English Language Essentials: Grammar, Vocabulary, & Writing

Posted on May 27, 2025 in Administration and Management

Informal Email Structure & Essential Phrases

Key Components of an Informal Email

  • a) Greeting: Dear Mr. and Mrs. Baker
  • b) Introduction: Thank you very much indeed for your kind offer.
  • c) Main Body
  • d) Conclusion: I am looking forward to seeing you next month.
  • e) Ending: Regards / Best wishes, etc., and your full name.

Common Informal Email Expressions

Opening Expressions

  • Thanks for your email/letter.
  • It was great to hear from you.
  • Sorry for not writing earlier / Sorry that I haven’t been in touch for a while.
  • I hope you and your family are well.

Responding to News

  • Sorry to hear about your exam results.
  • Glad to hear that you’re all well.
  • Good luck with the new job.
  • Hope you feel better soon.

Closing Expressions

  • Anyway, / Well, that’s all for now.
  • Hope to hear from you soon. / Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
  • Give my regards (love) to (your family).
  • Take care / Best wishes / Regards / (Lots of) love from…
  • P.S. (Postscript, for something you forgot to add): Please send me the photos you promised.

Useful Phrases for Specific Situations

  • A) Giving Thanks: It was very good of you to let me stay at your house. (Spanish: Fue muy amable al dejar que me quede en su casa.)
  • B) Asking for Information: Could you tell me where I can get my watch repaired? (Spanish: ¿Podría decirme dónde puedo conseguir mi reloj reparado?)
  • C) Accepting an Invitation: I look forward to seeing you at the barbecue. (Spanish: Tengo ganas de verle en la barbacoa.)
  • D) Giving Information: I hope you find this information about bird-watching useful. (Spanish: Espero que encuentre esta información sobre la observación de aves útil.)
  • E) Apologizing: Please accept my apology.
  • F) Declining an Invitation: I am sorry that I will be unable to attend. (Spanish: Lo siento, no podré asistir.)

Narrative Writing: Short Story Examples

Story Structure

  • a) Introduction
  • b) Main Body
  • c) Conclusion

First-Person Narrative (Example)

On a warm summer afternoon, I was wearing a long t-shirt without pants or shoes. I had gone to the hall for a moment to close the door that my brother had left open when he left, when unfortunately, a gust of wind closed the main door of my house. I had to call my neighbors.

Third-Person Narrative (Example)

Jane and her friend Emily decided to spend the summer in Japan. They had planned to do all kinds of activities, such as going to a museum of modern art recommended by the hotel where they were staying.

One of those days, they called a taxi to go to the museum, which was unfortunately closed. Jane saw a paper at the box office that read:

“Opening hours have been reduced from 17:00 to 19:00. We apologize for the inconvenience caused.”

Therefore, Emily suggested taking some tea at a nearby local cafe. They spent a great time chatting and laughing until suddenly, Jane realized the time… If they didn’t hurry up, the museum would close before they could see it all! Emily paid the bill while Jane took her piece of cake with a napkin to eat it along the way.

When they arrived at the museum, Jane cleaned her hands with the same napkin and put it into her pocket. Minutes later, she threw the dirty paper into a bin she found.

A security guard approached her, very angry, speaking Japanese. She didn’t understand anything and watched her friend, puzzled, who was laughing. She had thrown garbage into a work of art!

Adjectives Used as Nouns

Nationalities

Suffixes like -ch, -sh, -ese, and -ss often form collective nouns for nationalities.

  • Plural (referring to the people collectively): The Dutch (people from the Netherlands), The French, The Spanish, The British, The Japanese, The Irish, The Swiss, The Czechs.
  • Plural (using -s for individuals or groups): The Brazilians, The Poles, The Hungarians, The Argentinians.

Specific Groups in Society

Adjectives can refer to groups of people when preceded by “the”:

  • The young, the old (the elderly), the sick
  • The blind, the deaf, the homeless, the dead

Distinguishing Groups vs. Individuals

  • Group of people: Poor people, Homeless people, old people, French people.
  • One person: A Japanese woman, a rich man.

Adjective Order in English

When using multiple adjectives before a noun, they generally follow this order:

  1. Opinion: (e.g., beautiful, ugly, good)
  2. Size: (e.g., big, little, tiny)
  3. Age: (e.g., old, new, ancient)
  4. Shape: (e.g., round, square, long)
  5. Colour: (e.g., red, blue, green)
  6. Pattern: (e.g., striped, spotted, floral)
  7. Origin/Place: (e.g., French, American, lunar)
  8. Material: (e.g., wooden, silk, metal)
  9. Noun: (the item being described)

Example: a beautiful little old round red striped French silk dress.

Forming Indirect Questions

Indirect questions are more polite and often start with phrases like “Can you tell me…”, “Do you know…”, or “Could you tell me…”. The word order changes from a direct question to a statement.

  • Can you tell me where it is?
  • Do you know where he lives?

Direct vs. Indirect Question Examples:

  • Direct: What time does the shop next door open?
  • Indirect: Could you tell me what time the shop next door opens?

Auxiliary Verbs for Agreement

Auxiliary verbs are used to express agreement or disagreement with a statement.

  • Affirmative Statement: I like it.
    • Agreement: “So do I.”
    • Disagreement: “I don’t.”
  • Negative Statement: I don’t like it.
    • Agreement: “Neither (Nor) do I.”
    • Disagreement: “I do.”

Adverb and Adverbial Phrase Placement

When multiple adverbs or adverbial phrases are used in a sentence, they generally follow the order of Manner, Place, Time (MPT).

  1. Manner: How something is done (e.g., quickly, carefully)
  2. Place: Where something happens (e.g., at home, in the park)
  3. Time: When something happens (e.g., yesterday, at 3 PM)

Example: She sang beautifully (manner) on stage (place) last night (time).

Future Perfect & Future Continuous Tenses

Future Perfect

Used to describe an action that will be completed before a specific time in the future.

  • Everybody will have bought an air car by 2070. (Not: in 2070)
  • The project will have finished by June.
  • They will have completed the report by the end of May.

Future Continuous

Used to describe an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future.

  • At 10 AM tomorrow, I will be working.
  • This time next week, we will be flying to Japan.

Conditional Clauses & Conjunctions

These conjunctions introduce clauses that express conditions or time relationships:

  • As soon as: (immediately after) I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.
  • When: (at the time that) When it rains, we stay inside.
  • Until: (up to the time that) I’ll wait until you finish.
  • Unless: (if not) You won’t pass unless you study.
  • In case: (because something might happen) Take an umbrella in case it rains.

Common Illnesses & Injuries Vocabulary

Symptoms & Conditions

  • A cough (tos)
  • A headache, earache, stomach ache, toothache
  • A rash
  • A temperature
  • Sunburn
  • She’s being sick / She’s vomiting (same meaning)
  • She’s sneezing (estornudar)
  • Her ankle is swollen
  • Her back hurts (dolor de espalda) / Her back aches (dolores de espalda)
  • Her finger is bleeding
  • A sore throat (dolor de garganta)
  • Diarrhoea
  • Feels sick
  • Fainted (desmayado)
  • Blister (ampolla)
  • A cold
  • Flu
  • Dizzy (mareado)
  • Cut oneself
  • Unconscious
  • Allergic
  • Twisted (retorcido)
  • Sprained (esguince)
  • High (low) blood pressure
  • Food poisoning
  • Choking (asfixia)
  • Burnt

Treatments & Medical Items

  • Plaster (yeso)
  • Antiseptic cream
  • Have stitches (puntos de sutura)
  • Take painkillers (analgésicos)
  • Take antibiotics
  • Bandage
  • Take antihistamine tablets

Actions & Recovery

  • Lie down (tumbarse)
  • Passed out (desmayarse, perder el conocimiento)
  • Came round (recuperar la consciencia)
  • Get over (recuperarse de algo)
  • Throw up (vomitar)

Clothes & Fashion Vocabulary

Verbs

  • Wear, wears: (llevar) To have clothing on your body.
  • Dress, dresses: (vestir) To put clothes on yourself or someone else.

Adjectives

  • Fashionable: (seguir un estilo y ser popular) Following current trends and popular.
  • Trendy: (más informal que fashionable) More informal than fashionable, often refers to very current, short-lived styles.
  • Stylish: (estiloso y atractivo) Having or displaying a good sense of style; elegant and attractive.

Air Travel Vocabulary & Phrases

Key Terms: Travel vs. Trip

  • Travel: (viajar) The general act of moving from one place to another. Example: I love to travel. I travelled by car. (Not: my travel to France)
  • Trip: (viaje) A journey to a place and back again. Example: My trip to France was amazing. I have a business trip to India next week.

Airport & Flight Vocabulary

  • Airport terminal
  • Bag(gage) drop-off
  • Baggage reclaim (recogida de equipajes)
  • Check-in desk (mostrador de recepción)
  • Customs (aduana)
  • Departures board (panel de salidas)
  • Gate (puerta)
  • Runway (pista)
  • Security
  • VIP lounge (sala VIP)
  • Departures (domestic (nacionales) and international flights)
  • Flight times
  • Boarding (embarque)
  • On time
  • Closed
  • Delayed (retrasado)
  • Luggage (equipaje)
  • Boarding pass
  • Sharp objects (objetos afilados)
  • Scanning
  • Hand luggage
  • Business class / First class
  • Trolleys (carros)
  • Illegal goods (mercancías ilegales)
  • Aisle (pasillo)
  • Cabin crew
  • Seat belts
  • Connecting flights
  • Turbulence
  • Direct flights
  • Jet lag (descompensación horaria)
  • Long-haul flights

Phrasal Verbs for Travel

  • Check in: (registrarse) To register at an airport or hotel.
  • Drop off: (soltar) To take someone or something to a place and leave them there.
  • Fill in: (rellenar) To complete a form.
  • Get off: (bajar) To leave a bus, train, or plane.
  • Get on: (subir) To board a bus, train, or plane.
  • Pick up: (recoger) To collect someone or something.
  • Take off: (despegar) When an aircraft leaves the ground.

Weather Vocabulary & Phenomena

General Conditions & Temperatures

  • Below zero
  • Boiling (hirviendo)
  • Breeze (brisa)
  • Chilly (glacial)
  • Cool (fresco)
  • Damp (algo mojado)
  • Drizzling (llovizna)
  • Freezing (congelación)
  • Humid (clima húmedo)
  • Mild (templado)
  • Pouring (torrencial)
  • Showers (chubascos)
  • Warm (caliente)

Types of Fog

  • Fog (niebla espesa)
  • Mist (niebla poco espesa)
  • Smog (niebla de contaminación)

Extreme Weather & Phenomena

  • Blizzard (tormenta de nieve)
  • Drought (sequía)
  • Flood (inundar)
  • Hail (granizo)
  • Heatwave (ola de calor)
  • Hurricane
  • Lightning (relámpago)
  • Monsoon
  • Thunder (trueno)

Weather Adjectives

  • Bright
  • Changeable
  • Clear
  • Heavy
  • Icy (helado)
  • Settled (tiempo estable)
  • Strong
  • Sunny
  • Thick (espeso)

Linking Words & Connectors

Contrast

  • However: (sin embargo)
  • Instead of: (en vez de)
  • Nevertheless: (no obstante)
  • While: (mientras)
  • Although: (aunque)
  • On the one hand… on the other hand: (por una parte… por otra parte)

Adding Information

  • And eventually: (y finalmente)
  • Besides: (además)
  • In addition to: (además de)
  • Moreover: (además)
  • Furthermore: (asimismo)
  • What’s more: (lo que es más)
  • Another point is that: (habría que añadir que)

Similarity

  • In the same way: (del mismo modo)

Explaining Causes

  • Because of + noun: (a causa de)
  • On account of + noun: (a causa de)
  • Due to the fact that + clause: (debido a que)
  • For this reason: (por esta razón)

Expressing Facts

  • Actually: (en realidad)
  • In fact: (de hecho)

Narration

  • Suddenly: (de repente)
  • Then: (entonces, después)

Sample Application Letter: Summer Camp Assistant

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my keen interest in the Summer Camp Assistant position.

I am a graduate with the required qualifications for this role and with experience in the workplace.

I have been working in a camp for the past two years, which has provided me with solid organizational skills as well as strong communication abilities. I consider myself proficient at multitasking.

Utilizing my qualifications and skills, I am certain that I can add much value to this summer camp.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Lucía Rodríguez.