TOEFL Teacher

I thought you might find this interesting. You probably know that the present perfect in English is used for actions that begin in the past but hold a clear connection the present (rather than actions in the simple past which begin and end with no connection the present) but did you know that it’s use could also vary by country? That’s right, even grammar is a matter of cultural difference. According to the rule just mentioned the present perfect should be necessary to talk about lifetime experiences with ‘ever/never’ (you are still alive, the possibility exists that you will do these things today= connection the present). In US English, it’s normal for speakers to substitute the simple past in this type of situation and in fact the present perfect is not that commonly used: ‘Did you ever see that movie?’ ‘Yes, I did.’ Be aware, however, that in British English the rules around the present perfect are maintained and the exchange would become ‘Have you ever seen that movie’ ‘Yes, I have.’ A good rule of thumb with "Brit" English is to never use a simple past without a clear expression of time, such as ‘last week’ ‘on Tuesday’ ‘in 2003’ etc and to use the present perfect with trigger words that suggest a connection with the present: just, yet, never, already, ever, so far, up to now, recently, since and for (with a length of time).

Hi, Yes that's a good comment, I will work on posting some in depth articles on tenses soon. Cheers,

Thanks

It's done it again here..!

Hi, I have just made a post helping students with prepositions. However when I look at the post every word that says "preposition" has been turned into a link. Why is this? Thanks, The TOEFL Teacher

Hi, I would like to start to talk about prepositions. Even advanced students of English can struggle with prepositions, so don't beat yourself up (idiom meaning - don't be too unhappy with yourself!) if you are still having difficulty at the intermediate level. Prepositions - "On" for time. The preposition "on" is used in phrases that indicate time. When using the preposition "on" in this was, we can safely say that it is always followed by noun. I want to take a look at a couple of example sentences. I will speak to her on Tuesday. He isn't going to be there on the 19th of December. We went there on the 12th of March. Valentines day is on the 14st of February. ____________________________________ It is worth pointing out that, these are incorrect. "I'll see you on 9 o'clock tomorrow morning." Why is it incorrect? The sentence indicates a general clock time. Another incorrect example "Valentines day is on February" -------------------------- I want to look now at the common phrase "on time". This means that what is happening is "at the planned time." Lets have a look at this example. The party was planned to start at 9 PM. It started at 11:30 PM!! The party didn't start on time. The job interview was meant to start at 2 PM. It actually began at 230PM. The job interview did not begin on time. I really hope this has made things a little easier for you to understand. Practice is the key and I recommend doing lots of drills on these.

Hi, I have been an English teacher for around 9 years. I have worked extensively in Japan and the UAE. A lot of the lessons I have taught have been focused on helping people with their TOEFL tests. I hope to help people on this forum and to write some posts with some top tips for you. Best wishes, The TOEFL teacher :encouragement: