Corrects the widespread textbook misconception that ‘been to’ always means ‘gone and come back’. Explains that ‘been to’ simply means having visited a place at some point in the past, regardless of current location.
Examines the difference between ‘I’m glad you can come’ and ‘I’m glad you could come’, showing how the choice depends on when the conversation takes place. Also addresses the could vs was/were able to rule.
Explains why both ‘it hasn’t rained for a week’ and ‘it hasn’t been raining for a week’ are grammatically correct, and why negative forms of the present perfect do not always mirror their positive counterparts.
An examination of backshift in reported speech, explaining when it is required and when it is optional. Challenges the common textbook rule that backshift is always necessary.
An exploration of Shakespeare’s Stratford friends and social circle — Richard Quiney, Thomas Greene, Richard Field, and others — and what their lives reveal about the world Shakespeare came from.
A combined reading and analysis of the opening eighteen lines of Chaucer’s General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, examining the seasonal imagery, the pilgrimage context, and Chaucer’s use of irony.
A full-length introduction to transformational grammar covering basic sentence structure, the present simple tense, negatives, questions, emphasis, and the major word classes.
An exploration of how rigidly Shakespeare adheres to iambic pentameter, examining his use of metrical variation, substitution, and the relationship between rhythm and dramatic meaning.
An analysis of Hamlet’s To Be or Not to Be soliloquy, focusing on its ethical arguments about revenge, mortality, and the paralysis of indecision.
An examination of the claim that Shakespeare coined an exceptional number of English words and expressions, weighing the evidence from contemporary sources and the history of the language.