Posts

Showing posts with the label Confusing Words

600+ English words explained

Image
This E-Book Makes The Differences Between Confusing English Words Simple, Clear, And Easy To Understand! This book will help clear up your confusion, so you can speak and write in English with more confidence! Not only will I teach you the “technical” differences between the confusing words – but I will also show you what kinds of situations each word is used in. That’s why every entry in the book has multiple example sentences – because when you see these words in context, you’ll be able to understand exactly how to use them. Click here to download  

What is the difference between a TV series and a serial?

Image
What is the difference between a TV series and a serial? Is one merely a subset of the other? Perhaps the difference is largely semantic. Or maybe the lines have blurred a bit. "It is more than a regular drama serial or just a sitcom." "The drama series is produced by BBC Wales and will be transmitted next year." The terms are closely related; a serial list of items forms a series. However they are essentially only loosely related terms when applied to television. "Lisa Kudrow became famous for her role as Phoebe in the TV series Friends." TV SERIES is a TV show broken into episodes. Each episode is usually broadcast at a regular interval or released simultaneously on streaming services.  "Are you watching the television series on Britain's castles?" Each episode is usually self-contained, so you can start from any episode.  "Just watched that random episode of Friends and got totally hooked up."  A series often contains the same ch...

AMONG and AMONGST

Image
AMONG and AMONGST are both prepositions meaning in the midst of, surrounded by, in the company of, or in association with.  "The key was hidden among the papers covering the desk."  "A British woman was amongst the 54 survivors of the disaster." They can be used interchangeably to indicate a division, choice, or differentiation involving three or more participants. "The king divided the country amongst his sons." "I saw a few familiar faces among the crowd." While 'amongst' is fairly common—though still rare compared to 'among'—in British, Australian, and Canadian English, it is rare in AmE and may have an archaic, overly formal or even pretentious ring. "When you’re among friends, you talk amongst yourselves." That said, although 'amongst' can seem old-fashioned, it's still grammatically correct as an alternative to 'among'. The choice between the terms is largely a matter of stylistic preference. ...

🚨 Commonly Confused Words 🚨 - Read, Practise, Revise!

Image
➡ 1. Confusing Words p1 - This worksheet contains 40 exercises to practice confusing words.  - Homophones, verbs vs. adjectives, verbs vs. nouns; - 8 pages in alphabetical order, with contents and answer KEY; Some examples: Bring/Take/Fetch - Learn/Teach/Study - Lend/Loan - Life/Live - Over/Above – Ride/Drive - Wherever/Where ever; ➡ 2. Confusing Similar Words - This is a test to help students to clarify the meanings of these couple of words such as - avoid/ prevent, stay/live, bring/take, uninterested/disinterested, bored/boring, there/their/they're, your/you're, hoard/horde, principal/principle, affect/effect; ➡ 3. Confusing Words - This is an informal business e-mail which contains confusing words (e.g. affect/effect, raise/rise) from which the students choose. The worksheet can be used as an extension exercise after having taught confusing words. There are two (duplicate) e-mails to a page. ➡ 4. Commonly Confusing Words (Houses) - In this worksheet, you can find pictures ma...

Peculiar Vocabulary - ENORMITY

Image
It seems simple enough, isn't? ‘Enormity’ is so close to ‘enormous’ that they must be synonyms. Right? Wrong! 😳 Enormity means - extreme evil of the toe-curling, medieval history or ruthless dictator kind.  Therefore, the exceptionally commonly used expression “the enormity of the situation…” means something like “the wickedness of the situation” when describing a situation which is dreadful or evil.  - I heard about the Manchester arena bombing, but it was several hours before I realised the enormity of the situation.

📞 CALL vs CALL TO

Image
⛔ I called to my friend yesterday on the phone. (wrong)  ⛔ I called to the police (wrong)  Those are common mistakes. We almost never use TO with call.  ✅ I called my friend yesterday...  ✅ I called the police.  Even on an online dictionary, you will struggle to find "call to." It is used in fixed expressions:  ● A call to arms - a strong command or inducement for action, especially among a particular group of people.  - The actress used the event as a call to arms for women in the film industry to demand equal pay. ● A call to prayer - a signal conveyed to members of the religion indicating that it is time to engage in a scheduled prayer ritual. ● Call to someone - here it means: to beckon. (to do certain actions in an attempt to draw attention to oneself) So if I call to my friend, I am waving my arm at him saying "come here." I can't use "call to" in the traditional sense that I phone someone.

🇬🇧 THINK OF vs THINK ABOUT 🇬🇧

Image
➡ Think OF = bear in mind/take into account/think quickly/consider  (usually works as a stative verb = can't be continuous)  - Think of the teachers who only have 12 weeks holiday a year (bear this fact in mind/Have a thought for)  - Do you remember that tall guy with a beard and glasses, I can't think of his name... oh yes, Sarah! (can't remember)  - Come to think of it, I am busy this weekend, so no, I can't meet you. (consider)  - Think of a number between 1 and 10.... F! (think quickly)  ➡ Think ABOUT = consider/contemplate/ponder  (often in the continuous form because it is a longer thought process)  - I am thinking about what to have for dinner... emmm... fish and chips... or.... emmm... or maybe two portions of fish and chips! (longer consideration)  - I like sitting on beaches and thinking about my existence. (pondering)  ➡ BUT...  "opinion" (the meanings are almost exactly the same)  -What do you think OF my plan? Rubb...

✍🏻 COMMON MISTAKE: ON TIME or IN TIME?

Image
● On time = punctual ⏰ - Class starts at 2.30am. Please be on time (punctual) because I like to start "on the dot" (=exactly at 2.30am)  - We have to be on time for the interview!  ● In time = not too late/with little time to spare 👌 - We were running and jumped onto the train as it began moving. We were just in time. Thank God!  - I needed to buy some grechka but it was almost 11pm. I ran to the nearest shop before closing time. Thankfully I made it in time and could, therefore, feast on grechka boiled in water that night.  ‼ PHRASE: just in the nick of time ‼ - We were running and jumped onto the train as it began moving. We were just in the nick of time. (more natural)  ‼ In time can also mean "eventually/some day ‼ - Don't worry my son. You will understand women in time. Not now but later.

DIFFERENT USES OF THE WORD - YET

Image
Some of my students asked about the various uses of this word. So here we go then ladies and gentlemen 😎 🤘🏻  YET - Non-affirmative word  a) Negative sentences - Looking to the future: to say that something which is expected has not happened but we hope it will.  - Has the hamster died? ~ Not yet! (but we hope it will)  - The hamster hasn't died yet! (but we still hope it might)  b) Question sentences - to ask whether something expected has happened.  - Is the hamster dead yet?  - Have you won the lottery yet? If not, keep trying damn you!  b) YET - (in the above) is often used with present perfect in British English but with Past Simple in the slightly more backwards primitive American English (no offence to my dear American friends)  - Have you washed your armpits yet? (Normal British English)  - Did you wash your armpits yet? (....... American English)  c) YET - meaning "Still." Yet can be used in affirmative sentences to mean ...

KEEP AT BAY and HOLD AT BAY

Image
KEEP AT BAY and HOLD AT BAY are two renditions of an idiom that has been in use since the mid-1700s. "The government hopes to keep inflation at bay." If you keep something or someone unpleasant at bay, you appear to be in control of the situation, maintain a distance, prevent them from approaching, harming, attacking, or affecting you.  "Vitamin C helps to keep colds at bay." If you move to a new city you can keep loneliness at bay by joining a club, playing a group sport or taking a class. A good way to keep your feelings of anxiety at bay is to meditate or do some sort of relaxation technique. "The armed robber held police at bay for about 9 hours."  You can keep illness at bay by eating healthy food and getting enough sleep and exercise. And you can hold your desire for chocolate at bay by not buying it and keeping it in your house. "Some wolves prowled round the camp, but were kept at bay by the fire." The Old French word 'abbay' mean...

Fall or fall down?

Image
We can use fall as a noun or a verb. It means:  1. suddenly go down onto the ground or towards the ground unintentionally or accidentally 2. come down from a higher position| Fall as a noun or a verb. Fall does not need an object:  ● Mrs McGrath had a terrible fall yesterday. She’s in a hospital now. (noun)  ● Four trees fell in the storm. (verb) Fall down is a phrasal verb.  We use it when something falls to the ground from its normal position:  ● The picture keeps falling down. (from the wall to the ground)  ● He slipped and fell down. Warning: We use fall, not fall down when trees drop their leaves during the autumn:  ● As autumn came and the leaves fell from the trees, she began to feel sad.  Not: … the leaves fell down … We can’t use fall down to mean ‘come down from a higher position’:  ● House prices have fallen a lot this year.  Not: House prices have fallen down a lot …

IN AGES vs FOR AGES

Image
Hello Bratans and Sistras! A student asked me the other day if there is a difference between IN AGES and FOR AGES. The answer is: yes and no 😕 In the expression "I haven't seen you..." both IN AGES and FOR AGES are fine and mean exactly the same thing. (In ages = in a long time). Other examples where either one can be used: 👉🏻I haven't tried swimming in ages/for ages 👉🏻You haven't written in ages/for ages 👉🏻I haven't sacrificed a hamster in ages/for ages In the above examples, I can swap IN AGES easily for IN A LONG TIME BUT in the following examples, I can only use FOR AGES 👉🏻I have lived here for ages 👉🏻We've been waiting here for ages 👉🏻You've been on the toilet for ages, hurry up! So generally speaking, IN AGES is used with a negation and is never used in an affirmative statement. Compare: - I have been here for ages! (been here for a long time) - I haven't been here in ages/for ages (maybe: haven't visited/stayed)

🇬🇧👩‍🎓... RECENTLY vs LATELY... 👨‍🎓🇬🇧

Image
I was recently asked about the difference between these two adverbs so i decided to help out. There is so much wrong and confusing crap all over the internet regarding these two words so took it upon myself to conduct some serious research and give you people the RIGHT answer ☝🏻😎 1) The MEANING of these words are basically the same = not long ago/at a recent time. Forums online talk about time in the past, longer time bla bla bla. It has nothing to do with that.  2) RECENTLY and LATELY can both be used in the Present Perfect and/or Continuous with the same meaning: 👉🏻 I've been working loads recently/lately! 👉🏻 I haven't seen Paul recently/lately. Is he still alive? 👉🏻 What have you been up to recently/lately? 3) But, RECENTLY can be used with the past but LATELY can't. 👉🏻 I've put on a lot of weight recently/lately! 👍🏻 👉🏻 I put on a lot of weight recently! 👍🏻 👉🏻 I put on a lot of weight lately! 👎🏻🤢 (Using RECENTLY with the Past is very common in ev...

TRICKY VOCABULARY - EMBARRASSED & Necessary

Image
Along with pronunciation and grammar, one of the biggest challenges for English language learners is vocabulary. ☝🏻 You may not struggle with new words when speaking, but when the time comes to put them on paper, your spelling abilities are put to the test.  In this new series we will share with you some most commonly misspelled words in English and provide a few tips that will help you stop misspelling them.  2. Embarrassed  Embarrassed by not being able to spell this word? You’re not the only one! This is another case of double letters causing problems. This time, we need to remember the double “r” and “s”. To jog your memory, imagine a little boy who’s embarrassed by his sister’s terrible singing and think: “He goes Really Red when his Sister Sings.” = RR + SS Along with pronunciation and grammar, one of the biggest challenges for English language learners is vocabulary. ☝🏻 You may not struggle with new words when speaking, but when the time comes to put them on pape...

► A DICTIONARY OF CONFUSABLE PHRASES ► ENGLISH GUIDES 4: CONFUSABLE WORDS ► FCE CAE CPE: CONFUSING WORD PAIRS

Image
► A DICTIONARY OF CONFUSABLE PHRASES ► ENGLISH GUIDES 4: CONFUSABLE WORDS ► FCE CAE CPE: CONFUSING WORD PAIRS Covering over 10,000 idioms and collocations characterized by similarity in their wording or metaphorical idea which do not show corresponding similarity in their meanings, this dictionary presents a unique cross-section of the English language. Though it is designed specifically to assist readers in avoiding the use of inappropriate or erroneous phrases, the book can also be used as a regular phraseological dictionary providing definitions to individual idioms, cliches, and set expressions. Most phrases included in the dictionary are in active current use, making information about their meanings and usage essential to language learners at all levels of proficiency. The Links A Dictionary of Confusable Phrases 4.8 MB English Guides 4: Confusable Words 6.5 MB FCE CAE CPE: CONFUSING WORD PAIRS 5.2 MB

600+ Confusing English Words Explained

Image
When you’re learning English, you’ll encounter many words that are very similar. For example: - extend and expand - distinct and distinctive - notable and noticeable - specially and especially …and many more. Although you might understand the general meaning, you’ll probably wonder: - “What’s the real difference?” - “When do I use this word and not that one?” Then, when you speak, you tend to hesitate because you’re thinking… “Is this sentence correct… or am I making a mistake?” Maybe you even avoid using certain words because you’re not 100% sure that you’ll choose the right one. To find out the difference between these confusing words, you could ask a friend or teacher… but they might have difficulty explaining it clearly. You can check a dictionary… but when two words are very similar, the plain dictionary definition is often not very helpful. You could also search for answers online… but this can leave you even more confused than when you started! That's why the book 600+ Confu...

600+ Confusing English Words Explained

Image
When you’re learning English, you’ll encounter many words that are very similar. For example: - extend and expand - distinct and distinctive - notable and noticeable - specially and especially …and many more. Although you might understand the general meaning, you’ll probably wonder: - “What’s the real difference?” - “When do I use this word and not that one?” Then, when you speak, you tend to hesitate because you’re thinking… “Is this sentence correct… or am I making a mistake?” Maybe you even avoid using certain words because you’re not 100% sure that you’ll choose the right one. To find out the difference between these confusing words, you could ask a friend or teacher… but they might have difficulty explaining it clearly. You can check a dictionary… but when two words are very similar, the plain dictionary definition is often not very helpful. You could also search for answers online… but this can leave you even more confused than when you started! That's why the book 600+ Confu...

NTC's Dictionary of Easily Confused Words

Image
Product description This unique dictionary defines troublesome homonyms like banned and band, barred and bard in groups--so readers can quickly compare and distinguish between meanings. About the Author McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide The Link  Click here to download  

NTC's Dictionary of Easily Confused Words

Image
Product description This unique dictionary defines troublesome homonyms like banned and band, barred and bard in groups--so readers can quickly compare and distinguish between meanings. About the Author McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide The Link  Click here to download  

The Wrong Word Dictionary ( 2500 Commonly Confused Words )

Image
Click here to download