Easter is both a religious and secular holiday. The religious holiday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, while the secular part is a mixture of European traditions celebrating the beginning of spring and modern North American customs. This is the long and confusing story about why and how we celebrate both Jesus and a bunny […]
Archives for March 2010
English Grammar: How to Use the Present Continuous to Talk about the Future
Talking about future plans is challenging in English because we use different verb forms and tenses. In this post you’ll learn how to talk about your plans for the weekend. You’ll learn when to use the present continuous, be going to, and will. You’ll also learn why ‘gonna’ is NOT a proper or acceptable written […]
The Story of St. Patrick’s Day!
St Patrick’s Day is a fun day in Canada and the US. It’s not a public holiday so nobody has the day off from work, but it’s a day that many people celebrate. It’s a day to pretend that you are Irish! People wear green clothes and St Patrick’s day accessories like leprechaun hats or […]
English Grammar: Can a gerund be used after the preposition “to”?
It’s important to remember this basic grammar rule: HOWEVER, there is always an exception to the rule in English! Normally, ‘to’ goes with a verb (as part of the infinitive form), not a noun. If, however, the ‘to’ is a preposition that is part of a combination, then it is OK to use a […]