Future Tenses

In January, we discussed the difference between going to" and "will". Today, we'll look at other future tenses: future continuous, future perfect, and the future perfect continuous (plus review the future simple). By the end of this post, you will have learned how to use these tenses. :-)!

Comparatives: Review

(copyright: Marvel Comics, 2016)

Today's post is a review of comparatives using "er", "more", "less", and "as___as". Using the chart above, let's look at some examples.

Business English: Disagreeing Politely

Study the picture above, then read the short dialogue.

Aya, Brent, and Mos are having a sales managers' meeting.

Aya: Our sales people aren't meeting their targets. I think we should offer start offering higher commissions for-

Brent: What!? Are you crazy? That's a terrible idea. More training is what sales needs.

Mos: You don't know what you're talking about, Brent. Training seminars take too much time.

Aya: That's right. Higher commissions will make the sales team work harder. Also, training seminars are so boring.

Brent: Okay, let's go with higher commissions. But, I think you're both wrong. 

Mos: Thank you, Brent, for your opinion. 

Object Pronouns: You, Us, Me, Her, Him, Them, It

Today, I'm going to explain object pronouns to you. A lot of ESL learners have a hard time understanding them. Students have often told me how difficult it is to use object pronouns. So, I hope this post will give you a better understanding of them.

Business English: Reported Speech

Please read the short dialogue below.

April 1st, 2016

Jiro: So, did Ms Rashid tell you what she needed for the conference next month?

Kim: Yes, I spoke with her yesterday evening. She asked if we could book a hotel conference hall in 
          the city center. I told her it would be more expensive, but she said location was more      
           important than price

Jiro: Good. Has she confirmed how many people will be attending the conference?

Kim: She said there would be 250 people attending.  Have you found a suitable hotel to book?

Jiro: Yes, I have. The Meridian Hotel. The manager said there were two conference halls available. But, he asked if we could confirm the booking by tomorrow morning.