📄️ Introduction
This Section deals with a number of words which often cause problems to do with meaning and grammar. Some other words are more conveniently explained in the grammatical Sections: search the Index for references.
📄️ about and on
Compare:
📄️ about to
About + infinitive (with to) means ‘going to very soon’; ‘just going to’.
📄️ about and around
(see here)
📄️ above and over
‘higher than’: above or over
📄️ accept and agree
Before an infinitive, we usually use agree, not accept.
📄️ according to
According to X means ‘in X’s opinion’, ‘if what X says is true’.
📄️ across, over and through
On/to the other side of (a line): across and over
📄️ actual(ly)
Meaning and use
📄️ afraid
afraid and fear
📄️ after: adverb
shortly after, etc
📄️ after all
Two meanings
📄️ again and back
(see here)
📄️ ago
Word order: six weeks ago
📄️ agree and accept
(see here)
📄️ alike
The adjective alike means ‘like each other’. Compare:
📄️ all right and alright
The standard spelling is all right. Alright is common in informal usage, but some people consider it incorrect.
📄️ allow, permit and let
allow and permit
📄️ almost and nearly; practically
Progress, measurement and counting
📄️ alone, lonely, lonesome and lone
Alone means ‘without others around’. Lonely (and informal AmE lonesome) means ‘alone and unhappy because of it’. Compare:
📄️ along
The preposition along is used before nouns like road, river, corridor, line: words that refer to things with a long thin shape.
📄️ aloud and loudly
(see here)
📄️ still, yet and already: time
Meanings
📄️ also, as well and too
Position
📄️ alternate(ly) and alternative(ly)
Alternate(ly) means ‘first one and then the other’, ‘in turns’.
📄️ although, though, but and however: contrast
although and though: conjunctions
📄️ altogether and all together
Altogether means ‘completely’ or ‘considering everything’.
📄️ among and between
(see here)
📄️ another and other(s)
(see here)
📄️ any and no: adverbs
any and no with comparatives
📄️ appear
Linking verb: ‘seem’
📄️ arise and rise
Arise means ‘begin’, ‘appear’, ‘occur’, ‘come to one’s notice’. It is used mostly with abstract nouns as subjects.
📄️ (a)round and about
Circular movement, etc: (a)round
📄️ as and like
(see here)
📄️ as, because, since and for
All four of these words can be used to refer to the reason for something. (For as, since and for referring to time, (see here), (see here), (see here).) There are some differences.
📄️ as if and as though; like
Meaning
📄️ as long as
Tenses
📄️ as such
Not … as such is used to say that something is not exactly what a word or expression suggests.
📄️ as usual
Note that in this expression we use the adjective usual, not the adverb usually.
📄️ as well, also and too
(see here)
📄️ as well as
Meaning
📄️ ask
ask and ask for
📄️ at, on and in: place
at
📄️ at/in and to
The difference
📄️ at, on and in: time
at + clock time
📄️ at all
at all with a negative
📄️ at first and first
We use at first to talk about the beginning of a situation, to make a contrast with something different that happens/happened later. At first … is often followed by but.
📄️ at last, finally, in the end and at the end
(see here)
📄️ (a)wake and (a)waken
Use
📄️ back (adverb) and again
Back and again can be used with similar meanings, but there are some differences.
📄️ bath and bathe
bath
📄️ bear
(see here)
📄️ beat and win
You can win (in) a game, a race, a battle, an argument, etc, and you can win a prize, money, etc. You can beat a person that you are playing/arguing/fighting, etc against. Compare:
📄️ because
because and because of
📄️ because, as, since and for
(see here)
📄️ become, get, go, grow, etc: changes
Become, get, go, come, grow and turn can all be used with similar meanings to talk about changes. The differences between them are complicated – they depend partly on grammar, partly on meaning and partly on fixed usage.
📄️ been meaning ‘come’ or ‘gone’
Been is often used as a past participle of come and go.
📄️ before: adverb
‘at any time before now/then’
📄️ before (preposition) and in front of
before: time
📄️ begin and start
Meaning; formality
📄️ below, under, underneath and beneath
‘lower than’: below or under
📄️ beside and besides
Beside is a preposition meaning ‘at the side of’, ‘by’, ‘next to’.
📄️ bet
Use
📄️ better
‘recovered’
📄️ between and among
between two
📄️ big, large and great
Concrete nouns: usually big or large
📄️ birthday and date of birth
Somebody’s date of birth is the date (day, month and year) when they were born. A birthday is the anniversary (day and month) of that date.
📄️ (a) bit
Use
📄️ born and borne
be born
📄️ borrow and lend
Borrowing is taking (for a time).
📄️ bring and take
Speaker’s/hearer’s position
📄️ bring up and educate
Bring up and the noun upbringing are mostly used for the moral and social training that children receive at home. Educate and education are used for the intellectual and other training that people get at school and university.
📄️ Britain, the United Kingdom, the British Isles and England
(Great) Britain is normally used to mean the island which includes England, Scotland and Wales; British is used for the people of these three countries.
📄️ broad and wide
Physical distance
📄️ but, although, though and however
(see here)
📄️ but meaning ‘except’
Use
📄️ by: time
Not later than
📄️ by and near
By means ‘just at the side of’; something that is by you may be closer than something that is near you. Compare:
📄️ by (method, agent) and with (tools, etc)
The difference
📄️ call
Call (with no object) can mean both ‘telephone’ and ‘visit’. This sometimes causes confusion.
📄️ can’t help
If you say that you cannot/can’t help doing something (especially in British English), you mean that you can’t stop yourself, even if you don’t want to do it.
📄️ care: take care (of), care (about) and care for
take care of
📄️ city and town
Most people simply use city to talk about large and important towns – examples in the UK are Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and London.
📄️ classic and classical
Classic usually refers to a famous traditional style.
📄️ close and shut
Use
📄️ cloth and clothes
Cloth (pronounced /klɒθ/) is material made from wool, cotton, etc, used for making clothes, curtains, soft furnishings and so on. (In informal English, it is more common to say material or fabric.)
📄️ come and go
Speaker’s/hearer’s position
📄️ comic and comical
Comic is the normal adjective for artistic comedy.
📄️ complement and compliment (noun and verb)
A complement adds to the quality of something, or goes well with it. The verb complement has a similar meaning.
📄️ continual(ly) and continuous(ly)
Continual(ly) and continuous(ly) are both commonly used for uninterrupted actions, processes, etc.
📄️ contrary
on the contrary and on the other hand
📄️ control
Control is a ‘false friend’ for people who speak some languages. It generally means manage, direct, not check or inspect. Compare:
📄️ country
Countable use
📄️ date of birth and birthday
(see here)
📄️ dare
Uncommon
📄️ dead, died and death
Dead is an adjective.
📄️ different
Modifiers: any different, etc
📄️ disinterested
A disinterested person has no reason to support one side or another in a disagreement or competition.
📄️ divorce
(see here)
📄️ do: general-purpose verb; do and make
The general-purpose verb do has several uses, and can sometimes be confused with make.
📄️ doubt
Clauses after the verb doubt can be introduced by whether, if or that.
📄️ down
(see here)
📄️ dress
Noun
📄️ drown
Both active and passive forms of drown are common when we talk about accidental drowning.
📄️ due to and owing to
Due to and owing to are similar to ‘because of’. Due to is more common than owing to.
📄️ during and for
During is used to say when something happens; for is used to say how long it lasts. Compare:
📄️ during and in
We use both during and in to say that something happens inside a particular period of time.
📄️ early, soon and quickly
(see here)
📄️ east and eastern, north and northern, etc
Adjectives: the difference
📄️ economic and economical
Economic refers to the science of economics, or to the economy of a country.
📄️ educate and bring up
(see here)
📄️ efficient and effective
If somebody/something is efficient, he/she/it works in a well-organised way without wasting time or energy.
📄️ elder and eldest
Elder and eldest can be used instead of older and oldest to talk about the order of birth of the members of a family. They are only used attributively (before nouns). Compare:
📄️ electric and electrical
Electric is used with the names of particular machines that work by electricity.
📄️ else
Use
📄️ end and finish: verbs
Both used
📄️ England, Britain, the United Kingdom and the British Isles
(see here)
📄️ enjoy
Enjoy normally has an object.
📄️ enough
Adjective/adverb + enough
📄️ especial(ly) and special(ly)
especially and specially
📄️ even
Meaning
📄️ eventual(ly)
Eventual and eventually mean ‘final(ly)’, ‘in the end’, ‘after all that’. We use them to say that something happens after a long time or a lot of effort.
📄️ ever
ever meaning ‘at any time’
📄️ ever so, ever such
These expressions are often used in informal British English to mean ‘very’.
📄️ except and except for
except for before nouns
📄️ expect, hope, wait and look forward
expect and hope: difference of meaning
📄️ experiment and experience
An experiment is a test which somebody does to see what the result will be, to prove something, or to see how well something works. Experiment is generally used with the verb do. There is also a verb to experiment.
📄️ explain
After explain, we use to before an indirect object.
📄️ facing, opposite and in front of
(see here)
📄️ fairly, quite, rather and pretty: adverbs of degree
These four modifiers differ somewhat in strength, though their exact force depends on the context. This entry gives a brief explanation of their use with gradable descriptive words (see here) in British English. Note also that quite and rather (in the senses discussed here) are more common in British than American English, as is fairly. For more information about quite and rather, (see here).
📄️ far and a long way
far in questions and negatives
📄️ farther and further
Distance
📄️ feel
Feel has several different meanings. Progressive forms can be used with some meanings, but not with others. Feel can be a linking verb (see here), followed by an adjective or noun complement. It can also be an ordinary verb, followed by a direct object.
📄️ female and feminine; male and masculine
Female and male refer to the sex of people, animals and plants.
📄️ finally, at last, in the end and at the end
finally
📄️ finish and end
(see here)
📄️ finished
Finished can be used as an adjective meaning ‘ready’.
📄️ first and at first
(see here)
📄️ fit and suit
These words do not mean exactly the same.
📄️ for: purpose and cause
People’s purposes: I went for an interview
📄️ for, as, because and since
(see here)
📄️ for and during
(see here)
📄️ for, since, in and from: time
for
📄️ forget and leave
We can use forget to talk about accidentally leaving things behind.
📄️ from and since: time
(see here)
📄️ fun and funny
Fun is normally an uncountable noun. It can be used after be to say that things or people are enjoyable or entertaining.
📄️ further and farther
(see here)
📄️ game and play
(see here)
📄️ get: basic structures and meanings
Get is one of the commonest words in English, and is used in many different ways. It is sometimes avoided in a very formal style, but it is correct and natural in most kinds of speech and writing. The meaning of get depends on what kind of word comes after it. With a direct object, the basic meaning is ‘obtain’, ‘come to have’; with other kinds of word, the basic meaning is ‘become’, ‘come to be’.
📄️ get and go: movement
Go is used to talk about a whole movement.
📄️ get, become, go, grow, etc: changes
(see here)
📄️ give with action nouns
give a cough, etc
📄️ go and come
(see here)
📄️ go and get: movement
(see here)
📄️ go, become, get, grow, etc: changes
(see here)
📄️ go/come for a …
We can use the structure go/come for a … in some fixed expressions referring to actions, mostly leisure activities. Using this structure makes the action sound casual and probably rather short. (Compare go …ing, (see here).) Common examples:
📄️ go/come …ing
go …ing
📄️ gone with be
Gone can be used like an adjective after be, to say that somebody is away, or that something has disappeared or that there is no more.
📄️ grateful and thankful
(see here)
📄️ great, big and large
(see here)
📄️ grow, become, get, go, etc: changes
(see here)
📄️ half
half (of)
📄️ happen to …
Happen can be used with a following infinitive to suggest that something happens unexpectedly or by chance.
📄️ hardly, scarcely and no sooner
These three expressions can be used (often with a past perfect tense, (see here) to suggest that one thing happened very soon after another. Note the sentence structure:
📄️ hear and listen (to)
hear: meaning
📄️ hear, see, etc with that-clause
The present-tense forms I hear (that) … and I see (that) … are often used to introduce pieces of news which one has heard or seen.
📄️ help
After help, we can use object + infinitive (with or without to).
📄️ here and there
We use here for the place where the speaker/writer is, and there for other places.
📄️ high and tall
What kind of things are tall?
📄️ hire, rent and let
hire and rent
📄️ historic and historical
Historic is used especially for historically important places, remains, customs, etc, and for moments which ‘make history’.
📄️ holiday and holidays
In British English, the plural holidays is often used for the ‘long holiday’ of the year. In other cases we normally use the singular holiday. Compare:
📄️ home
Articles and prepositions
📄️ hope
Tenses after hope
📄️ hope, expect, wait and look forward
(see here)
📄️ hopefully
One meaning of hopefully is ‘full of hope’, ‘hoping’.
📄️ how
Use and word order
📄️ how and what … like?
Changes: How’s Ron?
📄️ however, although, though and but
(see here)
📄️ if and when
(see here)
📄️ ill and sick
Ill and sick are both used to mean ‘unwell’. (In American English ill is less usual except in a formal style.)
📄️ immediately, the moment, etc: conjunctions
In British English, immediately and directly can be used as conjunctions, to mean ‘as soon as’.
📄️ in, at and on: place
(see here)
📄️ in, at and on: time
(see here)
📄️ in and during
(see here)
📄️ in and for: time
(see here)
📄️ in and into, on and onto: prepositions
Position and direction
📄️ in and later
(see here)
📄️ in/at and to
(see here)
📄️ indifferent
Indifferent is not the opposite of different. It is used to say that one has no interest in something that other people might be concerned about.
📄️ in front of and before
(see here)
📄️ in front of and opposite
(see here)
📄️ in order that and so that
(see here)
📄️ in spite of
In spite of is used as a preposition. In spite of + noun means more or less the same as although + clause.
📄️ in the end, at the end, at last and finally
(see here)
📄️ indeed
very … indeed
📄️ instead and instead of
Preposition: instead of
📄️ its and it’s
These two words are often confused by native speakers of English as well as by foreign learners.
📄️ it’s time
Followed by infinitive
📄️ journey, travel, trip and voyage
(see here)
📄️ just
Meanings
📄️ kind of, sort of and type of
(see here)
📄️ know
know how + infinitive
📄️ large, great and big
(see here)
📄️ last, the last, the latest
last week, month, etc; the last week, month, etc
📄️ later and in
With a time expression, we generally use later to mean ‘after that time’, and in to mean ‘after now’. Compare:
📄️ lay and lie
There are three similar verbs that can be confused: lay (regular except for spelling), lie (irregular) and lie (regular).
📄️ learn
Forms
📄️ leave and forget
(see here)
📄️ left
The past participle of leave – left – can be used in a special way, to mean ‘remaining’, ‘not used’, ‘still there’.
📄️ lend and borrow
(see here)
📄️ lesser
Lesser is used in a few expressions (in a rather formal style) to mean ‘smaller’ or ‘not so much’.
📄️ lest
Lest has a similar meaning to in case (see here) or so that … not (see here). It is rare in British English, and is found mostly in older literature and in ceremonial language. It is a little more common in formal American English.
📄️ let
Followed by infinitive without to
📄️ let, allow and permit
(see here)
📄️ let, rent and hire
(see here)
📄️ lie and lay
(see here)
📄️ life: countable or uncountable noun
When we talk about life in general, or about a kind of life, life is normally uncountable.
📄️ like: verb
Not used in progressive forms
📄️ like and as: similarity, function
We can use like or as to say that things are similar.
📄️ like and as if
(see here)
📄️ likely
Meaning
📄️ listen (to) and hear
(see here)
📄️ little and small
(see here)
📄️ lonely and alone
(see here)
📄️ (a) long way and far
(see here)
📄️ long and (for) a long time
long in questions and negatives
📄️ look
Linking verb (= ‘seem’)
📄️ look (at), see and watch
(see here)
📄️ look forward, hope, expect and wait
(see here)
📄️ lose and loose
Lose (pronounced /luːz/) is an irregular verb (lose – lost – lost).
📄️ loudly and aloud
Loudly is used (like loud) to talk about the strength of a noise. The opposite is quietly.
📄️ magic and magical
Magic is the more common word, and is used in a number of fixed expressions.
📄️ make: prepositions
We usually say that something is made of a particular material.
📄️ make and do
(see here)
📄️ male and masculine
(see here)