"What / why / how on earth?"

What on earth…?

How on earth…?

Why on earth…?

You can use those expressions when you are extremely surprised, confused, or angry about something. It just means — tell me what is going on. What is happening? Why/how did that happen? Explain it to me.

Related expressions:

What in the world is going on?

What in the wide world is going on?

Examples:

• What on earth makes you think that?

• How on earth did this happen?

• Why on earth didn’t you tell me before?

“On earth” is an idiomatic way of intensifying the wordswhat, where, why, etc. for emphasis.

Compare these sentences:

“What makes you think that?” is a simple request for information.

“What on earth makes you think that?” implies “What reason could there possibly be in the whole world for you to think that?”

HOW – Question Words

How – Question Word

Question with HOW

1. HOW is generally asked about manner; how something is done.

• How does he drive? — Carefully.

• How do you go to school? — By bus.

2. HOW is used with MUCH and MANY.

• How much does it cost? — Ten dollars.

• How many people came? — Fifteen.

3. HOW is used with ADJECTIVES and MANNERS.

• How cold is it? — Ten below zero.

• How soon can you get here? — In ten minutes.

4. HOW LONG asks about length of time.

• How long has she been here? — An hour.

• How long did it take you to finish your project? — Two weeks.

5. HOW OFTEN asks about frequency.

• How often do you visit your grandma? — Every other weekend.

• How often do you eat out with your family? — We seldom do that.

6. HOW FAR asks about distance.

• How far is it to Missouri from here? — Ten miles.


Silent Letters

Silent Letters

SILENT LETTERS are letters that you can’t hear when you say the word, but that are there when you write the word. The English language has a lot of silent letters. Silents letters cause spelling and pronunciation difficulties for English learners. For example, in silent B, you say “boming” for the word bombing, or in silent D, you say “Wenesday” for the word Wednesday, or in silent G, you say “campain” for the word campaign.

It is essential for English learners to be able to identify and understand silent letters because this will improve your spelling, pronunciation, and writing skill, as well as boost your confidence.

Do you know what type of silent letters the words on the list below are?

• knife

• damn

• psychology

• build

• wrap

• castle

• design

• sandwich

• muscle

• thumb