TO DRIVE and to go BY CAR

I always drive to the train station every morning. It takes less than 10 minutes by car, but it would probably take half an hour to walk. I’ve never walked to the station. I take the train from the suburbs to Manhattan. Some of my friends come to work by subway, but there are no subways where I live, so that’s not an option for me.

A lot of readers have asked me about the difference between phrases like go by car and drive, so for today’s English vocabulary lesson, I thought I would talk about this point.

Using THE

The view from the top of the building is amazing!

I like animals. I sometimes go to the animal shelter in my neighborhood and play with the dogs. I saw a cute dog and a cute cat yesterday. The dog was white with a brown spot on his nose. The cat was black, with some white on his belly.

Using the can be tricky for a lot of

The Water Cooler - A Word With The Boss

Hear English: The Water Cooler (Fast) - A Word With The Boss
(Se...: 'Hear English' is a blog that provides podcasts and transcripts to help people learn English, find us at  http://hearenglish...

English Verbs + Prepositions Dictionary

English Verbs + Prepositions Dictionary

Think about / Think of

The two most common prepositions used after the verb “think” are “about” and “of.” They are very similar, but there is a small difference. Usually when you “think of something,” it is a brief moment – just a few seconds. It is also used for opinions. When you “think about something” you are considering it for a longer time – like a few minutes or more.

11 nouns that only have a plural form

O

f all the grammar concepts we have, "plural" seems to be one of the most straightforward. You got one thing? It's singular. Got more than one thing? It's plural. But alas, language is always less straightforward than we expect. The way we conceptualize something — as one thing or many things — doesn't always match up with the way our word for it behaves. There are some nouns that only have a plural form, regardless of how we think of them. They are known aspluralia tantum, Latin for "plural only." Here are 11 of them.                   Pup n' suds                                                                                                           (By Arika Okrent )

Talking About Your Family

Let’s begin our study of collocations by learning some common expressions about the family. Your parents and siblings (brothers and sisters) are your immediate family – and your extended family includes all your relatives – uncles, cousins, great-aunts, etc.

You can use a family tree to diagram the relationships among your family members. A person who is related to you by a long series of connections can be called a distant relative.

If you’re lucky, you have a loving family or a close-knit family – these

Some Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb: Get Rid Of
Meaning: To dispose of (like trash) to discard
- I need to get rid of some old books. I think I’ll donate them.
- The company got rid of its time clock system.