Thank you native English speakers in advance , (then) I raise my queries about really two sort of questions. I don't worry , you can help me at your leisure. 1a. What John did to his suit was to ruin it. 2a. What John did to his suit was ruin his suit. 3a. What John did was to ruin his suit. Question : Which is grammatically correct? Do they have the same meaning? From 1a. , 2a., 3a., (they all belong to the “ what- type cleft sentence” ), strictly by grammar, I guess they are respectively changed into 1b., 2b., 3b. (normal sentence) as follows: 1b. John ruined his suit to it . I guess: Though the “to it (=to his suit) is very wordy in this sentence, but “to it” never causes any misunderstanding or ambiguity) 2b. John ruined his suit to his suit. (the same way to analyze as in 1b) 3b. John ruined his suit. Question : Which is grammatically correct? Do they have the same meaning? By the way, my favorite is 3b which can do with or challenge all of 1a. , 2a, and 3a. ♦♦♦ Sorry to add this: I advise him to come early.→ What I advised him was to come early. What I advised him to do was to come early. (I guess : Using the “to do” here is grammatically correct, but omitting it can also be grammatically correct and concise? ) Which is grammatically correct? and better?

English students try this. Topic: Irregular Verbs- Past Simple

Hi! I was writing an email to an HR team for my internship, and a question came to my mind, is it correct to use contractions in formal emails? When I checked online, I found it’s somewhat debated. Some older websites advise to never use contractions in formal emails, while more recent websites recommend using certain formal contractions. So I feel a bit stuck between these opinions. Could you please help me with your advice? Thank you ;)

Choose the correct answer.

What's the difference? three meals a day and three square meals a day

Hello there! I’m new to italki. Can someone help me to register for teaching 👀.

When you feel yourself collapsing in English, what do you think you’re trying to protect in that moment — your image, your worth, or something much older? You can listen to this podcast in my podcast section to get a better understanding of this podcast episode: Episode 4 — “Why Women We Collapse Under Pressure”?

Is it correct that “He thought that if the rain stopped, he would be able to leave” implies a future situation relative to the past, and “He thought that if the rain had stopped, he would have been able to leave” implies a non-realized situation relative to the past?

Which one is OK? Life has strange twists and turns. Life has its strange twists and turns.

Reflection Question for Students When you speak English, which moment feels like “a performance” instead of “you” — and what changes inside your body when that moment begins?