Joanne Reilly 
English Academy
 

When producing a piece of written work for college or a report for your boss it is good practice not to repeat the same word too many...

In the previous blog post we looked at how at, in or on are used to talk about different time elements. This blog post looks at these...

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...

It may sound logical but the end of your email is the last impression that the reader will have of you. It is therefore a good idea to...

You've decided on the subject, and you've addressed the recipient with an appropriate greeting. Now you need to write what you want to...

The subject of your email should be clear. Before the reader opens your mail they will want to know what it is about. The clearer you...

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....