Grammar rule12

 12. The contraction he's can mean he is OR he has. Similarly, she's can mean she is OR she has, and it's can mean it is OR it has, and John's can mean John is OR John has.

• He is working
• He has finished.
• She is here.
• She has left.
• John is married.
• John has divorced his wife.

Grammar rule 11

 

11. The words there, their and they're are three different words with different meanings.

• There was nobody at the party.
• I saw their new car.
• Do you think they're happy?

The Elephant Rope (Belief)

 

A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains.

All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs.

As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all.

Curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape.

The trainer replied;

 

“when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the belief that it just wasn’t possible.

Moral of the story:

No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.

 

Grammar rule 10

 10. The words your and you're are two different words with different meanings.

• Here is your coffee.
• You're looking good.

Grammar rule 9

 9. The words its and it's are two different words with different meanings.

• The dog has hurt its leg.
• He says it's two o'clock.

Grammar rule 8

 8. Treat collective nouns (e.g. committee, company, board of directors) as singular OR plural. In BrE a collective noun is usually treated as plural, needing a plural verb and pronoun. In AmE a collective noun is often treated as singular, needing a singular verb and pronoun.

• The committee are having sandwiches for lunch. Then they will go to London. (typically BrE)
• The BBC have changed their logo. (typically BrE)
• My family likes going to the zoo. (typically AmE)
• CNN has changed its logo. (typically AmE)

Grammar rule 7

 7. When using two or more adjectives together, the usual order is opinion-adjective + fact-adjective + noun. (There are some additional rules for the order of fact adjectives.)

• I saw a nice French table.
• That was an interesting Shakespearian play.