Everyday Grammar - VOA Learning English

Clear tips for asking open versus yes/no questions about artificial intelligence. Handy question words like what, why and how are highlighted. A simple formula for building open-ended questions is shown. Examples cover past and future tenses when talking about AI. Guidance on framing optimistic, pessimistic or mixed views is included.

A remake of a famous song prompts a look at its timeline and which chorus lines stayed the same. The fire metaphor as a symbol of ongoing troubles and shared responsibility gets explored. Multiple verb tenses are examined, including simple past negative, past continuous, present perfect continuous, present continuous, and a first conditional. Listeners are urged to notice grammar in songs.

A discussion on phrasal verbs used in cleaning, such as clean up and pick up. The podcast explores the placement of nouns within these phrasal verbs. It also discusses the grammar and noun phrase placement of the phrasal verb 'pick up' with examples. Other phrasal verbs related to cleaning are mentioned.

A lively look at present tense uses in a famous song and a modern remake. Fun contrasts between chronological and updated versions of the lyrics. Explanations of present-tense forms, third-person -s rules, and present passive with get. Notes on informal meanings, contractions like can't, and the power of rhetorical questions in lyrics.

They explore verbs for cleaning like sweep, vacuum, wash and dust. They explain using a general verb versus specific actions. They discuss when cleaning verbs need objects and when they can stand alone. Short practice uses the present progressive with cleaning verbs.