The English teachers voice

  Word pairs , for both native speakers and students of English, can often cause great confusion. For native speakers, this is especially so when they are writing.  Many pairs of words in English sound alike or nearly alike, but each one has a different meaning. For example,  affect  means to influence something, while  effect  means the result of something. Words like these can be easily confused with each other. You must be careful to use the correct word from a pair of such confusing words when you are writing and speaking. If not, you may express something different than what you mean. For example, suppose you are writing about the importance of a good marriage. You write that  martial  bliss is a wonderful thing. The word  martial  refers to war. You should have written that  marital  bliss is a wonderful thing. The word  marital  refers to marriage. You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself by addressing a letter ...

Everybody hates grammar, it is complicated and difficult for most students to learn correctly. In many ways, it is like mathematics with words rather than numbers. (      ) + (       ) + (       ) = (        )  Grammar, when understood and used correctly is the one element that will help you to improve your performance in all four of the different skills in international exams . ( speaking ,  writing ,  reading , and  listening ) In speaking and writing, you have to be able to produce language that is  grammatically  correct. Grammatical correctness is a criterion that raters use when scoring your speaking and writing. Grammatical correctness refers to using a wide range of grammar structures and using them accurately. In reading and listening, you need to understand the language used. Even if you don’t have to actively use grammar yourself, you still need to understand com...