Collocations can seem pretty arbitrary.  Here’s one that people mess up all the time in TOEFL essays.

When talking about successfully doing something, you should write:

  • “Peter succeeded in passing his test.”
  • “After many weeks, he succeeded in finding an apartment in New York.”

You should not write:

  • “Peter succeeded to pass his test.”
  • “After many weeks, he succeeded to find an apartment in New York.”

 

Here’s another. You should write:

  • “Next year Peter will succeed in passing his test”
  • “Hopefully next year he will succeed in finding an apartment in New York.”

And you should not write:

  • “Next year peter will succeed to pass his test”
  • “Hopefully next year he will succeed to find an apartment in New York.”

Clear?

English is hard. 

Just a very quick article today to address a fairly common error in TOEFL essays.  

When writing about decades you don’t need an apostrophe.   Just write:

  • There were a lot of wild parties in the 1920s.
  • My parents got married in the 1960s.

Don’t stick an apostrophe in there.  Don’t write:

  • There were a lot of wild parties in the 1920’s.
  • My parents got married in the 1960’s.

Easy, right?

My TOEFL students mix up these three words all the time!  Here’s what you need to know:

Resident” = a person.  For example:

  • “The residents of this city are really happy to live here.”
  • “There were enough fireplaces for about 15 residents.”
  • “Michael is a resident of Halifax.”

 

Residence” = a place where someone lives (like a home). For example:

  • “The houses in the Chaco Canyon were probably residences.”
  • “There are over five thousand residences in downtown Seattle.”

 

Residential” = an adjective with a meaning like “related to residences.”  For example:

  • “They look like the residential buildings in New Mexico.”
  • “This is a residential neighborhood.”

This one is tricky both for students and for teachers (to explain) but I see people misuse “decline” and “reduce” in their TOEFL essays all the time.  Here’s what you should note:

I can use “reduce” as a transitive verb to mean something like “make smaller”

  • The whales reduced the population of sea otters.
  • The hunters reduced the population of sea cows.
  • To prevent a disaster in my apartment I reduced the amount of clutter.

In this case the subject of the sentence made the following things smaller:  the population of sea otters, the population of sea cows, the amount of clutter.

I can’t use “decline” as a transitive verb to mean “make smaller.”  I cannot say:

  • The whales declined the population of sea otters.
  • The hunters declined the population of sea otters.
  • I declined the amount of clutter.

When talking about making something smaller, I can only use “decline” as an intransitive verb.  Like this:

  • The population of sea otters declined.
  • The population of sea cows declined.
  • The amount of clutter declined.

It isn’t really relevant, but when I use “declined” as a transitive verb it means “refused” or “turned down.”  As in:

  • I declined the job transfer. (I refused the job offer)

Students often mix up “few” and “a few” in their TOEFL essays and discussion responses.  Here’s what you should know:

A few” means something like “some.”  You can’t use it when you are talking about a lot of something, but it does not necessarily mean “not many.”  Use it like this:

  • A few students passed the test” = some students passed the test (but not a lot of ideas)
  • “I need a few ideas about how to negotiate a better contract” = I need some ideas about how to negotiate a better contract (but not a lot of ideas)
  • “I saw a few people on my way to the store” = I saw a some people on my way to the store (but not a lot of people)

Just use “a few” when you are talking about “some” of something.  Don’t use it to emphasize that you are talking about “not many” of something.

Few” means something like “not many”.  Use it when you want to emphasize that you are talking about “not many” of something.  Like this:

  • Few students passed the test” = not many students passed the test
  • “I have few ideas about how to negotiate a better contract” = I don’t have many ideas about how to negotiate a better contract
  • “I saw few people on my way to the store” = I didn’t see many people on my way to the store

Can you see the difference?  The correct wording depends on what you want to emphasize.

 

 

 

Students often mix up “so” and “so that” in their essays.  Here’s what you should know.

So

“So” is used to indicate an effect or consequence of something.  Like:

I studied hard, so I got a high score.

The effect of studying hard is that I got a high score.

There was a drought, so the people moved west.

The effect of the drought was that people moved west.

I’m tired, so I’m going to bed.

The effect of being tired is that I’m going to bed.

So that

“So that” is used to indicate the purpose or reason for doing something.  Like:

I turned up the heat so that we will feel more comfortable.

My reason for turning up the heat was to make us feel more comfortable.

People moved west so that they could grow crops.

The reason people moved west was to grow crops.

I should go to bed early so that I have plenty of energy tomorrow.

My reason for going to bed early is that I want to have more energy tomorrow.

Some old-fashioned writing uses “in order that” in a similar way.  I don’t recommend using that form in contemporary academic writing.

Rather than

Use “rather than” to state preferences and choices.  Such as:

“He wanted to be a doctor rather than a teacher”

“I prefer to eat pizza rather than salad.”

“I decided to write rather than phone.”

“In the end, we decided to go to Toronto on Friday rather than on Sunday.”

“He’s probably just lazy, rather than stupid.”

Note how each sentence states a choice or preference.  There is not just a comparison.

Than

Use “than” to compare two things without making a choice.  As in:

“Doctors make more money than teachers.”

“Waking up early is more beneficial than staying in bed late.”

“Writing is slower than calling.”

“Cats are smaller than dogs.”

“Attending university at home is cheaper than going to another country.”

Note how every sentence makes a comparison, but no actual choice is made.

Students often misuse “in contrast” and “on the contrary.”  This article will explain how they can be used correctly.

In Contrast

This is the easy one.  Use “in contrast” to compare two dissimilar things or statements.  Like:

Harold likes cats.  In contrast, Simon likes dogs.

or:

The Hulk uses his strength to solve problems.  In contrast, Bruce Banner uses his intelligence.

or:

Most people prefer to study in groups.  In contrast, I like to study alone.

“In contrast” functions a lot like “however” in these cases.  To my eye, “however” is probably more natural. 

On the Contrary

This one is tricky.  “On the contrary” is not used to compare two things or statements.  Instead, it is used to emphasize an aspect of a single thing or statement.  We use “on the contrary” to express something like “actually, here’s what is true.”  Like:

I’m not tired.  On the contrary, I’m full of energy.

or

Harold didn’t fail his test.  On the contrary, he got the highest score in the class.”

or

Thor isn’t weak.  On the contrary, he is extremely strong.

Do you see what I did there?  I stated something which isn’t true.  I then emphasized my point by using “on the contrary” and stating that something else is  true.

By Contrast

Many people use “by contrast” instead of “in contrast.”  Some people might argue that there is some difference between these two phrases.  I don’t think there is.  I think they can be used interchangeably.  

Students often write a single sentence that contains the conjunctions “although” and “but”. This is probably a bad idea. You should just pick one.

You can write:

“Although I studied hard, I couldn’t pass the test.”

And you can write:

“I studied hard, but I couldn’t pass the test.”

Can you see how each of those sentences has just one of the conjunctions?

Don’t write a sentence with both of them. You shouldn’t write:

“Although I studied hard, but I couldn’t pass the test.”

I suppose this is the same as combining “because” and “so” in the same sentence, but that’s a topic for another post.

I see a lot of errors with “ago” and “earlier.” It can be tricky to explain the difference, but I will do my best.

Use “ago” to refer to a point relative to the present. For instance, I can say:

“I met my wife four years ago.”

That means I met my wife four years before the present time (now).

Or I can say:

“Simon was born in Chicago twenty-five years ago.”

That means Simon was born in Chicago twenty-five years before the present time (now).

Don’t use “earlier” to talk about a point relative to the present.

Use “earlier” to talk about something that happened relative to a particular time in the past. For instance I can say:

“I met my wife in 1982. Four years earlier, I had been dating Suzy.”

That means I dated Suzy four years before 1982.

Do you get what I mean? Here’s another:

“Simon was born in Chicago twenty-five years ago. His parents had moved there four years earlier.”

That means Simon’s parents moved there four years before Simon was born.

Honestly, I am not sure if it is better to use the past perfect tense of the simple past tense for the “earlier” parts. The past perfect tense sounds a bit clunky in the second example, but that’s just my opinion.

Use the past tense to refer to extinct animals like dinosaurs.

Pterosaurs are extinct, so you should write:

“Pterosaurs were cold-blooded like modern reptiles.”

Don’t write:

“Pterosaurs are cold-blooded like modern reptiles.”

The sea cow is extinct, so you should write:

“Kelp was the main food source of the sea cow.”

Don’t write:

“Kelp is the main food source of the sea cow.”

You might think this is a very obscure point, but I fix this sort of error every week when I review student essays. ETS loves to create integrated writing questions about dinosaurs and other ancient animals.

Just a short grammar guide this week. While this may be a short guide, but it is about one of the most common mistakes I see when checking TOEFL essays.

You must remember that every is normally used before a singular noun. Like this:

Every house in the neighborhood is expensive.”

Or this:

“I want to eat every cookie in the box!”

Do not use a plural noun after “every.” Do not write:

Every houses in the neighborhood is expensive.”

There is one exception, however. You can use a plural noun in expressions that refer to intervals. As in:

“I still talk to him every few days.”

Or:

“We all get together every five weeks.”

When I check TOEFL essays, I often see grammar mistakes involving “stopped to VERB” and “stopped VERBing.” This is a dangerous mistake since these forms are used to express totally different ideas. The mistake often results in a sentence with the complete opposite of the writer’s intended meaning!

Here’s what you need to know.

I stopped VERBing” means that I stopped doing that action.

So:

I stopped dancing in 1997” means that I stopped dancing in 1997.

I stopped doing homework” means that I stopped doing my homework.

Easy, right? This is what most people want to express. This is probably what you should use in your essays.

Next:

I stopped to VERB” means that I actually did the action!

I was walking to school and I stopped to buy a sandwich” means that I bought a sandwich while you were walking to school.

Yesterday, I stopped to talk to Simon” means that yesterday I talked to Simon.

The tricky thing is that after some English verbs you can use either an -ing form or an infinitive. But after other verbs you cannot.

What’s worse is that after some verbs this results in a different meaning, but after other verbs it does not.

For reference and verb lists, I recommend sections 100, 105 and 110 of “Practical English Usage.”