Everyday English for Grown-ups

English is one of the richest, most colourful and most subtle languages in the world. To speak or write good English – plain, lucid, jargon-free English – to have mastery of the language, is to have style.

Here are some examples (well there’s one already):

Verbs are the most complex parts of speech. This is because, as well as describing an action, they tell us when the action took place, and give an indication as to who performed the action.

something is doing something.

Similarly, the is lengthened to thee before a word beginning with a vowel: ‘He is thee expert on Japanese painting’; ‘Thee umbrella is by the door

ave mastery of the language, is to have

actions that are current but not permanent

ld Norse: gap, ill, mire, reindeer, root, scowl, skull, sky, to mention a handful

that took place at some non-specified time

we must move forward