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99 Fast Ways To Improve Your English
99 Fast Ways To Improve Your English
99 Fast Ways
to Improve Your English
is intended to provide students
of English with a useful and easy
to use resource.
THIS
E-BOOK
Page Number
Preposition Power 65
Common Confusion
2. You just found out that you won a lottery for $10,000,000!
You might say
a. I’m so exciting!
b. I’m so excited!
All
99 Fast Ways to Improve your English
24. a. I slept very well last night because I was tired from
studying all day.
b. I very slept last night because I was tired from studying
all day.
25. a. She studied very hard last night.
b. She studied very hardly last night.
26. a. I often get up lately if I don’t use my alarm clock.
b. I often get up late if I don’t use my alarm clock.
27. a. He is not enough tall to play basketball.
b. He is not tall enough to play basketball.
28. a. Dr. Kim doesn’t have money enough to buy a Mercedes.
b. Dr. Kim doesn’t have enough money to buy a Mercedes.
29. a. I really love Japanese sumo.
b. I really love Japan sumo.
30. a. The Italian language is easy to learn.
b. The Italy language is easy to learn.
31. Mr. Johnson lives on Phuket Island.
a. There has beautiful beaches.
b. It has beautiful beaches.
32. a. I was married two years ago.
b. I was married two years before
33. a. I was married two years before.
b. I was married two years before I bought an apartment.
34. a. Since it is not raining, I do not need an umbrella.
b. Since it is not raining, I need not an umbrella.
35. a. I wasn't hungry this morning so I have not breakfast.
b. I wasn't hungry this morning so I did not have breakfast.
36. a. Until now women in many parts of the world do not have
the same rights as men.
b. Women in many parts of the world do not yet have the
same rights as men.
37. a. My boss told me that I had to finish the report until noon.
b. My boss told me that I had to finish the report by noon.
38. a. Miss Ramirez and Miss Choi have the same hair style.
b. Miss Ramirez and Miss Choi have same hair style.
39. a. Bill's car is the same to Fred's car.
b. Bill's car is the same as Fred's car.
40. a. Alice prepared for the English test all night.
b. Alice prepared the English test all night.
41. a. Even if it rains tomorrow I will travel to Prague.
b. Even though it rains tomorrow I will travel to Prague.
42. a. Almost Koreans have black eyes and hair.
b. Most Koreans have black eyes and hair.
43. a. Almost all Chinese have black eyes and hair.
b. Almost Chinese have black eyes and hair.
Preposition Power
1. b 34. a 67. b
2. b 35. b 68. a
3. b 36. b 69. b
4. a 37. b 70. a
5. b 38. a 71. a
6. b 39. b 72. b
7. b 40. a 73. a
8. a 41. a 74. b
9. b 42. b 75. b
10. b 43. a 76. b
11. a 44. a 77. a
12. a 45. a 78. b
13. b 46. b 79. a
14. b 47. a 80. a
15. a or b 48. a 81. a
16. a 49. a 82. b
17. a 50. b 83. a
18. b 51. b 84. b
19. b 52. a 85. b
20. b 53. a 86. b
21. a 54. b 87. a
22. b 55. b 88. a
23. b 56. b 89 .a
24. a 57. a 90. b
25. a 58. b 91. a
26. b 59. a 92. b
27. b 60. a 93. b
28. b 61. b 94. b
29. a 62. b 95. b
30. a 63. a 96. b
31. b 64. b 97. b
32. a 65. b 98. b
33. b 66. b 99. b
All Rights Reserved © EFLeBooks
99 Fast Ways to Improve your English
Greetings: ______
Grammar: _____
Propositions: _____
Articles: _____
Notes:
Part One:
Greetings
and
Farewells
FOR NATURAL
SOUNDING
CONVERSATION:
Examples:
A: Yo!
A: Howdy!
A: What’s up?
A: How’s it going?
A: What’s happening?
Appropriate Farewells:
These farewells are appropriate in a business setting or
when leaving people other than close friends.
A: Good bye.
A: It was nice to see you again.
A: Good evening/night.
A: Have a good evening/day/night.
Casual Farewells:
Use these farewells only when leaving
close friends.
Part Two:
Common Confusion
Some of the most common errors in usage are between certain sets
of words. Master these ten sets and you will have made a great im-
provement!
Bored/Boring, Interested/Interesting,
and Excited/Exciting
Don’t say:
I am so exciting!
Do say:
The lottery is so exciting!
Yes, you may be very interesting, but you should leave that up to
people that know you and who are interested in you.
Many teachers are boring and their students are bored. Sometimes
a teacher is bored by his or her students.
Lend/Loan/Borrow
Do say: Su-Hyun, may I borrow 5000 won from you so I can buy
lunch today?
She might say: Of course, I will be glad to lend (or loan) you
5000 won!
Just as common:
Do say: Would you lend (or loan) your cell phone to me for a
moment? I need to call home.
Note that I borrow something from you, but you lend something to
me. Or, I may lend something to you, but you borrow something
from me. Remember: lend to, borrow from
Most/Most of
Students often confuse the use of most and most of. Most should be
used if the word following it is a noun or adjective. Most of should
be used if the word following it is a pronoun, a proper noun used as a
possessive, or an article.
Lay/Lie
Even some native speakers have trouble with these two words—learn
them well and you will be a super star!
Learn/Study
Examples:
Raise/Rise
These two words, like lie and lay, are often misused, even by native
speakers—you can get the upper hand by understanding them.
Accident/Incident
An accident is an unforeseen,
unpredictable event.
Don’t say: A man murdered his parents last night in order to gain
access to their money. This kind of accident is deplor-
able and has shocked the entire nation. (If a man plans a
murder it is not an accident, it is an incident.)
See/Look at/Watch
Agree with/Agree to
Don’t say: Miss Lee agreed to Mr. Ma's comment about the
educational problems in Taiwan.
Do say: Miss Lee agreed with Mr. Ma's comment about the
educational problems in Taiwan.
Don’t say: Bill agreed with his brother's suggestion to lend him
money to start his own business.
Impressive/Impressively/Impression/Impressed
Try these exercises to see if you learned everything from Part Two!
(The answers are upside down on the bottom of the page)
_______4. Did you see the car _______ in front of the school?
a. incident b. accident
Part Three:
Oh no!
Not Grammar!
Wrestling with
Grammar
NEGATIVE STATEMENTS
NEGATIVE QUESTIONS
If the question is answered yes - and the person means no, it will
confuse native speakers of English.
Don’t say: Yes, I decided not to because I couldn't find one I liked.
Do say: No, I didn't because I couldn't find one I liked.
WORD ORDER
VERY
The word very, when used to give force or emphasis to the degree
that something happens, should modify another adverb, not the verb.
Don’t say: I very slept last night because I was tired from studying
all day.
Do say: I slept very well last night because I was tired from
studying all day.
HARDLY/LATELY
ENOUGH
Students of English often place the word enough in the wrong place
in a sentence. Enough should be placed before nouns, pronouns, or
gerunds.
and
THERE/IT
When referring to a place, such as a city, many people use the word
there as a pronoun and the correct pronoun should be it.
Don’t say:
I live on Taiwan.
There has many beautiful
mountains and rivers.
Do say:
I live on Taiwan.
It has many beautiful
mountains and rivers.
IN/AGO
Students of English often make errors in the use of in and ago when
they are talking about the past or future - when the reference point
in time is now (at this moment).
When the reference point in time is now and you are talking about
something in the past use ago. He quit smoking five years ago.
When the reference in time is now and you are talking about
something in the future use in. I will quit smoking in two days.
WHILE/DURING
While and during are both used to talk about two events that occur
at the same time. While should be used before adverbial phrases
and during should be used before nouns or noun phrases.
Don’t say:
During in high school she took
piano lessons.
Do say:
While in high school she took
piano lessons.
AUXILIARY VERB DO
STILL/YET
Students often mistakenly use until now when they should use still
or yet.
Don’t say:
In America, men having long hair is very common
among college students until now, just like it was
in the 1960's.
Do say:
In America, men having long hair is still very
common among college students, just like it was
in the 1960's.
UNTIL/BY
Don’t say:
My boss told me that I had to turn
in the report until noon.
Do say:
My boss told me that I had to turn
in the report by noon.
(It must be finished by then.)
Do say:
My boss told me that I had until noon to turn in the report.
(He won’t want it after noon, or I am in trouble if I turn it in after that
time!)
Students often forget to include the in the phrases the same and
the same as.
Similarly, errors are made when English students use the phrases the
same with and the same to. These two are not English terms.
Don’t say: Mr. Chen and Miss Lee have same kind of car.
Do say: Mr. Chen and Miss Lee have the same kind of car.
PREPARE/PREPARE(D) FOR
Students frequently have problems with the use of even if and even
though.
Even if should be used when the situation being talked about does
not exist.
ALMOST/MOST
Don’t say:
Almost Asians have black eyes and hair.
Do say:
Most Asians have black eyes and hair.
or
Do say:
Almost all Asians have black eyes and hair.
MAKE vs. DO
These two verbs create problems for most students as much of the
usage is idiomatic and requires you to memorize it—rather than to
understand and reason out the use.
MAKE Do
VERB ENDINGS
Ssssssss
Part Four:
Misused
and Abused Words
PHONE
PROMISE
Do say: I made a
promise to my boyfriend
to have dinner with him
tonight. (used as a noun)
Do say: I promised my
boyfriend that I would
have dinner with him
tonight. (used as a verb)
SAYING
Do say: There is an old saying: "If you can't beat them, join them".
DEAD
Vacation refers to time off from work that employees earn and are
usually from one week to one month in duration. Days off refer to
the days that employees do not work during the week. Days off are
usually on Saturday and Sunday.
COME and GO
Use come if you are at a place and are talking about that place as
your destination.
A student at school
might say the following:
Use go if you are at one place and are talking about another place as
your destination.
PLAY
The word play is used when talking about games or sports that
require at least two people (or a team) to participate in. It is not used
when talking about a game or sport if only one individual can
participate (or where a person is competing against themselves).
Other examples of such sports are swimming, running, camping, etc.
APART
REMEMBRANCE/MEMORY
OF COURSE
Don’t say:
Paul: Do you live in Berlin?
Marcus: Of course, I'm German.
Do say:
Paul: Do all Germans living in Berlin speak the German
language?
Marcus: Of course! What else would they speak?
HOUR/O’CLOCK
VOCABULARY
EYE SHOPPING
WEAR/CLOTHING/CLOTHES
FAMOUS/WELL-KNOWN
Many students use famous when they should use the term well-
known.
TRIP/TRAVEL
Trip and travel are frequently used interchangeably and they should
not be. Trip is usually used as a noun and travel is usually used as a
verb.
COMMON/POPULAR
MR./MRS./MS./MISS
DENY/REFUSE
Deny is also a verb and usually has the meaning to refuse to admit
the existence, truth, or value of something. She denied that her car
was worth only £500.
Don’t say: Some people say he gambles away all of his earnings.
But he refuses it.
or,
SLEEPING WITH
MAJOR/MAJOR IN
Try this basic set of questions then look at the review on the following
pages. Put a preposition in each blank or an “X” if the blank doesn’t
need a preposition! The answers are at the end of the exercise.
11. Let’s meet _____ Wednesday evening and have dinner together.
13. Ms. Bila’s car broke down and she had to walk home _____
last night.
26. _____ vacation I like to lie _____ the beach and swim _____
the sea.
28. Let’s go _____ the hospital _____ next week to visit Mr. Park.
30. You can find the answers to this quiz _____ the bottom of
this page.
the morning
In the evening
used with a period the afternoon
of time a month (in February)
a season (in the winter)
a year (in 2005)
an amount of time (in two weeks,
in two years, in two minutes)
an amount of time
For (for ten minutes, for ten years)
Prepositions of Place
To/From
used to movement from I drive to the gym every day.
one place to I walk to class in the morning.
another (or direction) Dr. Lee moved from Seoul to Mokpo.
At
used to denote position He is waiting at the door.
or rest He lives at home.
(at a specific place) We’ll meet at the restaurant.
In
used to denote position The book is in my desk.
or rest inside We took walk in the countryside.
something
Into
denotes movement Let’s go into the library and study.
towards the inside of He drove his car into the garage.
something
Between Among
The heart is between the stars. The heart is among the stars.
Let’s keep this secret between us. The secret is the heart, we are the
stars in the example above left.
Only the two of us will know the secret. We won’t tell anyone else.
Don’t say: The star is across from (or opposite) the arrow.
Do say: The star is across from (or opposite) the heart.
Do say: The star is across from, but down the street from
the arrow.
All Rights Reserved © EFLeBooks
99 Fast Ways to Improve your English
Note that when a is used, it is used before nouns that begin with a
consonant sound. An is used before nouns that begin with a vowel
sound. Many students incorrectly say an university or a hour.
X-ray begins with a vowel sound and should take the article an.
Don’t say: I saw strange car in front of your house late last
night.
Do say: I saw a strange car in front of your house late last
night.
In general, nouns do not need an article when they are used in a gen-
eral sense, but if they are used in a specific sense the definite article
is needed. Note the inclusion or omission in the following examples:
3.1.6. Meals
3.1.7. Colors
Some and any are the most common quantifiers. Some is used with
affirmative statements and any is used with questions and negative
statements.
I bought apples.
Do you have bananas?
The baby needs milk.
Are there people waiting?
Finished !
By now you should have a much better grasp of English
and know a LOT more about the little details that really
make a difference.
Good luck with your studies, if you got this far you are
doing SUPER well! Good for you!
Notes