I’ve been living in Giesing since I came to Munich. (79%, 19 Votes)
I’ve been living in Giesing since I have come to Munich.(21%, 5 Votes)
Well done! But I know how very hard this is. Explanation here.

Now, I’m ready to leave to go on a trip. What do I say?
I go to Poznań this weekend.
I am [...]

grammar guru | 2 Comments »

Last week things were very clear:

at the age of 42 (92%, 23 Votes)
in the age of 42 (8%, 2 Votes)

However, Neal Chambers said that the Japanese have trouble with this, too, as there is only one particle in Japanese. (Comment)
This week, the Grammar guru asks which one of these is correct:

I’ve been living in [...]

grammar guru | 1 Comment »

Last week’s question caused me some worry. Up to the last day visitors to this website were split down the middle:

Why did you change jobs? (52%, 11 Votes) = correct
Why did you change the job? (48%, 10 Votes) = incorrect

I asked my British colleagues, and they agree with me. More comments.
This week, the question is, [...]

grammar guru | 5 Comments »

Thanks to Markus’ very kind recommendation on Der Englisch Blog, last week’s Grammar guru question went off like a rocket: What’s the best alternative to “You don’t really need to register for the event”?

“You don’t necessarily have to register for the event.” (86%, 36 Votes)
“You mustn’t register for the event.” (14%, 6 Votes)

Thanks [...]

business, grammar guru | 3 Comments »

Last week’s question was What sounds better to you?

This has to be done by Friday (88%, 7 Votes)
This has to be done until Friday (12%, 1 Votes)

If it is done until Friday, somebody is doing it day and night until Friday rolls around.
By Friday just means it’ll be ready on Friday.
This week we ask: [...]

grammar guru, language | 5 Comments »

Last week’s options were

I especially like Indian summer. (7 votes)
I like especially Indian summer. (0 votes)

All votes were correct – so my students weren’t voting .  Adverb placement is one of the trickiest issues in English grammar. As a rule of thumb, place them before the verb, but after an auxiliary verb [...]

grammar guru | No Comments »

Last week the Grammar Guru question was: Which two are correct?

Many emails are written needlessly. (100%, 9 Votes) = correct
Many emails are needless. (67%, 6 Votes) = correct
Many emails are written needless. (0%, 0 Votes) = incorrect
Many emails are needlessly. (0%, 0 Votes) = incorrect

Why didn’t everybody choose “Many emails are [...]

grammar guru, language | No Comments »