Japanese version available [here]
When learning English, there are those moments when you pause and wonder, “Wait, is this really how I should use it?”
Even now, I sometimes find myself unsure whether to use ‘a’ or ‘the’, or ‘was’ or ‘is’ in a given context.”
Yet these tiny moments of uncertainty are actually fantastic learning opportunities.
By questioning, investigating, and experimenting, you gradually make grammar truly your own.
With this in mind, I’m excited to introduce a new mini column series: Grammar in Everyday Life.
In this series, we’ll explore the “real-life questions” that arise in English and explain them clearly using actual examples from everyday usage.
Concept of the series
Grammar in Everyday Life is not about following textbook rules. Instead, it’s about looking at how English is actually used and thinking about grammar based on real examples.
When using English in daily life, you sometimes wonder, “Why does it take this form?”
This series takes those real-life questions as starting points to dig into the feel of grammar and the reasoning behind it.
Each topic is short, but I hope it offers useful hints that bring you closer to the essence of English.
First installment: “He was or He is?”
The first instalment focuses on a theme that many English learners have struggled with at least once: the difference between “was” and “is.”
Why do we use “was” when recalling past events?
And why does “is” sound natural when talking about present facts?
Understanding this difference alone can make your writing sound much more natural and clarify your sense of time in English.
In the first article, I explain tense usage from the perspective of retrospection, using a passage I wrote as an example.
English article here:
👉 **Cambridge CPE Speaking: The One Strategy That Helped Me Pass – Tips for CPE, CAE, FCE & Study Abroad Preparation**
Mini Column #1 here:
👉 Grammar in Everyday Life #1: “was” vs “is” – Understanding the Boundary Between Facts and Recollections in English
Upcoming topics (tentative)
Future topics will include:
🔹Choosing “a” vs “the” – How to perceive the “distance” of a noun
🔹“have been” vs “had been” – Grasping the sense of perfect tenses
🔹What does the “’d” in “I’d say” mean? – Understanding conditional and hedging expressions used by native speakers
Each article will combine real English examples, context, and cultural background, helping you turn grammar into usable knowledge.
Editor’s note
I believe grammar is not just about memorising rules. It’s a system for reflecting the speaker’s perspective and focus in words.
Through this series, I hope to offer small hints that help you move from simply knowing English to feeling it and using it naturally.
👉 You can read each instalment here (updated gradually):
🔹#1 – “was” vs “is”: Understanding the Boundary Between Facts and Recollections in English
🔹#2: The Emphatic “do” – Understanding the Difference Between “I did go” and “I went” (coming soon)
