THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE BOOK
Updates 2015-2016
This page logs what was changed in each update to TEE, though rather inconveniently it starts almost a year in on 30 June 2015.
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21 December 2016
NEW SECTION ADDED: Cartoony Universe, which in turn has three features: Cartoon one-offs, a selection of cartoons featured in the TEE book, on this website, and on the Facebook page; Doctor Dot Fullstop's Ignorances in English, a collection of cartoons featured on the Facebook page that express many native speakers' lack of understanding as regards English grammar; and Cartoon scrapbook, relocated from Features.
There's more new words added to Not4grammarbores: context, communication, dialect, dash, hyphen, quote/quotation, prime symbol, double prime symbol, number, American English, British English.
Miserable student quote: 'My boss is like Father Christmas. He's a fat guy who wears a suit but gets all the credit for an excellent job.'
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14 December 2016
Some more new words added to Not4grammarbores: comma, full infinitive, and statement.
Miserable student quote: 'I went to a super, fantastic extravaganza demonstration of a new one-million watt light-bulb. It was brilliant.'
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7 December 2016
Some more new words added to Not4grammarbores: taboo word, grammar (yes, there is an entry for this word), tense, language, command and bare infinitive.
Miserable student quote: 'I went to the hospital feeling very bad. The doctor asked me for a tissue sample. After blowing my nose and wiping it, I gave them one.'
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30 November 2016
Some more new words added to Not4grammarbores: exclamation, exclamation mark, native speaker, primary auxiliary, question, question mark and speech.
Miserable student quote: 'There are lots of people who live in a flat. I live in a fully-inflated.'
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23 November 2016
Some new words added to Not4grammarbores: letter, sentence and word. Rather obvious examples, but the grammar books like to tell us differently, particularly with word...
Miserable student quote: 'I was invited to a therapy group where I would try to 'find myself', but I got lost on the way and didn't know where I was.'
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16 November 2016
Even with something as 'serious' as TEE, we like a few original jokes. And you'll find them with the Miserable Student's Words of Wisdom... ​
Miserable student quote: 'I don't think my girlfriend loves me anymore. She's bought me one of those therapy colouring books for Christmas. For my Kindle.'
9 November 2016
In Not4GrammarBores, T,U,V,W,X,Y and Z have all been added to finish off the new feature. Now we begin to add to it and make it even more comprehensive. And even easier to understand than most grammar glossaries...
Miserable student quote: 'I've just built a new kind of spaceship. It travels at heavy speed.'
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2 November 2016
In Not4GrammarBores, Q, R & S have been added...nearly finished the alphabet... and we have a detailed explanation of those lovely synonyms, hurt, ache and pain... Plus you may have noticed the new cartoon on the front (if you haven't already seen it on the facebook page).
Miserable student quote: 'I was twenty minutes late for my latest English grammar lesson. The subject just happened to be on punctuation.'
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26 October 2016
Well, quite a bit, in fact:
A Brief History of English: A few typos have been sorted, and the last page has been updated to take into account the BREXIT situation.
Not4GrammarBores: TWO pages have been added, with M to O, and quite a long P page.
About Typical Errors in English: A new cartoon added, which may well form part of a series. You've already seen it on the facebook page.
Miserable student quote: 'My friend was smashing his watch with a hammer. He said he was killing time.'
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19 October 2016
In Cultural Differences, how do you express something like â…“ in English, and also the About Typical Errors in English feature has finally had a bit more added (but still not finished) after a year of promises. Sorry and thank you for your patience.
Miserable student quote: 'I wanted to be a fortune-teller but was told that there was no future.'
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12 October 2016
The Anglophenia page is in with the feature having a little bit of work done to it to get it up to date, but perhaps more important is the fact that the I-L page has now been added to Not4grammarbores!
Miserable student quote: 'I told my boss that driving a car that cannot stop for 8 hours is too long. I need the brakes.'
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5 October 2016
Are you a trainee doctor or someone generally interested in why we get all these colds and flu and all other kinds of diseases? Well, to start with, it would be good to know the difference between germ, bacteria, organism and virus...
Miserable student quote: 'I met a man who worked at a cemetery. He's really tired of people asking him what he does for a living.'
28 September 2016
E-H has now been added to the Not4GrammarBores section, plus the ANGLOPHENIA feature has been updated a little as they (that is, the BBC, or BBC America to be more precise) have added a new episode. It was added a month and a half ago, so I'm not sure how frequent they'll be...
Miserable student quote: 'All I've done since 8am is eat and eat and eat. I'm getting fed up.'
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21 September 2016
Get your eyes tested and have a good look at this latest entry in our What's the difference section... well, the clue's there!
Miserable student quote: 'I've had no success at all getting my autobiography published. It's the story of my life.'
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14 September 2016
First, a very different puzzle for you to enjoy which I've called a Codeword Quote (well, I wanted to call it a Cryptogram, but I understand The Puzzler magazine's taken that name), but even better - the first stage of a brand new feature, not4grammarbores!
Miserable student quote: 'My friend did not want to throw his old clock into the bin because he thought it was a waste of time.'
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7 September 2016
A new typical student error for you in Translations - when it comes to competitive events, when do you win or beat someone? Well, the clue is there in that question...
Miserable student quote: 'Would I go to a cardiologist? In a heartbeat.'
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31 August 2016
Well, um, not a lot... the logo is bigger, there's a new joke in the corner, and that's it. But don't worry, there will be more in the next few weeks!
Miserable student quote: 'I saw a book in the shop called 'Making Important Decisions in Your Life', but I didn't know if I should buy it.'
6 July 2016
Before our Summer break, we have TWO updates for you. In What's the Difference, as regards public transport, we tell you what is a bus and what is a coach, and in Translations, be careful when you are asked to get a battery for your kitchen sink...
Miserable student quote: 'Don't take a metal detector to the beach this summer. I've buried a few things and written on them: 'Get a life'.'
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29 June 2016
In What's the Difference, a simple error made by many people... or is it a mistake? The differences are very small, but they are there. What is an error and what is a mistake?
Miserable student quote: 'First, I had a problem with my Blackberry, and then my Apple. Just like Ronnie Corbett. Don't ask me about my infected Wii: I've got a tablet for that.'
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22 June 2016
In Misunderstandings, colloquailisms, wrong words and false friends, the word rivalization seems to be increasingly popular instead of competition. It's not right, of course, which is why it's here in this site...
Miserable student quote: 'My bottom is the butt of all jokes.'
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15 June 2016
In quizzes and exercises, we have the return of something that's been promised for a long time - well, it was promised at the end of false friends 2 - False friends 3 is finally here!
Miserable student quote: 'I bought a new book. I decided to see what happens at the end. It was Zennor in Cornwall. I'd got a UK road atlas by mistake.'
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8 June 2016
Another new entry in the what's the difference section: this week, it's all about Target, aim and goal in the meaning ‘the result that you intend to get when doing or planning something’.
Miserable student quote: 'I wanted a good piece of advice on what is a rubbish birthday present. My friend gave me a tip.'
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1 June 2016
Do we say Leicester City is or Leicester City are? We also discuss some examples as regards a word or a thing being singular or plural when it - or they - become(s) the object of discussion. Much of it depends where you're from...
Miserable student quote: 'I had a dream that I swallowed a giant marshmallow. When I woke up, I discovered my pillow had gone.'
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25 May 2016
It's a funny error, but one that is made repeatedly, and is a translation problem. We basically learn the difference between organism, metabolism, and the human body.
Miserable student quote: 'My sister's son didn't like the 'unit of information in a computer memory'-flavoured jam. It had bits in it.'
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18 May 2016
We have a kind of English lesson today: some text, some discussion, and some idiomatic phrases involving animals for you to try.
Miserable student quote: 'There was this man who claimed he was a seismologist, but his qualifications meant he was on shaky ground.'
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10 May 2016
We have a real puzzle today - a logic puzzle, based on prepositions of place. A great exercise for elementary and pre-intermediate students.
Miserable student quote: 'I was invited to the 'don't believe that things will be successful' convention, but I was cynical.'
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3 May 2016
What exactly do we use for a neutral or genderless pronoun? Is it they/them, as is generally accepted, or should it be he/him, as used in the Bible?
Miserable student quote: 'Recipe books and science fiction books are the same. You know that the result isn't going to be real.'
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26 April 2016
A new error added to Misunderstandings (still the busiest section when it comes to typical errors). What is wrong with a professionalist?
Miserable student quote: 'I met a trendy baby. She didn't want the fruit tea mummy was giving her. She said it wasn't Hipp.'
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19 April 2016
In Features, ANGLOPHENIA - the best (and some of the worst) of a popular YouTube series of videos featuring British life as presented to an American audience. And much of this will be interesting to students of English!
Miserable student quote: 'My biology scientist friend experienced a brain wave. He waved back.'
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12 April 2016
From Doctor Dot Fullstop's section, the wonderful world of the subjunctive, particularly when we use it in 'if clauses'. Do we say If I was a rich man or if I were a rich man? And is it that important?
Miserable student quote: 'A friend's son threw his flashlight out of the window. He wanted to see how fast light travelled.'
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5 April 2016
The article on conditionals has now been completed and written, and there's also some exercises on mixed conditionals!
Miserable student quote: 'My girlfriend and I had a really big argument about parts of the body. Of course, things soon came to a head.'
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22 March 2016
For the time being, this error is in the intonation and pronunciation section, but it's more of a difference between how something is said as to how something is written. Is it 'I could've made a mistake' or 'I could of made a mistake'?
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15 March 2016
Not much this week. In the differences between may and might, I've just made it clearer where the two words have the same meaning as regards possibility, but different when it comes to permission...
Miserable student quote: ''Banks have branches because money grows on trees.'
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8 March 2016
In Cultural Differences, some important lessons on the queen and what you shouldn't tell somebody from Scotland and Wales what they are when they aren't. Got it? If not, click here and you'll see what I mean...
Miserable student quote: 'It's good when your dog is a friend, but not when your friend is a dog.'
1 March 2016
Some new exercises that focus on the second conditional have been added. There's also the zero, first, and third conditionals there, too. Oh, and the small feature on double negatives has had a little bit added...
Miserable student quote: 'You eat ice cream, chocolate and sweets when stressed. Why? Because “stressed” backwards is “desserts”.'
23 February 2016
Some new exercises that focus on the first conditional have been added. Don't forget there's also the zero and third conditionals there, too...
Miserable student quote: 'My girlfriend wrote me a love letter. I asked her to give me some kisses on the bottom. She's now left me.
16 February 2016
Some new exercises that focus on the third conditional have been added, and the exercise page on zero conditionals has had some major changes and lots of new questions added!
Miserable student quote: 'In my office block there was no paper in our mens' toilet so I had to use the floor below.'
9 February 2016
We have a new entry in the What's the Difference section, with those lovely confusing verb forms lay, lie and laid.
Miserable student quote: 'I often walk in a field near home. The cow lets me go free, but the bull charges.'
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2 February 2016
We have TWO new entries in the typical errors 'examples' section. That seems quite a lot until you when you check them out, there's not too much to say on them and they are errors that are perhaps unique to Slavic languages. Check here in wrong words and grammar.
Miserable student quote: 'Don't talk to a person who is on the ground, on his back. He could be lying.
26 January 2016
There is another new entry in the What's the difference section - Stairs and steps.
Miserable student quote: 'If you owe the tax office money, they want it now, but if they owe you money, you won't see it for months.'
19 January 2016
There's a new entry to enjoy in our Confusing Words section - the differences between hot/warm and cold/cool. It's a typical student error so it goes here and not in What's the difference? , the new super exciting section where if you have ever wanted to know the difference between jealous/envious, get in/get on, series/serial, even when to use fish or fishes as the plural - then this is the section for you.
Miserable student quote: 'If you take a bath or shower, where's the best place to put it?'
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12 January 2016
We have a new feature added to the menu - What's the difference? As Doctor Dot Fullstop had a number of questions asking the difference between words that have similar meanings, and I had a file of other examples, I thought it would be good to put all these together. So if you have ever wanted to know the difference between jealous/envious, get in/get on, series/serial, even when to use fish or fishes as the plural - then this is the section for you! There's lots of new examples here, so read and enjoy!
Miserable student quote: 'To MPK in Krakow. Change the video on the number 4 tram. It's the same one all the time.' (There are some new 'Krakowiak' trams running on the number 4 route in Krakow which repeatedly show the one animated video of a tragic accident.)
15 December 2015
As it is Christmas, this week we've got TWO new christmas-themed puzzles for you. One is a vocabulary puzzle in the form of a 'pathfinder', and the other is an exercise on reported speech. There is a third, but it's a secret page and it will disappear when the website is updated (it's just an exercise in typical errors in a text). There is a link somewhere - click on it and find it!
Miserable student quote: 'And a merry bloomin' Christmas. (And a happy new year, if we must.)'
8 December 2015
As well as the Christmas decorations, we now have a brand new feature - a brief history of the English language!
As well as some new pretty pictures thanks to my graphics tablet, there's also a new grammar mistake added - one that I'm sure to hear many times as we get to the winter and people are starting to think of their vacation in the snow. Are we going in the mountain, to the mountain, in the mountains or to the mountains?
Miserable student quote: 'Yes, just over three weeks to go. Ho bloody ho.'
24 November 2015
As well as some new pretty pictures thanks to my graphics tablet, there's also a new grammar mistake added - one that I'm sure to hear many times as we get to the winter and people are starting to think of their vacation in the snow. Are we going in the mountain, to the mountain, in the mountains or to the mountains?Because of the extensive cleaning being done on this site with Cif, Ajax and even that stuff made up of little grey balls that can melt your hand should you decide to use it as a cleaner, I haven't done much. Dear me, even the miserable student hasn't done much; he's only corrected himself from last week! So the only new thing is a small quiz on zero conditionals, but this page will be expanded in due course to include the other conditionals.
Miserable student quote: 'Did you know the anagram for 'shoveling lie' is 'I love English?'
17 November 2015
You may have noticed that on the menu, the list that appears under Doctor Dot Fullstop has gone when you click on it, but this is only because she is being kept rather busy and the list has grown too big to fit on the page. But the list of questions can be found on her main page. Anyway, she now has to answer the question on when contractions are used in writing. In Typical Errors and Misprunts, not a mistake as such: it just answers why I prefer to use the term 'other half. rather than,say, husband, wife, or partner, along with other terms you may not have heard about. PLEASE NOTE that the news page is no longer being updated. All new stories will be featured in the Facebook page instead.
Miserable student quote: 'Did you know the anagram for 'shoveling lie' is 'I like English?'
In Doctor Dot Fullstop's pages, I pose the question: What's wrong with Have got? This was the question inspired by the English schoolteacher I mentioned in our introduction. The news page has had an increasingly tired Anglophenia video link added. Please note that I will discontinue the news page by the end of the year, although what had already been published will be archived in a separate page. These news items and their links already appear in the Facebook page, so it seems pointless to also include them here.
Miserable student quote: 'Now where on earth can I buy Weetabix in Poland?'
The top 10 tips for learning English has been updated and expanded to become a Top 15 tips for learning English. The news page has now had its November page added. NOTE: I will discontinue the news page by the end of the year, although what had already been published will be archived in a separate page.
Miserable student quote: 'And you are all really missing out on Doctor Who. Google it.'
I'm back from the Krakow book fair, and I would like to thank all those who came to say hello, have their pictures taken with me, and who bought the book, allowed me to sign their precious copies, and even get free cartoons on top! It was a busy time there, and that event is really the main new item added to the website this week, along with a few pictures.
Miserable student quote: 'You know, you lot in Poland are really missing out on Twiglets. Google it.'
In Confusing Words, what kind of movies are the Indiana Jones movies? The NEWS has bits on words that maybe we should know about, plus to celebrate the fact that October 13th was English language day, we have some more examples of funny English. And you may have noted on this page that we now have a search option. It's a trial at the moment, but hopefully it will make life a little easier when trying to find things.
Miserable student quote: 'I know which party I'm voting for this weekend... the TEE PARTY!' (This was the weekend of the Polish general election)
13 October 2015
In Misunderstandings, we look at something which, I must admit, I did not think about with the book, but - why does the phrase 'do you mind' require a negative response to be positive? And in Quizzes and Exercises, there are some more answers that require questions! As usual, The NEWS has also been updated: another new episode of Anglophenia that looks at some of our ancestors, the Vikings, and a report that English is taught in over 75% of schools in the European Union.
Miserable student quote: 'I may moan a lot but at least I'm happy with my TEA on the homepage.'
6 October 2015
Okay, we'll stop the moaning (Our editor has having a mini crisis at the time, but he's got over it now. Thanks for asking). SMILE! In Ask Doctor Dot Fullstop, Dorothy answers another important question - when to get on or get in something? The NEWS has also been updated to take in the story of an English test in Australia that many Irish are failing, and there's a much better episode of Anglophenia uploaded on YouTube.
Miserable student quote: 'Oh dear me. And I thought I moaned too much. Have fun reading below.'
29 September 2015
In Ask Doctor Dot Fullstop, Dorothy answers three rather important questions. Questions that many of us worry about being asked by students. They are the difference between fall off/fall from, reported speech with conditionals, and what do we call a citizen of Earth? Also, the feature on the historic present has had some major updates. Finally, in the NEWS, not much, apart from a new but-not-very-interesting Anglophenia episode.
Miserable student quote: 'I think I need a wash. I've been wearing these same clothes for weeks now.'
22 September 2015
In QUIZZES AND EXERCISES, 20 questions on the order of adjectives, and in the NEWS, a well-known British DIY shop is giving us all some very good news. That is, if many of us understand the rather over-formal vocabulary...
Miserable student quote: 'It's the second day of autumn. Looks like I'll get my coat.'
15 September 2015
Not too much this week: even the news pages are rather quiet, with little worth reporting and bringing to your attention, apart from a new edition of Anglophenia. So we have another TEE in Misunderstandings, and the often misused word 'ability'. I've also tidied up some errors that appeared in the menu.
Miserable student quote: 'Summer's made a comeback here in Poland. And I don't have my shorts!'
8 September 2015
In Quizzes and exercises, you have the choice of turning active sentences into passive sentences, and passive sentences into active sentences. (If you don't know what these are, a nice, simple [I hope] explanation has been given.) Plus, of course, the news page. And someone has spotted an index error with the mysterious 'humoqr'...
Miserable student quote: 'Well, I've been to worst places than this top left-hand corner.'
1 September 2015
Of course, the news pages for July and August have had quite a few additions, although I am sure there was more - I just did not have time to find them all. We have a new page that will keep you informed of the updates that are made. There is also a new error in cultural differences that has been added connected with weddings and anniversaries - along with another page giving all the names of these events. The Oxford English Dictionary has had over a thousand new words added recently, so here is a quiz to see if you know some of them. Of course, there will be more to come, plus, eventually, my article on the history of the English language. Oh, and I nearly forgot. I've been through most pages and tried to fix a few minor problems as regards clicking on links, and also those very big red blocky links at the bottom of the pages have been made a lot less obvious and now makes each page a lot tidier. Oh yes... there is also a little bit of 'small print' at the bottom of this home page. So I suppose I could say there has been a lot of work done on this site during the break.
Miserable student quote: 'Great. Only ten months until the next Summer holiday.'
14 July 2015
Only the home page and the miserable student now looking happy for the very first time as he is going off on a holiday where he can practise his English.
Miserable student quote: 'That's it. I'm off on my holidays. See you after the summer!'
7 July 2015
The news pages this week have now had July added to them, and we have a new entry in the first unit as regards a false friend, particularly if you are Polish.
30 June 2015
We focussed on the former education secretary, Michael Gove - now Lord Chancellor - passing on grammar instructions to his civil servants. Click on the June news page and the links within to learn more... along with another grammar test.
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