Passive sentences are all about changing the focus of what you are talking about.

For example: Somebody stole my bike (this is a normal ACTIVE sentence)

Subject, verb, object

Subject = Somebody (the person doing the verb)

Verb = stole (the past simple of 'to steal')

Object = my bike

But I am not interested in that horrible 'somebody'. I am MORE interested in my poor little bike.

So, by changing to a sentence with passive grammar, the whole focus of what I am saying changes.

Third conditionals (sometimes called Type 3 conditionals) are sentences where the speaker is thinking about the past and how it could have been different.

So, normally a 3rd conditional sentence expresses some kind of regret.

This grammar construction is sometimes known as a 'true hypothetical' and that is a good description because we are always talking about somehow changing the past, but as no-one has invented a time machine, it is impossible to go back and change the past, so all 3rd conditional sentences are therefore 100% hypothetical

Slang is the informal language that native speakers use when speaking in an informal setting.

The words and phrases are deeply related to parts of British culture that someone learning English who has not lived in the UK, will know nothing about. 

For example, a phrase that lots of people use may even come from a successful comedy series that adults remember from their youth and has just become a fixed part of speech.

So, slang is an important thing to learn to be able to say that you are truly fluent in English.

You can learn all the grammar tenses, thousands of words and phrases including phrasal verbs and idioms, but to be an advanced English speaker, you also need to know about British Slang.

Slang is, of course, 'street language', more often spoken than written, as slang is very very informal language.

It can often be funny or derogatory language, but there is no doubt that slang is super common and ever-present in normal conversation.

How many of the 8 questions from today's UK Slang quiz can you get correct?

In all of our learning English articles, we always show our students real English that is used every day in England: vocabulary, phrases, and grammar that you can use immediately on your trip to London, so that you sound like you live here.

Today's 8 questions are all authentic sentences that were printed in yesterday's broadsheet newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.

This is 'quality journalism' with a high standard of English, rather than the intermediate level of English that you might find in the tabloids (sometimes called 'the gutter press' or the 'red tops').

Newspapers are filled with thousands of words when they are reporting the latest events.

Reading the newspapers is an excellent way to pick up lots of new intermediate to advanced vocabulary for free.

However, even when you are reading quality journalism, reporting only on the news, you will find that the articles are peppered with (meaning: 'containing lots of') lots of idiomatic phrases that you may not know.

Today's quiz takes actual sentences from today's Daily Telegraph newspaper and asks you to work out what the target phrase really means.

When you take an advanced English exam, you need to show the examiner that you are able to use complex grammar tenses.

Additionally, being able to correctly use words that are not so frequently used, above the standard of a strong intermediate learner, proves to the examiner (and to yourself) that you are definitely an advanced speaker of English that deserves to pass the exam.

Increase your vocabulary knowledge with the test below.

How many of the following advanced English words do you know?

In yesterday's 20 Day English Challenge, we tested you on advanced (but commonly used) vocabulary.

Today we look at some more advanced level words that you should put in your vocabulary book of knowledge.

Increasing your vocabulary knowledge and being able to use your new words in the correct context is the sign of a fantastic language learner.

It's easy when you have reached Upper Intermediate level to believe that you are now at a stage where you do not need to concentrate on further learning because your 'English is good enough now'.

However, an educated native English speaker can even impress other English mother tongue speakers with a wide vocabulary that uses not so common words.

If you have been doing all of our tests in the 20 day challenge so far then you will have given a nice little boost to your grammar, spelling, comprehension and all aspects of your English knowledge.

Today, we have got some upper intermediate vocabulary for you to get your teeth stuck into.

There is only one correct word that will fit into the gap in each sentence.

If you do not know the correct answer straight away, then look at the choices - some of those answer options are silly and nonsense.

So, you can learn the correct word by a process of elimination.

Present perfect is a grammar tense that causes a lot of problems for learners and results in lots of mistakes.

It is difficult for students to separate the past simple and the present perfect in their mind.

Often  it is because there is no direct translation for present perfect in students' own mother tongue language.

The best way to think about these tenses is this:

PAST SIMPLE

When you are thinking/speaking/writing about an action from the past that has definitely finished, then use the PAST SIMPLE.

We are almost at the end of week 2 of the 20 Day English challenge to boost your English in 5 minutes every day.

Today the short test will challenge your knowledge of grammar. 

Specifically, the questions will cover small, annoying and tricky grammar issues like

Another test to boost your English level with the 20 Day English Challenge.

Today, we are looking at Business English vocabulary.

This test is suitable for strong intermediate or upper intermediate learners.

This will extend your Business vocabulary and test your comprehension of reasonably difficult sentences.

Best of luck luck with today's challenge of modal verbs.

Modal verbs are super common in English.

They appear so frequently that learners begin using them in even the first ever English classes they study in.

Can, will, must, could etc are the 'helping verbs' (also called auxiliary verbs) used in millions of sentences.

Let's look briefly at the basic meanings of these auxiliary modal verbs...

MODAL VERBS BASIC DEFINITION

CAN = something is possible, or it is allowed, or someone has the ability to do something

Idioms are those phrases in English like "It's not my cup of tea". A group of words that when put together have a meaning that is completely different than the individual words would suggest.

There are really common idioms that students learn even at beginner level, like the one above with that famous cup of tea, meaning (I don't like that thing) or "it's a piece of cake" (meaning - it's very easy)