Lesson 11: Advanced Grammar Concepts that Confuse Even Native Speakers

      

 English can be a confusing language to learn. Grammar can seem very complicated and needs to be learnt to enable you to use the English language well when conversing with native or advanced English speakers. It is very important to learn these grammar rules as we all want to be able to write and speak in English whether in the business world or socially. Learn and understand these rules and this will help you build your confidence.

-    Apostrophes

Apostrophes are very confusing as the position can vary depending on whether the noun is singular or plural. They also show possession.

The child’s coat                  This refers to one coat belonging to one child

The child’s coats                This refers to several coats belonging to one child

The children’s coats           This refers to the coats of several children

The children’s rooms         This refers to the rooms belonging to the children

It’s not my favorite film      It’s means it is not my favorite film

A hard day’s work              This means it was a hard day of working

America’s foreign policy    This refers to the foreign policy of America.

Annabel and James’s dog  The dog refers to both Annabel and James but only one apostrophe                                             is needed.

-    They’re, their and there

These words and the spellings of them need to be learnt as they all have a different meaning. They’re is the shortened form of they are.

Examples of how to use they’re correctly:

They’re late so will miss the train.

They’re coming by car.

They’re at the beach already.

Their refers to an item or event that belongs to a group of people.                                

Examples of how to use their correctly:

Their train was cancelled.

Their coats are hanging up in the cupboard.

Is that their car?

There is used for position. Examples include:

Put your case over there.

There is a bag of potatoes in the cupboard.

The television remote is there on that chair.

They’re, their and there are homophones which means that the sound of these words are the same but they each have different meanings and different usages. There are many other homophones which also fall into this category, which also need to be understood and learnt as they can alter the meaning of sentences.