What is the real meaning of SO THAT in a sentence? SO THAT can assume different meanings with respect to its position and the perspective of the writer. Mainly, it has three uses. 1. So that = if that is the case; to what purpose or end; in order that Here the clause after SO THAT answers WHY. Can you budge a little so that I too can sit here. I put on a hairband so that my hair won't fall on the face. In this usage, THAT is optional. Can you budge a little so I too can sit here. However, in the above-mentioned sentence, you should not mistake SO for the coordinating conjunction SO, which means "therefore." 2. So that = in such a way that; to what style In this usage, THAT is actually an elaboration on the introductory SO. Here the clause after SO THAT answers HOW. He designed the chair so that each was laid out two feet apart. He aligned the paragraphs so that they kept adequate distance from one another. 3. So .... that = how much; to what extent. In this usage, SO come

The dictionary says this word is both countable (at least singular) and uncountable; where should I use it as a countable with an indefinite pronoun (a/an), and where should I use it as an uncountable noun (with no article, just the noun)? This is a question that many article-usage-obsessed ESL learners ask when they see an English word that the dictionaries mark as both uncountable and countable. This idea applies to 90 percent of uncountable nouns. This is a 90%-accurate answer to the question. Such nouns are uncountable when they mean the total PROCESS , and they are countable (at least singular) when they mean a single INCIDENT, INSTANCE, or ACT of that process. For example, RAPE is a noun that is marked as both. 1. He was convicted of rape.  Here, rape is an uncountable noun because it is intended as a term or process. 2. What happened to her was a mind-numbing rape. Here, rape is countable because we are referring to one instance of rape. 3. We get less rain year-round. He

What is the difference between a job, work, and labor? As simple as they might sound, there is a subtle difference between them. A job (countable) is a profession that a person undertakes for a living, such as a doctor, a teacher, etc. Work (uncountable) is the collective set of responsibilities or activities that a person has to carry out in his or job. The work of a teacher, for example, includes teaching, conducting exams, keeping order in the class, etc. Labor (uncountable) is the amount of physical effort a person needs to put into his or her work. A teacher needs to put in less labor, whereas a bricklayer a lot. As a bonus, we usually call people who are in hard-labor jobs "laborers," whereas we call people with white-collar jobs rather "employees."

INTRODUCTION The subject and object of a sentence can either be a noun or a pronoun. A noun is the name of a person, an object, a place, idea, a living thing other than human beings, or an action. John (a person) a cat (a living thing) a pen (an object) love (an idea) walking (an action) A noun can be a generic term that stands for a group of similar things or a unique name for a single thing. a boy (generic) Martin (name) a cat (generic) Tom (name) There are many different categories that grammar teachers assign to nouns; here, I would like to classify them into just two for your convenience. The second category is if the noun is COUNTABLE or UNCOUNTABLE . The first category is if the noun is COMMON or PROPER . COUNTABLE VS UNCOUNTABLE Countable nouns means the nouns that have a plural version; they are the nouns that we can count as separate entities. a cat (cats, three cats, ten cats) a river (rivers, five rivers) a boy (boys, two boys) UNCOUNTABLE VS UNCOUNTABLE Uncountable nouns m

What is the difference between in school vs at school (at the school of someone), similarly, in college vs at college (at the college of someone). In School means the person is still a school student. Similarly, in college means the person is a college student. On the contrary, at school means the person (typically, the student who studies at the same school) is still physically present at the school. at the school means the person near or inside the school building for some reason other than regular education. Similarly, at the college means the person near or inside the college building for some reason other than regular education. Examples: My daughter is still in school. Two years later, she will be a college student. When I was in college, I was very studious. Hey Tom, I am at your school; come and get this package for you. My wife is at the college of our daughter. It is way past 6; my daughter is still at college hanging out with friends. I left my umbrella at the school.

ESL people are sometimes at a loss about the correct SVA (Subject Verb Agreement) aspect of sentences with "who." There are two angles to look at this question from. 1. Where only "Who IS" right! Suppose you are walking into a room where a number of people are present. Would you use a singular verb or a plual verb in these sentences? Who is/are interested in Football? Who wants snacks? Who is eating pizza tonight? Even if you are asking this question to a group of people and sure that there will be more than one person as an answer, you are supposed to use A SINGULAR VERB. It is because we donot know the number of people beforehand. 2. Where only "Who ARE" right! However, there are instances where you need to use a plural verb. It is when you know the number of people in advance. In fact, here, you are not trying to count the people, but rather you want to know the names or something of those persons. Suppose you are going to a restaurant and see two peopl

"Take notice" and "Take note" mean the same: to pay attention. Make sure you put no article in the phrase. We need to take note of possible dangers of this action. "Take notes" and "Take a note" mean the same: to write down key points from your tutor. I used to take notes from my teacher when I was in high school; otherwise, she would kick me out. "Make a note of" is the same as "Take notes." However, the former more means preparing a reminder-like record, whereas the latter means the typical class-time activity. We have another expression: "Make a mental note of." This is means make an effort to remember something in mind.

We have all studied that we can't use indefinite articles (A or An) before uncountable nouns. As a matter of fact, we can use indefinite articles before uncountable nouns if we refer to specific ones. Uncountable Nouns means nouns that we can't count. For the same reason counting them with an indefinite article is not reasonable. However, it is the teaching for beginners. When you reach an advanced level, you can find plenty of instances of indefinite pronouns coming before uncountable nouns. In these instances, we are not actually counting them; instead, we are meaning "certain kind of a."  The land was invaded by deadly pollution. (it is a general idea; there is no article). The land was invaded by a deadly pollution. (we are trying to specify the pollution by alluding to its intensity, nature, or cause; it tends to mean some kind of a) The usage of indefinite pronouns before uncountable nouns is plenty to see at places where such uncountable nouns are followed by a

"Where is John?" Well; you can't see John in the classroom because he has made a practice of not attending classes. In this blog, let us look at several ways of telling someone not attending classes. 1. Blow off John is a real slacker; he always blows off classes from the professor. 2. Skip Sam is known for skipping classes even before finals. 3. Cut class/school Sam was grounded last Friday for cutting class. 4. Play hooky John was caught by the principal again while trying to play hooky. 5. Ditch class She ditched class again today? What a loser!

What is the difference between ONLY BY and BY ONLY. Although they are interchangeable sometimes, they can mean differently in many places. ONLY BY means "this is the only means to carry out the mentioned thing." A serious tone. For e.g. You can pass the test only by studying. This sentence means only studying can help you pass the test. BY ONLY means "just this is enough." An easy tone. For e.g. You can pass thest by only studying the night before. This sentence means just studying the night before can help you pass the test. Sometimes, BY ONLY means "this alone." For e.g. You can't pass the test by  Furthermore, you can put ONLY in various places with the same meaning. Our interpretation is all that matters. For example, all these sentences are correct. You can't judge a clothe's quality only by looking at the fabric. You can't judge a clothe's quality by only looking at the fabric. You can't judge a clothe's quality by looking

Desert and Dessert are a minimal pair. They have different pronunciation and meaning. DESERT DESERT can be a noun or a verb. As a noun, DESERT means a sand stretch.  As a noun, the pronunciation is this:   / ˈdez.ɚt /. As a verb, DESERT means to abandon someone. As a noun, the pronunciation is this:  / dɪˈzɝːt /. DESSERT  DESSERT is a noun. It means the sweets that is had after meals.  The pronunciation is this:  / dɪˈzɝːt /. Watch a YouTube video lesson on the usage, pronunciation, and grammar of Desert and Dessert.

INTRODUCTION A sentence structure means a particular order in which words need to be arranged in order to form a meaningful sentence. There are several sentence structures in the English language for you to make up a sentence. The same idea can be put in different structures. SVO Sentence Structure SVO is structure is one of the most commonly used sentence structure in the English. S stands for the SUBJECT of the sentence. Subject is the person or the thing that does the action in the sentence or what the verb is about. V stands for the VERB of the sentence. Verb is the action that is carried out by the subject of the sentence or the what connects the subject to the complement (adjectives or other extra information about the subject). O stands for the OBJECT of the sentence. Object is the person or the thing that is affected by the action of the subject. Not all sentences should necessarily have an object; it is added if there is one. Sentences with intransitive verbs, for one, will ha

Despite the popular misconception and sometimes interchangeable usages, there is a difference between DREAM OF and DREAM ABOUT.   DREAM OF Dream Of refers to someone's ambition or desire. For example. He dreams of being the president of the country. He dreams of becoming a doctor in the future. DREAM ABOUT Dream About means the actual dream content someone see in his/her dream. Last night, I dreamed about my college-time friends. I always dreams about owing a car. HEADS-UP The verb Dream has two past tense forms (v2): Dreamed and Dreamt. Dreamed is more American. "Dream of" is normally followed by a gerund phrase, whereas "Dream about" normally has a noun after, not necessarily though. Watch a YouTube video lesson on the topic: The Difference Between Dream of and Dream about .

Unlike reading digits, reading years in English can be a bit tricky since the natural way of reading dates can vary from decades to decades and century to century. This blog will cover everything you need to know about telling years in English. Reading years in English 1. Years before 999 For years before 999, read them just like numbers. in 999 CE - in nine hundred and ninety-nine CE in 900 CE - in nine hundred CE in 801 CE - in eight hundred and one CE in 71 CE - in seventy-one CE 2. Years from 1000 to 1999 Reading dates from 1000 to 1999 is rather difficult since varied ways are there. We need to sub-categorize them further for convenience. 1. Years ending in 00 Read them as hundreds. in 1800 - in eighteen hundred in 1100 - in eleven hundred 2. Years ending in 01, 02, 03, 04, to 09 Read the first digits in tens, read the zero as "oh" and read the last digit in 1901 - in nineteen oh one in 1105 - in eleven oh five in 1509 - in fifteen oh nine 3. Years with first and third d

In English, there are quite a few constructions to express the obligation. Among them, sentences with "has/have" are more common. Interestingly, both formal and informal ways of putting them are in action. In this blog, we will introduce you to the way of phrasing obligation using has/have in both formal and informal ways. As a side note, regardless of what you hear, you better stick to one single method to accelerate your journey to being fluent. However, please be remembered that the usage mentioned below will be unacceptable in some states. 1. Has/Have + To This method is both formal and usual. As a rule of thumb, better you stick to this method. Positive : She has to go Negative : She does not have to go Positive question : Does she have to go? Negative question : Doesn't she have to go 2. Has Got/ Have Got You will be more familiar with this structure through movies. This is a bit informal but can be widely heard. But, this structure is most common with positive stat