Rules, traps, and every correction that keeps recurring.
| Type | Form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | present simple → present simple | always true |
| 1 | present simple → will + inf | real, might happen |
| 2 | past simple → would + inf | unreal now/future |
| 3 | past perfect → would have + pp | unreal past |
| Mixed 1 | if + past perfect → would + inf | past cause, present result |
| Mixed 2 | if + past simple → would have + pp | present cause, past result |
Alternatives to if: Should you want it badly enough… · Were I to study journalism, I'd enjoy it. · Had I arrived earlier, I'd have seen her. · But for her intervention, he'd never have risked it. · If it hadn't been for his love of the game… · Unless = if not · provided that / as long as = on condition that.
Standing assignment: use conditionals in free speech. Cheapest way in — replace any "maybe" with "If I were to…" or "Should we…".
Pattern: adverbial + auxiliary + subject + verb.
Heard in normal speech: "Under no circumstances would I ask you to skip dinner again." The pattern is alive — steal it.
A noun and pronoun fused into one word — a concision device.
like compares two nouns; modify with a bit, a little, rather, a lot, nothing: Waiting for an interview is a bit like going to the dentist.
as goes with an adjective or adverb: not as old as he'd claimed · nowhere near as expensive as · nothing like as difficult as · twice as adventurous as
Either more or -er, never both.
| ✗ | ✓ |
|---|---|
| much more harder | much harder · far harder · way harder |
| much more easier | much easier · a lot easier |
Intensifiers that take a comparative: much · far · way · a lot · slightly · marginally · nowhere near. More is not one of them — it is already the comparative.
| ✗ | ✓ | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Would you mind to share it? | Would you mind sharing it? | mind + gerund |
| avoid to spend time | avoid spending time | avoid + gerund |
| I suppose to help | I'm supposed to help | the be isn't optional |
| It's essential that you have to watch | It's essential that you watch | bare form after essential/vital/crucial that |
| I consider myself as a good fit | I consider myself a good fit | consider + object + complement, no as |
| I'd be real assets | I'd be a real asset | singular countable takes the article |
Intensity doesn't stack. "super vital" ✗ → absolutely vital, or just vital.
Zero article with abstract nouns: the main currency of his films is time, not "is the time".
| ✗ | ✓ | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| we are not got used to it | we aren't used to it · we haven't got used to it | be used to = the state, get used to = the process. Both take a gerund: used to looking at a screen |
| spend time to get to the office | spend time getting to the office | spend time / money + gerund |
| spend half the day for coffee breaks | spend half the day on coffee breaks | spend + on + noun |
| advantages to remote studying | advantages of remote studying | advantage / benefit / drawback of |
Three things move a sentence down the ladder:
I've been particularly impressed by… (formal) → I was really impressed by… (neutral) → I've been hyped by… (informal)
| Informal | Cover-email version |
|---|---|
| I was impressed by your campaign | I was particularly impressed by your campaign last year. |
| here's what's relevant about me | Aspects of my background which I consider relevant include the following: |
| I've got lots of experience | I have extensive experience in… |
| I love what I do | I'm passionate about my career. |
| your company could really use me | I feel I would be a real asset to your company. |
| I'd like to come for the interview | I would be grateful for the opportunity to discuss my application with you. |
| CV | Cover letter / email | |
|---|---|---|
| Content | professional | personal |
| Register | factual | semi-formal, warmer |
| Length | up to 2 pages | 1 page |
| Personal introduction | no | always |
| Why you're applying / why you fit | no | yes, here |
Order inside it: introduction (who you are, why you're writing, that you know the company) → background (the "aspects of my background" bullets) → your own opinion of your fit → polite close. Facts before opinion.
When she asks for the colloquial version, reject anything you would put in an email before you say it. Because of and due to cost five minutes on 20 Aug.
| Formal / neutral | Colloquial |
|---|---|
| an advantage | a big plus |
| because of · due to | be down to sth |
| talk at length about something unimportant | witter on (about sth) |
| occasional | the odd (comment) |
down to the wire (right up to the end, outcome unknown) · at the eleventh hour · in the nick of time · with a minute to spare
Form: be (in the tense of the active sentence) + past participle. The passive keeps the same tense as the active sentence — it doesn't add perfect or continuous aspect on top.
| Active tense | Passive form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | am/is/are + V3 | They take the photos. → The photos are taken. |
| Present continuous | am/is/are being + V3 | They are taking the photos. → The photos are being taken. |
| Present perfect | have/has been + V3 | They have taken the photos. → The photos have been taken. |
| Past simple | was/were + V3 | They took the photos. → The photos were taken. |
| Past continuous | was/were being + V3 | They were taking the photos. → The photos were being taken. |
| Past perfect | had been + V3 | They had taken the photos. → The photos had been taken. |
| Future simple | will be + V3 | They will take the photos. → The photos will be taken. |
| "going to" | am/is/are going to be + V3 | They are going to take the photos. → The photos are going to be taken. |
| Future perfect | will have been + V3 | They will have taken the photos. → The photos will have been taken. |
No passive form: future continuous, present/past perfect continuous, future perfect continuous — the structure would be unworkably clunky. Eight of the twelve active tenses take a passive; four don't.
Passive infinitive: to be + V3 — do need to be reminded. Passive gerund: being + V3 — being taken; also after prepositions: aware of being watched.
Reporting-verb passive + perfect infinitive — the formal, hedged way to report what people think/found without naming who: X is thought to have been Ving. Sometimes people who were thought to have been listening intently were actually found to be working on something else entirely.
Formal impersonal openers: it is thought (that) · it was said/sought (that) · one has decided. Regret uses a modal perfect passive, not a separate structure: it could/should have been done earlier than it was.
GET vs HAVE (causative) in the passive: get is informal — I got fined. The formal alternative is the causative have + object + V3: I had my fine written by somebody · I had my car repaired · I'm having my car repaired today · I had my car stolen (works for negative situations too).
Quantity in formal writing: a great deal (of) = uncountable · a great number (of) = countable.
Sentence-opening formal connectors: given that · granted that · taking into consideration / taking into account · having said that.
Gerund as the subject of a sentence — the -ing form, not the infinitive of purpose: getting sucked into it, not to get sucked.
Paraphrase the other person back to them:
Clarify or restate your own point: What I said was… · That's exactly what I mean. · That's not what I'm saying. · OK, I'll put it another way. · Let me rephrase that. · Perhaps I should have said…
The paraphrase has to check the meaning, not argue with it: say back what they said in your own words, then let them confirm or correct.
nice of sb vs nice for sb: It was nice of him = kind of him · It was nice for him = good for him.
Both students' mistakes, kept anonymous here on purpose — for personal patterns and recommendations, see Feedback.
| ✗ | ✓ |
|---|---|
| Would you mind to share it? | Would you mind sharing it? |
| avoid to spend time | avoid spending time · spare them from spending |
| I suppose to help someone | I'm supposed to help someone |
| I consider myself as a good fit | I consider myself a good fit |
| I'd be real assets | I'd be a real asset |
| I'm kind of detective | I'm kind of a detective |
| super vital | absolutely vital · vital |
| big / large / huge experience | extensive · broad · great experience |
| not for a lightheaded | not for the faint-hearted |
| It's undoubtedly that you have to present | You will undoubtedly want to present |
| the main currency of his films is the time | …is time |
| the epidemic start in my 11th grade | the pandemic started |
| a person who are finding your thing | someone who finds things you've left behind |
| I saw a few interviews | I watched a few interviews |
| employee ↔ employer | driver, builder, teacher, employer — -er is the one doing it |
| listen it | listen to it |
| inferior than | inferior to |
| rebel against to sth | rebel against sth |
| at easiness | at ease |
| frowned down | frowned upon |
| Waterloo University | the University of Waterloo |
| an illusion to sth | an allusion to sth |
| linguistical contractions | linguistic · just contractions |
| I have an aptitude for patience | aptitude is for a skill, not a virtue |
| tired knees / knee fatigue | my knees are sore · knee pain · muscle soreness |
| Can we listen it | listen to it |
| I haven't injured again | I haven't injured it again |
| sorted "being able to" as necessity | it's ability — a capacity, not a duty |
| an illusion (while meaning allusion) | an allusion to sth |
| sub boards | SUP boards / paddleboards |
| much more harder · much more easier | much harder · much easier |
| we are not got used to it | we aren't used to it · we haven't got used to it |
| social persons | social people · social beings |
| you will be interesting (about a person) | you will be interested |
| advantages to remote studying | advantages of remote studying |
| non-verbal clues | non-verbal cues |
| boring, lifelong discussions | long-winded · never-ending discussions |
| he felt rain after | he felt drained afterwards |
| spend time to get to the office | spend time getting to the office |
| spend half the day for coffee breaks | spend half the day on coffee breaks |
| at the morning | in the morning |
| Haven't he scream at all? | Didn't he scream at all? · Hasn't he screamed? |
| track the delivers | track the deliverables |
| a kinologist | a dog trainer · a dog handler |
| lose plots | lose the thread (of a discussion) |
| relaxation (for the feeling of a burden lifting) | a relief |
| "destruct" (for distrust) | distrust |
| tickle down | trickle down |
| trickle down down (unclear hyphenation) | trickle-down effect / economy |
| elevate boredom | alleviate boredom |
| flooded with "fluid" (Ukrainian calque) | flooded with spam — no direct English equivalent |
| ease the stress level(s) | ease stress levels (no article) |
| The photos are being taken (as passive of "they take the photos") | The photos are taken |
| The photos have been taken (as passive of "they took the photos") | The photos were taken |
| anti-drift measures | anti-theft measures |
| the security department has/had been informed (sequential past narrative) | the security department was informed — action-by-action narrative takes past simple |
| there is a great deal gained by thinking twice | there is a great deal to be gained by thinking twice |
| to get suck for something | getting sucked into it |
| I had find | I had my fine written (causative) |
| Dasha is positive person | Dasha is a positive person |
| they wasn't able to stop themself | they weren't able to stop themselves |
| exaggerate (for making a problem worse) | exacerbate / aggravate |
| cut and dried for sth (meaning suited to) | cut out for sth — cut and dried = clear-cut, already decided |
| in their cadence («каденція») | in their term of office |
| manifest (the noun) | manifesto — to manifest is the verb |
| Am I right to say that you think… | Am I right in thinking that… |
| when his wife born a baby | when his wife gave birth to a baby |
| because her wife earns more | because his wife earns more |
| social benefits puck / kit | benefits package |
| we stopped watching on the half of the movie | we stopped watching halfway through the film |
| correct me from wrong | correct me if I'm wrong |
| you rock in cycling | you rock at cycling (informal) |
| someone who already can do that and have done it before | someone who has done it before |
| a party that have to · this question have to | a party that has to · this question has to |
| yes or not | yes or no |
| flexible hours to carry children | flexible hours to care for children / to fit work around childcare |