Provided That vs. On Condition That
Provided that can be used as a conjunction. It is used to introduce a condition. It means something will happen only if another thing also happens. You can borrow my car, provided that you...
Category: Grammar
Primary Auxiliaries
The primary auxiliaries are of three kinds: be, do and have. Each of them has different forms. Be The auxiliary be has five forms: is, am, are, was and were. Be also has a present participle (being) and a past participle (been) form. I am writing a novel. He is working on a...
Perhaps | English Usage
Perhaps and maybe have the same meaning. Perhaps is more formal than maybe. Perhaps is used to suggest that you are not certain about something. Perhaps we have met before. Perhaps she missed the train. Perhaps she made a mistake. Perhaps he was angry. She...
Look Over vs. Overlook | Differences
To look something over is to examine it. You should get an editor to look over this document. Please look over these letters. They might contain spelling or grammar mistakes. I don’t think that you should take these symptoms lightly....
Ought To Have + Past Participle
The structure ought to have + past participle is used to talk about things which were supposed to happen but did not. I ought to have sent the money yesterday, but I forgot. She ought to have been more careful....
Otherwise | English Usage
Otherwise is a transitional adverb. It does not connect two clauses. It merely shows how the idea expressed by one clause is related to what has already been said. Otherwise is usually preceded by...
On Time vs. In Time
On time means ‘at the planned time’. If you are ‘on time’, you are neither late nor early. The opposite is early or late. The train arrived on time. (It was neither early nor late.) We...
Indefinite Personal Pronoun One | English Usage
One is a substitute word. We often use one instead of repeating a singular countable noun. ‘Which is your boy?’ ‘The one in the blue shirt.’ I want that one, not this one. ‘Can you lend me...
Once | English Usage
Once means ‘on one occasion’. I only went once. Once can also mean ‘at some time in the past’. Once (upon a time) there was a princess. Note that to refer to an indefinite time in the...
Wh-Question Words
The interrogative pronoun what is used to ask about things. The sentences given below should help you learn the correct usage of what. What do you want? I want a glass of water. What...