Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, but what is it exactly that we’re celebrating with all that green beer, corned beef, and cabbage?  Well, it turns out that St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and perhaps the most well-know of all the saints.  St. Patrick was born on March 17th, 460 A.D. in Britain, but [...]

It’s Daylight Saving Time Again!

It’s already that time of year when we turn our clocks ahead one hour in order to enjoy a little more sunshine throughout the day.  It’s also a great time to remember to change the batteries in your smoke alarm and to flip your mattress!  While you may be aware of the fact that we [...]

Sound Like a Native with Collocations

Collocations are two or more words that usually go together and sound more natural to native speakers.  For instance, instead of saying “have a break” native speakers would say “take a break.”  Instead of saying “make a crime” native speakers would say “commit a crime.”  Instead of saying “wash the dishes” native speakers would say ”do the dishes.”  It’s [...]

Using Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, ourselves) are used when the subject and object are the same and when you want to emphasize the subject.  For instance, instead of saying ”I hurt me,” you would use the reflexive and say ”I hurt myself” because the subject and object are the same.  In order to give extra emphasis to who is doing [...]