Use "any" with negative verbs.)
  • Joe has a lot of time to study today.
  • Joe doesn’t have a lot of time to study tomorrow. (The words "a lot" or "a lot of" can be used with affirmative or negative verbs.)

You can learn more about using these words in this lesson.

A person who is ignorant is unaware of certain types of knowledge or important facts. It’s not good to be ignorant. Learn more about this word by clicking on the link.

When something really bad happens, you can use the word "horrible." This is the word of the day.

Did you receive the email I sent out this morning? If not, you should sign up to receive email with free exercises, quizzes, and videos. You can sign up here.

Here’s a new video for the past tense. If you have a conversation with me, how would you answer?

 

Your Red Level lesson of the day is on forming questions using the verb "do."

Today’s reading assignment: Luke and Sandra are going to have a baby.

The word of the day is "sharp."

A command begins with a verb and tells a person to do something. Here are some examples:

  • Throw the ball.
  • Open the door.
  • Please, give me that.
  • Don’t do that.

Notice that a command does not include a stated subject. The subject is "you."

Learn more about commands in Red Level Lesson Four.

Red Level reading assignments are a little more difficult than the reading assignments in the Blue Level. Click here to read about a farm.

It’s important to know the difference between the verbs "do" and "did" in order to form the present tense and the past tense.

  • What do you do every day?
  • What did you do yesterday?
  • I don’t see my neighbors every day.
  • I didn’t see my neighbors yesterday.
  • Harriet does her shopping on the weekends.
  • Harriet did her shopping for the week on Saturday.

In Red Level Lesson Two students learn how to make the present tense negative with the verb "do."

Here’s a link to the Red Level Reading Room. You may start with the first reading assignment.

Students who move on to the Red Level today will study Lesson One which introduces the verb "do" as a helping verb and as a main verb. It’s very important to know the difference between these two things.

  • I do many things during the day.

In this sentence, the verb "do" is a main verb.

  • What do you do during the day?

In this question, the verb "do" is a helping verb (the first one), and it’s a main verb (the second one). The verb "do" helps to form a question in the present tense.

  • He doesn’t do very much at work.

In this sentence, the verb "do" is made negative by using "does" and "not" together to form a contraction, "doesn’t." The main verb is in the simple form, "do."

Each course level on this website has a checklist. Print out and keep the checklist next to your computer, tablet, or phone and use it to track your progress as you move through the lessons:

PRINT:

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