by Christine Burgmer | Jul 29, 2026 | Sparks of English |
Shade or shadow: the two words English keeps separate Shade and shadow look like the same idea. They’re not quite twins. Stand under a tree on a hot day, and you’re in the shade, the cool patch where the sun can’t reach you. Step just outside it and...
by Christine Burgmer | Jul 28, 2026 | Sparks of English |
Denglisch detox: “home office” doesn’t mean what you think “He is in the home office” reads as fine English. It just doesn’t mean what you think it means. In German, “Home Office” describes the whole activity of sitting...
by Christine Burgmer | Jul 27, 2026 | Sparks of English |
Being too formal isn’t the problem. Not noticing is. Being too formal isn’t the problem. Not realising it anymore is. At school, you may have learned sentences like: “I would be most grateful if you could kindly confirm.” It was correct. It...
by Christine Burgmer | Jul 24, 2026 | Sparks of English |
How to spot a (mildly mad) Brit abroad: sorry, Not sorry We say “sorry” even when it’s clearly your fault. Someone bumps into us. “Oh, sorry!” We apologise to inanimate objects. We apologise for existing. (I once apologised to a filing...
by Christine Burgmer | Jul 23, 2026 | Sparks of English |
German English Quirks I Secretly Love: Capital Nouns There’s a quirk I secretly love in my clients’ English. Capitalising every Noun in an email. Meeting. Deadline. Attachment. They all want a capital letter in your head, whether English allows it or not....
by Christine Burgmer | Jul 22, 2026 | Sparks of English |
Fewer or less: the mistake that barely counts Fewer people care about “fewer” than you’d think. Somewhere, a supermarket checkout sign says “10 items or less.” Somewhere else, a small part of your brain silently fixes it to...
