Language Tips

Language Tips is an online magazine created by a group of language experts dedicated to exploring the world of linguistics and language learning. We publish insightful articles, research-based guides, and honest reviews of learning tools to help readers understand languages from every angle, how they work, how we learn them, and how they shape communication across cultures.

What Is a Preposition?

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between nouns or pronouns and other parts of a sentence, expressing time, place, direction, and more, as in on the table or at school. This article explains types, functions, and uses of prepositions in English.

What Is an Adverb?

What Is an Adjective?

What Is a Noun?

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea, the foundation of every sentence. This article explains what nouns are, their types and functions, and how they shape language, thought, and communication in English and beyond.

What Is a Verb?

A verb is a word that expresses an action, state, or occurrence, the heart of every sentence. From run and think to be and become, verbs bring language to life. This article explains what verbs are, how they function, and why they’re essential to grammar and communication.

What Does Inflection Mean?

Inflection is the process of changing a word’s form to show grammatical information like tense, number, or case — as in walk → walked or cat → cats. This article explores what inflection means, how it works in English and other languages, and why it’s vital to grammar and communication.

What Is a Suffix?

A suffix is a word part added to the end of a root to change its meaning or grammatical function, as in teacher, happiness, or beautiful. This article explains what suffixes are, their types and origins, and how they shape English word formation and communication.

What Is a Prefix?

A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a root to change its meaning, as in unhappy or rewrite. This article explains what prefixes are, their types and origins, and how they help expand vocabulary, shape meaning, and reveal the structure of English.

What Is a Lingua Franca?

A lingua franca is a common language used for communication between people with different native languages. From Latin and Swahili to modern English, lingua francas connect cultures, enable trade, and shape global communication in a multilingual world.

What Is a Collocation?

A collocation is a natural combination of words that frequently appear together, like make a decision or heavy rain. This article explains what collocations are, why they matter for fluency, and how learning them helps speakers sound more natural and authentic.

What Is an Idiom?

An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be understood from its individual words, like “break the ice” or “under the weather.” This article explores what idioms are, their origins, cultural meanings, and how they make language expressive and alive.

What Is Morphology?

Morphology is the study of word structure and formation. This article explains what morphology means, how morphemes combine to create words, the processes behind word formation, and why understanding morphology is essential for language learning and linguistics.

What Is Phonology?

Phonology is the study of how sounds function and interact in language. This article explains what phonology means, how it differs from phonetics, and how sound systems shape communication, meaning, and identity across languages.

What Is a Homonym?

A homonym is a word that shares the same spelling or pronunciation as another but has a different meaning, like bat (animal) and bat (sports tool). This article explores what homonyms are, their types, how they develop, and why they make language rich, flexible, and fun.

What Is an Antonym?

An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another, like hot and cold or happy and sad. This article explains what antonyms are, their types, how they work in language and thought, and why understanding opposites is essential for clear and expressive communication.