Similes with As - As merry as a lark/cricket

Meaning – very happy

Ø      Rick is definitely drunk. He’s as merry as a lark/cricket!

Ø      Mary strolled into the office with a huge grin on her face this morning. In fact, she was as merry as a lark/cricket. 

Grammar - Wh- Questions

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The rules are:

1. Every wh- question must have a finite verb to make it complete.

Ø      Who was the last president of The United States?   (Right)

Ø      The last president of The United States who?          (Wrong)

Ø      Which country is hosting(finite verb) the next

    Olympics?                                                       (Right)

Ø      Which country hosting (non-finite verb) the next 

     Olympics?                                                                  (Wrong)

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

2. In a wh- question, the verb ‘to be’, the verb ‘to do’ or a main verb must match in tense (present, past or future) and number with the noun or pronoun (singular or plural) it points to.

    Present tense

                Singular                                                  Plural

Ø                  Where is the waiter?                           Where are the waiters?

Ø                  How does Sam go to work?                How do James and Erin go to work?                                                                                                                                                                            

    

     Past tense

Ø      What happened at the party last night?

     Future tense

Ø      What will happen at the party tomorrow?

3. The verb ‘to be’ can’t be used with a main verb in its present or simple past tense form. The verb ‘to be’ can be used with a main verb in its ‘-ing’ form.

Ø      Which countries are you visiting in Europe?  (Right)

Ø      Which countries are you visit in Europe?       (Wrong)

Ø      Who was helping Ryan with his homework?  (Right)

Ø      Who was helped Ryan with his homework?    (Wrong)

Ø      When will Danny be leaving for Singapore?   (Right)

Ø      When will Danny leaving for Singapore?        (Wrong)

4. When using the verb ‘to do’ in wh- questions, the main verb in the question has to be in its base form.

Ø      Which painting does the customer like?            (Right)

Ø      Which painting does the customer likes?          (Wrong)

Ø      Which painting does the customer liking?         (Wrong)

Ø      Why did they want your driving licence?           (Right)

Ø      Why did they wants your driving licence?         (Wrong)

Ø      Why did they wanted your driving licence?       (Wrong)

Homophones - Roll v Role

Roll

1.   (verb) – move

Ø      The glass rolled off the edge of the table and smashed into pieces.

Ø      My dog loves to roll over on its back so that we can stroke its tummy.

2.   (noun) – tube

Ø      We found an old roll of film in one of the drawers.

Ø      John bought a beautiful roll of cloth yesterday. He’s planning to use it as a table cloth.

3.   (noun) – bread

Ø      I had a cheese roll for breakfast today.

Role

1.   (noun) – duty

Ø      Parents and teachers play important roles in children’s lives.

Ø      What is Sam’s role in this project?

Ø      Two people have been jailed for their role (= involvement) in the robbery.

2.   (noun) – acting

Ø      Naomi was thrilled (= very pleased) that she got the leading role in the school play.

Ø      She plays the role of a tough lawyer in this movie.

Homophones - Which v Witch

Which

1.    as a question

Ø      Which dress are you going to buy?

Ø      Which cup is mine? The blue one or the red one?

2.    adds information

Ø     He showed me around the city, which was really nice of him.

Ø     The restaurant, which is at the corner of this block, serves great seafood.

Witch (noun) – a woman who is believed to have magical powers and uses them to harm or help other people

Ø      There are many tales of witches flying around on broomsticks.

Ø      In fairy tales, the good witches use magic to do help others while the evil ones use magic to harm others.

Common Idioms - To kill two birds with one stone

Meaning – to achieve two results by doing one thing.

Ø     I was already at the mall, so I thought I might as well kill two birds with one stone and watch a movie after I’m done with the shopping.

Ø     John always heads to the bar for a drink if he happens to leave the office around rush hour. He says he gets to kill two birds with one stone and enjoy a drink while waiting for the traffic to ease.

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Synonyms - Acceptable

Meaning – adequate, fair, satisfactory, tolerable

Ø      I barely had adequate time to prepare for the lesson.

Ø      Will future oil supplies be adequate to meet global demand?

Ø      We agreed to work with John as we felt his terms were fair.

Ø      We hope to find a satisfactory solution to this problem as soon as possible.

Ø      The conditions in these prisons are barely tolerable.

Ø      The great in-flight services of this airline made the long journey tolerable.