Using Articles with Country Names

Using articles with country names seems difficult. But really it is not. There 3 clear rules that I can give you to help you know when you should use articles with country names.

Rule 1: we use ‘The’ if the county’s name includes a common noun.

For example, the United States of America has the common noun ‘States’ in its name, so we need to use ‘The’.

Here is another example: The Islamic Republic of Iran contains the common noun ‘Republic’, so we need to use ‘The’.

Below is a list of some more common country names that have common nouns and use the article ‘The’:

The Central African Republic

The Republic of Korea (South Korea)

The Russian Federation (Russia)

The Roman Empire (Rome)

Rule 2:‘the’ is used before any country name if the name contains ‘of’.

Here is the structure: The ___ of ___.

Look below at these examples:

(Countries with ‘of’)

The United States of America

The Republic of China

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

The Islamic Republic of Iran

Rule 3: we use ‘The’ if the country is an island country.

Look below at these examples:

(Island nations)

The Maldives

The Marshall Islands

The Philippine Islands (The Philippines)

Here is the summary:

Rule 1 is that we use ‘The’ if the county’s name includes a common noun.

Rule 2 is ‘The’ is used before any country name if the name contains ‘of’.

Rule 3 says we use ‘The’ if the country is an island country.

To learn more about Articles view our most recent blogs:

How to Use Articles in English 1 

How to Use Articles in English 2

If you would like to improve your English in grammar, reading, writing or any other reason, please book a free trial class with ETO today! In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By Luke

ETO American English teacher

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How to Use Articles in English 2

In our last post, How to Use Articles in English 1, we learned 3 grammar rules about articles:

Rule 1: We use a/an when referring to someone’s job or occupation.

Rule 2: We use a, an or the (or another determiner like my, your, our etc.) for singular countable things.

Rule 3: We do NOT need an article to talk about things in general, that are usually true all the time.

In this post, we look at 3 new rules NOT talked about in the last post.

Rule 4: We do not use articles for certain special places.

Examples: 

1. I want to go home.
2. I am at university right now.
3. I do not want to go to jail / prison.
4. I am in bed; call me later please.

Note: Other special places include work, church & hospital, plus others.

Rule 5: We do not use articles for modes of transportation.

Examples:

1. I came by bus.
2. I will go by train.
3. You can get there by foot.
4. I went by motorcycle.

Rule 6: We do not use articles with country names, unless if the country name includes a common noun.

Examples:

1. Country without common noun in name: America
2. Country with common noun in name: The United States of America
3. Country without common noun in name: China
4. Country with common noun in name: The People’s Republic of China

For additional explanation of this rule reference our blog: Using Articles with Country Names.

Lastly,

Here is a quick summary of today’s post:

Rule 4: We do not use articles for certain special places.

Rule 5: We do not use articles for modes of transportation.

Rule 6: We do not use articles with country names, unless if the country name includes a common noun.

Like I said, there are many rules about articles, but try to remember the rules from parts 1 & 2 of How to Use Articles and you will have far fewer mistakes. That is for sure.

If you would like to improve your English in grammar, reading, writing or any other reason, please book a free trial class with ETO today!

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By Luke

ETO American English teacher

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How to Use Articles in English 1

There are many rules about how to use articles. We will not try to cover ALL grammar rules about articles; but we will cover the 3 most common rules you need to know. These 3 rules will represent most mistakes that most ESL speakers make.

Rule 1: We use a/an when referring to someone’s job or occupation.

Examples: 

1. He is an English teacher.
2. He is a policeman.
3. She was an actress.

Rule 2: We use a, an or the (or another determiner like my, your, our etc.) for singular countable things.

Examples:

1. I want to try a class online.
2. Do you want a glass of milk?
3. I loved the good English class last night.  (Note: We use the to talk about specific countable singular things)
4.  I ate a piece of the chocolate cake. (Note: We use the to talk about specific countable singular things)

Rule 3: We do NOT need an article to talk about things in general, that are usually true all the time.

Examples:

1. Dogs are good pets. NOT The dogs are good pets.
2. Ice melts in the hot sun. NOT The ice melts in the hot sun.
3. Cows eat grass. NOT The cows eat grass.

Lastly,

Like I said, there are many rules about articles, but if you can remember these 3 rules, you will have a good start:

Rule 1: We use a/an when referring to someone’s job or occupation.

Rule 2: We use a, an or the (or another determiner like my, your, our etc.) for singular countable things.

Rule 3: We do NOT need an article to talk about things in general, that are usually true all the time.

Please be sure to read the next post called How to Use Articles in English 2

If you would like to improve your English in grammar, reading, writing or any other reason, please book a free trial class with ETO today!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By Luke

ETO American English teacher

 

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ESL Learning: Another, Other & The Other

At first, it seems complicated, but there are clear rules that can help us to understand when to use another, other, and the other.

We use another with singular, nonspecific, countable nouns.

• Singular means that we are talking about only one of something.

• Nonspecific represents that we are not referring to a certain one.

• A countable noun is a noun that we can talk about in numbers (for example, 4 shirts).

We can think of another as a/an + one more OR a different one.

Examples:

• Mom, this salad is great! Can I have another serving?

• Excuse me; this glass is dirty. I’d like another glass, please.

We use other with nonspecific plural or uncountable nouns.

• Plural means that there is more than one.

• Uncountable nouns cannot be talked about directly in terms of numbers (for example, entertainment).

Examples:

• I would like some other chances to go to the beach.

• She has some other equipment that we can use for gardening.

We use the other for specific nouns. These specific nouns can be singular, plural, countable, and uncountable nouns, as long as they are specific.

• Specific nouns are nouns that have been introduced before in the conversation or that we can point to.

Examples:

• One of the things that I like about her is that she is really funny. The other thing that I think is great about her is that she is kind.

• He has visited South Korea. The other countries that he has visited in East Asia are Japan and Taiwan.

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog! There are many other posts about grammar here on the ETO blog. Would you like some other chances to build your English skills?

Another thing that you can do is to try a free ETO class! One of the other options is to study on your own, but studying with another person who is a skilled English teacher will help you to build your English more quickly, and to have more fun!

By Joseph

ETO American English teacher

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ESL Learning: 3 Keys to Fluency

During my time teaching in Korea, I was surprised to find that despite many years of studying English, students often still struggled to have basic conversation.

Why would that be? I was working with Korean students who were clearly brilliant and hard working, and they sometimes knew more English vocabulary than the average American. They could often complete complex grammar exercises that many Americans or Canadians, even those with a four year university degree, could not figure out.

Well, first of all, you can study grammar and vocabulary until the cows come home (a phrase in English that means for a very, very long time), but if you do not get in the habit of speaking English, then you will never feel good about speaking.

That is why conversation has recently become such an important part of English education in Korea. Topics such as debate and speech are a regular part of the English academy classes nowadays. The new English testing program for Koreans focuses on conversation and writing.

Did you know that scientists have found that in order to communicate clearly in a language, only 400-500 words are needed? The key is not to study more vocabulary, it is to use the vocabulary in conversation. The more you talk, the more you will find that idioms, or sayings using these 400-500 words to create new meaning, are the key to fluency.

And that leads us to the second point: don’t let perfectionism stop you from speaking English. Perfectionism is being unwilling to make mistakes. But it is usually by making mistakes that we learn. Most people do not learn to walk without falling many times first.

In addition, riding a bicycle is difficult at first, and it is likely that when you learned to ride a bike, you probably fell off several times!

Working with an ETO teacher will allow you to make mistakes (in private and online) while talking about topics that are interesting to you. This is the third key: improve your English while talking about things that you are most interested in.  Our teachers will help you correct your mistakes in a friendly and supportive way, and introduce you to new idioms that will help you to be more fluent.

We look forward to providing great service to you, and helping you to move past the perfectionism that might have kept you from speaking English with confidence in the past!

Sign up for a free class with ETO today! In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages!!

By Joseph

ETO American English teacher

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ESL Learning: Weather Idioms

How’s the weather where you are today?

Let’s talk about some idioms related to the weather.

It’s raining cats and dogs: this is a phrase used to describe very heavy rain. Very, very heavy rain, so heavy that it sounds like animals are landing on the roof! Some people claim that the origin of this phrase is the Greek “cata doxa”, which translates to something like ‘beyond previous experience or belief’.

There is also a sadder explanation for the beginning of this phrase in English. Long ago, before we had good rain drains in cities, many cats and dogs would die during heavy rain because they would drown in suddenly flooded streets. In English, we call sudden flooding flash floods.

Nowadays, “it’s raining cats and dogs” can be used for any time when it is raining unusually hard.

Examples

• The weather report says that it will be raining cats and dogs tonight. We better not go to the soccer game.

• Oh my gosh! It’s raining cats and dogs out there! My clothes are totally soaked!

• When it’s raining cats and dogs, it’s important to be careful while driving. Some drivers will slow down suddenly, and others may panic. You may want to pull off the road until the rain slows down, if it is safe to do so.

Come rain or shine: we use this phrase to express that it doesn’t matter what the weather will be like. It is often used to let someone know that he or she can depend on us (or is expected) to be somewhere despite any challenges, including bad weather.  This phrase may also be expressed as rain or shine or come rain or come shine.

Examples

• I’m going to meet you here at 10 am, come rain or shine.

• Although there were protests throughout the city, my taxi driver got me to the airport. He’s the  best! He always gets me there, rain or shine.

• Come rain or come shine, no matter what comes, a good husband will be loyal to his wife, as long as she is loyal to him.

How’s the weather up there?: this phrase is used to ask the literal (exactly as the words suggest) question about the weather when someone is at a higher elevation. It can also be used when someone short is speaking to someone taller. Be careful not to ask this question to someone who is embarrassed of being tall. This phrase can also be used when a short person is positioned higher than you are, like a child who is sitting on his father’s shoulders.

• Wow! You must really be enjoying your vacation to the mountains! How’s the weather up there?

• Hey, Shaq! How’s the weather up there?

No matter how the weather is, ETO is here for our clients. So come rain or come shine, you can count on us. It may be raining cats and dogs, but you can have an exceptional class from the comfort of your own home. Check out what our clients have to say about us!

We’re happy to be at your service in any weather!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By Joseph

ETO American English teacher

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Learn English Online: Finding English Teachers abroad

Why Many of the Best English Teachers Don’t Live in Your Country

Many young people with great potential as English teachers finish their educations in the United States, Canada or Western Europe, and they go overseas to teach.

Teaching in Japan, Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, or other developed nations around the world allows many of these teachers to develop skills and to create confidence in their abilities. As English teachers give to these societies, they also receive.

First of all, so many Asian cultures show tremendous respect for teachers. There is much more dignity and fulfillment while teaching in these cultures, and motivation to improve for serious teachers. And these educators are living in foreign cultures that welcome them, honor them, and offer the opportunities to travel and experience new things.

As English teachers develop more experience, they are given the chance to work with adults. After a few years of working with adults, committed English teachers often reach a level of mastery that makes studying with them really amazing, and helpful for mastering your English.

But life comes in. The teachers are often asked to work super long hours at the private schools where they find the best pay, and are discouraged (or even banned by law, as is the case in Korea) from accepting private clients outside of these schools.

No matter how excellent the level of teaching, the experienced, gifted English teacher is often faced with the fact that he or she has reached the highest pay grade and the greatest influence possible without risking his or her job by taking on many private students.

And, of course, especially as we reach our 30s, we develop a desire to start a family, to continue to build towards our dreams, and to create a home base. So, just as a high level of mastery is achieved, many serious English teachers are thankful for the experiences they’ve had and the expertise that they have developed, but they prepare to head back to North America and Europe.

Some master English teachers choose to stay in North America or Europe, and teach online. Nowadays, the internet has also allowed many great English teachers to live anywhere in the world where they can find dependable internet, and to participate in what we call conscious lifestyle design.

Conscious lifestyle design is creating a life that would require a person to be a millionaire in North America or western Europe, but doing it for much less, by living in beautiful locations in Central and South America or South Asia.

With a lower cost of living, nicer climates, and continued opportunities to travel and enjoy the world, these places have become some of the most popular destinations for gifted, master English teachers. Many other professionals who have established job mobility (the ability to work from anywhere in the world) are also relocating in large numbers to these developing countries.

But just like you are looking for the best English teachers, they are also looking for you. Most citizens of the hot spots that allow for conscious lifestyle design, such as Chile, Panama, Brazil, Uruguay, the Philippines, and Malaysia, cannot afford to pay master English teachers fairly.

Would you like higher quality English classes with some of these master teachers? ETO allows you to work with highly skilled North American teachers who have lots of expertise working with clients from developed Asian countries and all over the world.

And the best part is that the price is much more reasonable than you would pay for private lessons in your own country!

Study from home, and enjoy experiencing a new found level of confidence with your English. Contact ETO now for a free class. We only work with the best English teachers!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By Joseph

ETO American English teacher

Photos by:  hannahspanna, Giorgio Montorsino & Au Pair

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ESL learning: There, Their & They’re

OK ladies and gents, I will answer a question that I had recently from a student studying a course in Business English.

Is there a difference between There, They’re and Their?

Yes. Of course! Here are the basic usages and differences in brief; we will look at them more closely further down in this post.

1. Use “There” when referring to a place.
2. Also use “There” to indicate the existence of something.
3. Use “Their” to indicate possession.
4. “They’re” is a contraction meaning ‘they are’.

There:
1. Adverb which means the opposite of “here”

The English book is over there.
Freeze! Stay right there.
Would you study English here or there?

2. Pronoun which introduces a clause or a noun.

We say ‘there’ + verb-to-be (is, am, are, was & were).
This shows the existence of a thing.
Also, we can use There to say something for the first time.
There is a great Travel English Program at ETO.
Are there any sodas here?
There is an old house on the corner.
There are a lot of people learning English as a second language.

3. Adjective which specifies a certain person, thing or noun.

That fish there is pretty.
That Native English teacher there is the best.

4. Noun which translates to “that place.”

He is not climbing up there!
From there, she jogged home.

Their: 

Their is an adjective that shows 3rd person possessive usually, but not always, in the plural form. This means that it shows that something belongs to another group of people. The word There nearly always comes just before the noun

Where are their grammar tips?
Is this their house?
At the ETO website, their demo class is posted for everyone to view.
ETO’s online textbooks are on their website too.
Her parents lost their car in the big parking lot.

They’re: 

There is a contraction. It means they are. There is usually followed by a continuous verb, (verb+ing)

They’re leaving tomorrow.
Who knows which English thesaurus they’re reading?
I see they’re improving their American pronunciation.
When they’re here, we will begin the conversation class.
When they’re richer, they can buy a nicer car.

Helpful ways to remember these grammar rules

There: Has the word ‘here’ inside to remind us there refers to places.
Their: Has the word ‘heir’ inside to remind us that something belongs to someone.
They’re: Try spelling out the contraction as ‘they are’ and see if it still sounds correct.

Grammar Quiz Time ^__^
Please try to complete the below grammar test and see how you do!
1. ___ cat is big.
a. Their
b. There
c. They’re

2. ___ was a common grammar point on the test.
a. Their
b. There
c. They’re

3. Her students will come today. ___ driving from Chicago.
a. Their
b. There
c. They’re

4. Many years ago ___ weren’t any SAT exams; universities only looked at high school grades.
a. their
b. there
c. they‘re

5. My friends bought new English material for learning. ___ new material is great!
a. Their
b. There
c. They’re

6. Both drivers have a license. ___ both able drive legally.
a. Their
b. There
c. They’re

7. When you drive over ___ , can you please take my sister with you?
a. their
b. there
c. they‘re

8. Will you show me where ___ ETO Blogs are?
a. their
b. there
c. they‘re

9. ___ building is across the street.
a. Their
b. There
c. They’re

10. Can you tell me where ___ English class is?
a. their
b. there
c. they‘re

Please omment below with your answers..

How to keep learning?

Learn to recognize correct and incorrect usages of Their, There and They’re. It always helps us learn if we can teach these new points to a friend or if we write a few example sentences using the new grammar knowledge.

If you are still having challenges with this grammar, consider hiring a private tutor online.

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

Image credit 1: Grammarly.com

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ESL Learning: Work idioms

Love it or hate it, we’ve all got work to do in our lives.

Let’s talk about some phrases and idioms that we use around work.

Tremendous work ethic/Great work ethic: dearly valuing hard work, and able to work hard for long amounts of time. Someone who has a tremendous work ethic will most likely succeed after learning to direct his or her actions well.

Examples:

• She works two jobs in a row, and still comes home and cooks dinner! She has a tremendous work ethic.

• You must develop a great work ethic to succeed in business.

• He does not have a great work ethic, so he was happy to find a job where he did not have to work too hard.

Work smart: use logic and strategy to do your work in the best possible way.

Examples:

• Because he learned to work smart, he does not have to work so hard.

• One way to work smart is to find ways that we are wasting time in our work.

• She decided to work smart, and started having a personal assistant answer her company’s emails.

Burn the midnight oil OR Burn the midnight lamp: work late into the night. Often, artists and musicians say that they do some of their best work late at night.

To explain the root of the phrases ‘burn the midnight oil’ and ‘burn the midnight lamp’. Before the times of electricity, we, of course, used oil lamps to light our homes after the sun had set.

Examples:

• The project is due tomorrow, so we might have to burn the midnight oil to complete it.

• Some people are sleepy the next day after they burn the midnight oil.

• “I continue to burn the midnight lamp, all alone.” –Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix, considered to be one of the best American guitarists of all time, even has a song called “Burning of the Midnight Lamp:

Jimi Hendrix was famous for burning the midnight oil in the music studio, often erasing his band mates’ tracks, re-recording while playing their instruments, and experimenting with new effects and alternate tuning for his guitar well into the morning hours.

Burning the candle at both ends: working (or playing) until late at night and getting up early in the morning.

A candle that burns at both ends will be finished quickly, and working (or playing) too hard and not getting enough sleep are considered to be bad for people’s health in English speaking cultures.

Examples:

• After five days of working 15 hour days, he slept almost all weekend. Too much burning the candle at both ends!

• I’m going to sleep! I’ve got work in the morning, and I won’t be burning the candle at both ends!

• Get some sleep, my dear; you don’t want to be burning the candle at both ends.

So in conclusion, remember to get enough sleep. It’s okay to burn the midnight oil sometimes, but don’t burn the candle at both ends!

It’s good to have a tremendous work ethic, but it’s even more important to work smart! Believe in yourself, and know that amazing things are in the works for you and ETO this year.

If this was interesting or useful to you, you may also be interested in many of our new English topics at EnglishTutorOnline. Get started with a free English class today!

Thanks for visiting our blog. May your work be successful, purposeful, and joyful in all that you do!

By Joseph

ETO American English teacher

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ESL Learning: May versus Might

May and might are words that have very similar meanings in English, and it might be hard to decide which of these words to use. But then again, after reading this blog, it may be a lot easier!

May: used to ask (or give) permission in a formal way

Examples:

• May I ask you a question?

• Yes, you may!

• May I have a raise?

May: to suggest that something is probable (will probably happen).

Examples:

• I see some dark clouds in the sky. It may rain this afternoon.

• He loves basketball so much that he may continue practicing in the rain.

• They have been saving up money, so they may go on a vacation during their break from work.

Remember that may often suggests something is probable to happen (or at least we have hope or faith that it will). Also, please note that May is the English name for the fifth month of the year on the Western (Gregorian) calendar, when it is used as a proper noun.

Might: used when an outcome is less probable, or probably will not happen

Examples:

• The weather reporter said it will snow, but I think that it might be hot later on today.

• The team is not very good, but they might get lucky and qualify for the playoffs.

• He drank so much beer that he might not remember his name.

Might: also used as the past tense form of may

Examples:

• Native Americans might have been in the Americas before the Bering Strait migration.

• Bill Clinton might have been the best musician out of all of the American presidents: Here

Remember that English is a fluid language, meaning that it is always changing, but these are the official grammar rules for now. You may sometimes hear native English speakers say, “I may have been there before.” But according to current grammar rules, this is not correct.

Please note as well that might as a noun means strength. The noun might is used less often than the modal might in English. Some people say that eventually, may will replace might in English, and may is now used more often, especially in spoken English.

Are you ready to put your learning to the test? You might be! No, you may be!

I __________ go to the store later, but it’s so cold outside tonight! Maybe I will wait until tomorrow.

1. may

2. might

She _________ have an easy time finding a husband. She is very beautiful, and a good cook!

1. may

2. might

We _________ pay less money for phone calls now that we can Skype online for free.

1. may

2. might

Sir, it would be good to get some fresh air. __________ we continue this meeting outside in the garden?

1. Might

2. May

Who knows? We may be speaking soon! You can set up a free trial class to get started now!

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By Joseph

ETO American English teacher

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