Braille at 200: Championing Tactile Literacy

4 January was World Braille Day in a year that marks the 200th anniversary of the invention of braille. Collins Dictionary joined forces with RNIB this week to recognise the importance of braille in making reading an experience that is open to everyone. As a bolshy teenager, sometime in the… Read More

Spanish words of the week: palo or pala?

No getting the wrong end of the stick with Spanish nouns palo (masculine) and pala (feminine) as we continue our series looking at the commonest meanings of potentially confusable words. Read More

French word of the week: ennuyer

This series of weekly blogs takes a closer look at words from our French dictionaries. The word we're focusing on this week is the French verb 'ennuyer'. Read More

Regular verb forms in English

English verbs have up to five different forms. These are: the base form, e.g. pull the 3rd person singular, present simple tense, e.g. pulls the past simple tense, e.g. pulled the past participle, e.g. pulled the present participle, e.g. pulling Regular verbs are all formed in the same way, by building… Read More

Spanish words of the week: gorro or gorra?

A new year brings a new opportunity to uncover the meanings of two superficially similar Spanish nouns that mean slightly different things. This week’s words are gorro (masculine) and gorra (feminine). Read More

French word of the week: penser

This series of weekly blogs takes a closer look at words from our French dictionaries. The word we're focusing on this week is the French verb 'penser'. Read More

Contractions of auxiliary verbs in English

Auxiliary verbs very often used in contracted forms. Contracted forms are more informal than full forms. They are therefore more common in spoken English. Full forms are usually preferred in formal written English. In the case of be and have, the contracted form can involve linking the subject and the auxiliary verb into… Read More

Spanish words of the week: plaza or plazo?

Here is another instalment in our series on pairs of Spanish nouns that, while similar in form, have very different meanings. This week’s pair are plazo and plaza. Read More

French word of the week: lui

This series of weekly blogs takes a closer look at words from our French dictionaries. The word we're focusing on this week is the French pronoun 'lui'. Read More