PhraseMix Articles

How do you use 'can' and 'could' correctly?

A PhraseMix reader asked this:

Please tell me which verbs can be used with "could"? In the present past as well as future...?

"Can" and "Could" are tricky because you can use them for a few different purposes, and the rules are different for each version.

"Can" and "Could" for ability

You can...

None of these things will happen if you speak English badly.

If you try to speak English and make a mistake, none of these things will happen:

• No one will point and laugh at you
• You won't lose your job.
• The townspeople won't chase after you with torches.
• You won't be locked up and thrown in jail.
• The love of your life won't dump you.
• You won't be...

What's the difference between "under", "below", "beneath", and "underneath"?

What's the difference between "under", "below", "beneath", and "underneath"? These words are all similar in meaning, but figuring out the differences between them can be a little tricky. First, it's helpful to know how common each word is:

1. ...

Are English speakers changing the way they speak for you?

Have you ever noticed that it's a lot easier to understand someone who's speaking directly to you in English than a conversation between two other people?

I have this problem when I visit my in-laws in Japan. If I'm riding in the car with my wife and her mother and they're speaking Japanese to...

Bonus Download!

Hi! Here's a special bonus audio collection just for PhraseMix Premium subscribers: 

Download the bonus audio collection

These are 10 situations which haven't been turned into PhraseMix lessons yet, mostly because I couldn't think of a good way to illustrate them. Enjoy!

25 more famous English movie quotes

The previous week's post on the 25 most famous English movie quotes was quite popular, so here are a few more.

These movie lines are not quite as well-known as the first group, but a lot of people will recognize them. 

1. “I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster...

The 25 most famous English movie quotes

This is a list of the most well-known movie quotes in American culture.

You should definitely learn and memorize these quotes. Not only are they useful as English sentences to practice; they're also useful because English speakers quote them all the time! It's common for someone to drop a famous...

The 50 most important English proverbs

What are proverbs?

Every culture has a collection of wise sayings that offer advice about how to live your life. These sayings are called "proverbs".

How can you use proverbs to learn English?

It's good to know the really common English proverbs because you hear them come up in conversation all...

13 qualities of a great athlete in English

This article is about some qualities that great athletes have. It will teach you some useful words and phrases for describing people in English.

Some of these phrases apply only to athletes, but a lot of them can be used for talking about successful people in all walks of life.

Phrases...

How do you use the words "clothes", "clothing", "apparel", "garb", and "attire"?

When it comes to a group of synonyms like "clothes", "clothing", "apparel", "garb", and "attire", how do you know the differences between them? If you look them up in a dictionary, you'll probably get definitions which seem to point to each other. For example, here's one definition of "attire"...