My observation, four words many advanced English learners in China pronounce incorrectly are [February]: ❌ Feb-roo-er-y. ✅ The first letter R should be omitted — that is, “Feb-u-we-ry.” [comfortable]: ❌ Com-four-tuh-ble. ✅ The letters OR should be omitted, and an R sound should be added to the letter A, even though no R is there … Continue reading Four Words You May Pronounce Incorrectly
The name of a country on this planet is what we consider a proper noun. Usually, a proper noun — a person's name, for example — is not preceded by an article (a, an, or the) . However, you can't mention these countries without the article "the": the United States of America, or the United … Continue reading Countries that Must Start with “the”
很多同學混淆這四個表達方式, 其實它們非常容易區分: some 表示「一些」或「某一個」, time 不可數名詞表示「時間」, 可數名詞表示「次數」或「時間點」, 於是: some time = 一些時間 (Mary said it would need some time.) some times = 一些次數, 幾次, 若干次 (Mary has been to Tokyo for some times.) 它們都是名詞短語. sometime = 在某個時間點 (I saw Jim sometime in April. | Let's go swimming sometime.) 替換詞: at some time, at some point, … Continue reading some time / some times / sometime / sometimes
A little boy's toy car is missing. He asks his mom where it is, and she tells him to ask his dad. Then he asks his dad, who tells him to ask his mom instead. It's not uncommon that we see two parties shift responsibilities for something to one another. In Chinese, this behavior is … Continue reading pass the buck / 甩鍋 / 踢皮球
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, to rub it in is to make someone feel worse about something the person already feels embarrassed about: I know I shouldn’t have paid that much for the poster – don’t rub it in, OK? According to the Collins English Dictionary, to rub it in is to keep on mentioning … Continue reading rub it in / 哪壺不開提哪壺 / 埋汰某人
