Category Archives: Grammar

Why learn a new language?

carole/ noviembre 10, 2022/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Exams, Grammar, Learning online, Pronunciation, Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary/ 0 comments

As tourism is the primary industry in Mallorca, young people are learning languages to increase their career opportunities when they leave school. For that reason, English and German are the second languages on the curriculum. Over the past decade I have seen the demand for German rise exponentially. As Germans are the majority purchasers of property here, Mallorquins have been obliged to learn and speak German proficiently.

English Made Simple: Verb Phrases

carole/ julio 25, 2022/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Grammar, Speaking, Vocabulary/ 0 comments

A breath of fresh air for English learners are Verb Phrases which are simple to use and very common. The verb is linked to a noun instantaneously giving meaning to the verb. Let´s take the example of the verb to wear. What do we wear usually? Glasses? Automatically glasses (noun) makes an association with wear (verb). Verb + Noun = Verb Phrase. Once we can associate a meaning with the verb, it helps us immediately assimilate and memorise it more easily.

Why is grammar so fundamental in learning a language?

carole/ mayo 12, 2022/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Grammar, Speaking, Vocabulary, Writing/ 0 comments

So much has been written on this topic and for very good reason!
To construct a building, we need a sturdy foundation which will support the walls and roof. The same goes for learning a language. We need a structure to build phrases. This structure is comprised of verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions. In linguistics this is known as metalanguage. The grammar of a language is its basic framework which allows you to combine a finite number of words in an infinite number of ways and still be understood immediately.

La Voz Pasiva

carole/ enero 18, 2022/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Grammar/ 0 comments

La voz pasiva se usa todo el tiempo en inglés, por lo que vale la pena tomarse un tiempo para comprender su forma y uso.
Veamos el ejemplo a continuación:
• Me comí dos rebanadas de tostadas
Esto se conoce como una frase activa donde el sujeto va primero (la persona o cosa que hace la acción), seguido del verbo, y finalmente el objeto (la persona o cosa a la que le sucede la acción). Entonces, en esta frase, el sujeto es ‘yo’, el verbo es comido y el objeto son dos rebanadas de tostadas

The Passive Voice

carole/ enero 18, 2022/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Grammar/ 0 comments

The Passive Voice is used all the time in English, so it is worth taking time out to understand its form and use.

Let’s look at the example below:

I ate two slices of toast
This is known as an active sentence where the subject goes first (the person or thing that does the action), followed by the verb, and finally the object (the person or thing that the action happens to). So, in this sentence, the subject is ‘I’, the verb is ate and the object is two slices of toast.

EXAMS

carole/ enero 12, 2022/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Exams, Grammar, Pronunciation, Speaking, Vocabulary/ 0 comments

Many students ask me if exams are important to measure their level of language. It is a good question and one which I will endeavour to answer. If you have managed to command a language to the extent that you can make yourself understood by a native, you have done well. But notice the word ´well´. Why didn´t I use very well or proficiently? Because making yourself understood doesn´t mean that you speak the language grammatically correct or use the most up to date vocabulary

English made simple

carole/ octubre 28, 2021/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Exams, Grammar, Pronunciation, Speaking, Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing/ 0 comments

There is no doubt that learning a new language has its complications. The main one being that we can never directly translate from our native language into the second language. For example, we say in English I am hungry but if we make a direct translation in Spanish Estoy hambre, it doesn´t make any sense as the verb they use is Tener (to have) not Estar (to be) = Tengo hambre.

Use of the verbs Suggest and Recommend and their differences in meaning

carole/ octubre 4, 2021/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Business Themes, Grammar, Learning online, Speaking, Spelling, Writing/ 0 comments

When we are suggesting something, we are endorsing it as a promising idea only. There is no obligation on the third party to follow through. When we are recommending something, we are advising what should be done in a particular situation which would benefit the third party. It holds more weight than suggest and makes the receiver sit up and take note.

Useful verbs to describe trends in Business and the Economy

carole/ septiembre 15, 2021/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Business Themes, Grammar, Speaking, Spelling, Vocabulary/ 0 comments

A trend signifies a situation that is developing or changing. There are three specific changes I wish to highlight in this blog:
1) Financial (Sales, profits, costs, budgets)
Sales fell slightly last quarter.
Profits have risen 3% year-on-year.
2) Marketing (Market share)
We saw some growth in market share last year
Sales in the Asian market dropped by 10% last year
3) Economy (Inflation, interest rates, unemployment, house prices)
There has been a steady rise in inflation.
Unemployment has increased this year
House prices went up last year

Trends in Teaching Today

carole/ septiembre 13, 2021/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Exams, Grammar, Pronunciation, Reading, Speaking, Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing/ 0 comments

We describe a trend as the way a situation develops or changes. Since COVID-19, Language Schools have had to adapt their styles of teaching. Classroom sizes have become smaller to allow for 2 metre distances between desks and students are obliged to wear masks and frequently wash their hands with hydroalcoholic gel.

Is working from home reducing stress?

carole/ marzo 31, 2021/ Blog Carole Brown Idiomas, Grammar, Learning online, Pronunciation, Reading, Speaking, Technology, Vocabulary, Writing/ 0 comments

Jordan Friedman, a prodigious Stress Coach from New York has been developing stress management programmes for over 20 years. Some of the main stressors his clients talk about are money, commuting, and too much to do in too little time. He believes that we are more stressed today than we were 20 years ago.