English

Anyone'll tell you
We use this expression to say that we are sure something is right, and that anyone can confirm this.
Where's a good place to dance around here?
Roxys is the best in town. Anyone'll tell you. It's got great music.

Is Bath worth a visit? Is it nice?
Oh, it's fantastic. Anyone'll tell you. The Roman Baths are very special.

Come to think of it
We use this expression to introduce something we had not thought of before.
E.g.1
P1 Have you seen Matt anywhere?
P2 No. come to think of it, I haven't seen him all week. Is he ill?
P1 I don't know.

P1 It's a strange town. I haven't seen any hotels here.
P2 Come to think of it, I haven't seen any shops or restaurants, either!

On second thoughts
We use this expression to say that we have changed our mind about something.

E.g.1 Are you ready to order?
Yes. I'll have the lamb. On second thoughts, I'll have the steak, please.

E.g.2 Do you want to come with us to the park to play football this afternoon?
No, I'm busy. On second thoughts - yes. The work can wait.
Great - see you later, then.

One of these days
We use this expression to say that something negative will happen sometime - perhaps soon.
E.g.1 She's so aggressive!
Yes, one of these days someone's going to hit her.

E.g.2 I always park here and I never pay.
Be careful. One of these days you're going to have a problem.

I can speak English, but a lot of grammatical errors creep in. How do I overcome this problem?



The best way to stop making errors is by learning how to find it.

See what I just did there?

Getting better at English grammar is a little like working out to get the perfect 6pack. You might be fit as a fiddle but those toned abs will elude you till you specifically target them in your routine.

Personally, I improved my grammar when I trained for a competitive test which had sentence correction as one of the topics. Once you go through hundreds of such questions, you will be conditioned enough that you can spot any error when you encounter it.

When it is suggested that you read everything with letters on it to improve your grammar, there is no explicit mention about what you should be reading. And in the process, it is plausible that you end up training your brain with erroneous information. Training to find such errors will help you in avoiding this.

In addition to the above, I suggest you write as much as possible. Since you will have time to review what you write before anyone gets to read it, you can spend as much time to get it correct. Be it an official email or a whatsapp chat. Make English your primary language.

A whale of a time
We use this expression to say we really enjoyed ourselves.
P1 Did you enjoy the party?
P2 Yes, we had a whale of a time. It was great.

P1 How was your holiday?
P2 We had a whale of a time in Los Angeles. I love that city!

Take it with a pinch of salt
We use this expression to say that somebody should not completely believe something they have heard or read
P1 My students told me today that I'm the best teacher they've ever had.
P2 Oh I'd take that with a pinch of salt. They say that to everybody.

P1 The instructions say that the batteries will last for five years.
P2 I'd take that with a pinch of salt. If you use it a lot, it'll be shorter.
P1 Okay. I'll bear it in mind.

A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its .

I'm on top of it
We use this expression to say that we are in control of something.

E.g.1 P1 How are you managing with phoning all those companies?
P2 I'm on top of it now. I should finish in a couple of hours.

E.g.2 P1 Have you found an answer to the problem with the computers in the office?
P2 Yes, I'm on top of it now. There was just a problem with one of the passwords.