How do English Speakers Really Use "Let" in Conversation?

We use “let” in a variety of situations, but I’ve included some of the most common ways we use it below:

It means to allow someone/something to do something:

• Don’t let him go out tonight, it’s too dangerous. (Don’t allow him to go out.)

• Let your brother have a turn with the PS4. (Allow your brother to have a turn.)

• I know you’re upset about the bad grade you got on your test, but you need to let it go/let go of it. (Allow yourself to free your mind of troubling thoughts.)

• When her younger brother grabbed her by the hair she screamed, “let me go!” (Allow me to go free.)

• Can you come to the party on Sunday? Please let us know. (“Let us know” literally means please allow us to know what you know. It’s very common to end an email this way when you’re asking for information.)

To make a polite suggestion:

The structure is let’s + verb.

• Let’s go together!

• Let’s have a drink!

• Let’s play a game!

*Note: “Let’s” means “let us”, but we almost always shorten it to “let’s”. “Let us” sounds unnatural.

To offer to help:

We use “let” when we see someone is struggling with something, and we want to help. The structure is let + me + verb.

• Here, let me help you with that.

• Don’t worry about that, let me take care of (do/wash) the dishes.

How to use "Recommend" and "Suggest" in Conversation

A lot of students have trouble when using “recommend” and “suggest” in a sentence.

The most common mistake that people make is…

instead of saying:

“She recommended the book to me” (which is correct)

students sometimes say:

“She recommended to me the book” (which is incorrect)

Here’s a simple rule to remember…

We never put “to + person” after “recommend” or “suggest”.

See the table below for a full list of how to use “recommend” and “suggest” in a sentence.

Pronunciation of "Can" vs. "Can't"

Do you struggle to hear the difference between “can” and “can’t”? Even native speakers sometimes struggle to hear the difference, but if you know some common pronunciation rules and patterns for these words, it can be easier to tell them apart.

I hope this video will help!

5 Common Ways to Use the Verb "To Take"

“Take” is one of the most confusing words in the English language because there are over 20 different ways that we can use it. How many ways do you know?

Learning English through Poems

Poems can be a great tool for learning English, especially if your English level is between intermediate to advanced. Reading poetry can help take you from understanding the dictionary definitions of words (denotations) to understanding the deeper feeling or emotion behind words (connotation) that native speakers are able to intuitively understand. 

Poems are usually quite short, so each word is carefully chosen and packed with meaning. 

One trick for getting the most out of poetry is to choose at least two words from the poem that seem important and look them up in the dictionary (even if you are familiar with the meaning). Review all the possible uses of the word, as well as the word origin and historical use. Then, ask yourself, does this new knowledge contribute to the meaning of the poem in some way?

Take, for example, the following poem:

WALTER DE LA MARE

Slim Cunning Hands

Slim cunning hands at rest, and cozening eyes—

Under this stone one loved too wildly lies;

How false she was, no granite could declare;

Nor all earth’s flowers, how fair.

The word “cunning” means to achieve one’s goals through deceit (which has a negative connotation), but it can also mean that someone is crafty and ingenious (which has a positive connotation). Furthermore, in North America, it can even mean that something is attractive. So, the author is implying that the subject of the poem has deceitful, yet attractive hands. 

Similarly, “cozening” means to deceive someone, but can also mean to win them over by “artful coaxing”. So, on the one hand, the word is negative, but on the other hand, it also implies that the author respects the skill of the woman he is writing about. 

When you analyze the meaning of both of these words, it becomes clear that the speaker has complex feelings about the woman in the poem. With just two words, he describes her as deceitful, but also as beautiful and skillful. 

I encourage you to use poetry in your English studies if you’re looking to better understand the nuances of the English language.

Tips for Increasing your IELTS Speaking Band Score

• Make eye contact and smile (try to enjoy yourself).

• Emulate the test environment as best you can before you get there. Find a stranger (ideally a native speaker) who will help you. A good way to do this is to find a teacher who specializes in IELTS and ask them to go through the exam with you. Request that they try to emulate the test circumstances as closely as possible.

• If you can’t think of a vocabulary word, it is perfectly okay to paraphrase. For example, “Last weekend I went to the theater to see a show - you know, the type of show where the actors sing very beautifully in Italian, and there is live classical music.” This person can’t remember how to say “opera”, but they were able to describe the opera using other words.

• Similar to the writing exam, you should try not to copy the exact phrasing of the question in your answer. For example, if the question asks, “Who do you most admire?”, you could say something like “One of the people who I look up to the most is…”, instead of “the person I most admire is…”

• Make sure to expand upon your answers as much as possible. Always be thinking about the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “how” and most importantly, “why”. Never answer a question with a simple “yes” or “no”.

How to Pronounce Past-Tense Verbs

One of the mistakes I hear students make often is to mispronounce verbs in the past-tense. The construction of the past-tense is pretty simple; you just add -d or -ed to the end of a base verb. However, the pronunciation can be a little tricky because it changes depending on the base verb.

The three ways to pronounce -ed endings are as follows:

Pronunciation  #1 sounds like “t”

• Rule: If the verb base ends in a voiceless sound, then the –ed ending sounds like “t”. (Voiceless sounds include: p, f, k, s, sh, ch, th)

• Examples: asked, checked, liked, talked, touched

Pronunciation # 2 sounds like “d”

• Rule: If the verb base ends in a voiced sound, then the –ed ending sounds like “d”. (Voiced sounds include: b, v, g, z, j, th, l, m, n, r)

• Examples: stayed, entered, remembered, agreed, judged

Pronunciation # 3 sounds like “ed”

• Rule: If the verb base ends in a “t” or “d” sound already, then the –ed ending sounds like “id”.

• Examples: accepted, started, rested, rented, needed

How to Improve Your English Pronunciation

One of the questions I get most often as an English teacher is, “How can I sound like a native English speaker?” My response to this is - don’t try to sound exactly like a native. Clarity of speech is more important than sounding like you were born and raised in an English speaking country. Your accent is one of the unique things about you and you should be proud of it because it shows how hard you worked to learn English as a second language. However, you can and should focus on making your pronunciation clear and easily understood.

Here are three steps you should follow to improve your English pronunciation:

1. Go back to the building blocks of language and master all of the basic sounds of English. You can consult a phonemic chart for a list of all of the sounds in the English language. Watching videos is a good way to see what the mouth looks like when the sounds are pronounced: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/pronunciation

   Depending upon what your first language is, you may or may not have sounds that match the ones in English. You should research which sounds in English are most different from those in your first language, and spend extra time practicing those sounds.

2. After you master the sounds of English, the next step is to work on word syllable emphasis. Depending on the word, different parts will sound stronger (have more emphasis). For example, “compete” is pronounced as “com-PETE” - with the “PETE” syllable sounding stronger than the “com” syllable.

3. Finally, after you feel confident with English sounds and word syllable emphasis, you should focus on learning which words to emphasize in a sentence. For example, “Did YOU go home this morning?” has a slightly different meaning than “Did you go HOME this morning?” In the first sentence, the focus is on figuring out who did the action, but in the second sentence, the focus is on figuring out where the person went.

   Additionally, sentences in English tend to follow a rhythm based on the importance of the words in the sentence. For example, in the sentence, “I ate an apple on Monday”, the emphasis is on the verb “ate” and on the nouns, “apple” and “Monday”.

10 Ways to Greet Someone in English

1. Hey

2. What’s up, or SUP?

3. How ya’ doin? (good friend)

4. Hi

5. Howdy y'all

6. How are things (with you)?

7. It’s good to see you

8. What’s new?

9. What’s happening?

10. Long time no see

The 4 best TV Shows for Learning American English

The hardest part about learning a language is understanding what native speakers consider to be funny. Some comedy can be understood without language - such as a pie in the face or pulling a prank, but most comedy is difficult to understand.

There are many reasons for this. Comedy tends to be more fast-paced than everyday English, and is full of references to culture, history, stereotypes, and shared experiences that come from living in an English-speaking country for a long time. 

The good news is that by watching American comedies, you will not only improve your understanding of English, but also of American culture at the same time. 

The following 4 shows are my top recommendations for understanding US English and culture. 

1. Modern Family - Modern family is a show about a dysfunctional, quirky family who challenges ideas of the traditional American family. 

2. Black-ish - Blackish - This show looks at the African American experience and is helpful for understanding the common struggles faced by African Americans. 

3. Fresh off the Boat - This show looks at the Asian American experience and is helpful for understanding American stereotypes about people from East Asian countries. 

4. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon - This is a great show for understanding American politics and pop culture. 

English Phrase — "Take it with a Grain of Salt"

"Take it with a Grain of Salt" means to believe only part of what someone is telling you, or not to take it too seriously. 

It is usually given as cautionary advice.

Examples:

Kim: The salesperson said this was the best deal in town. 

Kim’s Friend: You should take what the salesperson said with a grain of salt - there are probably better deals. 

---

Hiring manager: The last candidate said they were an expert in a hundred different skills. I’m going to take what they said with a grain of salt, since they must have been exaggerating. 

---

Son: Grandma says bread never expires.

Dad: Take what your grandma says with a grain of salt - not everything she says is true. 

English Phrase — "I Don't Mind"

The word "mind" means to be distressed, annoyed, or worried by something. 

People will often ask you, "Do you mind?" before asking you to do a chore. For example, "Do you mind taking out the trash?" 

The answer to this question is "I don't mind" (I will take out the trash), or "Yes, I do mind" (I won't take out the trash).

Even though the phrase "Yes, I do mind" is grammatically correct, we don't usually say it because it's a rude way to respond to a request. A more polite way to respond is to say "Actually, I can't take out the trash right now because..."

Also, people will often use this phrase to find out if something they are doing is annoying, "Do you mind if I play music?" (Does this music bother you?)

If the music does not bother you, the correct response is, "No, I don't mind". If the music does bother you, it's polite to say "I'd prefer if you didn't play music", rather than "Yes, I mind".