by Phil Williams | Dec 22, 2016 | Definitions, Exercises, General English, Vocabulary, Words
Here on ELB, I’m always fond of highlighting seasonal language, with articles and exercises that help practice English at particular times of year. In much of the English-speaking world, Christmas is one of the biggest and most universally celebrated festivals,...
by Phil Williams | Dec 14, 2016 | Definitions, General English, Vocabulary, Words
Here’s another confusing pair of words. Deceit and deception are both nouns, both loosely used to describe the act of deceiving. The act of deceiving being the act of concealing the truth or otherwise being misleading or false. In many situations the words can be used...
by Phil Williams | Dec 8, 2016 | Definitions, General English, Grammar
With negative questions that require a yes or no, there can sometimes be confusion in the correct way to answer. Grammatically, you may assume that a negative question answered in the affirmative should be a negative statement (i.e. “Doesn’t it look good?” – “Yes it...
by Phil Williams | Nov 24, 2016 | Definitions, Vocabulary, Words
I received a series of questions from a reader with no return email. So if you’re reading this, Carl, I’ll answer your questions in the blog. Starting with this – what is the difference between complex and complicated? A plan, for example, can be both complex and...
by Phil Williams | Nov 10, 2016 | Exercises, Prepositions, Reading Exercise
Below are the (slightly edited) opening paragraphs of the epic, classic novel Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville. Published in 1851, this story is studied in schools as one of the Great American Novels, and its opening line, “Call me Ishmael” is one of the most famous in...