Metis Language School

jam packed – adjective phrase meaning very crowded or full. We usually use the preposition ‘with’ after it.

examples:

“When we arrived at Burning Man, the desert was already jam packed with vans, tents, people, and art.”

“My weekends this Summer are jam packed with weekend trips outside of San Francisco. I’m going to Napa, Carmel, Santa Cruz, and Silicon Valley.”

have a blast - idiom meaning to have a lot of fun

examples:

“I had a blast at Disney Land. I rode many rides, ate a lot of delicious food, and made some great memories with my friends.”

“If you like music, you’ll have a blast at Coachella!”

take a dip - idiom meaning to go swimming

examples:

“In Las Vegas, you can go to a concert and take a dip at the same time. It’s such an exciting and crazy city!”

“It was very hot at the music festival, so we took a dip in our hotel pool at the end of the day.”

stoked - a slang word meaning excited

examples:

“I love Snoop Dogg so I was so stoked to see him at the Bottle Rock music festival in Napa!”

“I’m so stoked about studying English and taking a road trip around the U.S.A. this Summer!”

hit the road - idiom meaning to start a trip

examples:

“Let’s hit the road early tomorrow so we can avoid rush hour traffic in Los Angeles.”

“After my course at St Giles ended, I hit the road to see Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.”

English Grammar Rules about Apostrophes and Semi Colons

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are not used with personal pronouns, but are used in contractions.
Your, describes ownership. It is a personal pronoun.
You’re, is a contraction and an abbreviation for you are.
Therefore your car means the car is yours. You’re car translates into “you are car,” which makes no sense and reflects a grammatical error.

Similar rules exist for using It’s and Its.

Its is a personal pronoun. It also describes ownership.
It’s is a contraction and an abbreviation for it is.
Its leaves are green, refers to the leaves belonging to the tree. It’s leaves are green translates into “it is leaves are green ” or “it has leaves are green,” neither of which makes sense in a sentence or is grammatically correct.

Apostrophes are used with singular and plural possessive nouns.
For nouns that are singular and possessive the apostrophe goes before the s.
Ex. Mike’s uniform.
For nouns that are plural and possessive, the apostrophe goes after the s.
Ex. The track teams’ uniforms.
Semi colons

Semi colons connect two clauses that can otherwise be used independently. These clauses would be grammatically complete enough to function as two separate sentences, but you might want one sentence so there’s no break in the flow. (When reading two sentences there’s a natural pause that occurs between the first and second sentence.) You may not want that pause. You might want to connect them or highlight their contrast which is more effective with a semi colon.
Connecting clauses with a semi colon: “I’m an excellent driver; I obey the traffic laws at all times.”
Contrasting clauses with a semi colon: “I’m an excellent driver; I’ve only been in twelve accidents.”
Semi colons are also used when making a list of items that are connected with a comma.
Ex.The trip includes stops in Los Angeles; California, London; United Kingdom and Paris; France.