I or me ? 😫

When to use I and when to use me ?

This can be confusing for both native speakers and non- native speakers of English 😩

To start with, let’s do a little quiz. 📝

Which sentences are correct?

  1. Me and my friends love learning English with our fabulous teacher!
  2. My teacher told my friend and me off for talking in class.
  3. My teacher and I discussed how to improve my essay writing skills.
  4. Could you please email my friends and I the lesson notes ?

Let’s see how you did!

  1. Me and my friends love learning English with our fabulous teacher! ❌
  2. My teacher told my friend and me off for talking in class. ✔️
  3. My teacher and I discussed how to improve my essay writing skills. ✔️
  4. Could you please email my friends and I the lesson notes? ❌

Now, let’s take a look at why these sentences are correct or incorrect.

First of all, I is a subject pronoun and me is an object pronoun.
Please note: The subject of a sentence is the person or thing doing the action in the sentence or what the rest of the sentence is about. The object of a sentence is the person or thing the action is happening to.

So, let’s look at the sentences again.

  1. Me and my friends love learning English with our fabulous teacher! ➡️ Me and my friends = subject in this sentence and me is an object pronoun so this is why it is incorrect.
  2. My teacher told my friend and me off for talking in class.➡️ My friend and me =object in this sentence and me is an object pronoun so it is correct.
  3. My teacher and I discussed how to improve my essay writing skills. ➡️My teacher and I = subject in this sentence and I is a subject pronoun so it is correct.
  4. Could you please email my friends and I the lesson notes ?➡️My friends and I=object in this sentence and I is a subject pronoun so it is incorrect.

So, next time you are confused about which personal pronoun to use , think about whether you are the subject or the object in the sentence.

I hope this has helped you to know when to use I and when to use me. 😊

Who or Whom ❓❓❓

Do I use who or whom?

This is something I see native speakers making mistakes with and something my students ask me about, so here is some information about it as it is obviously confusing.

Both words refer to people and are either question words or relative clauses markers (relative pronouns)

We use who for the subjects in a sentence or question. The subject of a sentence is the person or thing doing the action in the sentence or what the rest of the sentence is about.

Who is teaching the new course ?

The teacher who is teaching the new course is a colleague of mine.

We use whom for objects in a sentence or question. The object of a sentence is the person or thing the action is happening to.
Whom is considered quite formal and it is not used as much these days as it used to be.

Whom will you recommend as a good teacher ?

The teacher whom I admire is very experienced and personable.

Whom is used after prepositions too as this is also considered an object in a sentence or question (indirect object).

To whom are you speaking ?

My friend, in whom I confide, is very trustworthy . Note : My friend, whom I confide in, is very trustworthy is also correct.

You may not hear whom very much in everyday conversation but if you would like to use it, I hope this has helped you understand how to use it correctly and to understand the difference between who and whom😊

Countable and uncountable nouns 😅

Is this noun countable or uncountable ?

Most of you would have learnt that some nouns are countable ( dollars $$ ) and some nouns are uncountable ( money 💰) and the rules which go with using countable and uncountable nouns.
Let’s do a little revision on this 👩🏻‍🎓

*We use many and few for countable nouns.

There are many students who study online these days .

*We use much and little for uncountable nouns.

Do you have much knowledge about uncountable nouns ?
Note : we use much in negative statements and questions.


*We use a lot of for both countable and uncountable nouns.

There are a lot of different smartphones on the market these days.

Nowadays there is a lot of new technology which makes our lives easier.


*Uncountable nouns take a singular verb.

The new software is very user-friendly .


*We must use a determiner ( a / the / my etc. ) before a singular countable noun.

My new laptop is amazing.


When we first learn that nouns can be countable or uncountable, we learn which ones are which, but as you advance in your English learning, you will see many nouns can be both countable and uncountable depending on the context.

Let’s look at the following sentences which have nouns which can be both countable and uncountable.

Can I please have a slice of cake ? 🍰 In this sentence, the person is not asking for a whole cake but a piece of a cake so cake here is uncountable.

Can I please have a cake? 🧁 In this sentence, the person is asking for one whole cake so cake here is countable.

I want chicken for dinner 🍗 In this sentence, the person is saying they want to eat chicken meat for dinner and it is uncountable.

There are many chickens on that farm 🐓 In this sentence, chickens refer to animals and here they are countable.

He hasn’t had much experience in this industry so we need to train him. Experience in this sentence means time spent doing something in a specific area or industry and it is uncountable.

I had many interesting experiences when I lived in Japan. Here, experience refers to different things or events which one can experience and it is countable.

Do you have enough time to help me with this project? Here, time is uncountable and is used in the context of how much time ( measured in minutes, hours, days etc.) it takes to do something.

He has been to Fiji many times. In this sentence , time is referring to how often one has done something ( it refers to an occurrence ).

Could I please have a glass of wine? 🍷
In this sentence, glass is countable as it refers to a container you put drinks in.

These wine glasses are made of beautiful glass. In this sentence, we have glasses as countable ( in the plural ) and then we have glass as an uncountable noun- it refers to material which is used to make things.

Mini quiz time 📝

Are the following sentences correct ?

There isn’t much room in my house.

I think the furnitures in this house are beautiful.

There isn’t enough light in this room to read.

I must go shopping to buy more equipment for my new project.

Answers :

Number 1 is correct ( There aren’t many rooms in my house is also correct – room is both countable and uncountable )

Number 2 is incorrect ( furniture is uncountable)

Number 3 is correct ( There aren’t enough lights is also correct – light is both countable and uncountable )

Number 4 is correct ( equipment is uncountable)


So , please keep in mind that although you may have learnt a noun as countable or uncountable , it could be both depending on the meaning and context 😊




Complex sentences 🤔

In English we use simple, compound and complex sentences and in this post I will write about complex sentences.

If you want to take your English to the next level, using complex sentences instead of only simple or compound sentences is an effective way to do this.

So what are complex sentences and how do we form them? They are sentences made up of an independent clause ( this is part of a sentence which can stand alone – a simple sentence ) and a dependent clause ( part of a sentence which cannot stand alone- it needs some more information for it to make sense ).

Let’s look at an example.

I really enjoy my English lessons because my teacher is fabulous.

Which part of this sentence ( or which clause ) can stand by itself and make sense?

Which part of this sentence ( or which clause) cannot stand by itself or needs some extra information for it to make sense ?

➡️ I really enjoy my English lessons- this can also be a simple sentence as it can stand alone and it is complete.

➡️ Because my teacher is fabulous – this is incomplete; it needs some extra information for it to make sense.

Let’s look at another example:

If you are serious about improving your speaking skills, you should speak English every day.

Can you find the independent and dependent clauses ?

➡️ If you are serious about improving your speaking skills is the dependent clause ( you cannot say/write this by itself)

➡️ you should speak English every day is the independent clause because it can stand alone and make sense. It can also be a simple sentence if you start it with a capital letter.

Note : When you start the sentence with a dependent clause, you can add a comma between the clauses like I have just done in this sentence and in the example above.

Note : A dependent clause is made up of a subordinating conjunction plus the clause. Subordinating conjunctions are joining words and using these makes your language complex. This will take your English to the next level which is important not only for everyday use but for the speaking and writing parts of English proficiency tests.

Just remember to use a variety of sentences when speaking or writing . Mix it up a bit and use some simple , compound and complex sentences 😊

English mistakes native speakers make 🤦🏻‍♀️

Mistakes to avoid😫

I always suggest to my students that they hang out with English native speakers as this is a fast way to improve their English. I did the same thing when I lived in Japan and my Japanese improved quickly. However, native speakers make mistakes and these can be learnt by accident. So, I want to write about some typical mistakes English native speakers make so students can avoid using them 😊


See how many mistakes you can find in the email below ⬇️ (there are 9)

Dear Amanda,

Hello, how are you? I am writing to you to ask you for some advise and to say hi to.

I would of written earlier if I had not been so busy, but I am working on Sunday’s now so I am pretty busy. Today is my day off and I am just laying on the couch so it’s a great time to write.

Your very helpful, I wanted to ask you about my friends and there business which is doing worse then when we last spoke….

Did you find all the mistakes? 📝

Let’s find out and see what is wrong with these mistakes.

  1. Advise is a verb. The noun is advice and in the sentence, we need a noun because we ask for something ( a noun).
  2. To is a preposition or part of the infinitive form of a verb (to + base verb) but in this context the word should be too which means also.
  3. Would of is not a grammatically correct structure at all as after modal verbs we always use the base verb. We use would + have + present participle to form part of a third conditional structure which is in the sentence.
  4. Sunday’s- we do not use apostrophes with plurals unless we want to show possession so the correct word is Sundays. Please click on my blog post ➡️ Apostrophes to show possession for more information on this.
  5. Laying is a transitive verb (it needs an object after it ) so the correct verb is lying as there is no object in the sentence and lying is an intransitive verb (it doesn’t take a direct object after it).
  6. Your is an adjective showing possession. We use is before nouns but in this sentence we need to use you are or you’re because helpful is an adjective and so we need the be verb which is ” are ” because the subject is “you”.
  7. You’re a very helpful person, I wanted to ask you …..This is a punctuation mistake called a comma splice and you can read more about it if you click on my blog post ➡️ comma splices .
  8. There shows existence but the possessive adjective their is needed in the sentence to show the business belongs to the friends.
  9. Then shows time or sequence and we need to use than here as the comparative is used.

Number six (your) is my pet hate (something I really don’t like at all ) but unfortunately, I see this a lot 😱

So, if you see any of these mistakes , please don’t use them and you may even want to teach your friends why they are wrong 😉

Phrasal verbs- part two 🥳

More phrasal verbs!

In a previous post, I went over some information about phrasal verbs (you can check it out if you click here ➡️ Phrasal Verbs – friends or foes) , but some questions have come up from some of my students so I came up with the idea of writing another post on phrasal verbs.

First – how many phrasal verbs have you come across in this post so far?

Five ! We use them a lot as native speakers so they are very important for you to learn too!

Even if you don’t know the meanings of these phrasal verbs, you might be able to work them out (another phrasal verb) from the context. This is an important skill to learn to improve your reading skills.

See how you go in this little quiz. 📝

Match the following phrasal verbs with the meanings below :

go over     come across check out       work out             come up come up with                           
*find something you weren’t looking for         *think of an (idea or suggestion)     
*look at something to see what you think *understand something or resolve it *look at something or examine it  *appear        

Read on to see if you were correct ⬇️

Let’s talk about different types of phrasal verbs :

Intransitive – these phrasal verbs do not have objects.

Some questions have come up. ( appeared)

Transitive– these phrasal verbs always have objects.

I went over( examined/looked at) some information about phrasal verbs.

I came up with ( thought of ) the idea of writing another post on phrasal verbs.

These phrasal verbs are inseparable which means the phrasal verbs can’t be separated – we cannot put an object in between parts of the phrasal verbs.

Separable phrasal verbs can be separated- the object can come in the middle of the phrasal verb.

You can check my phrasal verb post out here ( look at my post to see what you think )
* Please note that you do not have to separate the phrasal verb -You can check out my phrasal verb post here.

However, if we use a pronoun instead of a noun as the object , we must separate the phrasal verb -we must put the pronoun in the middle of the phrasal verb:

You can check it out ✅

You can check out it ❌

Even if you don’t know the meanings of these phrasal verbs, you might be able to work them out (understand them) from the context. This is also separable so the object can come in the middle of the phrasal verb or after it (if we use the noun as the object but we must separate the phrasal verb if we use the pronoun)

You might be able to work the meanings out ✅

You might be able to work out the meanings ✅

You might be able to work them out ✅

You might be able to work out them ❌

Check out the phrasal verb quizzes from my blog post Phrasal verbs -friends or foes and try to work out what kind of phrasal verbs they are.😊

Connecting words (of contrast) 🔁

Conjunctions and transitions

Connecting words are very important so you can make more than just simple sentences in English. This is not only important for improving your spoken English, but it is also important to use these words and use them correctly when writing, especially if you are preparing to take an English test like IELTS, PTE or one of the Cambridge tests.

Look at the contrasting words in the sentences below and see how they are used differently.

  1. My teacher told me to do my homework, but I forgot to do it.
  2. I forgot to do my homework although my teacher told me to do it.
  3. I forgot to do my homework despite my teacher telling me to do it.
  4. My teacher told me to do my homework. However, I forgot to do it.

But is a coordinating conjunction. These words come in the middle of the sentence.

 Yet is also a coordinating conjunction so it can also be used but it is more formal than but.

Although is a subordinating conjunction. These words can come in the middle of the sentence or at the beginning of the sentence. Even though is almost the same but it shows more emphasis on the contrast. Though is more informal and used in spoken English often. While and whilst can also show contrast and are subordinating conjunctions but it is less common to use them as such.

Despite is a preposition and nouns or gerunds (verb +ing) always follow prepositions. In spite of is also a preposition and has the same meaning as despite but it is made up of  three words.

However is a transition. These words join ideas and not clauses (parts of sentences). There are a few different ways to use them but the most common way is at the start of a sentence but they must refer to the idea in the sentence before.  Nonetheless, yet and nevertheless are the same. You may hear though at the end of a sentence in spoken English and this is because though is also a transition and we can use transitions at the end of sentences.

Let’s practise with the following prompts using the contrast words we have learnt.

I passed the exam. It was quite challenging.

➡️ The exam was quite challenging, yet I passed it.

➡️Even though the exam was quite challenging, I passed it.

➡️In spite of the exam being quite challenging, I passed it.

➡️The exam was quite challenging. Nevertheless, I passed it.

Now, it is time for you to try!
Practise using the connecting words using the following prompts:

I don’t like learning grammar. Learning grammar will help me to improve my English.

This summary of connecting words is very brief so if you would like more information or you want to check your answers to the last exercise, please click on my ➡️ contact page and get in touch. 😊

Any or no ? Double negatives? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do we use any or no for negative sentences?

My students often ask me when to use any or no and ask what the problem is with double negatives, so let’s look at some examples and explanations.

Take a look at the following sentences:

These instructions don’t make any sense to me. ✅ ( correct ) NOTE: “Any” is used here as the verb is negative.

These instructions make no sense to me. ✅ (correct ) NOTE: “No” is used here as the verb is positive.

These instructions don’t make no sense to me. ❌ ( incorrect ) NOTE: “No” is used with a negative verb (do not) which means there are two negatives in this sentence.

So, why is the last one incorrect?
I hear my students say sentences like this and maybe in some languages it’s correct , but it isn’t in English.
When we study science or mathematics, we learn that two negatives make a positive or in other words, the two negatives cancel each other out.
Well, think of this when you form sentences in English.

Let’s look at a few examples:

He did not abide by none of the rules and so he was dismissed from the organisation.❌

In the first clause in this sentence there are the words not ( the not makes the verb negative ) and none which are both negative markers.

He did not mention nothing to me about the meeting. ❌
In this sentence, the two negative markers are not and nothing.

So, because the two negative markers cancel each other out, how do we fix these sentences? Let’s take a look.

He did not abide by none of the rules and so he was dismissed from the organisation.❌

➡️ He did not abide by any of the rules and so he was dismissed from the organisation ( we use “any” because the verb is negative ) or ➡️ He abided by none of the rules and so he was dismissed from the organisation. (we use “none” because the verb is positive)

He did not mention nothing to me about the meeting.

➡️ He did not mention anything to me about the meeting (we use “anything” because the verb is negative) or ➡️ He mentioned nothing to me about the meeting. (we use “nothing” because the verb is positive)

So, next time you want to make a negative sentence in English, think about whether the verb is negative and then you can use ‘ any, anything, anyone etc.’ or if the verb is positive, you can use ‘ no, nothing, nobody etc. ‘

Please remember to be careful not to use double negatives. 😉

Apostrophes to show possession 🤔

This is something I am asked about by native English speakers so I know it’s a tricky topic for many people😓

Have a look at the following sentences:

The student’s teacher is from Australia.

The students’ teacher is from Australia.

Are both of these sentences correct ? Do they have the same meaning ?

They are both correct but they do not have the same meaning.

The student’s is referring to one student and the students’ is referring to more than one student.

The rules for the apostrophe when we want to show possession are :

For singular nouns, we place the apostrophe between the noun and the s.

For plural nouns – that is plural nouns made by adding an s to them, we place the apostrophe after the s.

Note – if the noun changes its form to become plural ( irregular plural nouns), we place the apostrophe after the noun and before the s. Look at the example below.

The children’s teacher is from Australia.

Have a look at the following sentences:

Amanda’s painting is exquisite.

Louis’ report was outstanding.

Amanda is a proper noun and the same rule applies for singular nouns as stated above.

Louis is a proper noun but it ends in s so we put the apostrophe after the s

Note– Louis’s report is correct as well.

Let’s practise 🖊
The textbooks which belong to the pupils ➡️ the pupils’ textbooks

The iPad which belongs to the pupil ➡️ the pupil’s iPad

The classroom which belongs to the women ➡️the women’s classroom

The bag which belongs to Gabrielle ➡️ Gabrielle’s bag

The notebook which belongs to Carlos ➡️ Carlos’ notebook

You can contact me by clicking here on the ➡️ contact page of my website or connect with me on social media if you have further questions 😊

Collocations 🥳

Collocations are a must to learn! They are a natural part of the English language and very important to know so you can speak and write correctly and also so you can sound natural in English. They are often tested in English language proficiency exams like TOEIC and the Cambridge tests.

Collocations are just words which are used together or sets of words. They can be adjectives + prepositions , verbs + prepositions , nouns + nouns, verbs + nouns, adverbs and adjectives etc.

Here are some examples of collocations:

I am terrified of snakes 🐍 but fond of cats 🐈

I will do my homework because my teacher is under the impression that I am a good student 😊

Let’s try some typical questions found in English tests which focus on collocations:

Australia is known 1) ________ its stunning beaches and diverse landscapes. 2)_______ general , tourists enjoy their stay in this beautiful country. If you are 3) ________ a holiday destination, you won’t be disappointed. Pay a 4) ________to this amazing country soon!

  1. A) as B) by C) for D) with
  2. A) On B) To C) Of D) In
  3. A) seeking B) searching C) looking D) hoping
  4. A) travel B) holiday C) visit D) vacation

Collocations are an important part of the English language so next time you are learning new vocabulary, think about learning words as collocations or in “chunks”.

You can get my contact information by clicking on the ➡️ contact page of this website or connect with me on social media for the answers and explanations to this mini quiz 😀