We can use nowadays, these days or today as adverbs meaning ‘at the present time, in comparison with the past’: I don’t watch TV very much nowadays. There’s so much rubbish on. It’s not like it used to be. Young people nowadays don’t respect their teachers any more. Warning: Take care to spell nowadays correctly: not ‘nowdays’. These days is more informal: These days you never see a young person give up their seat for an older person on the bus. That’s what I was taught to do
We use following without the + noun phrase to mean ‘after’, ‘in response to’ or ‘as a result of’: Following the bad election results of May 8th, the Prime Minister has appointed three new ministers. Following a general strike in 1933, he fled the country and went to South America. We use the following with a noun. It means ‘the next’: They only stayed at the hotel one night and left early the following morning. We went out on the boat. The sea was really rough and the followi
We use grateful to talk about how we feel when someone is kind to us or does us a favour: [a message on a thank-you card] Thank you so much for helping us move house. We are so grateful. Love Mark and Rose [at the end of a formal letter] I would be very grateful if you could send me more information about your company for my school project. Not: I would be thankful … We usually use thankful when we are relieved that something unpleasant or dangerous didn’t happen: A: I heard
Principal as an adjective means ‘most important’: The principal reason for the failure to take action was poor communication between government departments. (the most important reason) We can use principal as a noun to mean the head of a school or college (especially in American English): The college principal made a speech congratulating all the students who were graduating in that year. Principle is a noun. It means ‘a rule or theory which explains how something is or works
We use open as an adjective to mean ‘not closed’: I stopped the car when I realised that the door was open. Not: … that the door was opened. Opened is the past form of the verb open: Can you open the window, please? (present) She opened her eyes and immediately looked at the clock. (past) Warning: We don’t use open to refer to turning on taps and switches: Please turn on the taps separately. Not: Please open the taps … Can you switch on the lights, please? Not: Can you open t
If something fits you or fits into a place, it is the right size or shape for you or for that place: [trying on shoes in a shoe shop] These fit perfectly. And I like the colour. I think I’ll buy them. I’ve put on weight and my trousers don’t fit me anymore! Will this table fit into the space between the bookshelf and the wall? If something suits someone or something, it is right for that person or thing or situation, or it makes that person or thing look more attractive. Wedn
We use during to say when something happens, if it happens in or over a period of time. We use for to talk about the length of time something lasts. She phoned me during the week to tell me that she was getting married. (referring to a point in the week) We were in the cinema for three and a half hours. Not: … during three and a half hours. Our flight to New York was delayed for seven hours. Not: … during seven hours. We went to Italy for a week. Not: … during a week. We can
We use each to refer to individual things in a group or a list of two or more things. It is often similar in meaning to every, but we use every to refer to a group or list of three or more things. We use adverbs such as almost, practically and nearly with every, but not with each: Almost every car in the car park was new. Not: Almost each car … Practically every house now has at least two televisions. Not: Practically each house … We can use each of + pronoun or each of + det
Content (uncountable) Content as a singular noun is uncountable. It means the ideas that are contained in a piece of writing or a film or a speech: This film has adult content; it is not suitable for children. His speech was very flowery, but it lacked content and was quite superficial. Content can also mean the amount of a particular substance contained in something: These hamburgers have a high fat content; they’re not good for you. Contents (plural) The contents of a book
Consist, comprise and compose are all verbs used to describe what something is ‘made of’. We don’t use them in continuous forms. Consist Their diet only consisted of fruit and seeds. The whole group consists of students. We only use the active form of consist of: Their flat consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Not: Their flat is consisted of two bedrooms… Comprise Comprise is more formal than consist: The USA comprises 50 states. We can also use it in the passi
Consider and regard can both mean ‘believe’ or ‘realise’ or ‘understand’. When they mean ‘believe’ or ‘realise’ or ‘understand’, we don’t often use the continuous forms. Consider Consider takes several different patterns. Consider + that-clause When you consider that she was very scared, her story is even more remarkable. Consider + object + to be They consider him to be the best chef in the country. Consider + object + to have The ministry of trade considered the company to
We often use been to, instead of gone to, when we refer to completed visits to a place: Have you ever been to Budapest? Not: Have you ever gone to Budapest? If the visit is not complete, we use gone. #Commonmistake #Grammar
Any more as a determiner We use any more as a determiner to describe ‘an indefinite quantity of something’. Any more is similar to some more. Some more is more common in affirmative statements; any more is more common in questions, in clauses with if and in sentences with negative words such as hardly, never, scarcely: Would you like any more tea? If you find any more books, please let us know. She doesn’t want any more contact with him. There are hardly any more people here