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By Greg Pioli
Online Language Academy
🔧English Quick Fix
Introduction
Do you want a quick way to take your English to the next level?
I’m Greg Pioli, the creator and director of Online Language Academy, and
in this book we’re going to fix your broken English!
Over the past 10+ years I have lived in 4 different countries, and taught
hundreds of students who make the same mistakes as you.
If you fix these common mistakes, you will instantly become a more
advanced speaker of English.
Visit us at www.OnlineLanguageAcademy.com
🔧Quick Fix 1. Still v Already v Yet
❑ What’s the problem?
These three grammatical words are easily mixed up by ESL students
and can cause real confusion when talking with native speakers.
❑ Example phrases
✅ I don’t want to eat out tonight because I’ve already had dinner (I
had dinner in the past)
✅ I moved to the USA 3 years ago and I still live here. (I live here
now)
✅ I’m married but we don’t have any children yet. (I will have children
in the future)
❑ Example phrases
❌ It’s been a tired day! I had lots of work to do.
✅ It’s been a tiring day! I had lots of work to do. (My opinion of today)
❌ There’s nothing to do here. I’m boring.
✅ Do business ✅ Do a course
The thing is, that /t/ and /d/ are so similar that it’s almost impossible to
distinguish the two. So my personal top tip is to always add /t/ to the
end of the verb. If it’s not possible to add a /t/ to the end of a word, then
add /id/.
It’s not possible to add a /t/ to the end of verbs that already end in /t/
or /d/ sounds, for example:
✅ Decide ✅ Want ✅ Add ✅ Hate ✅ Collide
Use tell when the verb is followed by a person (e.g. him, them, me, you,
Peter, everybody…)
Use say when the verb is followed by another phrase (e.g. happy
birthday / she was coming / hello / that’s not fair…)
✅ Rob said that it wasn’t fair, and left the meeting angrily.
🔧Quick Fix 8. Used to v Usually
❑ What’s the problem?
You’ve used these words incorrectly so many times that you sound like
you missed the day they taught it at school.
❑ Example phrases
❌ I am used to live in France when I was younger.
✅ I used to live in France when I was younger.
❌ I love the mornings, so I am used to wake up early.
❑ Example phrases
❌ How many are you?
✅ How many of you are there?
❌ We are 5.
❑ Example phrases
❌ When I will get home, I will call you.
✅ When I get home, I will call you.
❌ If we will play well, we will win.
❑ Example phrases
❌ How many years do you have? I have 35 years.
❑ Example phrases
❌ I haven’t had nothing to eat all day.
🔧Quick Fix 13. The cat of the dad of Joe
❑ What’s the problem?
The cat of the dad of Joe is a very ‘foreign’ sounding construction. If
you use ‘of’ once in a sentence (e.g. the cat of Joe), you sound foreign.
However, if you use it twice (e.g. the cat of the dad of Joe), it becomes
quite difficult for native speakers to understand what you’re talking
about.
❑ Example phrases
❌ It’s the birthday of the wife of my friend today.
❑ Example phrases
❌ All the childs in my class are lovely.
✅ All the children in my class are lovely.
❌ There are only three womans at my office.
❑ Example phrases
❌ I would love to can speak English perfectly.
✅ I would love to be able to speak English perfectly.
❌ I’m not sure if I will can go to the party.
❑ The videos
Here are some of my most popular YouTube pronunciation videos that
you need to watch if you want to fix your pronunciation!
Fact: Your friends make these same mistakes mentioned in this book.
Be a good friend and help fix your friends’ broken English…