AS for AS
Last time, I tried to summarise the uses of the keyword LIKE in English. This time, I’m attacking its confusing partner in crime: the even-more-useful AS. AS versus LIKE The first problem with this word for many people is how to distinguish it from LIKE. I said last...
Learning to love LIKE (as opposed to AS…)
Do you know how to love Like? In recent blogs, I attacked the tricky differences between the verbs do and make, but there is another pair of problem children in the English language: AS and LIKE. They both correspond to one keyword in many languages, like como in...
Making you Do Things
In my last blog, I said that if you’re not sure about the differences between the verbs do and make, you should start with do as your main option and learn ‘exceptions’ when you need make. The first occurs when you want to emphasise that you’ve created something new,...
What to do with DO and MAKE?
Do or make? If you have problems choosing between do and make when you’re speaking English, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common questions that I hear in my classes, and the truth is that I still don’t think that we teachers have a totally satisfactory...
Why give gifts?
My business partner doesn’t like the word ‘gratis’ in Spanish. She says that if something is free, people think it’s either a trap or can’t be worth much. As a native Spanish speaker, she usually wins the argument, but since it’s Christmas, I’d like to defend the...
How to Survive a British Pub
We give you some advices to survive a british pub. The noise and stress of a busy bar make life hard enough in your own language, and when everyone is speaking English, things can get stressful for a non-native speaker.Unless of course, you’re prepared… Getting Served...
Complaining with Restaurant English
So far in my overview of the English you need for Business lunches, I’ve focused mainly on the kind of mistakes that YOU might make. But what happens when it’s the restaurant’s fault? Even in the UK you can expect some standards… Be very afraid… When you launch...
False Flans and other Traps in Restaurant English
There are some traps in Restaurant English. I mentioned last time that you can always resort to your smartphone for the tricky English words on the menu at a business lunch (everyone does it, because no-one knows everything). However, you’ll often find that it’s the...