Joanne Reilly 
English Academy
 

Sometimes the smallest words in the English language are the most difficult to use. This is especially true when we think about at, on or...

The Red Lion Why do we call it 'the' Red Lion when only the name 'Red Lion' is written on the sign? That's because all hotels, pubs and...

I'm sure at least ten times a day during the height of the pandemic. Did you ever wonder why it was always called 'the' World Health...

Well known buildings and works of art all require us to use 'the' in front of their names: the Empire State Building the Mona Lisa the...

Have you ever noticed that all newspaper names start with the? The Washington Post The New York Times The Sunday Times The Guardian The...

How do I know which geographical features should have 'the' in front of them and which should not? Mountain ranges all start with 'the',...

Have you ever noticed how we refer to some countries as 'the [country name]' and others just as 'country name'? How do you know when to...

When asks a question that is looking for a defined time in the past. Q: When did it start raining? A: It started raining at 10 o'clock...

In other words, the present perfect continuous vs the present perfect simple. We use I have been doing when we are talking about an...

These two phrases sound very similar, but unfortunately they cannot be used interchangeably since they have different meanings. Let's...

How does it look like? What does it look like? 'What does it look like' is the correct version of the question because we are asking for...

I often hear people say that they have made a photograph of something, but a native speaker would say they had taken a photograph. We...

'Must' is a word that I often hear over used. My advice is to try and use it as little as possible. Instead, use 'have to'. Why is that?...

This can be a tricky question for many native speakers and is often used as part of a joke in comedy shows. I'm sure there was more than...

These two phrases are easily confused, especially when they can sometimes be used interchangeably and yet at other times they cannot....

Have you ever noticed that some English words, although they have the same meaning, cannot be used interchangeably in sentences? Good and...

Did you know that until and since mean two different things? They are both used as prepositions (tells you when something is happening in...

I'm sure we've all been in this situation: you are meeting someone for the first time and want to find out something more about them. It...

I recently heard this expression and it struck me as a little odd. Do you know why? Both means two. "Both cats and dogs are pets." "Both...

I'm sure you've heard this expression before in movies and song lyrics, but what about him, himself and he or her, herself and she?...