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Irregular Verbs in Context 1

Do you have this look of sheer terror on your face when you think about irregular verbs?   Oh come on, they're not that  bad, are they?  Chances are, you've been memorizing them in a list where you almost have to recite the three mutations (conjugations) to be able to use the second one or the third one.  This is an acceptable method if you are able to use the three without hesitating too much.  And if you have a lot of time to recite the three forms of the verb each time you need to use one. However, there are better ways.  Contextualization is the key, in my opinion.  Below is a first series of irregular verbs in different sentences, including sentences (answers) that you will need to construct.  Take the time to go through them and really do them, i.e. thinking about each answer.  Take as much time as you need before checking the answers which will be at the bottom of the page ... eventually.  Then, once you have finished t...
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Where English is from?

If you don't know where English is from, you really don't understand the language.  This map shows where the Germanic languages originated from, but excludes English, unfortuately. Basically, after Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Germanic emerged in an area east of the Rhine river and extending through the northern portion of Europe to roughly what today is the east of Poland, and then again northwards. The Whole Germanic Branch 1 No Eastern Germanic languages have survived to our modern era (see below). In essence, the Germanic branch of Indo-European is organized geographically:  West, which itself is divided into Western, Northern and High (i.e. mountain ); North, also subdivided into Western and Eastern; and East Germanic.  Many of these languages share similar characteristics, though some have very original points themselves: Many have verb-final positions, meaning that in compound or complex sentences, only the first auxiliary verb is placed ...
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Don't Get Familiar with Me!

Don't Get Familiar with Me! Like many students know, English has only one 2nd person way of addressing people, both singular and plural:   you.   But what does this word mean? Well, as it so happens, many languages have both a familiar and a formal term to use when addressing others: *Brazilian Portuguese has nearly totally lost all trace of the familiar tu  to standardize the você  form for both formal and familiar, with the plural being vocês . English, contrary to the above languages but like other languages such as Brazilian Portuguese, no longer makes a difference between formal and familiar.   Did you catch that adverbial?  " No longer ."  This means that English did indeed at one point have a different 2nd person.  English kept  the formal way of addressing others you  and lost the familiar!  You might think this odd, but actually it is quite common:  on the French island of Réunion in the south I...
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