TONGUE TWISTERS

I used to love tongue twisters when I was a child…Here are a few of the more well known ones..

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I’m sure she sells seashore shells.

Betty Botter had some butter,
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter–
that would make my batter better.”

So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

The BBC have a great Learning English site, you can listen and watch videos, play games and do quizzes here www.bbc.co.uk

HOW TO USE ENGLISH TENSES

Using the correct tense and verb form is important in English grammar. Here’s a simple rule to help you choose which tense to use - which tense you use depends on how you see the event or action.

Routine or permanent situations

- use the simple form. For example, “I live in London” tells you that “live” is true all the time - London is my home.

“I lived in the countryside when I was a child” - this was a long-term situation in the past.

Temporary or continuing situations

- use the continuous form. For example, “I’m working as a secretary at the moment” - the job isn’t permanent and maybe I’m doing it for a while until I get another job.

“House prices are rising” - they are continuing to rise and haven’t stopped rising yet.

“She was wearing a black dress” - she put it on before I saw her and she still wore it after I saw her - wearing the dress continued over a period of time.

Connecting different times

- use the perfect form to show that one event was completed before another, or to show that one situation continues from one time to another.

For example, “I have lived here for two years” - I started to live here two years ago and I still live here.

“I will have finished the report before next week” - some time before next week, but I don’t know exactly when.

“He had studied law before he met her” - he studied law before he met her, but we don’t know when.