Weird Grammar of the English Language (Intermediate - Advanced)

"I" before "E" Except After "C"

We learn this rule in school: "I" before "E" except after "C". Yet, there are so many exceptions. Consider 'science', 'seize', 'neighbour' and 'height'. It's a rule that seems to be broken more often than it's followed!

Which is correct?  

The "S" Dilemma

The English language loves the letter 'S'. However, it becomes a challenge when we have to deal with possessives. It's a rule that an apostrophe followed by 's' shows possession. But what about words ending with 's'? Do we add another 's' or just an apostrophe? 

For example, is it ...

"A" vs "An" Preceding H

The indefinite articles "a" and "an" are used before words beginning with consonants and vowels respectively. But what about words starting with 'H'? It depends on the pronunciation. If 'H' is silent as in 'hour' or 'honor', we use 'an'. But if it's pronounced, we use 'a', as in 'a house' or 'a hat'.  

Which is correct? 

The Complexity of “Less” and “Fewer”

"Less" and "Fewer" are often used interchangeably, but there's a rule distinguishing them. 

"Fewer" is used for countable items, while "less" is used for uncountable items. So, it's "fewer apples" but "less water". However, supermarkets often get it wrong with "10 items or less" signs, it should be "10 items or fewer".

Which is correct

The Uncountable that Counts

The word 'none' is often treated as a plural because it seems to suggest more than one thing. However, 'none' is singular and takes a singular verb. 

Which is correct? 

The Conundrum of Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to a group or collection of people, animals, or things. They can be singular or plural, depending on the context. 

For example, you can say "The team is winning" or "The team are arguing among themselves".

But which is the collective noun for a group of crows?

Adjectives must go in a very specific order

This is one of those intrinsic “rules” that you never really think about as a native English speaker — somehow you just know that it’s supposed to be “big, bad wolf,” not “bad, big wolf.” 

But for everyone else, there’s this order of adjective placement to contend with: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose. 

A wonderful big 19th century brown round Italian wooden clock. 

A 19th century big round brown Italian wonderful wooden clock. 

 A big 19th century round Italian brown wonderful wooden clock.

A wonderful big 19th century round brown Italian wooden clock.

Adverb Herding

Did you know there's a specific order to place adverbs when they appear together in a sentence? The order is: Manner, Place, Frequency, Time, and Purpose. 


"She gently put the book on the shelf yesterday to surprise him"

"She put gently the book yesterday on the shelf to surprise him."

Rhyme Time

Words that look like they should rhyme, but don’t (at all)
It’s perhaps one of the hallmarks of English that words can be spelled similarly with absolutely no guarantee of sharing a similar pronunciation. 

Which word rhymes with “row” ?  

Tenses can be…tense

If the past tense form of “complete” is “completed,” then why wouldn’t the past tense of “go” be “goed?” Tenses can be a really tough topic for English learners. Some languages (like Mandarin) don’t use verb tenses at all, so this concept can be a bit of a mind game for some learners.

He would have had to have breakfast at work, …… 

Do you even phrasal verb, though?

Most native speakers never even think about this, but another reason English is hard is because we have phrasal verbs, where two or more words strung together as a verb have a totally different meaning than their individual component words. 

What would you say to present an idea and get feedback from colleagues?

"I" before "E" Except After "C" We learn this rule in school: "I" before "E" except after "C". Yet, there are so many exceptions. Consider 'science', 'seize', 'neighbour' and 'height'. It's a rule that seems to be broken more often than it's followed! Which is correct?

"I" before "E" Except After "C" We learn this rule in school: "I" before "E" except after "C". Yet, there are so many exceptions. Consider 'science', 'seize', 'neighbour' and 'height'. It's a rule that seems to be broken more often than it's followed! Which is correct?  