smily or smiley

CA270112.jpg
Originally uploaded by joe tomei.

This is a tricky problem, which is whether to include an e when you add -y

To tell you the truth, I can't always remember which one is which, but when I see it, I know if it is right or wrong. Here's a list of words that drop the e

ice>icy
spice>spicy
taste>tasty

BUT
price>pricey
space>spacey
smile>smiley

A general rule is that more common words drop the e, but less common words don't, but that is always difficult to know which are common and which are uncommon. When in doubt, your dictionary is your friend!

Not bad English, but...

CA270121.jpg
Originally uploaded by joe tomei.

This is obviously a take off on the famous phrase 'Boys, be ambitious'. Strictly speaking, the phrase is grammatically correct, but it gets used a lot more here than it would in the states. In fact, 'be [adjective]' is a rather strong imperative (命令), so we use it with things like
Be quiet!
Don't be stupid!

or advice
Be yourself.
Be cool.

We generally don't tell people to 'be' something that they can't control, so in this case 'be gorgeous' doesn't make a lot of sense.

More bad english

CA270131.jpg
Originally uploaded by joe tomei.

This mistake is something that students always do. I guess they are thinking that it should be
Dear + [noun]
but actually, it should be
Dear + [name]
now, obviously, 'my family' is not a name, so this does does not work.