To have or have not

The English verb ‘to have’ has a few peculiarities. It doesn’t always mean what it seems to say. If you say ‘I had an ice-cream’ you don’t mean you still have it – it has either long melted or been eaten. If you say ‘I have had a mango ice-cream’ you perhaps mean I tried one once, but never again. However, if you say ‘She had a baby last year’, in by far the majority of cases the baby still exists, she still has it. The ‘had ‘refers in this case to the actual birth. If you say on the other hand ‘She had a boyfriend last year,’ this probably means either she had one and she hasn’t got one now, or at least that she hasn’t got that particular one any longer. 

We also talk about the "haves and the have nots", which describes the relationship between the rich (the haves) and the poor (the have nots).  [editor] Which one are you?  I'm not rich, but I consider myself a "have".  

The Evaluation Essay

The Essentials of an Evaluation Essay

You write an evaluation essay when you want to present your take on a topic with the hope of possibly getting others to accept your point of view. It is similar to an argumentative essay; however it should be impartial, balanced writing- you're not out to win an argument. With this type of essay you state your thesis and the subsequent paragraphs are to support this thesis.

Relationships

My daughter got engaged this week. It was all very romantic on the shores of the Grand Canal in Venice. Now they have returned from their holiday and are getting done to ordinary life again, a life that promises new relationships. Once they get married they will both acquire, as we will, lots of in-laws, people who are family without being blood relations. There will be new people to meet and new names to be learnt. I will become a mother-in -law. For many, many years English comedians have been making jokes about their awful mother-in-laws and now I’m going to be one!

How to Write a How-To Essay That Inspires Your Readers to Action

Do you know how to do something that you find others asking about frequently? Alternatively, are you a quick learner, with a knack for picking up systems, processes, or just general ways of "doing things"?  Do you find you can easily explain ways of doing things in a lay-person's terms to others to help them accomplish tasks? If so, you're the perfect candidate for writing a How-To Essay. If not, you can certainly learn how to write a How-To Essay, so that you can pass your knowledge on to others and inspire them to "get at it."

Seasonal Talk

Here in the United Kingdom we are supposed to have four seasons, each of about three months long; winter, spring, summer and autumn (fall in America) - though sometimes we seem to get them all in one day:  There's an English saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes and it will change".

Americanisms

Someone, probably Bernard Shaw, once said that the British and the Americans are two people separated by a common language and it is certainly true that when Daniel Webster wrote his famous dictionary he set out to make the two languages distinctive – hence us Brits have humour and the Americans humor and so on.