Pronouns

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I want to know how to use last and the last What I understabd is, for example, if we are in march 2018 then last year is 2017 and last month is Feb But If I say last Feb. Does this mean Feb 2017 ? Can I use the last this way : We are in may 2018 I'm saying to a friend : in 2017 I had an accident and the last year I broke up The last year refers to 2016 ..refers to last year to the one I mentioned Is this correct ?

Hello uchiha itache,

When we are talking about time we use the following:

this + day/month/year = the next one

next + day/month/year = the one after next

last + day/month/year = the most recent one in the past before the current cycle

the + day/month/year before last = the one before the most recent one in the past

Today is Saturday, 31st March 2018. Therefore:

this Monday = Monday, 2nd April 2018

next Monday = Monday, 9th April 2018

last Sunday = Sunday, 25th March 2018

the Sunday before last = Saturday, 18th April 2018

When we walk about months there is a possibility of confusion. To avoid this, we generally use 'last' to refer to the month before the current cycle. To take your example, if it is March 2018 then 'last February' would refer to February 2017. To refer to February 2018 we would simply say 'in February' with a past tense verb.

We use 'the last' only to mean 'the final' - the last of a sequence. Thus 'the last year' would need some context like 'the last year of my studies' or 'the last year of the century'. We do not use it in the way you suggest. Instead we say 'the year before...':

In 2017 I had an accident and the year before that I broke up.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello! My teacher said that we can use (but for / without / in case (of) ) in conditionals But I don't know how to use them..I mean I should use them for 1st or 2nd or 3rd conditional? So which of the following is grammatically correct 1 without your help , I won't do it 2 without your help , I wouldn't do it 3 without your help, I wouldn't have done it And if 2 and 3 are correct , what Is the difference in the meaning? Is but for used only in 2nd and 3rd conditional? And in case only in the 1st ?

Hello uchiha itache,

All of those sentences are fine. The 'Without...' construction means something similar to 'If... not...':

Without your help, I won't do it = If I don't have your help, I won't do it.

Without your help, I wouldn't do it = If I didn't have your help / If I hadn't had your help, I wouldn't do it.

Without your help, I wouldn't have done it = If I hadn't had your help, I wouldn't have done it.

The difference between the last two is the time reference of the result clause. The second example has a present or future result, depending on the context, while the third example has a past result.

As you say, we do not use 'but for' in the first example. We can use 'in case of' with all of these examples. For example, it is fine to say 'I'll take an umbrella in case of rain'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

So this means ( without / in case / in case of ) for all the 3 conditionals But for ..for 2nd and 3rd Without your help, I wouldn't have done it ..this means I did it cause you helped me cause it's something in the past and if I say without your help, I won't do it ans this one means if you don't help me I won't do it so..how can the 2nd one ( I wouldn't do it ) Has a present or future result ? I still don't get it.i mean 2nd condition is used to talk about improbable situations or imaginary so how could it has a different meaning than example 1 ? Last thing can you give me 1 example in which we use in case ( of ) with 3rd or 2nd condition cause I can't use it in the past

Hi I couldn't find an appropriate section to submit this question, so I am putting it here, with the request that please respond to it. Of the following two, which one is correct? 1. Neither did he come nor sent any gifts. 2. Neither did he come nor send any gifts. Thanks Sanjay

Hi Adaya's,

If you want to use the inverted emphatic form then the second sentence is correct. The form 'send' is used because inversion is used in both halves but the auxiliary is omitted to avoid repetiton:

Neither did he come nor (did he) send any gifts.

This is a very formal structure used for rhetorical effect. A more common way to say this would be as follows:

He neither came nor sent any gifts.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Msny thanks.

Electric or electrical ? I am very confused and I never know when to use any of them Why is it called and electric car and it is called electrical devices/goods/equipment?!

Hello uchiha itache,

Both words are adjectives but there is a difference in meaning.

Electric describes things that are powered by electricity, so we can talk about electric cars, electric toothbrushes, electric guitars and electric motors.

Electrical describes things that are related to electricity in some way, so we can talk about electrical engineering, electrical faults and electrical connectors.

However, note that there is a lot of overlap in how these are used. I think in modern English the distinction is eroding so you can find examples where they are used interchangeably (e.g. you can find both electric circuits and electrical circuits).

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello. I've heard that it's not correct to use "to be going to go", but I met in some books this combination. So, is it wrong to say "Where are you going to go on your next vacation?", and I need to say "Where are you going on your next vacation?", or both are possible? Could you help me with this please. Thank you.

Hello Ellenna,

Grammatically speaking there is nothing wrong with 'going to go'. Because it repeats 'go' some people consider it to be a stylistically inelegant or clumsy and prefer to use 'going to'. However, there is nothing linguistically wrong with 'going to go'. It is purely a question of style and personal preference.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you!

Sir, Could you please suggest me something that teaches how to pronounce the second N third form of verb because there are some verbs which are a little hard to pronounce ? We, in India, make a vegetable with potatoes, peas and carrots. I want to know if you also make it in your contruy if yes, then in which sequence do you call this vegetable's name, I mean what is the collocation for it ?

Hello SonuKumar,

You can find pronunication examples in most online dictionaries, such as this one.

I'm not sure what you mean by your second question. Do you mean a meal made with potatoes, peas and carrots? If so, that is how we would say it. Each of those is an example of a vegetable.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, I want to learn English Tenses with British Council, unfortunately I couldn't find any section in the page of this site. Please let me know if there any page or section available for the Tenses of English Grammar.

Hi Imran,

Tenses are a property of verbs, so you can find out more about them in the Verbs section. Although there is no section for the future, you can find out about the different forms we use to talk about the future on the talking about the future page.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

"Budapest, ... is located near the Danube, is a very beautiful city." Is it which or where? Please also give an explanation to why.

Hello JenA,

'which' is the correct answer here. 'where' can be used in situations where you could say 'at which', but that doesn't work here because the relative pronoun is acting as the subject of the clause.

You can learn more about relative clauses on this and this page.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Do we call it a lost treasure or a missing treasure? What I understand is, lost treasure is a treasure in a lost ship ( it's called lost cause no one knows its place ) but a missing one means that someone found a lost ship and didn't find the treasure in it so it's missing ( cause it's not in the place where it's expected to be ) Am I right or not? I'm not really sure

Hello uchiha itache,

What you explain makes sense to me, but for the general public I don't think there is a big difference between 'lost' or 'missing' treasure, as most of us don't really encounter treasures. This Wikipedia entry uses both adjectives separated by 'or', which suggests there may be some difference, but it's not clear to me exactly what that might be.

In any case, unless you're speaking to a group of specialist treasure-hunters, either would probably be fine. I'd probably go with 'lost'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hello! I want to know the difference between seem and seem to be . I'm confused I read a sentence in practical English usage saying ( he seem older than he is and it also said that it would be wrong if u used here (seem to be) because it would suggest that he is really older than he is) but I read on Cambridge saying ( he is 16, bet he seems (to be) younger than he is ) which is right and how can I differ between them?

Hello uchiha itache,

Both seem and seem to can be used to describe our impression, which may or may not be correct. For example:

She seems intelligent.

She seems intelligent but she is really quite stupid.

She seems to be intelligent.

She seems to be intelligent but she is really quite stupid.

He seems to be older than he is.

This sentence is not incorrect but it requires a context in which we are still not completely sure about the answer. For example, you might say this if a person claims to be 18 but you find some information which suggests that he is really 23. By using seems to be you show that you are still not 100% certain of the truth. By contrast, if you are completely certain of the person's age then you would say use be:

He is older than he seems.

He is older than he claims.

He is older than he says

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks a lot . I do get it better but there's still something I don't understand You said we use both both seem and seem to be to describe our impression. And you also gave me same examples with both of them. Does this mean they're exactly the same? I read that seem is used for subjective impressions and seem to be is used for objective facts..but actually I don't know what both of them ( subjective and objective ) mean . The boy seems older than he is The boy seems to be older than he is They are used to give exactly the same meaning?? One last thing is...is it fine to say it seems like it's going to rain instead of it looks like it's going to rain? If so, please tell me if there's a difference in the meaning .

Hello uchiha itache,

I don't think there is a fixed difference between seem and seems to be. I think there is a tendencey to use seem to be when there is some kind of supporting evidence (documents, another person's information etc), but I don't think this is fixed.

With regard to your other question I don't think there is any difference between seem and think in this context. Both could be used when looking at the sky and both could be used when reading a weather forecast.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, Kindly help me to fill in the blank: Each boy & each girl got ............... dues. 1.His 2.her 3.his/her 4.their 5. none of this

Dear Teachers, Could you kindly reply to my query?

Hello souba73,

Sorry about that! We usually ask that our users tell us what they think the answer is, and why, but here I'll just tell you the answer. The correct answer is 4.

In the future, though, please explain to us what you think the answer is.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi British Council, My company wants to hold an english course for employees. Can you help us, how to list courses here?

Hello sofyan33,

I would suggest you contact the British Council in Indonesia. They will be able to help you find a course that meets your needs. Good luck!

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Do we say ( I miss you ) or ( I missed you ) ?! And if both are right, please tell me everything they could mean

Hello uchiha itache,

Both are possible. 'Miss' is a present form and we would use it if we are still missing the person. 'Missed' is a past form and we would use it if the missing was true in the past but is not true now (perhaps because the person we missed has returned).

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, What kind of verb we usually should take after "who"? Is there any certain dictation?

Hi Md.Habibullah,

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any restrictions on the kind of verb that can follow 'who'. Did you have something specific in mind?

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Kirk and Habibullah, Should it be not? "He is among the few who wants to continue working on the project."

Hello awahab,

'the few' is the plural subject of the verb 'want'. 'wants' is a singular form, so it is not correct. The correct form is the plural form 'want'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi. I would be happy if you explain to me the difference between "help me" and "help me out". I've been trying to figure it out by reading definitions in dictionaries, but there aren't many explanations and examples.

Hi Ellenna,

'Help' by itself has a very general meaning. 'Help out' means either to do part of someone's work or task or to participate in a common effort, or else to give someone money.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Really Britshcouncil is the best to learn and improve our skills

Hello Sir, Would you let me know the difference between Passage & Paragraph? I had appear in examination few years ago there was a question like that " Make a summery of below passage".

Hello Imran 26,

When a writer writes a narrative text, they divide it into sections such as sentences, paragraphs and chapters. The writer is the one who makes the divisions between the different sections.

A passage is a piece of a text that someone else has taken out of the text. For example, perhaps your English teacher takes just a sentence or two from a story you read in class. The writer didn't intend for those couple of sentences to stand alone -- it's your teacher who chose them, not the writer.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Thank You.

Hello Sir, In Pakistan when we talk about Grammar in English, The Grammar books writer make a content in their English Grammar Books for new learns are Parts of Speech, then Tenses, then narrations and after that active/passive voice. They says there are 8 Parts of Speech as Noun,Pronoun,Adjective, Adverb,Preposition,conjections and Interjection. sir, is the above sequence for new learner in English Grammar are correct? do you think native speakers also follow this sequence for English Grammar?

Hello Imran 26,

This is an interesting question. There are lots of different ideas on how to teach grammar and it's also important to consider what the learners' background is. For example, do the students already speak English and are just learning the grammar?

I'm afraid these are all issues that we don't really get involved in here on LearnEnglish. On our sister site, TeachingEnglish, though, I'm sure you could find some interesting discussion of this topic -- for example, searching for 'teaching grammar', I found this page on how to teach grammar.

I hope this helps you.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

He is among the few who want to continue working on the project. Sir,is there any grammatical error?

Hello Md.Habibullah,

That sentence is grammatically correct -- good work!

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

I would like to say thanks to British council for provide us such an amazing plat form where we can learn English in congenial environment and special thanks to Sir, Kirk & Sir, Peter and all the team of British Council they are ready to help us and teach us with and amazing way. I truly say that their teacher are really caring, kind and too sincere with us. Thank you all of you.

Hello Imran 26,

Thank you for your lovely comment. It's nice to know we're helping people!

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Could you help me with the following, please: When you write a formal letter, can you open it like "Dear Mr Robert Smith" or it should be "Dear Mr Smith". Thank you.

Hello Ellenna,

In a formal letter you should avoid using the addressee's first name in this way. In other words, you should use 'Dear Mr Smith', not 'Dear Mr ~~Robert~~ Smith'.

One exception to this is when you don't know the addressee's gender, though in this case you don't use the title. For example, the name 'Jordan' is commonly given to both boys and girls in English, so if you needed to write to 'Jordan Smith' and didn't know their gender, you could say 'Dear Jordan Smith'. Note that it's not 'Dear Mr Jordan Smith'.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

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