English and Stories with Skola

Letter C produces the /s/ sound when followed by 'e', 'i', or 'y'.

•Cent •City •Cycle

It produces the /k/ sound when followed by other letters or when it stands alone.
•Cat •Cup •Coat

Have a great week.

©Skola Avenya.

The Food Basket Full Of Blood.

The sun, darkened with blood,
Gazed down gloomily.
On his knees, a man wailed quietly.
In his bloodied arms, his wife lay motionless,
Their foetus dangling from her side, swaying as the man shook violently in tears,
Joy dispelled by the swing of the executioner’s sabre,
The food basket is full of blood.

In anguish, he watched,
Hidden behind the trees,
As they butchered flesh like pork.
First his brother, then his teenaged daughter,
No mercy shown the toddler.
No mercy for the unborn as the blade slashed its mother's belly.
They revelled - their masked executors. They revelled!
The blood their libation, the bodies their thrill.
The food basket is full of blood.

Night falls,
Draped in dread like royal garb.
The Idoma man, once brave, jumps at the gentle rustle of grass.
The Igede man keeps silent watch; one blink, and he may vanish.
The Tiv man, lost in despair, cries out: Why does the night linger?
When will morning return?
What will purge the food basket full of blood?

©Skola Avenya

•Return it back. ❎
•Return it.✅

•Exercise patience❎
•Be patient✅

©Skola Avenya.

Me and my daughter are going to the market. ❎

My daughter and I are going to the market.✅

She gave it to my daughter and I. ❎

She gave it to my daughter and me.✅

"I" (subject pronoun) belongs in the subject position of the sentence.

"Me" (object pronoun) belongs in the object position of the sentence.

Note: When in doubt of the correct pronoun to use, separate the sentence like this:

a. She gave it to my daughter.✅

b. She gave it to l.❎

c. She gave it to me.✅

Now, join it ➡️ She gave it to my daughter and me.✅

©Skola Avenya.

•greatful❎
•grateful✅

•I'm short of words.❎
•I'm short for words.❎
•I'm at a loss for words.✅

You say you are at a loss for words when you cannot think of what to say in a particular situation, especially because you are surprised.

•She was at a loss for words to express her gratitude for their generosity.

Please note that the correct idiom with the meaning above is "at a loss for words". "Short of words" is grammatically correct, but it has a slightly different meaning from "at a loss for words".

©Skola Avenya.

•Raining season❎
•Rainy season✅

•She has a running nose.❎
•She has a runny nose.✅

•For/in the main time...❎
•In the meantime...✅

In the meantime refers to the time between two events.

•The new teacher will be here shortly. In the meantime, please read your books.

© Skola Avenya

•I'm sorry for your lost.❎
•I'm sorry for your loss.✅

•Arsenal loss the match.❎
•Arsenal lost the match.✅

•They chosed me.❎
•They choosed me.❎
•They chose me.✅

"Choosed" and "chosed" are not correct words.

Good morning, guys.❤️

©Skola Avenya

Common Mistake:
Sleep late: This means you WOKE UP late, not that you went to bed late.

But "sleep late" is not about the time that you start sleeping.

"Sleep late" is about the time that you wake up.

Sleep late = sleep late into the morning (wake up late)

I slept late this morning. I woke up at 11am.✅

A person who wakes up later than most people is also called a "late sleeper".

John is a late sleeper. He is always the last person to wake up.✅

To talk about the time that you start sleeping, you need to say "go to sleep late" or "go to bed late".

I went to sleep late last night because I was reading a book until 2am.✅

© Teacher Mike

Madam: Formal form of addressing a woman.
•Ma'am: Formal contraction of "madam".
•Ma: One's mother. An informal term for "mother" in standard English.

©Skola Avenya

The 't' in 'ballet' and 'buffet' is silent.

•"Ballet" is pronounced as "baley" (/bæ'leɪ/)
•"Buffet" is pronounced as "bufay" (/bʊˈfeɪ/)

©Skola Avenya

Dear Man U fans, the reason she refused to meet you at that suite might be because you pronounced it 'soot'. It has nothing to do with you being a Man U fan.

•Suite is pronounced "sweet" (/swiːt/)

©Skola Avenya.