Questions tagged [esl]
English as a Second Language
32
questions
0
votes
3
answers
68
views
What tense should be used for the verb "film"? Why? [closed]
I was presented with this question on a test paper:
_______(film) in various parts of China, Unexplored Land presents the great diversity of China's ecosystem and throws fresh light on the concept of ...
- 3
1
vote
2
answers
112
views
Why would a Burmese native prefer "alight from a bus" over "get off a bus"?
I recently read a script written in English by a Burmese native and it struck me as odd that they always used the phrase "they alighted from a bus" instead of the ordinary "they got off ...
- 1,176
0
votes
1
answer
43
views
Can you use “if past, then past”?
Is it possible to use the past simple in the result-clause of the 2nd conditional?
Is it possible to say:
If I had enough money, I bought a car.
-2
votes
1
answer
97
views
Which one is correct "John is in the third" or "John is in the third place"? [closed]
If I want to ask someone in the picture, like 'Where's John?' or 'Which one is john?' which answer should it be?
0
votes
2
answers
389
views
Can someone respond to a question by just saying "I´ll" instead of "I will"? Why or why not? [duplicate]
My friend keeps on responding to questions by just saying "I´ll". This doesn´t seem grammatically correct to me. However I would like to know what would be the proper use of that contraction....
1
vote
2
answers
90
views
Dropping articles: "I have a little brother and little sister." - is this correct? [closed]
I teach ESL online through a company which provides materials. One sentence given is
"I have a little brother and little sister."
When I read this aloud to the student, I automatically added ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
35
views
Meaning of 'what is this compared to her previous song'
'What is this compared to her previous song'.
Two people argued about whether a song was good or not, and one just responded with this.
What did they mean by that? I haven't found any satisfactory ...
0
votes
0
answers
629
views
'strong chance' or 'strong possibility'?
'there is a strong chance that our team will win.'
or
'there is a strong possibility that our team will win.'?
i think the latter seems more suitable.
thoughts?
3
votes
1
answer
145
views
Which one is correct: 'She was the first woman ever elected as President' or 'She was the first woman ever to be elected as President'?
I think both sentences are ok but my teacher said I could only use the latter? I have also asked some friends yet they gave different opinions, so I'm not sure which one is proper. please help.
1
vote
1
answer
159
views
What is the word for the verb that signifies performing the action suggested by a given noun?
I realize the wording is a little difficult to parse; essentially, I'm asking how to fill in the following blanks:
The ___ of "mistake" is "make".
The ___ of "action" is "perform".
The ___ of "...
- 29
0
votes
5
answers
373
views
Why do conditional sentences with "would have had to" have an extra "had" in them?
Well, I was reading about Type Three conditionals. In the main clause we use if + past perfect (had), then in the second clause we use either the "perfect conditional" or the "perfect ...
- 19
0
votes
1
answer
451
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Use of "which in part" - what grammar rule is involved? [closed]
Can someone explain how this author uses "which in part" in this sentence? What grammar rule allows the author to use "which in part"? How can I too use "which in part" correctly in a sentence?
The ...
- 34
0
votes
3
answers
65
views
How to simplify the sentence and keep the same meaning? [closed]
I want to say
Riding Uber is similar to going to the barber shop,
Tip is not mandatory but always welcome.
How I can shorten it?
-2
votes
1
answer
13k
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Name of the English speaking test where you have to describe a scene
There is a well-known English Communication test which is used to assess primary and middle-school students' levels of spoken English. Students look at a scene card where several activities are ...
- 1,041
105
votes
12
answers
13k
views
Why does "I was happy to do my homework" work, but "I was tired to do my homework" doesn't?
I'm teaching ESL, and I came across a question from one of my students that I don't know how to answer. Using the form "{subject} {verb} {adjective} {infinitive phrase}" we've been going over ...
- 1,056
-1
votes
2
answers
836
views
What's a simpler word for "several" in the meaning of "multiple" [closed]
[Hello. I'm not a native English speaker, so please forgive me for my mistakes if there are any]
Suppose I wanted to say "I have in my class several people called Jim Smith". I'm under the impression ...
- 17
1
vote
1
answer
604
views
How to correct/improve 's-' pronunciation at the beginning of a sentence?
As a native Spanish speaker, I tend to mispronounce some letters or words in English. One of them is the 's' sound at the beginning of a word, for example, I pronounce:
'slang' as /eslaŋ/ instead of /...
- 111
-1
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Which English words are commonly misused by non-native English speakers? [closed]
It's quite easy to find lists of commonly misused words. They are all over the internet.
But it's not clear which of them are the MOST commonly misused words.
This article says that there are 38 ...
- 1
4
votes
3
answers
850
views
ESL text: "I notice similarities between myself and . . . ": Acceptable use of reflexive pronoun?
In an ESL class, a student asked a difficult question about the use of “myself” in the following sentence:
I notice similarities between myself and other people more than
differences.
(Speak Out,...
- 4,562
0
votes
1
answer
478
views
How to write this kind of sentence for a distinguished lecture series?
I work in a Chinese university and recently our department has decided to start a Distinguished Lecture Series in Physics. We want to give the invited speaker some kind of document showing that, ...
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2
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Road to English fluency for advanced speakers [closed]
I have been learning English all my life. I have been in the US for three years. I consider myself an advanced English speaker. There are many resources on the internet that are geared towards ...
- 297
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votes
2
answers
4k
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I will learn better English -- should it be "I will learn English better."
Somehow, I think "better English" is incorrect, because I think there isn't better English; English is English. But I hear this phrase from other ESL students a lot. Is this correct way of saying it? ...
- 89
2
votes
1
answer
3k
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Mixed conditional clause type 1-3
I came across the following conditional clause while studying a grammar book published by Oxford:
"If you know London so well, you shouldn't have got so hopelessly lost."
The writer of the book has ...
- 448
-1
votes
2
answers
487
views
Is it technically incorrect to speak English using speech sounds of native language(which is not English)?
Consonants "t" and "p" are not unvoiced in my native language, which is Hindi. So I pronounce "Paint" with voiced "p" and "t", is it technically correct? It is acceptable, I know. But is it correct?
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9
votes
4
answers
26k
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What are the connotations of "there" in "hello/hi there"
I'm an ESL speaker and I'm not completely familiar with the underlying meaning conveyed when adding there to a greeting such as
Hello there
compared to just
Hello
(punctuation omitted for ...
- 191
2
votes
1
answer
215
views
What patterns will flash in the native-speaker's brain when using English? [closed]
I think it is a common puzzle for ESL,especially for Chinese,since English is more abstract than Chinese, using which we can feel some specific patterns flashing in our brain.
For example, when I see ...
- 129
1
vote
1
answer
4k
views
Why do some users from India make these particular punctuation and capitalization errors? [closed]
Many users from India are now using the Stack Exchange sites and I see a common set of errors:
Spaces before punctuation: *where is this going ?
No space at all around punctuation *This is one ...
4
votes
5
answers
40k
views
Use of the definite article "the" before "church"
I was in a Teacher's selection for a school in my country, and one of the coordinators said that she heard a mistake from another teacher that was unacceptable. I tried to figure out why was that, but ...
2
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Get in vs. get on [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Origin/reason for the expression “on the bus” instead of “in the bus”
I'm an EFL (English as a foreign language) teacher and I haven't been able to come up with a good ...
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-2
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is the standard way to answer a question that is asking for confirmation? [closed]
Now, this is something all native english speakers should have learned in grade school, but many non-native english speakers don't know how to answer a question unambiguously.
In particular, in the ...
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27
votes
6
answers
52k
views
Why do non-native English users often spell "standard" as "standart"?
I've seen this incredibly often on StackOverflow, but also on a few other internet sites. "Standart" is an extremely common misspelling of "standard".
Is there a reason in how English is taught to ...
- 1,900
2
votes
5
answers
23k
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Films/Series that are extremely good to understand (and that are not...) [closed]
Some time ago I asked "Why are movies so hard to understand (and what can you do about it)?"
To my surprise even many native speakers answered that they had difficulties understanding some movies and ...
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