Tami Savir English Teacher & Tutor

Read these two sentences. How are they different?
1. I went to a party but I didn’t have a good time. I was boring.
2. I went to a party but I didn’t have a good time. I was bored.

Both sentences use the same adjective. But they have very different meanings.
In number one, I’m telling you that I didn’t have a good time because I wasn’t fun. I was boring.
In number two, I’m telling you that I didn’t have a good time because the party wasn’t fun. I was bored. The party was boring.

An adjective that ends in -ING is used to describe the personality or characteristics of a person, a thing or a situation.
An adjective that ends in -ED is used to describe how a person feels or an emotion. It is used to describe a temporary thing.

So, in number one, I used -ing and was describing my personality. I was boring.
In number 2, I used -ed and was describing how I felt at the party. I was bored.
Note that since only people (and some animals) have feelings, -ed adjectives cannot be used to describe an object or situation. You would not say, “The party is bored.”

Here are a few more examples:
I am confused. (I don't understand something. Describes how I feel.)
I am confusing. (I will cause you to be confused. Describes one of my characteristics.)

He was shocked by the accident last night. (He felt surprised and upset by the accident.)
There was a shocking accident last night. (The accident was surprising and upsetting.)

They were frightened by the roller-coaster. (They were afraid of the roller-coaster.)
The roller-coaster is frightening. (The roller-coaster scares people.)

Correct the mistakes below. Then post your answers.
1. Vera is annoying because the woman next to her is talking loudly on her phone.
2. I fell asleep at the conference. The speaker was very bored.
3. I flew for 12 hours. It was a tired flight.

Which of the following is correct?
1. He didn’t came to dinner.
2. He didn’t come to dinner.

If you said number 2, you’re right. If you got it wrong, don’t worry. This is a common mistake made by many English learners. But why do people make this mistake? Perhaps because they don’t realize that the positive and the negative are different in the past tense.
When you talk about something in the past, in the positive form, the verb must be in the past tense. Look at these examples:
She worked late last night.
I ate dinner at 8 o’clock.
We saw a good movie last week.

When you talk about something in the past, in the negative form, you must say ‘didn’t’ and keep the verb in the base form. For example:
She didn’t work late last night.
I didn’t eat dinner at 8 o’clock.
We didn’t see a good movie last week.

The difference between THEN and THAN

Use ‘then’ to talk about sequence and order of time.
For example:
We ate dinner and then we went out for ice cream.
Walk to the next corner, then turn right.

Use ‘then’ to show a necessary consequence.
For example:
If you like it so much, then, you should buy it.

Use ‘than’ for comparison.
For example:
My son is taller than my daughter.
I like the black shoes better than the red ones.
Remember: whenever you compare two things always use ‘than ‘.

What’s the difference between Ensure, Assure and Insure? Another good question!
They all talk about guaranteeing an outcome but are used in different ways.
Use ensure when you want to be certain that something is done or happens.
Example: As project manager, it’s your job to ensure that the project stays on schedule.
Use assure when you want to tell someone that something is definitely true, especially so that they don’t worry.
Example: I assure you that the project will be completed on schedule.
Use insure to talk about providing or getting insurance.
Examples: I insured my house in case it gets flooded.
My policy insures me against damage and theft.

What's the difference between affect and effect?
I'm glad you asked! This is something that many people (including native English speakers) get confused about.

"Affect" is a verb and means to influence something.
Example: The new rates will affect all consumers.

"Effect" is a noun and means the result of an influence.
Example: I tried taking tablets for my headache but they didn't have any effect.

This seems very straight forward. However, if you want to talk about bringing about a change you say, "effect a change" or "effect change".
Example: We can all effect change by recycling and using less plastic.

This may seem confusing since we already established that effect is a noun and affect is a verb. But this is English … many rules and many more exceptions. :)

To all my NYC students: If you liked Tami Savir English Teacher & Tutor, feel free to leave a recommendation. I appreciate your support!

Mini Grammar Lesson:
In English, 'a' and 'an' are indefinite articles. This means they don't refer to anything definite or specific. Examples:
Hand me a document.
You would give me any document that is nearby. By using the indefinite article ‘a’ with the noun (a document) I’m telling you that I am not referring to a specific document.

I received an email from our client.
This means that I received one of many emails from our client. By using the indefinite article ‘an’ with the noun (an email) I’m telling you that I am not referring to a specific email.

You will notice in the first example I used ‘a’ and in the second I used ‘an’. So how did I know which one to use?
Choosing the correct indefinite article is based on listening to the words you’re using. The rule is as follows:
Use 'a' before nouns (or adjectives) that start with a consonant sound.
Hand me a document. Make me a sandwich.

Use 'an' before nouns (or adjectives) that start with a vowel sound.
I received an email. Make me an egg sandwich.

Notice that what’s important is the first sound of the noun or adjective (not the spelling). Some more examples:
I worked an hour of overtime yesterday.
The first letter of the noun (hour) is a consonant. But it is silent and the first sound of the word is a vowel sound. Because of the vowel sound we say 'an hour'.

I chose a university close to home.
The first letter of the noun (university) is a vowel. But the first sound of the word sounds like ‘you-niversity’ - like the letter ‘y’ which is a consonant. Because of the consonant sound we say 'a university.'

Now let’s talk about ‘the’. We use the definite article ‘the’ to refer to something specific. Examples:
Hand me the document.
Here I am referring to a specific document. We were probably just discussing it and you know which document I’m referring to.

I received the email from our client.
Here I am referring to a specific email. We were probably just discussing it or we have been waiting for this specific email.

Grammar Tip:
Which of these sentences do you think is grammatically correct?

Ella and I went to the beach.

Ella and me went to the beach.

If you chose the first sentence, you’re correct! But don't worry if you got it wrong. Many native English speakers get this wrong too and you will hear people speak this way.
However,
I and me ARE NOT interchangeable. Both are pronouns but they are grammatically different.

'I' is a subject pronoun and is the subject of a sentence. The subject of a sentence does the action (verb). In the first example, Ella and I went to the beach, both I and Ella are doing the action (the verb 'went') and are the subjects of the sentence.

'Me' is an object pronoun and is the object of a sentence. The object of a sentence receives the action (verb). If we go back to the example above I could say:
Ella met me at the beach.
Me (the object) receives the action (met me).
Ella (the subject) does the action (Ella met).

So the next time you hear someone (even a native speaker) using 'me' as the subject pronoun you can correct them ... but be nice! :)

Sometimes when you speak to people, do you understand the words but can't understand what they are saying? They may be using an idiom. An idiom is a sentence or phrase that means something very different from the meaning of the individual words. For example:
Kill two birds with one stone.
The meaning taken from the individual words mean killing two birds with a stone. But what this really means is:
To solve two problems with one single action.
Example sentence: Biking to work kills two birds with one stone.
Check out this site for more useful idioms

96 Super Common English Idioms (With Meanings and Pictures) Why is it so important to learn English idioms?Well, say you're in an American bar.It's loud, but you can hear what people are saying.Someone is talking about hitting books......another is talking about twisting someone's arm......and it sounds like someone's been stabbed in the

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